Another Weekend in London

We were in London, England from March 3 - 7th. This was our third short London trip and since we were both rather sick and didn't feel like doing very much, I'm glad it wasn't our first time there. We had a goal of seeing three things we hadn't seen before, Westminster Abbey, Churchill War Rooms, and the Tate Museum of Modern Art.

Westminster Abbey is something Lori had wanted to go to on earlier trips but I shunned it thinking it was boring. I'm glad to be wrong about that because the Abbey is very cool. We did the 90 minute guided tour which I highly recommend. I had no idea how much of English history the Abbey covers, and the guided tour lets you go places you aren't allowed to enter on your own. We walked over the graves of Newton, Darwin, Dickens, Faraday (LOST shoutout!) and thousands more. We also stood just feet from where Kings are coronated and where the Royal Wedding will happen next month. Now I'm actually interested in watching it. I never would have expected that! The first cabbie we had said "The only thing this country is still good at is putting on weddings and funerals." They all go down at the Abbey. On a prior trip we did a tour of the Tower of London which was far more interesting than I expected, too. Those are the two tours I recommend for London the most.

Plush Larry in London

The Churchill War Rooms were neat but a bit disappointing compared to my imagination. This is where WWII was run from and I expected it to be some deep bunker, but it was only a normal basement 10 feet below street level. It was mainly keeping the location such a secret that kept it from ever being bombed. Over time they reinforced it with steel and concrete, but I'm still amazed all the people that worked and lived there were so safe just 10 feet below the ground. The little details and first hand stories from the clerks and typists were fascinating.

Hanging at the palace gates

We left a Plush Larry the Lizard at the Buckingham Palace gates and watched from afar to see who had the nerve to take him home. Later we gave one to a little girl in a restaurant and she was ecstatic. Plush Larry is a big hit!

Our last full day we explored the Tate Museum of Modern Art. I thought I was pretty open minded, but lots of stuff here just made us laugh and shake our heads. Gabriel Orozco had some interesting stuff that was right up my alley, like painted skulls, and chopped up cars, but there was actually a display of dryer lint, and an empty shoe box. I'm not making this up. Check it out. Guards have to watch over the shoe box so nobody moves it or throws it away thinking it is a... shoe box. We finally gave up and left after gazing at a million fake sunflower seeds. Despite not "getting it" we both enjoyed the museum. Then before we realized it we were back home.

Weekend in Dublin

We're back home safe and sober after a long weekend in Dublin, Ireland. We landed there early Friday morning, around 5:30am. After a 3 hour nap we headed out to the Guinness Storehouse for the brewery tour. There were no lines to deal with and thanks to the Tasting Room and Perfect Pint training (we are now certified Perfect Pint Pourers - even Larry The Lizard) we had plenty of Guinness in us before we ever had a meal or even water. Feeling very Irish.

The Guinness Brewery is HUGE. It covers 66 acres and with all of its old brick buildings and black gates it looks just like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. We spent hours there and learned a ton about Guinness, like the Guinness Book of World Records comes from the same family - I never put that together before but it all started to settle barroom arguments. I also learned that I love to eat roasted barley. Who knew?

Then we wandered around the Temple Bar area of Dublin for the first of many times. That is the "cultural" area and full of the most pubs. We caught some Irish music and dancing, even got a free CD for being from Boston because there are more Irish in Boston than in Ireland (it seems anyway).

Over the next few days we drank a lot of Guinness, even had a table with a built-in tap at our hotel, toured the Jameson Distillery, drank whiskey, ate malted barley, saw the Book of Kells, toured Dublin Castle, Christ Church, Kilmainham Gaol (prison), Dublinia, and Trinity College, visited many pubs and met lots of cool people, well except for one drunk douche bag that I had to scare off from bothering a 15 year old girl. And don't get fooled into visiting the Bad Ass Cafe - it should be called the Lame Colon.

