Every empty bottle is filled with stories. Raise your glass This is a conversation that occurred in a Colombia bar in August, 2010. Colombia is a beautiful country. The Andes Mountains, the Amazon jungle, the Cocora valley are all amazing. In addition to the natural beauty, Colombia has beautiful people. Some of them are naturally beautiful and some of them–well,…
Category: Wanderlust
New Beginnings
[Future Michelle here, this is a recovered post from my previous blog, originally posted early 2010ish] Blogging beginnings In my very fist post–way back in 2004, I yapped about how life was getting as stale as a week-old baguette. [ETA: I must confess, that post has taken its final bow and has been deleted. But…
Semmelweis the scientist
Medical Museums First up in my orgy of medical museums and such is the Semmelweis Museum in Budapest, Hungary. I feel bad for Semmelweis. He made a major medical discovery, yet couldn’t explain it, so all his colleagues mocked him mercilessly, and then he died… a broken man. Only to have his discovery proven right…
Getting away from it all
I’d rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on Earth. …
Chiapas and Zapatistas
I have always kept a record of my travels. It used to be with a pen and paper and 35 mm film. Now it’s all digital. On Flashback Fridays I reflect back on some of my past travels and travel mishaps before I started this blog. The next few Flashback Fridays focus on Mexico, Guatemala, and…
Huffing and Puffing in Potosi
I am not usually a tea drinker, but I also don’t like taking medications. However, altitude sickness is no joke. And Diamox was not working. So, I bowed to pressure and tried the local cure for altitude sickness–coca leaves. At first, the idea of buying coca leaves seems almost rebellious. After all, coca leaves are…
Happy Birthday Ampelmann
Today is Ampelmann’s birthday. Let’s all start to sing…Happy Birthday to you…Happy Birthday to you…Happy Birthday dear sweet Ampelmann…Happy Birthday to you. Wait, who/what is Ampelmann, you ask? This is ‘die Ampelmann’. He is a cult hero, and certainly one of my favorite symbols. EVER. He is Berlin-born and Berlin-bred. Ampelmann is the East German…
Uxmal and la ruta PUUC
Back when I was 21… Once upon a time I had crazy dreams of being a cultural anthropologist or historical preservationist or something that would allow me to travel and be the #historynerd that I truly am. But then the reality of these jobs set in. 1. They are few and far between 2. Most…
Climbing the tallest peak in Wales
Taking on Wales’ tallest peak A South Carolinian stumbles into a quaint bar somewhere in Northern England. Well, well, isn’t this the set-up for a hilarious punchline! After braving my initial weeks in Stafford, I suddenly feel an overwhelming itch to flee the town. But as a foreigner, I’m as clueless as a kangaroo in…
Some beach; Some where
The first time I saw you I was intrigued. There was something there that was definitely missing from the long term relationship I had just ended. We met at the most common of places: my work, not a crowded bar, not at a grocery store, and certainly not anywhere romantic, like a white, sandy beach. You were…