Chile is a country that surprises me at every bend in the road. Yesterday we headed out from Punta Varas in the south of the country to try and get a glimpse of the volcano Oronco ( sp?). It usually is shrouded in clouds with rain threatening at all times. But luck was with us and we started to see the sun shining off the glacier which coats the top of this perfectly shaped volcanic cone like meringue swirled a mile high. It only got better and better as we rode up and up and up the gravel switch back road [View Full Entry]

---

---

For anyone who has ever thought of visiting Chile, I say,"Come!" The weather, at least in Santiago in October, is glorious for travel. Sunny with temps. in the mid-70´s but cooling off at night. Perfection. The air is clear, which is a bit of a miracle, since Santiago is one of the most polluted cities on the planet due to its topography. It is surrounded by mountains so it sits like a soup bowl being filled with industrial and automotive sludge every day. Today we walked and walked and walked some more, through the city after experiencing the immaculately clean and [View Full Entry]

---

---

I am always overwhelmed by the history and culture of Latin American countries. The dates are mind boggling to those of us who think that something that dates back to the 1800's is old. I have been spending a few days in Guadalajara, Mexico ( founded in 1542) with my daughter and her 6 year old son. Linda is doing some work at ITESCO( a technical University) as part of her research into bi-lingual studies. Having spent some time in Oaxaca, Mexico a few years ago, I was not fully prepared for the wild traffic and noisy bustle that is part [View Full Entry]

---

---

Dear friends and family, I am hoping that perhaps someone on my list copied some of my entries and can send them to me. Apparently the travelblog.org site crashed and all the entries I wrote this year have disappeared. I am a bit distressed because, as you can imagine, a lot of time and effort went into writing them. They are also how I keep a journal of my trips. So if any of you printed out any of the entries I would really like to have a copy. All I was able to locate was the last one I wrote [View Full Entry]

---

---

And why wouldn't they be? Try to imagine standing on the 8th floor balcony of Sigrun Klara's apartment in Reykjavik and watching the sun slowly, oh so achingly slow, sort of set at 12: 30 - 1AM. T. S Eliot wrote, "The evening is spread out against the sky like a patient etherized upon a table". So the rust and orange light would pour through the clouds not quite bringing darkness but an amber glow to the wide western sky. Poor Diana, Astarte, Artemis and Luna. Those moon goddesses would indeed be lonely in Iceland in the summertime because the sun [View Full Entry]

---

---

Last Spring I saw an IMAX movie called 'Mission to Mars'. It told of how the module used to rove over Mars surface was given a trial run in Iceland. Yesterday and today I saw the lava fields that were in that movie. I am seldom at a loss for words but the landscapes here leave me speechless. I doubt I can do them justice but I will give it my best shot. When you drive for 10 hours straight and see only varying forms of lava interspersed occasionally by a few stray sheep or giant round hay bales wrapped in [View Full Entry]

---

---

In Iceland there is a joke: What do you do if you get lost in a forest in Iceland? Answer: Stand-up. What they lack in trees they make up for in spectacular 360° vistas. This is a country about the size of the US state of Kentucky with about 300,000 people. It could be the prototype for a Utopian society. Everyone works, health care is free, state universities are free, and no one will ever go hungry as they are surrounded by fish. It was probably one of the first democracies as they formed a parliment and established laws in the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Lübeck in Northern Germany was one of the richest Hanseatic States. They were traders dating back to the 1400's and probably even before that. If you get here make sure you go to eat at the Schiffergesellschaft Restaurant. I grew up in Plymouth, Massachusetts and I know an old house or two that dates back to 1621 or so. But I have to tell you that I got chills sitting at the same tables where sailors and sea merchants sat over 500 years ago. This eating house has been used since the 1500's. Sailors would sit at tables on the [View Full Entry]

---

---

I am so lucky to be able to travel off the beaten path. Today, though the usual mix of a little bit of sun, lots of heavy clouds and intermittent downpours my hosts, Horst and Waltraud Junglaus from Hamburg offered to drive us( my friend Val and I) to Travemunde and Lübeck. First, we stopped to see some of the ships ( mostly ferries) from Sweden and Finland unload their cargo of trucks. It was like watching Lucy and Ethel by the conveyor belt except these weren't chocolates rolling steadily downhill but truck after truck after truck. These trucks brings good [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well, that is what people in Hamburg tell me. If you have never visited this city in Northern Germany you are missing out on a good thing. One of the lovliest things is that a canal comes right up to the 'rathaus' or city hall in the center of town. It flows from one of the two lakes that sit right in the center of city that has some of the most beautiful architecture in Germany if not all of Europe. And the people use these lakes for recreation with boat houses built all around the perimeter. Today on a canal [View Full Entry]

---

---