Next Stop: Ireland

I really didn't think there would be any international travel for us this year, but a trip to Ireland has fallen into our laps. Sweet! Another country gets scratched off the list, and we fly to Dublin the first week of March. We considered being there for St. Patrick's Day, but everything is twice as expensive that week, so we'll just be there for the build up.
Lori and I have both passed the half-way mark in the PhilosophersNotes 50 Day Challenge and I am blown away by it. I thought it would be cool and interesting but reading the big ideas from some great works every weekday has been phenomenal. I'm getting more out of this than any class I've ever taken. Can't recommend PhilosophersNotes enough. Check it out.
The 40 day Oneness Experiment wrapped up last week and it was quite profound. Each day had a different practice and meditation and I had some very cool moments of synchronicity, awareness and communion, especially during the last two weeks. It going on at the same time as the PhilosophersNotes made both events very special.
For something completely different; check out http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/ for some hilarious/delicious/disgusting food porn.
Still making my way through all the DVD screeners I got thanks to awards season, and we finally saw "Precious" this weekend. Wow! It is not getting the attention and awards it deserves. A very powerful film, though not great for Valentines Day. I'd love to see the day when half of the people who saw "Avatar" (which I liked too) saw "Precious."

Africa was Awesome!

After 3 countries, 5 flights, 8 lodges, dozens of gorillas, and a whole lot of fun, our African odyssey ended a couple weeks ago. The trip was a blast but it did feel long and it took many days to recover from once we were back home. We thoroughly enjoyed our three gorilla tracking days - which was the primary reason for the trip. The big surprise to me, was the beauty of the Ugandan and Rwandan landscape and people. Everybody was so outgoing and friendly, this is such a great time to be an American visiting Africa. They just love the US now.
I had so much fun just driving through Uganda and Rwanda waving at kids. They were all so thrilled to get a wave back. I've never seen so many smiles. It was such a treat to see so much joy and happiness in people that you might judge have nothing.
Other highlights; spotting a leopard on our very first game drive, two rare sightings of hippos out of the water, and a tree climbing lion.
Also met some fantastic fellow travellers along the way, which we've always been so fortunate to do, and had outstanding guides and service at every stop. Can't recommend Volcanoes Safaris enough if you want to visit the mountain gorillas yourself.
With over 2,000 photos and hours of video, it could be quite awhile before I get details posted. For now, here is an online album Lori put together and a smaller collection I put up on Facebook.

Back to Africa

This year has been so busy; Germany in May, LA in June, San Diego in July for the James Ray event... our trip to Africa totally snuck up on us. We leave today!! I haven't even posted my photos from Germany yet. Where does the time go?

Ten years ago, we visited Kenya for my first international vacation. Wow, that was also the first time I travelled with Larry The Lizard. Since then, we've been to a lot of truly amazing places like Tikal, Machu Picchu and Easter Island to name just a few, but Kenya has always been my favorite. Something about seeing so many animals in their natural home... I can't describe the serenity and beauty of that. And the people - they were all so friendly, open, proud and happy. Even if they had nothing - they were proud and happy. It is simply how things should be. That was the trip we learned to give away as much as we travelled with as possible - something I'm glad to say we've done on all our trips (well not all, nobody in London or Germany really cared about our hand-me-downs).

This Africa trip takes us to Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania, and it is all about seeing the mountain gorillas. We'll be doing treks into the jungle to see the gorillas in Uganda and Rwanda, three times total. I've heard so many raves about seeing the gorillas from other travelers we've met around the globe - this trip truly is a dream come true. Then on all the other days, we'll have traditional safari game drives and all sorts of adventures I hadn't even considered till I read the itinerary just a couple days ago. This is the first trip we haven't read up on or bought guide books for. We're just going.

