The altitude affected me the moment I landed in Cusco (11,300ft) from Lima (sea level.) It was difficult to breathe and I felt light-headed and dizzy. The moment we walked into the hotel, we were offered a cup of coca tea and it was amazing how fast is started working. Just one sip of tea and I started to breathe better, and most of my light-headedness went away. We were advised to take a lot of rest the first day in order to acclimate to the altitude so we did just that. Our trek was most definitely a once in a [View Full Entry]

---

---

Although Lima was supposed to be a short pit-stop on the way to Cusco and Machu Picchu, we ended up staying there longer than expected due to stand-by issues on the way back. The first day was spent just walking around Miraflores, drinking, eating and gambling. Although I didn't end up a big winner, I did have a great time! Lima is the capital and largest city of Peru and is known as the Gastronomical Capital of Latin America. The coast allows for the freshest seafood and ceviche is by far the the dish of choice. It's the "Peruvian national dish" [View Full Entry]

---

---

...not quite...but soon! I wanted you all to know that I will be coming home this week, which is much earlier than my originally anticipated arrival date. Thanks to temperatures much colder than this Texan can bare and crappy currency conversion rates, I've decided to cut my trip a bit short. I hope to see everyone real soon to share stories and maybe even some pics I haven't posted. See you soon! [View Full Entry]

---

---

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Prague (Praha) has become one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations. It's the sixth most visited European city after London, Paris, Rome, Madrid and Berlin. Prague suffered considerably less damage during World War II than most other European cities, allowing most of its historic architecture to stay true to form. Prague's compact medieval city center remains a beautiful mixture of cobbled lanes, walled courtyards, cathedrals and countless spires. Prague is a charming city where one feels transported back in time with its medieval, at times gothic [View Full Entry]

---

---

Salzburg is located on the banks of the Salzach river, just bordering the Alps. The name Salzburg literally means "Salt Castle", which derives its name from the barges carrying salt on the Salzach river. The scenic drive to Salzburg is beautiful with the most interesting farm houses and villas along the highway and the alps in view. Like many quaint little towns in Europe, the best way to get around while in town is by foot. The Sound of Music was filmed in Salzburg in the 1960's and although you are not likely to see people burst out into song while [View Full Entry]

---

---

Oktoberfest was a blast. Ameesh and I had a great time tasting a variety of foods and beers and visiting some huge tents and enjoying their festivities. The German word for cheers is "prost", and the local drinking customs require the clinking together of steins and a collective PROST about every 10 minutes or so. The band would play a typical Bavarian song and afterwards the mc would hold his Bier Stein up high and chant the following toast for all of us to sing along: Ein prosit, ein prosit die gemüdlichkeit. Ein prosit, ein prosit die gemütlichkeit ... EINZ, ZWEI, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Berlin is a major center of European history, politics, culture, media, and science. Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power in 1933 and Nazi rule destroyed Berlin's Jewish community. Hitler had planned to rebuild Berlin on a massive scale, but didn't accomplish his goal because of the war. Large parts of Berlin were destroyed in the 1940's air raids and during the Battle of Berlin. After the war, Berlin received refugees from the Eastern European provinces. Berlin was divided into four sectors (West Berlin into the French, American and British sector, East Berlin belonged to the USSR.) [View Full Entry]

---

---

Bruges is charmingy referred to as the Venice of the North by most Belgians I have met. It is one of the best preserved pre-motorized cities in Europe and the historical city-centre is small and best viewed by foot, bicycle, horse-drawn carriage or boat. Bruges offers street after street of charming historic houses and canal ways. The houses are centuries old and at times one can imagine what life in the late middle ages must have been like. Bruges has most of its medieval architecture intact and houses one of the world's highest brick towers, the Church of Our Lady whose [View Full Entry]

---

---

In my opinion, Brussels has the most unique character of any European City I have visited so far. Brussels is a bilingual city where both French and Dutch are official languages, so all the streets have two completely sounding names. Some of the people you come across do understand English, but I was lucky enough to stay with French speaking family. There is plenty of fantastic food and drink to be tasted in this city. The classics being Belgian chocolates, waffles, mussels (moules), fries (frites) and the Belgian beer. The French have their wine and the Belgians have their beer. Ty [View Full Entry]

---

---

Amsterdam was initially a small fishing village and the damming of the river Amstel gave the city its name. Because of the canals, the city has been compared to Venice, but I did not see the similarities past that association since the architecture is completely different in both. Amstel beer is also named after the river. The brewery was situated so close to the Amstel river that the river water was used to chill the beer. Amstel was bought out by Heineken in the 1960's and as you walk around Amsterdam you will notice that you will not find both beers [View Full Entry]

---

---