NEW YORK AT EASTER

Every so often I like to have a friend join me on my blog, to speak about their travels. Today I introduce you to Jay, a prolific traveler and all round top guy. This was his experience in New York in Easter. Enjoy!
                                                        

No matter where you're going in New York, its a must to start every day with a big cup filled with cardboard coffee and a bagel. Preferably cream cheese with bacon and egg. Then you look for a Starbucks to use their free WiFi from the street and update the family.

Then it's time to go for that tourists walk and head straight down Fifth Avenue. Although it's assumed this is the main avenue, New Yorkers feel more comfortable in the parallel Madison Ave. Especially those with money.

The day that I was prepared to go on Sunday March 31, Easter Day, the day that cut Fifth Avenue between Calles 49 and 57 to make way for a parade of hats. The official name of this great event is Easter Bonnet Festival.

Hats parade in New York

Dolled up Dogs in The Hats parade in New York

I backed down Fifth Avenue passing in front of Tiffany's, Abercrombie and other famous shops and up to the St Patrick's Cathedral. It's between the cathedral and the Rockefeller Center where the most crazy hats congregate. And I wanted to be among them.

Wild dinosaurs in Central Park
If you've have T. rex like leg strength, its best to explore the city by foot. No need to catch the subway, just power walk it with (if you took my advice) a good deal of New York coffee keeping you perky. So I decided to take advantage of the sunny day to go in the direction of Central Park Natural History Museum is less than 3 km. Along the way I had to stop to smile at people who greeted me. My dinosaur hat (alligator some said) caused quite a sensation. Have to say I was feeling quite pleased with myself. 

Going a little crazy with the hats.

At this time you can still enjoy the ice rink in Central Park. I devoured a pretzel while watching people skate, then headed to Strawberry Fields, a mosaic in honor of John Lennon which is also found in Central Park. I must have been fitting into the mad hatter madness quite well, because some other tourists, French, asked me in English if they were near the Dakota building. For a crazy moment I thought of answering them with a roar, but decided to be good. I confirmed that this was indeed the building where John Lennon lived. The building is horrendously noisy, and I did not know why anyone would want to live there.

Despite my face, all was going well.

                                                                 Meeting of dinosaurs

If you like good movies, and you've seen "Night at the Museum" starring Ben Stiller, at least three times, then this visit is a must. I admit I've not actually watched the movie myself, but I saw the trailer where dinosaurs came alive, and I knew the story was set in the American Museum of Natural History. So was I going to go...err, do turtles have shells?

The recommended entry is $ 20 or $ 25, I'm not quite sure, but you can enter whatever you want to pay. You could pay $3 if you like, and you will not get a odd ball stare if you do. 


The museum is wonder from the start. Outside it is great, but inside it is much more. So plan what you want to see and go straight, because before you know it you've been wandering around and a few hours have already passed. And everything inside is impressive. It's full of animals (not sure if they are really stuffed animals or just models). 

There are several rooms dedicated to dinosaurs and took the opportunity to give me some pictures with them. Some were in better condition than me!

The Dinosaurs showing me up.

Extra, Extra!

This route takes little more than half a day, so you have time to eat leisurely and enter a few shops to consume compulsively. If you're not a keen shopper, like me, you can take time when your companions are buying to talk to people. New Yorkers usually are very open and love to talk.

A Victoria's Secret security talked to me at length about his road trip to Las Vegas. He also told me that he loved paella and Valencia oranges. As all conversations between men, it led to football, so I put the dinosaur cap back on. The dinosaurs do not like football! 

ARGENTINA

Today we present the Argentina experience through a close traveler friend of mine. 

This comes from Paul on, Argentina inside, the vast Patagonia. 
The experiences are not exhausted in which we include here.

I could give many more examples that are not reflected here: go fishing gilt on the Parana River, camping between the mountains of Cordoba next to a babbling river, crawling over rocks to get close to an elephant seal in the Caleta Valdes Peninsula, reflect you in the liquid crystal near Gutierrez Lake Bariloche, eating mutton curanto and in the light of the stars in the middle of Patagonian plateau, go see a football match on a pitch any any city of Argentina, or polo match in Buenos Aires, see sunrise over the horizon sitting on the sand of a beach in Mar del Plata, celebrate New Year on the beach, eat a choripán on a grill alongside a road either, discuss politics on a neighborhood bar, ravioli or gnocchi Sunday 29th with friends ...

