So Good to Be Home!!!!

Several surprises greeted me at home. First, the Kitties were beside themselves with joy that I had returned. One of them almost woke up from her nap! Secondly I discovered that just outside of my condo balcony, the the first ever beach marathon (26.2 miles) was being held to raise money for breast cancer. Thousands of people from all over the world were participating and made it a huge success.
I spent a lot of the day trying to find out who had won the Super Bowl and that evening a full moon greeted me. All in all, a nice welcome home.
The South American trip is over but I plan to continue the blog, adding bits from time to time about travelling in general. Also, I still hope to visit Abu Simbel Egypt in October for the special sunrise ceremony and hopefully put together another trip around the world for the end of this year.
In closing, a quick note about this blog. Because everything I write is in reverse order and previous contents are listed by date, not title, I want to give a quick summary of what's in the blog, especially if someone is just tuning in.
Below is a travel summary and photos of my first visits to Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Argentina. Photo Albums of the South American trip can be found at;
http://picasaweb.google.com/ramblinme
After the South American trip entries are descriptions and photos of a trip I took around the world to Peru, Egypt, Russia, India, Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania, Bhutan, Tibet, China, and Hong Kong. Everywhere I travel I try to go to countries I haven't visited before, so much of the blog is a first timer's perspective.
I hope that you enjoy the blog and that you will continue to travel along with me.
Happy Trails

P.S.Curitiba, Brazil

Recently I received these gorgeous photos from Daniel Herthal. I met Daniel and his son on the train tour from Curitiba, Brazil to Morretes and he was kind enough to share his photos. Even though Daniel and son were tourists that day, he actually is the director of his own tour company. Here is contact information for him;
www.andritur.com.br or

andritur@andritur.com.br

Journey's End - Farewell South America

The beautiful city of Buenos Aires was the final stop on my trip to South America. The trip seemed to go by in a blur. Travelling back to Jacksonville Beach, Florida took almost 40 hours, partially due to my bad planning and partially because using frequent flyer miles puts you at the mercy of available seats and flights. Visiting Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, and Argentina for the first time was an extraordinary experience for me. Thank you for all the comments and encouragement you sent during the trip and for travelling along with me through this blog. Happy Trails....

Faded Glory-Buenos Aires Soccer Stadium Neighborhood

The beautiful old buildings surrounding the soccer stadium hint at the exquisite buildings and wealthy neighborhood that once existed there. There are some attempts to bring them back, but many look deserted and covered with graffiti.

Buenos Aires City Tour

A quick bus tour of the city gave a sample of the beauty and diversity of the city architecture. Top right is their famous soccer stadium and bottom left is the opera house, currently undergoing an extensive rennovation. Bottom right is a massive metal sculpture of a flower that actually opens and closes in response to the sun. With a multi-million dollar price tag, it is the most expensive sculpture in Argentina.