Tag Archives: churches
A Day of Reflection in Nagasaki, Japan
Our day of reflection takes us through cherry blossom-strewn, peaceful Nagasaki.Join us as we stroll through The Peace Garden with its towering Prayer Monument, wonder at the surviving statues of a church at ground zero of the atomic bomb, visit the epicenter and the Atomic Bomb Museum.
We’ll take you back to the day when the clocks forever stopped at 11:02… CONTINUE READING >>
We Had Our Heads in the Clouds in Lima, Peru
We had a BLAST in Lima!A whirlwind tour of downtown, an amazing cooking class, a visit to the most unusual gardens, a romantic stroll along the parks of the sea cliffs.
Oh, and we sailed high above the city in a paraglider… CONTINUE READING >>
Guayaquil, The Pearl of the Pacific
Join your GypsyNesters in Guayaquil, Ecuador!Discover the steep Cerro Santa Ana, a colorful, dynamic neighborhood of 444 steps with amazing sunset visits from the top.
Delight in the Parque de las Iguana where the reptiles were so thick that we had to be careful not to step on them.
And stroll the beautiful, romantic riverwalk – the Malecón… CONTINUE READING >>
I See Dead People in Buenos Aires
I love cemeteries. I know that sounds strange, but I do. Cemeteries spark my imagination — the lives lived, the history interred.That said, it is not often that we seek out a graveyard. Usually we stumble upon them hidden away.
Not the case with La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, it should be considered a must-see by any visitor to the… CONTINUE READING >>
Navel Gazing in Cusco, Peru
Dubbed the Navel of the World, Cusco is an amazing blend of the very-old and the not-as-old.Join your GypsyNesters as we see the sights (and sights) – see ancient ruins, a street festival with an ornery llama, crossing guards that threaten you with whips and the weirdest rendition of The Last Supper you’ll ever experience.
At over 11,000 feet above sea level, flying in takes steely reserve and handling the altitude takes native remedies… CONTINUE READING >>
Religious Procession in Cusco Peru – complete with fiesty llama!
The procession included bands, dancers…and very feisty llama, culminating with a huge likeness of… CONTINUE READING >>
The Key to Quito, Ecuador
What we THOUGHT was going to be a simple stopover on our way to The Galapagos Islands, turned out to be a gem of Colonial American history.Quito’s Colonial Center is perhaps the largest and best preserved historic center in the Americas, and was the first New World city to be declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO… CONTINUE READING >>
Quito, Ecuador in a Day!
Enter a church completely coated in gold, see the changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace, explore Quito’s unique food and take in a giant winged Virgin… CONTINUE READING >>
Dispatch 1, South America Live-Blog
Join us in Ecuador! Follow us as we visit Le Panecillo, where the Incas worshiped the sun, with amazing views of the city of Quito from 9,843 feet.Take a trip to the Equator (we’re feeling very centered), visit a church coated in gold, explore marketplaces.
And, of course, we’ll delve into the food and culture of Ecuador – GypsyNester style – on our way to The Galápagos… CONTINUE READING >>
Following the Freedom March in Alabama
It was a difficult few days for us as we were forced to confront thoughts and feelings that we would have much rather avoided. We addressed issues that many of us Americans would like to think have been completely resolved. But it seems to us that turning a blind eye is not the solution.The lesson we learned is that the light of day is best, because as much as this is fairly recent history, we were taken aback by how little we knew about the details. In Birmingham, the details are on display – front and center – and in Montgomery… CONTINUE READING >>
Going Goth in Barcelona
Join your GypsyNesters as we explore the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona!From the Human Statues of La Rambla to the deep dark interior of the Quarter to the sea, we find everything the Barri Gòtic has to offer. Music, ruins, street performers and protesters…this place has it all! CONTINUE READING >>
Exploring the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona
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Take a little walk through the beautiful Barri Gòtic! The music, art, architecture, romance and… CONTINUE READING >>
A Church Like No Other, Sagrada Familia
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Our first impression was definitely dominated by the enormous scale of the building, but on closer inspection, it’s the details that make this structure even more… CONTINUE READING >>
Barcelona’s Breathtaking (and Seuss-like) Basilica
Barcelona has many treasures, but one stood out to us above all the others, literally and figuratively, Sagrada Família.
