To me, the Nordic has always been associated with these gloomy, bearded, taciturn types, the product of the harsh environment they live in, and the endless winters spent in turf houses over dark mythology tales.
So, my expectations of Iceland – a borderline uninhabitable rock somewhere near the Arctic Circle – and its inhabitants – descendants of a folk hooked on animal skins and horned headgear – were that of a tough nation living in perfect sync with the extreme topography of their land.
A good book is like a good trip, both literally and metaphorically speaking. It makes you absent-minded (did Jesus really marry Mary Magdalene, and if he did, is all the other stuff in the Da Vinci Code true, too?!), blank-eyed (Jon Snow is dead and me with him!), emotional (Bridge, you’re not the only gordita out there trying to get a boyfriend!), psyched-out (Anastasia, a butt plug, seriously?!) and unresponsive (stop touching me – Katniss is about to eat the poisonous berries!).
This post I’m writing is about specific films shot in South America and related to the continent’s life, culture or history; films nominated or actually winning international awards, films that couldn’t be more different from the average mainstream production. So, if you’re hung on such cinematographic pearls like The Human Centipede, The Flintstones or Antman vs. Spiderman 7, read no more – this is not where you should be.
I’m listening to the German girl, sitting next to me talk about her travel plans.
“I’m going to Peru for two weeks and then to Bolivia,” says the plain-looking, skinny backpacker in baggy pants and a pair of trekking boots. “Nein, no tour – I’m going by myself!”
By herself?! To countries most people can’t even place on a map?!
Since when are Germans so spontaneous?!
A two-foot-wide, pure-gold crescent headdress; a necklace of twenty giant gold and silver peanuts; another necklace of golden spiders with human faces
– all those and another 451 highly decorated objects in gold, silver, coper, textile and feather were found in one of 14 Moche warrior priest tombs in what’s the richest archaeological discovery in the Western Hemisphere ever.
The first target of the attack is Atahualpa. The Spanish lunge forward, severing the hands and arms of the attendants that carry Atahualpa’s palanquin. Ignoring their wounds, the attendants use their stumps or remaining hands to hold it up until several are killed.
I’ve never been a big friend of street food; actually, food as such has never really been on my mind – traveling was, and meeting new people, seeing faraway places and falling for mysterious strangers in 3 days.
Honolulu is the airport everybody flies in when coming to Hawaii.
Here is what’s confusing about it – the largest of the 8 main Hawaiian Islands is the Big Island, but Honolulu, the state capital and biggest city, is located on Oahu, the 3rd largest.
Sure, it isn’t the shortest flight in the world (like the bizarre 90-second flight between Westray and Papa Westray in the Orkneys), but it comes close – the plane doesn’t even put the wheels up during the 20 minutes between the Honolulu and Kahului airports!
Called the ‘Garden Isle,’ Kauai has – just like the other Hawaiian Islands – a unique vibe and character. While Oahu is more cosmopolitan and friendly (yet beautiful as well), and Maui a bit overrated and touristy (yet very scenic), Kauai is more of an ‘Eden,’ unspoiled and underrated, with a chiller, ‘local’ vibe to it.