Of course not being aware of this trip and digging into the preparation is all on me. The past month has been such a bizarre roller coaster for my thoughts and feelings. Ever since I got back from the James Ray event in San Diego at the end of July -- I've been out of sorts. I learned a lot about myself at the event. A lot that I don't like. Some days I've been fired up to take on the world and create the life I want - then the next day I'll just want to hide in bed. Lots of old patterns came back, hard. I already don't want to come home from this vacation. Part of me is hoping something goes wrong so I can't come home. Friends wishing me "safe travels" sort of piss me off. I'd rather be wished a gorilla ripping me apart or a plane crash on our last day. God, have I always been this morbid? Will be interesting to see what being disconnected from everything does to my mindset. I plan on doing a lot of writing.

Anyway, I doubt there will be updates till we are back home. You can visit some of the lodges we'll be staying at, and see some of the sites we'll see at the Volcanoes Safaris site.

AF Grant in Germany

Quick update from Katzweiler Germany. On our first day we visited Ramstein Air Force Base and a totally sick Castle in Landstuhl. We saw ruins from the road and Matt and Vee had never been to it so we trail blazed the narrow streets and unknown traffic signs till we came upon Castle Sickengen. Found a little info on line about it. It was very cool because they had no problem letting you climb all over the ruins.
Sunday was Happy Mosel Day and we joined thousands of people as traffic was closed down on both sides of the Mosel river and we biked, drank and ate schnitzel. It was a gorgeous day to drive through villages I'll never be able to pronounce. Scenic views of centuries old buildings surrounded by vineyards. We started and ended in Bernkastel-Kues and I think we might have biked 10 miles. Also discovered I like German wine. WooHoo!
Here is a story about Happy Mosel Day if you can't get enough.
Monday Vee, Lori and I visited Heidelberg while Matt went to work to protect the free world. We stormed Heidelberg Castle and wandered around downtown. Mullets and 80's punk are still very much the style in Germany - so I felt right at home.
Today we head south to Munich for two days - I just discovered Metallica is there tomorrow night too! Then Oberammergau in Bavaria for two days and a quick jump over to Austria just because we can.
We've all been doing the evening meditation call together for the 40 Days, 40 Nights program, that's been cool to do as a group. Due to the big time difference and flight time we are a day behind, but sticking with it.

Off to Germany

About to leave for Logan Airport to catch a flight to Frankfurt, Germany and hang with Matt and Vee for 9 days. They are living in Germany for just a few months and free couch is all the excuse we need travel. We'll be arriving in time for "Happy Mosel Day" some sort of biking and drinking festivus that closes roads to cars and just has lots of drunk, fake athletes - my middle name!
You can see an out-of-date itinerary, it has most of the things we plan to do just not in the proper order. Of course next Saturday is the BIG event; METALLICA live in Stuttgart. I'm very psyched for my first international rock show, I saw Metallica in NJ just a couple months ago, but it seems like a life time ago.
Lori and I are both doing the 40 Days, 40 Nights wealth immersion program with Kristin and David Morelli of EverythingIsEnergy.com. Today is day 4. We are part of global group of 400 people doing two live daily meditation calls and two 90 minute coaching calls a week. Will be wild trying to stay on schedule with it while we travel, but it's all good.
We got our shots for the Africa trip on Monday, so I've been confused all week as to where we are actually going today. But it is Germany now; Africa in September. Needed to get shots early to apply for visas. Here is the Africa itinerary.
More later from Germany...

London

So far we've been having a blast in London. We ended up in the 2nd row at Monty Python's Spamalot and it was hilarious. I couldn't believe how much I was laughing considering I already knew 90% of the jokes. We wandered all around the theater district, china town and strolled through the National Portrait Gallery. It's been nice to just be able to roam the city without any plans.
Today we visited the Imperial War Museum which is a huge place with lots of tanks, rockets, missiles and planes on display from World War I and World War II. I didn't know squat about WWI and seeing WWII not just from the US perspective was very interesting. There were cool interactive walk through sections for the Trenches of WWI and surviving The Blitz of WWII. There was a special area just on D-Day which was much more wide ranging than the US centric battles at Utah and Omaha beaches. Plus a floor just for The Holocaust. After visiting the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC in September, I figured I was all Holocausted out but the section still packed a wallop. We spent 5 hours at the Imperial War Museum and still didn't see everything.
Then we visited Europe's biggest Salvador Dali exhibition; over 500 pieces at the Dali Universe. As you can probably tell by my love of Angry Johnny, I don't know shit about art. I'd heard the Dali name of course and knew he did a lot of whacked out stuff - but that was it. I was shocked by how much I liked some of his art. Some pieces made me laugh out loud and I spent hours taking my time looking at everything. Though I did pass on the additional Picasso gallery - by that point I was just spent.
Tomorrow we'll hit The British Museum and our final pubs before flying home Tuesday.