The massive church is without a doubt the pinnacle of architect and designer Antoni Gaudí’s incredible career. And we do mean pinnacle. Huge spires rise into the sky over fifty stories high – and it’s not even finished yet… CONTINUE READING >>
A Church with a Forest Inside
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The style of Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is so fanciful that we felt like we had stepped into a Dr. Seuss… CONTINUE READING >>
The Quirky Cathedral San Lorenzo
We have an affinity for quirky architecture. The Cathedral San Lorenzo is as quirky as it gets.The facade, with the black and white layered stripes of marble and slate is typical of Genoa (or Genova to the Italians), was finished in 1312.
AND a bomb is housed… CONTINUE READING >>
Italy’s Largest Little-Known City
When we hear the name Genoa it harkens thoughts of dry salami. That’s soooo not what this city is all about.Our latest Italian adventure would open our eyes to an often overlooked region of Il Bel Paese (The Beautiful Country) — the Italian Riviera along the Ligurian Sea… CONTINUE READING >>
Rockin’ Out in Castelletto d’Orba, Italy
We’re pretty sure that rock & roll concerts on the steps of a cathedral housing the relics of a martyred saint is a uniquely Italian experience. With the exception of a few old ladies exiting Mass, and us, everyone seemed to think it was… CONTINUE READING >>Festival Day in Small Town Italy!
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We came to Castelletto d’Orba for Rassegna Dei Vini e Dei Sapori Dell’Alto Monferrato, which is the “Review of wines and… CONTINUE READING >>
Six Places That Will Scare the Snot Out of You
A church decorated with bones, a turn-of-the-century torture chamber, ghost lights in the-middle-of-nowhere Texas, a Voodoo Queen’s grave and a REALLY haunted hotel are among the scariest things we’ve seen out on the road. Click in if you dare… CONTINUE READING >>The Sound of Salzburg
Salzburg, Austria. Home of Mozart and The Sound of Music.Join your GypsyNesters as we sample the sight and sounds of this beautiful city, discover the Reckturm Torture Tower, Heart & Lung Stew and the street performers that keep Salzburg’s musical heart beating… CONTINUE READING >>
Our Quaint Bohemian Village
Klatovy, Czech Republic, a quaint Bohemian village, was just what we were looking for after the hustle and bustle of Prague. We found a rare Baroque Pharmacy (with leeches!), ate fried pork neck, saw a weirdly adult looking “baby Jesus” and were introduced to Sgraffiti, an amazing way of decorating buildings… CONTINUE READING >>
Bohemian Wrap-sody
A fairytale day in Prague – join your GypsyNesters as we visit a castle, wake up in a Fine Communist Hotel, visit a king from a Christmas Carol, ponder the Dark Ages, watch soldiers change their guard and, best of all, never spend a koruna (except on traditional street food and a subway ride). Edibles spinning over an open fire was cooking method of… CONTINUE READING >>
Czech Out Kutná Hora!
Drawn to this part of the Czech Republic – like a prepubescent girl to a Justin Bieber concert – by the legend of a church filled with decorative bones, we were served up an unexpected treat when we stayed in the nearby town of Kutná Hora.In a bygone era, Kutná Hora rivaled Prague as the main city of Bohemia, the traditional name for the western half of Czech, and several kings… CONTINUE READING >>
St. Barbara’s Cathedral, Kutná Hora
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St. Barbara’s Cathedral dominates Kutná Hora from a hill overlooking the city. A miner’s chapel had occupied the site for nearly… CONTINUE READING >>
The Macabre Human Bone Church of Sedlec, Czech Republic
It would be impossible for anyone to expect what we found in the little town of Sedlec. An ancient chapel that came with a very disturbing secret. It had been used as an ossuary, or mass burial site. Strange, yet not completely out of the ordinary. But inside the walls of this seemingly peaceful little church is an art form so ghastly, it must be seen to be believed.The creepy centerpiece of this macabre masterpiece, a massive chandelier containing at least one of every bone in the human body. It’s hard to say how long we stood staring, time seemed to come to a grinding halt insidethe tomb.
What would make someone conceive of such a grizzly… CONTINUE READING >>
