xuanito

Friday, September 11, 2009 Marseille, France to Chamonix-Mont Blanc (via Lyon and St. Gervais le Bains) After class on Friday, I packed a bag for the weekend, and set out for the train station to get a ticket to Chamonix-Mont Blanc. This is a ski resort town in the winter months and a popular place in the summer for seeing the mountains and glaciers. My train reservation took me through the city of Lyon, France (2 hours from Marseille if I remember correctly) where I caught a connecting train to a town called St. Gervais les Bains. From here I caught yet another connecting train to Chamonix-Mont Blanc. The train ride from Marseille to Lyon was the TGV (high speed train ) in the first class car. The Eurail Railpass is a great money saver for ... read more

Nice, France I slept a little bit later today trying to catch up, had breakfast, and decided to catch the bus up the hill in town to the Matisse Museum. During this month there was also a Rodin exhibition traveling through and on at the museum. I was really glad I got to see these sculptures by Rodin. Later in my travels, I will see the Rodin Museum in Paris. The museum is on a hilltop amidst ruins from the ancient Roman city Cemenelum. The museum is a three or four story red building set in an olive grove that is a popular place for people and their dogs on Sunday morning. The museum was free and it was worth the 10 minute bus ride and short walk. I then took the bus back down into ... read more

Wednesday - Friday, September 2 - 4, 2009 Houston - Atlanta Today I was able to catch the plane to Atlanta and but did not make it in time to be on either of the flights to Paris. So I spent the night in a hotel in Atlanta and got a good night’s rest. The next morning after breakfast, I went to the airport to attempt to get on the flights to Paris. Unfortunately, the four flights to Paris were full all day, so I decided to change my ticket to Brussels, Belgium. This turned out to be the best option to get to Paris. Paris is about a one hour and tweenty minute train ride from Brussels. Bruxelles, Belgique As I arrived in Brussels, I became aware of the fact that all the signs were ... read more

November 25, 2008 Guatemala City, Guatemala, Central America I arrived in Guatemala City on Sunday, November 23rd and spent a couple of nights relaxing. Tuesday morning I went to the National Museum of Arqueology and Ethnology in Guatemala City. There are many original artefacts here from the ancient Mayan cities of Guatemala. The museum is in the Zone of the city that is close to the airport and the zoo. I visited the zoo as well today. In all my time in Guatemala, I had not ever visited either of these places. The zoo is quite nice. The museum is really impressive. I am sure that most of you, as my readers are tired of hearing about the Mayan peoples. For me, however, it is quite fascinating. I will upload a few pics of the artefacts ... read more

I left via bus Thursday morning to go to the little town of Copan Ruinas. I first took a bus to the 18th street in the Zone 1 of Guatemala City. This is the place were one finds all the bus lines to take you out and away from the capital city to the tourist spots. The bus I chose was the one direct to Chiquimula. On this route, you leave Guatemala City from the east and eventually find yourself in the middle of the arid region of Zacapa. Here you see fron the roadside all sorts of cacti. It really is interesting. Zacapa and Chiquimula are cities that lie in the same Montagua river valley that continues eastward to the ruins of Copan. The bus rides were interesting. The first, being a large Greyhound type, ... read more