Washington DC

We're back home after a week down in DC visiting with Matt and Vee who live in California but spent the summer in Washington. I'd only visited our nation's Capitol once when I was in the 7th grade so we did all the traditional tourist sites, memorials and monuments. Our first tour of the city was on Sept 11 - so that was kind of weird, seeing all the flags at half-mast. But the whole week was a blast. We stayed in Georgetown so there was no end to the fantastic restaurants and bars and there were plenty of fellow Red Sox and Patriots fans all around. The only thing Lori really wanted to see was the Holocaust Museum, I thought it would be interesting but it was way better than that. We were told most people take 2 to 2 1/2 hours for it. We spent four hours there and easily could have spent two more, there are still sections we never got to and parts we raced through. There was a lot of history on Hitler's rise that I didn't know and the emotional impact of the rest of the exhibits, photos and stories took me by surprise. We even got to hear a survivor give a talk while we were there. The next day we checked out the Newseum - which again was much more fun than expected. We spent four hours there and it would have been longer but they were closing. There was a big 9/11 section and we got to watch an interview with two photographers who worked that day, including the guy who took the famous shot of the firemen raising the flag at ground zero. Between 9/11 and the Holocaust it was a much more emotional weekend than I would have figured for visiting friends. I recommend both museums highly - and plan on spending the whole day at each to really experience it all. Once again proving our compatibility, Lori and I breezed through the entire National Gallery of Art in just a couple hours.

Weekend in London

Yesterday we got back home from a weekend getaway to London, England and it was a blast. Lori visited London about 20 years ago, but I had never been and didn't really care to. I always figured I'd get to Europe when I was too old and tired to enjoy the adventure trips. But everything we did and saw was so much more fun and interesting than I ever expected. We spent two days bopping around London on double decker buses seeing all the traditional sights of Big Ben, Parliament, Buckingham Palace and more. Then we explored the tourist stops like The London Dungeon (actually a haunted house type of attraction with a couple thrill rides), Tower of London (much bigger and more interesting than I expected with many tales of torture and execution - also the home of The Crown Jewels which were very cool to see), The London Eye, Madam Tussauds Wax Museum (way more fun than expected. I didn't know you could get up close and personal with all the figures) - it was all much more fun than I thought it would be. Our third and final day we took a full day bus tour out to Windsor Castle (like the Tower of London - this was much bigger and more interesting than I dared expect. Rooms full of the spoils of the English Empire), Stonehenge (quite cool to be visiting this so soon after being on Easter Island - two of the most bizarre places in the world) and Bath (home of some ancient Roman bath houses and just a very cool town full of 18th century buildings). We could have easily spent a week in London and not been bored, there are still so many cool old places and museums we didn't get to, not to mention a countless number of pubs we didn't have time to frequent. I was really impressed by the history, the architecture and the good humor of all the English folks we met. All the Londoners were much more outgoing and funny than I expected, and of course they all loved Larry The Lizard (who by the way seems to have a cameo in the movie "Michael Clayton"). And even though everyone was bundled up, the temperature was a bit warmer in merry Ol' England than it was back here in New England. Will certainly have to visit again someday. More pictures coming soon.

