One of the best things about my life for the past couple years is that I’m seeing and doing things that I’ve wanted to see or do for a decade or more. These aren’t bucket list items per se (because I don’t have a bucket list), but they are places that I’ve thought would be awesome to see some day. Tulum is one of those places. Continue reading…
En route to Tbilisi from Houston, I had a nine-hour layover in Munich. I decided to get out of the airport and see as much as I could. Continue reading…
I lived on Mexico’s Caribbean island of Cozumel for three months, and here are some pics I took while there. All of these pics are from the west side of the island. Here are my photos from the east side of the island. Continue reading…
Uxmal (pronounced oosh-mall) is up there with Chichen Itza as one of the larger site of Mayan ruins. I liked it a lot more than Chichen Itza, though. There were no souvenir vendors, fewer people, and an overall more peaceful feeling. You could also get right up to the ruins, which you couldn’t do at Chichen Itza. Continue reading…
I’ve been in Mexico for more than 8 months, and I leave in the morning. It’s sad. The people are great, the food is fantastic, the history is fascinating, and the sights are amazing. I love Mexico. Continue reading…
Merida is the Capital of the Mexican state of Yucatan, and it’s the largest city on the Yucatan Peninsula. I spent five days there and used it as a base to explore Campeche, Uxmal, Chichen Itza, and Izamal. Continue reading…
Many of the cities in Mexico were founded and colonized several hundred years ago by the Spaniards. This colonial heritage is preserved better in some places than others, and the city of Campeche is known for its colonial-era architecture. It’s even been deemed a World Heritage Site. Continue reading…
Almost all of the development on the Mexican island of Cozumel is on the west side. That’s where the island’s only town is, and hotels, bars, and restaurants pepper the west coast as you move north and south from the town. The water on this side of the island is crystal clear and calm. Continue reading…
Chichen Itza is probably the biggest tourist attraction in the Yucatan Peninsula. It’s a series of pyramids and other buildings in the jungle, most of which were built around 600 to 900 AD. Continue reading…
Izamal is a town an hour and a half east of Mérida, near the top of the Yucatan Peninsula. It’s known as The Yellow City, for reasons that should be apparent as you view the photos below. Continue reading…
I don’t know why, but today I was feeling very nostalgic for Ukrainian Christmas carols. Here are 5 of my favorites. Continue reading…
These are excerpts from my journal for the past couple days. Continue reading…
I ran across this today and loved it. It’s a prose poem from 1927 called Desiderata by American writer Max Ehrmann. Continue reading…
You can get a great, several-course Mexican meal of soup, rice, main dish, juice, and a desert of some kind for around 50 pesos ($4). The other day here in Playa del Carmen I went to a nice restaurant on the beach and had a big hamburger, french fries, several small burritos with beans and guacamole, and a bottled water all for 100 pesos ($7.80). Continue reading…
My new year’s resolution for 2011 was to get rid of one thing every day until there was nothing else I wanted to get rid of. That kicked off a series of changes that have had more of a positive impact on my life than almost anything else. Continue reading…