After all-day sightseeing in Kyoto, Japan, my husband and I were going to the Philippines. Our flights were not the most convenient. We arrived in Manila at about midnight, sat there for 4 hours before boarding the 3.50 a.m. flight to Cebu. In Manila airport, security confiscated our umbrella. Apparently, it was okay to fly […]
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Osaka Our last day in Japan, my husband and I spent in Kyoto. Having left our backpacks in a locker at the train station, we walked to Nijo Castle, the shogun’s residence. The shogun was the military ruler of Japan; he was more powerful than the Emperor himself. Naturally, he lived in a richly decorated
Horyuji The city’s main attraction is the Castle that played a major role in the unification of Japan in the 16th century. Visitors can access the restored main tower. Its five floors are filled with exhibits that provide a glimpse into Japanese history and culture. And, of course, it comes with a grand view from
Nara (continued) In the morning I took another stroll around Nara enjoying its contemporary and traditional architecture. One mysterious building had almost no windows, a small entrance door and no sign of what it is. Horyiji is a place close Nara with the world oldest surviving wooden structures. Some were built in the 6th –
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Nara In Nara’s center, city maps with marked attractions and signs to them are everywhere but if you step away from the center everything including street names is in Japanese only. I was glad to see that many new private houses are built in the traditional Japanese style with fancy roof tiles as on the
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The Black Sea in Byala, Bulgaria, was stormy when I was leaving it. Regardless of that, my 2 friends and I spent two lovely weeks in my apartment. After saying goodbye to them, I sorted out my belongings. A small portion of them was going with me on a 1-month trip to 5 countries in
South Coast Trolls definitely live in Iceland. I left 2 socks before going to bed and found only one in the morning. It was a warm night and I kept a small window pane open in my room, probably enough for a troll to squeeze in. On my last day in Iceland, I had a
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Golden Circle (continued) My next day trip was with a different agency, Sterna Travel. The logistics were the same – a small bus picked me up at my hotel, lunch was not included and we stopped for a meal where everyone ordered the food to suit their taste, at the end of the day we
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Golden Circle Iceland is the land of geysers. In fact, the English word “geyser” is derived from the Icelandic “geysir”. The first-ever geyser described in a printed material is located in Iceland. Since then, other languages adopted the word “geysir”. The Great Geysir, the ancestor of all geysers, was spectacular when it erupted. The Geysir’s
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Iceland Our guide Christina drove us first to the waterfall Gullfoss. All waterfalls are spectacular but Gullfoss comes with an interesting history. It is located on the land owned by generations of one family. About one hundred years ago, foreign investors became interested in harnessing the waterfall power to produce electricity. Tómas Tómasson, the head
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