These are some of my friends experiences that I bring today. I hope anyone reading this post, some day, may be tempted to live them in person.

NEW YORK NEW YORK

When you organize a trip to New York surely it includes a wide range of activities and visits. Because New York is has almost everything, or at least that's how it seems. What you learn just by walking down the street, is its cultural institutions.
For New York is best at giving you a big dose of whatever you seek. Want a medieval monastery? You got it. Want breathtaking views? You got it, you want to relive a movie? You can. Want mythical visits? There are here. The most varied cuisine. Shopping for all budgets. Nature and architecture. Luxury and street art. Monuments and landscapes.

And if art attracts you, New York is your place.
Sometimes I wonder: What museum would I recommend? And while New York has many (many) large, medium and small museums, I have a special fondness for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I have visited there many times and never get tired of it.



From these visits, including break I did last October during a short trip to New York, I will leave these tips that I hope will help to organize your own experience.
* ... Go early or late. The Museum is open from 10 to 17.30 hours (Friday and Saturday until 21.00 pm) its recommend being there when the doors open. The bulk of visitors come to mid-morning and early afternoon. Some days, especially in spring and summer, there are so many people it can be overwhelming. But go first thing you'll have more space and time to enjoy the art work. And, whether it's early morning, and the afternoon waiting for the sunset, you'll have two great moments .


Visit the terrace. As you can see in the pictures from the gallery that accompanies this post, from the terrace you have the whole Central Park at your feet. And behind the green, the profiles of the buildings in Midtown are picture perfect. It is not easy: it crosses the halls of African art, modern art then, and eventually find an elevator that goes up to the 5th floor where access to the terrace (open from May to October). The terrace shaded small bar and seating area are great to enjoy the scenery. You can stay as long as you want and ...

* Free or almost. The "official" cost of entry to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is $ 25 per person. It is a value "suggested" by law as public museums may not necessarily charge a certain amount. What to do? Simply, when you walk through the imposing main hall and you approach the counter box office, you give your credit card and say, "five dollars" that's it. Nobody will ask for an explanations, nor pull a face. You are simply using your right to pay what you consider fair. They will give you the receipt and a sticker you with MET on the shirt and on. 

The entrance to the MET entitles you to also visit The Cloisters, a magnificent set up with several pieces of medieval European monasteries and cloisters, reconstructed in the heart of New York. You can read his story (and see some videos of the work).




Follow your taste.  To see 'everything is virtually impossible. There will be so much that you could not see it all if you spent a whole week inside its walls. You will find an impressive collection of religious carvings. But, in my opinion, you should not miss:

Egyptian Art galleries. You run out of words to describe it. The Mastaba of Perneb built 4300 years ago and bought the Egyptian government in 1913. The Temple of Dendur, gift from Egypt to the United States in 1968, for his collaboration to save the monuments of Abu Simbel. The room where it is located has a glass wall overlooking Central Park. It is the ideal place to sit, watch the Egyptian temple and reflect on the passage of time and the immortality of art.

The Charles Engelhard Court not particularly impressed me for its collection (American classical sculpture), but for its monumentality and space. Another good place to kill time watching the people go by.

Columbian Art rooms are essential. It really is an impressive collection that rarely able to see gathered in one place.


The same could be said of going to see the African Art, but by its cultural relevance and hermetic meaning. 



Of course you have the painting rooms where you will meet Goya, Rembrandt, El Greco and others. Of course worth a visit. And if you left a little bit, I recommend you stick your room to 165 and you'll hit a Roman house in Pompeii as it was up to a minute before the Vesuvius began to throw ashes in the year 79 BC.

* Re walking. As a final tip, I recommend you walk back to Midtown. Remember that the Metropolitan's on Fifth Avenue, in one side of Central Park. You can return winding through the park or along the sidewalk to the south. A curious and slow walk where you will discover one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in the Big Apple, will pass in front of the Central Park Zoo (can spy on goats and poultry) and reach the end of the park to bump the Apple Store or play around in Fao Schwartz.

From there, you will have a short walk to get to your hotel and end a nearly perfect day. You're left to organize the rest of your day in New York. Although perhaps later you in any other idea for this too. For now I suggest you take advantage when you find a cheap flight to New York and you launch to visit the Big Apple. You will not regret.

