The weekend seemed promising as we planned to spend it in a beachfront hotel in Fuengirola in the Costa del Sol area. There was time enough too to visit Mijas, a quaint little town with whitewashed houses, cobble-stoned paths, and donkey or buro carts. Looking at pictures from Mijas, I swear one can easily mistake them for shots of Santorini with its whitewashed stone houses and blue-painted doors. Plus, from what we hear, the shopping is good too! But I am really getting ahead of my story............ It was an ordeal having to wake up early today to visit Alhambra Palace [View Full Entry]

---

---

Just a short, comfortable one hour drive from Madrid to reach this impressive city of 3 cultures. I have to admit that I had my expectations of Toledo, having seen too many paintings of the Spanish city. Yet, I was still awed by its sheer beauty. This place shouldn't be missed, and should be in everybody's list to visit after Madrid. Through many narrow alleyways, we passed many houses with Moorish balconies. These 'extensions' served as 'peek out' places for Muslim women staying indoors and preferring not to be seen. I can just imagine them sneaking a look into the vibrant [View Full Entry]

---

---

I have been practicing my Spanish for a while.........and felt confident enough to go around Spain just a month after my surgery. My doctor said I drive her crazy. My surgeon said I should go ahead and celebrate life. Between those 2 medical opinions, I favored my surgeon's advice. With my nephew Ryll and good friend Emy in tow, we braved the long trip from manila to madrid. Left 5 pm Monday; arrived noon next day in Madrid. It was a long trip via Hongkong and Paris. And that is not counting the 3 hour wait in each airports! The Air [View Full Entry]

---

---

This is one of those assignments that I didn't look for. Rather, this assignment found me. It came at a time when I was seriously mulling over quitting my job, just like I did about 2 years before. Well, as I said, it has been brewing for the last 2 years. Back then, the company sent me to Tokyo for a 2 week "business" assignment. And now this. Soon, I realized no one in the company wanted this trip. Much inclined to urban settings, they would rather grab assignments that would bring them to America or Europe, rather than to Nepal. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Back in 1986, I traveled to Europe for the first time. I nearly cried when I saw Buckingham Palace. I saw Big Ben at sunrise and sunset with coffee in a paper cup , seated on a bench somewhere. Always, I would be found reviewing a map. I would imagine myself taking the "Tube" as Londoners call their subway, and visiting the popular London sights. I also imagined which subways to take to go to the West End to watch Les Miserables and how to find my way back to our hotel. When I crossed the English channel to go to [View Full Entry]

---

---

Can you beat that? I am leaving for Sydney with my nephew who is migrating to Australia. Thought it would be sweet to travel with him and bid our farewells there. I chose not to bring a lot of stuff as I know he would need my baggage allowance for all the stuff he wanted to bring. And he wanted to bring so much! We were asked to shell out as much as US $400 for the excess baggage. I looked at my nephew and he did not look like he was about to part with some of his books and [View Full Entry]

---

---

I turned in my letter of resignation a couple of weeks ago. My boss asked me to take off and rethink my decision. It so happened there was this week-long training seminar in Tokyo, Japan and the boss thought it would do me a lot of good to spend a week in Tokyo. And so here I am at the Narita Airport, trying to figure out how to take the subway in Tokyo to reach my hotel in Kitasenju. Well, it wasn't really a hotel, but this association has put up learning centers in Tokyo and Hirohisma, where members can rent [View Full Entry]

---

---

Just out of Israel, we changed buses and drove towards Cairo. Our new Globus Tour Director took over from David (sob.....) and her first encounter with Steven was not very pleasant. As she led us to our bus with a cracked windshield on the right corner, Steven joked if she did that. She was a little bit on the chubby side and didn't receive the joke, and the laughs it drew, very kindly. For that reason, I will not be mentioning her name here. After all, she was indeed a very competent guide. Maybe just a little too sensitive. The Hotel [View Full Entry]

---

---

At the time I visited Israel in 1996, I was not a very spiritual person. Perhaps I am still not. But I know that after this visit, I came home a changed person. Still a 'work in progress'. But one's got to try. I have said rosaries every now and then before, and I say them almost daily now. And this time, I 'feel' every passion in each rosary bead. Covering Israel is very much like saying the rosary every hour every day. The passion of Christ in each and every rosary bead is most felt in this Holy Land. Heretofore [View Full Entry]

---

---

Coming to Istanbul was a very pleasant surprise. Straddling both Europe and Asia, we motored through rural landscapes to the Turkish border till we reached Turkey's small European foothold to Istanbul. Founded by the Greeks as Byzantium more than 2,500 years ago, renamed Constantinople in the year 330 when Constantine the Great made it the capital of the Roman Empire. After the Ottoman conquest, this Byzantine city along the Bosphorous was renamed Istanbul in the 15th century. Geographically, Istanbul remains the gateway between East and West, Orient and Occident, Christian and Islamic worl [View Full Entry]

---

---