About housing in Marrakesh: pay close attention to this item. Choose to stay either in Medina – or outside it – the Ville Nouvelle (new city), but in modern neighborhoods, like Gueliz and Hivernage.
Walking around Casa Rosada I found this statue of Cristovão Colombo. While front side in Praça de Maio was crowded with tourists, the backyards in Parque Cólon was empty displaying a good view to appreciate architecture details besides the monument donated to Argentinians by Italy.
When I was in Rio de Janeiro I visited Parque das Ruínas, located in one of the most beautiful place of Santa Teresa neighborhood. Over there is one of the best views in Rio mainly from downtown and Pão de Açúcar. It’s a very interesting place worth visiting.
Torres del Paine National Park, in the province of Ultima Esperanza, is one of the most beautiful places in South America. And unanimity among travelers as one of the most beautiful in the world; 245 thousand declared World Biosphere Reserve by Unesco in 1978, the year I was born. Maybe that is why I am so fascinated about this place. The paradise for walkers has 200 km of trails, mountains impressively sculpted in the glacial period, 8 lakes with different shades of blue and green that look like paintings and a typical fauna. A place where everyone helps preserving, there is no litter and the only human traces are the footprints.
Shanghai is the true heart of China, being the biggest and most developed city of the Asian giant with more than 23 million people. Small and irrelevant until the Opium War, Shanghai has been through ups and downs under Chinese history until 1990, when it started to reborn from the ashes. This is one of the post card pictures of the city and most famous views showing the neighborhood of Pudong which 20 years ago was nothing but rural undeveloped area. Today there’s the tallest China’s skyscraper, and the 3rd in the whole world. Shanghai reflects the speed and the intensity of the undergoing changes in Chinese society.
There are many fountains and sources scattered throughout Guadalajara. This one is in front of Hospício Cabañas, near downtown. The evening lights with the water movement gave it a special charm.
Remembering one of the magical moments of Torres del Paine… I woke up with the early morning lighting my refugio’s room. I was half asleep and lazy to get up when I looked through window and realized that the sky was clean enough to see the Towers. The sun had not rise yet, but those shades of pink and red was a signal of good pictures. I took my camera, my jacket and run out without even washing my face. I almost freeze but the spectacle worth it.
After more than three hours in a bus from Beijing, we finally made it to the part of the Great Wall known as Jinshanling – accounted as one of the most beautiful parts. To be there, face to face with one of humankind’s greatest creations is priceless. Since you’re kid you must have heard about the Great Wall, movies have shown her, even cartoons, and, even though it can’t be seen from space, its engineering and ambition climb steep mountains and slopes, presenting herself in a good shape even after thousands of years under nature’s actions and other sort of weather influences.
One of the most authentic experiences I had in Guatemala happened in San Andrés Itzapa, a small city around Antigua. I was with my Spanish teacher Francisco and we took a “chicken bus” to a place known by the devotion of San Simón, a kind of pagan saint beloved by Guatemalans. The ceremony was an excellent opportunity to see the religious syncretism so strong in Latin America. Catholic elements such rosaries and candles mix with indigenous religion represented by incenses and offers.
One of the most inhospitable places I have ever been to, Cabo Polonio sits on the tip of a moon-sliver shaped peninsula that extends into the Atlantic Ocean. The only access is by walking through the dunes or 4×4 vehicles. There is an important light house and a natural reserve of sea lions, the biggest in the world.