HAITI - FOLK SONG

These were the photos by Richie Thomassen, shot while he was there. Enjoy!

Wongolo-Creole

wangol o' ou ale
ki le ou a vini wem anko? ou ale 
wangol o' ou ale
ki le ou a vini wem anko? ou ale
ki le ou a vini wem anko? 
peyi-a chanje,
ki le ou a viniwem anko?
peyi-a chanje,
ki le ou a vini (or pase) wem anko, ou ale.

Wongolo - English

Wangolo (could refer to Angola/Kongolese ancestor)
Wangolo, you're leaving,
when will you come and see me again.
When will you come and see me again?
The country is changing, (or our situation is changing)
When will you come back and see me again ?

TRAVELLING TO JAMAICA

Jamaica! Beaches, reggae, crystalline waters. These are the ideas we have when we thin of Jamaica, but it is all that and much more. Lying by the turquoise Caribbean waters, festooned with golden beaches, and marked by steep hills carpeted with green islands, Jamaica is a slice of paradise we can all dream of.

Here I am going to show you ten things to do in Jamaica, so you can discover the great things about this glorious Island, along with everything in between. 

1) Music: The moment you step into Jamaica, the whole Island is a musical experience. While we tend to think of Jamaican reggae music as a seriers of percussions and various local rhythms, it is infused all around you. In women walking in the rhythm of the lively talk, hanging around radios volume bars of the houses, bicycle handlebars or a bag on the sand. And of course, in countless Jamaican music festivals there throughout the year.

2) Sunset from Rick's Cafe. This bar is known for its location more than the quality of their service, but has become the place to be to see and be seen. On a cliff on the coast of Negril, dusk has two main attractions here: the stunning views over the sea from the height and spontaneous show of divers who are thrown into the sea from this height in front of the cafe terrace. And I put "spontaneous" in quotes because here in Jamaica everything runs on dollars.




3) Bobsleigh in Jamaica? Surely some of you remember, to the amazement of the world, that the (2010) Olympic Winter Games in Calgary involved a Jamaican bobsleigh team, a discipline that basically needs ... snow, cold, something far removed from the reality of this tropical island. However, nowadays it is possible that the traveler can navigate the ice, in a bobsleigh adapted to the dense vegetation of the rainforest jamaicana. This variant scrolls in cars like you're on the ice, but among the treetops. Here they are called bobsled.





4) Alive with the goat curry. You can not visit Jamaica and go home without trying this powerfully tasty dish. This is an explosion of flavour - and heat, in your mouth. Based on Caribbean peppers that scale up to 350,000 points on the Scoville scale, this is also made with jalapeno and coconut milk. (If you like to try the local cuisine wherever you go, check out these recommendations.)



5) Dunn's River are well known and is an unavoidable tourist spot on the island. The waterfalls are on rocks, the gushing water is the backdrop as you discover the green dense tropical environment. However, it should be noted that if you do not wear good shoes, you are likely to come home with a couple of huge purple bruises on your legs (rather than flip-flops or sandals, the best are good shoes) from the rocky terrain. Or that you bring a very big towel because despite the tropical heat, the shade of the trees makes the water not as hot as you would think, in fact its downright cold. Another tip: go early in the morning, Monday through Thursday is the best. 

6) Visit a coffee farm in the Blue Mountains. While you're in the golden sands of the Jamaican beaches, you forget that a few kilometers away there is another reality. At about 1,000 meters above Kingston, you can get into a landscape of thick fog, where the sun filters through the coffee fields and the air smells of damp earth round. That moisture and heat prevailing make the fog denser, it is this that inspired a poem and a song by Bob Marley (Natural Mystic).

7) Dinner at The Caves. On a cliff, rather, within a cliff, you will find the caves restaurant which overlooks the sea. And as the night draws in, the candles are lit on the tables and the waiters coming out of the bowels of the mountain almost magically, they serve the champagne to accompany the evening with a toast.

8) Jamaica has over 1,000 caves beneath its green surface. Many of them can be visited to see stalactites, stalagmites, rock formations, caves and even a subterranean lake. On the north coast, for example you can visit the Green Grotto Caves is one of the most accessible for beginners, but there are some that are a challenge for both experienced professional and amateur cavers.