Back from Easter Island

The transition from the thrills and adventure of Patagonia to the relaxation and tropical paradise of Easter Island took some getting used to, but we had a blast during our time on Ilsa de Pascua or Rapa Nui. There were a lot fewer American tourists on Easter Island than in Patagonia but everyone we met, from Rapanui natives to tourists from Japan, Europe, New Zealand, Chile and more, were all extremely friendly and it was great fun to witness Larry the Lizard fever sweep the island. We learned tons about the Moai (the giant stone statues) and saw hundreds in various states of construction, destruction and restoration. The society that carved them was around for a couple thousand years, but nobody is still sure how they moved them from the quarry where they were crafted (they weighed 75 - 86 tons each) or how they mounted them once they arrived at the Ahu (ceremonial platform). The period of the Moai ended with tribal warfare and the toppling of each clan's Moai.

Coming home to the below freezing temperatures and 2+ feet of snow was quite a shock. Once I get through the Patriots - Dolphins football game Sunday (when the Pats go 15 - 0) and Christmas I'll get going on posting the best photos of the nearly 800 we took.

We Survived the Futaleufu

Greetings All,
We are sitting here in Puerto Montt Chile after spending a week in Patagonia braving the Class 5 rapids of the mighty Futaleufu river, hiking, rock climbing and rappelling. This was by far our most adventurous and downright frightening trip. We were part of a group of just seven people and were definitely the oldest and most out of shape. The weather bounced between cold, hard rain and beautiful sunny days with temperatures ranging from low 50´s to high 70´s with the sun rising at 5am and setting at 10pm. They say in Patagonia you can experience all four seasons on any given day. Looking back everything was fun, exciting and rather simple - but during the hype, the safety talks, the warnings, and seeing other people opt out of the Class 5 rapids, the week started off quite scary. I was front position left side and setting the stroke in our boat and after feeling like I barely survived a 300´ swim test in the river on a very dark, windy, cold, rainy day I had never been more terrified on vacation and questioned how much rafting I was going to do. After a sleepless night of rafting and drowning dreams, I decided screw it - Larry The Lizard was at my side saying ¨Go sick or go home¨ and there was no way to get home so I went sick.
Despite the doom and gloom and ¨high swim potential¨ we never had a swimmer from our raft, Lori survived her first rock climbing experience, and the 300´ rappel we did was a blast. I´m very bruised and battered with a sprained left wrist and a blown right hamstring resulting from a poorly executed 45´ cliff jump (a first for me). The scenery has been breathtakingly beautiful and all the people we've met have been awesome. We are looking forward to chilling out with the giant heads of Easter Island. We arrive there tomorrow. So Merry Christmas and Happy Easter to all and Go Patriots!!!

The Next Adventure: Chile

Later this week we will jet off to Patagonia, Chile for a white water rafting trip on the Futaleufu River (affectionately known as The Fu) - complete with Class 5 rapids which is as insane as rapids get and something we've only seen from afar until now. The trip is with Earth River who have a very cool interactive web site that lets you see video clips and photos from many different spots of the trip. I just posted the itinerary so you can read about some of the totally sick things in store for us. After surviving Patagonia we fly another 6 hours into the Pacific to visit Easter Island - this is the most remote inhabited place on earth and home to the giant head monuments (Moai). This is a trip I've dreamed of since I was a kid and saw a comic book where the Moai pulled themselves out of the ground and started running amok on people. Can't wait to see that! Also think photos of Larry The Lizard (who is of course accompanying us) on Easter Island will be just about the sickest Larry shot imaginable.

Happy Holidays!

