When we originally booked our trip, we were to arrive Saturday afternoon, and Leandra found a great deal on our rental car for Sat-Wed. A few weeks later the flight schedules were changed and (to...
Blog posts from International Travel
British Columbia 2012: where we stayed
Moda Hotel, Vancouver Moda Hotel is in the central business district, several blocks from two of the airport trains stops, and well within walking distance of most of downtown. The entrance is...
Israel 2012: Food and Drink
Throughout our trip we had a great time sampling all sorts of local dishes from Galilee to the Dead Sea. Most meals we ate in places that served Mediterranean or Middle Eastern-styles and we were...
Israel 2012: Jerusalem, Day 2 & 3
We started our second day walking to the Mahane Yehuda Market, aka the Shuk, to explore the market. Reminiscent of the markets in Barcelona, we saw numerous spices, fruits, meats, etc. We purchased...
Israel 2012: Jerusalem, Day 1
On our first day in Jerusalem we started at the Jaffa gate, walking around some of the perimeter streets of the Armenian Quarter. Inside the Jaffa gate A quiet corner Zion Gate- the divots in the...
Israel 2012: Jordan River valley and the Dead Sea
Jordan River valley drive After our Galilee adventures we began our drive south through the Jordan River valley. At the base of the lake we saw quite a few farms, especially bannana plantations...
Israel 2012: Galilee, part II (Mt. Tabor, Tabgha and Capernaum)
After lunch in Nazareth we fought our way back into traffic and eventually made it out of town and headed south. Our destination was Megiddo, an important archaeological site that has seen 26...
Israel 2012: Galilee, part 1 (Cana and Nazereth)
As mentioned in our overview, we started our trip in northern Israel. For two nights we based ourselves in Tiberias, giving us close proximity to many of the Galilee sights in Nazareth and...
Israel 2012: where we stayed
Prima Galil Tiberias, Tiberias We choose the town of Tiberias because it was on Lake Kinneret (i.e. Sea of Galilee) and located between the various sights of Nazareth and Northern Galilee. The Prima...
Israel 2012: overview
For Christmas 2010 we gave Eric's parents a travel book on Israel to whet their appetite to join us on a visit in 2012. Then, in the fall of 2011 we discovered a good deal on tickets via British Air...
Chile 2012: Daylight Savings Time in Chile (or lack thereof…)
Sigh. It all started on Sunday, our last day at Tierra Atacama. We awoke at our normal time of 8am-ish and started packing up our bags before heading to breakfast around 8:45. Our Cejar Lagoon tour...
Chile 2012: where we dined in Santiago
La Pizza Nostra - We went here on Sunday night on the suggestion of the hotel (many restaurants are closed on Sunday in Santiago). Though we arrived around 10p, there were a surprising number of...
Chile 2012: Exploring Santiago
We had an evening flight out of Santiago which gave us the whole day to explore the city. Our first stop was the sculpture park located just across the river from our hotel. I really enjoyed seeing...
Chile 2012: Daytrip from Santiago
For our first day in Santiago we wanted to get out of the city and eventually booked a trip with AndoAndes. They had very good reviews on TripAdvisor for their main hiking excursion to the nearby...
Chile 2012: Atacama Desert, Cejar Lagoon
Our flight didn't leave until the early evening on our last day, so we were able to take a quick trip over to the Cejar Lagoon for a soak in some very salty water. The guide took us the scenic way...
Chile 2012: Atacama Desert, Day 3
Altiplanic Lagoons For our third day we chose an all-day excursion to the Miscanti and Meñiques Lagoons. These two lakes are at an altitude of ~13,500 feet up in the Andes close to the border with...
Chile 2012: Atacama Desert, Day 2
Cornices As mentioned previously, we had a quick glimpse of the Valle de la Muerte on day 1 and were excited to hike into it on day 2. Once again we lucked out and had this tour to ourselves. We...
Chile 2012: Atacama Desert, Day 1
Valle de la Luna / Valle de la Muerte This excursion was recommended for our first day as it was beautiful but not too strenuous - the town is at ~7,900 ft, so oxygen is thin (for us). We lucked out...
Our Itinerary
2025 Trips
Tampa Bay, FL (Jan)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Feb)
Villa la Angostura, Argentina (Feb)
Bariloche, Argentina (Feb)
Iguazu Falls, Argentina + Brazil (Feb)
Miami, FL (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Mar)
Boston, MA (Apr)
Kathmandu, Nepal (May)
Bhutan (May)
Slovenia (Sep)
Treviso, Italy (Sep)
Bologna, Italy (Sep)
Turin, Italy (Oct)
2024 Trips
San Diego, CA (Jan)
Sarasota, FL (Feb)
Madrid, Spain (Mar)
Valencia, Spain (Mar+Apr)
Palma, Mallorca (Apr)
Croatia (May)
Long Island, NY (July)
Faroe Islands (Aug)
London, UK (Sept)
Puglia, Italy (Sept)
Matera, Italy (Oct)
Rome, Italy (Oct)
Mosel Valley, Germany (Oct)
Frankfurt, Germany (Oct)
London + Manchester, UK (Dec)
2023 Trips
San Diego (Jan)
Orlando (Feb)
Richmond, VA (Apr)
Northern Italy (Apr)
NC Mountains (May)
Long Island (Jul)
Wisconsin (Aug)
Chicago (Aug)
Oak Island, NC (Sept)
Brooklyn, NY (Sept)
Bordeaux + Rugby World Cup (Sep)
Castilla y León (Sep)
Seychelles (Nov)
Willamette Valley (Dec)