9) the Route du Rhum. Just as the coffee farms have the charm of the natural environment, rum factories introduce us to the other side of Jamaican culture. The rum is living with a long tradition in Jamaica, and his producers hold the secret of the drafting process.



10) No trip to Jamaica is complete without lounging on its beaches and ... diving. No need to be an expert, because with a simple snorkel can enjoy the marine life in the calm waters of the north coast. Coral reefs populated by sponges, with a varied fauna and a wealth of underwater landscape. For the more experienced, diving among underwater caves and reefs, following the vertical wall falling to 50 meters deep.

And also, Jamaica holds some places and activities that, following my experience, are best avoided.

Scotchie's. Surely if you ask for a place to eat, they will send to this bar-restaurant-terrace in Montego Bay. Prepared as sprue and feeder American hordes of colorful shirts and red faces, you would find here a hyper spicy food menu and a very extensive menu of alcoholic drinks at exorbitant prices. Do not fall for the lie of "local food restaurant".


Kingston is a beautiful city to know but do not try to catch me the night wandering the streets. We know that some places change much between day and night. And this is one of them. Best return early to the hotel and watch the sunset in one of the places that I recommended above.


Be careful where you get to dance. They'll invite you to a party in the street, or a local hall. The pace is on the streets of Jamaica, but it may not be within you.

Last advice: Take a good travel insurance. Public health is not recommended and private is very expensive. Check prices and conditions and if you have any special needs or concerns include this as well. 

Anyway, these are just some ideas for you to enjoy Jamaica. I hope it helps. 

PERU - THE LADY OF CAO

The journey to the Lady of Cao is via a extensive coastline of northern Peru, over the Pacific to the desert and its dry plains and valleys filled with history and colorful villages. 



To visit the archaeological site of El Brujo, where the Lady of Cao is found or Chicama Trujillo. From Trujillo to the site, the Panamerican Highway is just over an hour and a half walking through unforgettable landscapes. Only 60 kilometers but the heavy traffic of trucks on a highway in each direction, plus the movement of people, animals and vehicles all over the road and when you cross the villages, does delay the things quite a bit.




From the window: solitary trees, mineral-laden mountains, altars at roadside, political posters, dirt streets, colorful mototaxis and improvised football matches on the ground.

As you ascend on the road map, you still face the valley of rivers that we can only guess to their presence as there is almost a total lack of water coursing through them. These valleys ancient cultures served to transport their goods and cultures from east to west Tawantisuyo Territory (and even before), until the arrival of the European man. That's why one could find products, fruits and objects of this Peruvian green area over seas. This communication was cut from the fifteenth century, prioritizing the north-south-north traffic.




We then headed to the Chicama River Valley.

Where is the Lady of Cao encuenta?

The mummy of the Señora de Cao is located in a specially built museum for exhibition in the same archaeological site where it was found in 2006 (at least that's the date that was announced the discovery).
The archaeological site called El Brujo and is just 2 or 3 kilometers from the town called Magdalena de Cao: there are just a handful of houses in the middle of the plain, between the road and the coast, there are no further urbanization around. However, the Town has already seen the impact of visitors to the site and ther are modest food stalls and some attempt at a souvenir shop, though most visitors will pass over this without stopping, it's worth checking out.

We found the archaeological site El Brujo near the right margin of the Chicama River, opposite the ocean. It includes a pair of huacas or pyramidal constructions with deep mystical meaning and the Temples of Huaca Cao Viejo and Cut, plus the remains prior to Spanish colonialism spread over a wide triangular desert area.


The name "El Brujo" is often a place chosen by teachers, healers and shamans of the various peoples who lived here to perform shamanic rituals.


On the same site or nearby, are the Huaca El Paredon (the Moche period), Huaca Prieta, keeping evidence mound residents of the pre-pottery (3000-1800 BC) period, ruins of a Catholic Church XVI century (circa 1580), built by the priests of the Dominican order to counter the worship of the ancient huacas (Cao Viejo pyramid, for example). It was one of the first Christian churches on the north coast of Peru. In addition, the remains of a small village, the same time as the church. Around this sprawling complex, you can only visit the museum and Huaca Cao Viejo.