Mohegan Sun

Friday, we went down to the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut for a night of gambling. I had never been there, in fact I don't think I've been to a casino in about 13 years. Normally, I'm too cheap to enjoy gambling, but we had a real good time and will return. Played craps for a couple hours, thanks to the help of other players and the dealers, since we didn't really know the game at all. Then we took in some poker and slots and ended the night with a few more hours of craps. We left them most of the money we brought to play with - but that is what I expected. The only way I know when I'm done gambling is when my money's gone. At craps and on slots there were a few occasions when we had doubled and even tripled our money - but we just gave it right back playing something else.
One of the coolest things was that there was a live show going in the middle of the casino - some band called ScrapMetal was going to be playing in the Wolf Den, which you could see into from the surrounding gaming tables. I was kinda psyched, since that name sure sounded like it would be some sort of 80's Metal cover band. I was not disappointed. In fact these guys sounded so good, I stepped away from the craps table for a closer look and realized this wasn't just a cover band - these were some real people from some 80's bands. ScrapMetal is a collection of Gunnar and Matthew Nelson (NELSON), Mark Slaughter (SLAUGHTER), Kelly Keagy (NIGHT RANGER), Eric Martin (MR. BIG), and Joe Lynn Turner (RAINBOW & DEEP PURPLE). I recognized all the songs except for what I assume was the Nelson stuff - I was never a fan of those twins. Marc Slaughter was the only one I instantly recognized, though as soon as Eric Martin and Joe Lyn Turner sang, I realized who they were too. Being serenaded by 80's leftovers made losing money much more fun.

Now we are just waiting on Super Bowl 41 1/2 - Patriots vs Colts!

Six Flags - Great Adventure

Hey, we're checking in from Jackson, New Jersey, where we arrived last night for a few days of thrills at Six Flags. One of my favorite sights in the world is driving to a new theme park and slowly seeing the steel tracks of mega-coasters rise above the treeline, like some sick futuristic city. So far we've already been on Kingda Ka - the world's tallest (458') and fastest (128 mph) roller coaster - 3 times! Our first time on it, was in front row at night. Totally SICK being blasted straight into pitch black. The coaster tracks aren't lit up at all and it is an amazing ride. We waited close to 90 minutes for an 18 SECOND ride, but then got on it again for the final two rides of the night - as the park was closing they just let us stay on the ride as they sent it for it's final run. We were in the back row for those runs - a completely different experience. Kingda Ka is the same style as Top Thrill Dragster, a coaster at Cedar Point in Ohio that was closed when we were there a couple years ago, so it was awesome to find it here. Check out some sick shots of Kingda Ka or experience the view from the front row.

Another new coaster here is El Toro - a massive wooden coaster that is easily the BEST wooden roller coaster I've ever been on. A very long and smooth ride. Here are some shots of El Toro. Other great rides so far - Superman: Ultimate Flight, is a very cool steel coaster you ride laying on your stomach, so you feel like you are really flying around. Very cool. So far the only ride I consider disappointing is the Great American Scream Machine. It is a long, 7 loop, steel coaster but is just uncomfortable as hell - I say tear it down and stop giving people headaches. Though with two more full days here, I'm sure I'll be sporting a concussion even I don't go on Scream Machine again.

Weekend in New Hampshire

We spent the weekend up in Wolfeboro NH, courtesy of Lori's brother Mike and his wife Nancy, and made our first ever attempts at water skiing. I managed to get up on my skis a couple times, but then went straight back down - creating a new sport of water dragging. After five attempts, I gave up and let Lori have a crack. She tried it twice before hurting her hip which had been injured during her marathon training. Thus ends our water skiing careers.

Later we went tubing instead - much more my skill level. Lay on an inner tube, get pulled all around the lake and hold on for your life. That I can do. At least I could until the third consecutive time I caught air going over the wake and somehow punched myself in the face. I wasn't sure if I had really hit myself or if I was so out of control I landed on the rope handle or something - so I bailed out at that point to check out my fat lip. Mike and I tried to get Lori up into the tube for her ride, but that didn't work so well. Believing my life preserver was all powerful, I tried to lift her up into the tube which of course just shoved me under water, after 15 minutes of choking and gagging we headed back to the cabin for a long night of drinking and games with about 16 people, 3 dogs and 3 kids.

Threw Homer into the lake a couple times to try and prove to him that he could swim, but he is not a fan of the water. Homie just bolted for the shore as quick as could. He even stole toys from Bogie - Mike's retriever who loves going into the water - in an effort to stop Bogie from going back into the lake. It was like Homer thought he was saving Bogie's life by keeping him out of the water.

