http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Peatyo/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Peatyo en-us Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:54:26 +0000 Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:54:26 +0000 Basque WalksThe stocky woman in knee high rubber boots waved a red rag at the passing traffic. On this rural road traffic was hardly worth noticing a farm truck a car every five or ten minutes. There were more pilgrims than cars.She was moving sheep back to the farm after their summer pasturage in the mountains.The Chemin de St. Jacques de Compostello crosses back and forth on the road where t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Hendaye/blog-360167.html httpmadammayo.blogspot.com200807guestbloggerlpeatoneil5linkson.htmlhttpwww.powerwalk.ning.com http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Midi-Pyr-n-es/blog-310944.html Xmas is not a holiday here but Xmas eve the youth cut loose until 11 pm or so...It's a western holiday dominated by Santa images no christ god stuff so the youngsters want to celebrate and feel modern. The Chinese youth in the streets wear Santa hats with light up stars on the white border or hearts on the alternative model spraying fake sno' the kind that was banned in USA about 3 decad http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Dali/blog-233365.html Construction everywhere in Shanghai. Displaced people the old folks usually living on the edge of rubble yards that used to be their lowrise apt. blocks. Sunday on my morning walk I saw masses of peasantmigrant men crouched in a line waiting for possible work at a construction project. Huge migration from the countryside to the jobs the construction boom is fueling. Workers live in hasti http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/Jing-An/blog-233345.html Mina de Trinidad worked by licensed prospectors who chip rock seeking opals. Opals are polished and set by local artisans. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Quer-taro/blog-49202.html Where are the revolutionary minds today http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Distrito-Federal/blog-12408.html Guanajuato is riddled with old mine shafts and tunnels. Poke around in the dark corners and you might see the ghosts of wealthy mine owners and the weary spirits of the workers.httpwww.mexconnect.comMEXmxcgto.html travel website featuring Guanajuatohttpwww.guanajuato.gob.mx website for the state of Guanajuato http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Guanajuato/blog-43881.html In the farming hills of Vera Cruz state about 50 K from the Gulf of Mexico I found silence and livestock rolling in the grass. You need a compass up there to navigate because there are no road signs to speak of. Coffee producing mountain towns like Coatapec and Xico about 10 km from Jalapa Xalapa offer unusual access to rural life. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Veracruz/Vera-Cruz/blog-14730.html Dinner in Mexico CityIn Mexico you have to invite twice as many people as you want to have at your party I was told. So on the day of the dinner I asked just about everybody I saw the neighbors upstairs who gave me a lift to work a colleague who I owed a meal the Starbucks barista the computer fixer people who restored email after the daily server crashhellip.In the end the original nu http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/Distrito-Federal/Mexico-City/blog-6427.html At the northern end of the Sierra Gorda range where the dusty red rock washes into green an eccentric Englishman named Edward James built a cement fantasy garden an experiment in surrealist architecture. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Mexico/blog-6493.html