In the photo of start we see the Huaca Cao Viejo, where he found the Lady of Cao, and ceilings marking the places where work continues and where the material is on display outdoors to protect it from the elements. The large awning covers what was once the ceremonial plaza of the pyramid. You can also climb the north side of the huaca to the top, to reach stays high levels (where the mummy was found) and the courtyard of the rituals.

The Cao Museum

Next to the entrance to the archaeological complex is a small group of two modern concrete buildings, newly constructed to house the Cao Museum, services, and shop. Access to the whole complex costs 10 soles for foreigners (about 2.70 euros approx).

At the entrance to the museum you have to leave bags, backpacks, cameras, mobile phones, etc. in the slogan that very kindly saved "to protect the integrity of Peruvian heritage" (?) this means that everything you see inside, you will recall with your eyes only ... and images are for sale in Store in books, calendars, postcards, posters, etc.

The Museum of Cao is very well organized and displayed in a dark environment with spot lighting that accentuates the drama of the place, but also helps to highlight the exhibits. Some of these are the traditional pottery of the Mochica culture, these belong to the complex and were made around the year 400 AD We can also see dioramas showing the life of the town center and a model of the Huaca Cao Viejo.



Of course, we all want to see the mummy of the Lady. And there she is, tiny but awesome. She is cover symbolic tattoos and all e exhibited in glass cases around.



Says the website of the Institute of Peruvian Archaeology: "The death of the ruler of the Moche culture, apparently from complications of childbirth, occurred around the year 400 AD, some 150 years after the heyday of the Lord of Sipan, who is considered the oldest known leader of this northern region of Peru. The mummified remains of women, 1.45 meters tall and between 20 and 25 years, were covered by necklaces of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, turquoise and quartz thirty nose ornaments of gold and silver tiaras and crowns gilded copper.

The body of the lady has tattoos of snakes, spiders, crocodiles, monkeys, leopards, bees and butterflies, still visible, representing the fertility of the land but could also indicate her skills as a fortune teller. The preservation of the body, as well as some clothing, was possible because she was anointed with mercury sulfate, a poisonous substance for bacteria that could have damaged the body. It is thought that prior to her demise, the Lady of Cao was working on something that had to do with politics or religion for their tattoos of spiders and snakes on her arms. "

I particularly remember one of the necklaces: a string of fine clothing chandeliers with gold thread weaving each leg, every body, every detail of the bugs some hooked to each other to form a slender arc reaching from the base of the neck to the middle of chest. Beautiful.

The Huaca Cao Viejo

Leaving the museum is a wooden walkway that leads to the huaca with a couple of posters where the importance of this place, and explains complex components. On one side of the walkway, you can see remnants Moche almost at ground level. Textile scraps swaying in the soft breeze from the sea. Amazing. 



You will reach the level of ceremonial plaza to see the profile of the pyramid, the remains of the Ceremonial Complex, the polychrome murals that decorate the different levels of the pyramid that makes up the huaca. By a staircase leads to the level where the ramp is and you descend to see the work of those walls, carefully decorated with the symbolic figures we see in other huacas. Prisoners, the dancers, the Aiapaec or Decapitador (with a tumi in one hand and a severed head in the other) in the different steps rows of human figures, side by side are shown.



Surrounding the pyramid, amounting to more private area reserved for the most powerful of the people. There, in a room with colorful walls it was found the mummy of the Lady of Cao, along with all their treasures. The walls of these rooms are much smaller, and they were made to accommodate a handful of people. From the top, a sort of balcony, priests and great people to watch the rituals that were developed in the Ceremonial Plaza, several levels below his feet stood.



To have an idea of ​​the dimension of the Huaca Cao, say you have 120 meters long by 100 meters wide and 31 meters high. Each of its stepped levels, rising nearly 3 meters above the previous. The Huaca was alive for more than 5 centuries, between the II and VIII AD, and at that time had 7 remodeling. These changes are happening every so often following an ancient Peruvian tradition: building on the old building a new, previously covering the previous (action called "ritual burial"), but strictly repeating the previous model.



In Huaca Cao 7 levels have been identified, rituals or 7, or 7 similar buildings burials, one above the other. It is one of the great wonders of the prehispanic architecture in the Americas, in this case of the Moche culture. The huacas still hold many secrets. Back to some others that I visited on my last trip to Peru.