MamieBrisker

After trying to figure out for days how we were going to get up the coast from Cartagena to Barranquilla, we finally lucked out today and ran into Valentin!! Valentin is the nicest cab driver we experienced in Cartagena and was on the street as we exited car rental places because we were getting desparate in finding transportation to the city of Barranquilla where the 2nd largest carnaval in South America (only behind Rio de Janeiro in Brazil) was taking place! Valentin spoke slightly more English than Greg and I's Spanish and offered us a great deal (only 400 Mil pesos! $240 USD) to take us, show us around, and bring us back. SO WORTH IT! We picked up some cervesas for the ride (because that is legal here), and headed north up the coast. After ... read more

After the coffee farm tour, our awesome driver Orley met us at the hotel to drive us for the day to Valle de Cocora and Salento. Both of these towns are set amid gorgeous green mountains in the coffee zone. We first visited the Valle de Cocora that is the home of a ton of "palma de cera" (wax palm), that is the largest palm in the world (up to 60 meters tall) and is also Colombia's national tree. The views in the valley were breathtaking and the people were kind and helpful throughout. We enjoyed an excellent trucha (trout) lunch at Bosques de Cocora Donde Juan B. We also tried their speciality cinnamin drink -Canelazo. YUM! We ventured down the opening path of the Reserva Natural Acaime and saw the trout farm that our delish ... read more

Today we hopped on a bus, similar to a Greyhound bus, and headed over and through the mountains to the Coffee Zone (Zona Cafetera, or Coffee Axle) where the region produces the most of Colombia's coffee crop. The people here are fantastic as we were expecting to catch a 11:45am bus, but when we arrived at the station, Elias (Jose's family) found a bus that left at 10:30, and the driver stood there waiting on us even though it was 10:32am. The views were, once again, stunning, and mountain sides hold coffee plants galore, all in perfect lines to make the picking easier. We were so high up, I felt like we were really close to the clouds. We also witnessed 3 kids, not older than 13-14, hop on the back of a semi truck for ... read more

Today we had a full day traveling the Dingle Peninsula and exploring that area of Ireland. We left Limerick around 8:30am and did not return until 9:30pm. Exhausted! Good news, this post will be short. :) The Dingle Peninsula is a loop around and over and through hills with breathtaking views of the snow capped mountains and various bays, harbors, and the Atlantic. Once we landed in Dingle, we were unsure of what to do. So we went off exploring the area and attempting to arrive at the foot of the hill that holds the Eask Tower. After a few u-turns and a stop at Holden Leathergoods (where I spent way too much money on a coin purse, but wanted to spend way more on their gorgeous handbags.... holdenleathergoods.com check it out!), we were directed by ... read more