West Coast

Spent last week in California for work and had the chance to run around San Francisco a bit with Larry The Lizard. Larry has been there many times, but there is very little photographic evidence. Even had a mini PlasticVille reunion as we spent some time with Leominster refugees Matt and Maribeth.

NYC

My brother-in-law and his kids are still in town visiting from Oregon, so yesterday we rented a mini van and hit New York City to play tourist for the day. It was Me, Lori, her brother Stu, brother Bruce and his kids Phil, Erica and Alex. Larry The Lizard came along to make the adventure complete. It was fun running around Manhattan hitting the traditional tourist spots like Times Square, Broadway, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center... we even visited a couple things that I hadn't seen before. We all went to the top of Rockefeller Plaza (Top of The Rock) where there are three levels of observation decks. Even on a foggy day there were some very cool views. Plus the elevators there had glass roofs and illuminated elevator shafts for a unique trip up 67 stories. Then we took the subway to Battery Park to get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty and visit Ground Zero - a most uncool view, but an important spot to see to say the least. View photos here.

Slowly Recovering

Hard to believe, but the sun actually came out late yesterday afternoon here in Massachusetts. We hadn't seen it since getting home from Peru and I'm told it had been raining since last Monday. The rain has stopped, but last night our water damage expanded rapidly. Nothing major, the only obvious loss is a lot of wall-to-wall carpeting, but the water is still seeping in. Seeing life along the Amazon, where the river can rise and fall up to 45 feet each year, was perfect timing before this New England flooding. Reminds me how fortunate we are to only have to deal with soggy carpeting.

I'm finally caught up with 24, Lost, Amazing Race, and Survivor. I've almost made it through my 1,000+ emails and still have a pile of unread mail. Can't believe how many people still use snail mail.

Larry The Lizard's Peruvian Adventure is now posted and more will be added on this site later this week. Somehow Larry always gets his pictures posted before I manage to. If you are just starved for entertainment, I've uploaded all 1,133 pictures to Shutterfly. Shared albums can't hold more than 250 pictures - so there are a few albums you can visit:
Amazon #1 (250 Pictures)
Amazon #2 (250 Pictures)
Amazon #3 (133 Pictures)
Machu Picchu (250 pictures)
Cusco (239 Pictures)

Back From Peru

A dozen boat rides, nine flights, eight hotels, five bus rides, and two train trips later - we're back home after two weeks in Peru. Our time spent high up in the Andes after the Amazon was sick. Real sick. Like altitude sickness kind of sick.

The first night and morning was gross. After landing in Cuzco, Peru (11,300 feet above sea level - twice that of Denver Colorado), it took a few hours for the headaches to start. They got progressively worse until it was a 24 hour migraine with nausea, loopiness and shortness of breath. It felt like the worst hangover ever and we were worried this was how we'd feel for the rest of our trip. We decided not to pursue a white water trip we had been considering - good choice because the river looked lame as hell in the parts they let tourists raft. It all subsided on the early morning train ride to Machu Picchu, which is 2,000 feet lower than Cuzco. That was enough to let us acclimate to the altitude and we felt fine for the rest of the trip. We just had to get used to the shortness of breath and Lori being loopier than normal.

We had two days at Machu Picchu, the first day was bright and sunny and the second was cool and misty. It was great to experience it under both conditions and being able to hang out without the masses of tourists who take the train/bus trip just for the day. We did three different hikes around the site then returned to Cuzco for a couple days on our own.

Cuzco is a really cool city, all the buildings are built on 500 year old Inca foundations. The combination of Inca, Spanish and modern architecture is pretty wild and the area is full of tourists from all around the world, with American definitely in the minority. We did find the best Pisco Sours and I even got to dine on a fine roasted guinea pig. Mmm... that guy was cute and delicious.

Many more details and photos will be posted eventually. Peru has a ton more things to do and is definitely on our travel list for a return trip someday.