Tag Archives: Native American
Are We at the End of Days? This Mayan Says…
Did the Mayans know something we don’t? Does their calendar predict our eminent doom?We had no idea where these ideas came from and, being lovers of this kind of stuff, set out on a quest for the truth.
We even went as far as traveling to the ancient and mysterious ruins at Tulum in Mexico to ask a REAL Mayan (with a great sense of humor!) what the official scoop is. Here’s what we found:
In 1957… CONTINUE READING >>
Video – Is The World Really Going to End in 2012?
Is 2012 really the end of the world? We asked Carlos, a real Mayan, for his take on the… CONTINUE READING >>
Talkin’ Turkey: What Travel Taught Us About the First Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is upon us. Cue the pictures of cheery Pilgrims supping with the friendly natives and images of The Mayflower triumphantly landing at Plymouth Rock. Ah yes, all of that happy history we were taught as baby boomer children… and none of it is true.We were not on a quest for truth when we made our pilgrimage to Plymouth, Massachusetts, just taking in a little history, but once… CONTINUE READING >>
Northern (Ontario) Lights
Late summer in Northern Ontario has weather that humans were meant to live in.Warm, but not hot, during the days and cool, crisp nights. A perfect escape from the heat and humidity south of the border. Yes, that’s how Canadian’s refer to The United States.
Our mission north had a two-fold agenda, enjoy the climate, and finally find a… 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 >>
Discovering The Lost City of The Inca, Machu Picchu
When we stepped off The Expedition Train at Aguas Calientes we wasted no time, proceeding directly to the busses for the ride up to Machu Picchu.We did not stop to eat, did not check into our hotel, did not pass go, and did not collect two hundred dollars. We just climbed aboard our carriage for the harrowing trip up the side of a crazy-sheer… CONTINUE READING >>
Secrets of the Sacred Valley of the Incas
Anyone making their way to Machu Picchu must first traverse The Sacred Valley of the Incas (Valle Sagrado de los Incas), and we were no exception. But this was no tedious trek, it was a fascinating adventure in its own right.Join us as we visit the people, the food, the culture and the spectacular natural and ancient beauty of… CONTINUE READING >>
A Visit to a Weaving Cooperative in Peru
In the small town of Chincheros, Peru we got a first hand look at every step in the weaving process of the people of the Sacred Valley of the Incas.Join us as we learn about what goes into the dyes that create the brilliant colors (absolutely amazing and a wee bit off-putting!), the ingenious way the yarn is spun, and how the… CONTINUE READING >>
How Peruvian Rugs Are Made
We were invited to a weaving cooperative in the highlands of Peru in the village of Chincheros. You’ll never believe what is used… 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 >>
Dispatch 3, Machu Picchu & Peru, South America Live-Blog
Our live-blog continues through Peru with Machu Picchu, The Sacred Valley, the Ollantaytambo and Sacsayhuaman Ruins, Cusco, Aguas Calientes, Guayaquil and Lima.Stunning mountain-hugging train rides, a visit to a weaving cooperative, and the mysteries of the Incas… 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 >>
Livingston (Guatemala), I Presume
When we heard about Livingston, a tiny outpost on the Guatemalan coast with an intriguing history and only accessible by boat, we knew we had to go. So from the busy port of Puerto Barrios we sought passage north.After some difficulty trying to decipher the… CONTINUE READING >>
A Day in Livingston, Guatemala
When we heard about Livingston, a tiny outpost on the Guatemalan coast with an intriguing history and only accessible by boat, we knew… CONTINUE READING >>
The Ancient Mayan Ruins at Tulum, Mexico
Tulum is not the kind of place that even the most wandering GypsyNesting-type will stumble upon by accident. It’s not on the way to anywhere. But since we found ourselves on the Caribbean coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, what’s known as the Riviera Maya, we hopped on a bus to the ancient Mayan site.Our itinerary was set up to capture both… CONTINUE READING >>
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Ed(isto Island)
Our adventure through the Sea Islands continues with a mysterious “mound of mystery,” a secretive gathering of the world’s richest men and a home built by the Undersheriff of Herefordshire in 1743, basically out of trash. It still… CONTINUE READING >>Mound of Mystery
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Can a mountain be made by a group of people…by eating? For more on this bizarre occurrence: http://www.gypsynester.com/si.htm
Easy to be Hard
While we are firm believers in a “take it easy” philosophy, we have never been standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona before. Call us wacky, we were pretty stoked about it.
The town of Winslow is pretty stoked, as well.
They built a little monument to the lyric, complete with a mural of a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford slowing down to take a look at the statue named “Standing On The Corner.” It’s painted as if it is a reflection in a plate glass window and really works. The mood is captured.
Cool as it was to climb inside an Eagles song, we… CONTINUE READING >>
Cliff Dwelling on the Past
South Central Arizona is generously sprinkled with ancient ruins left behind by the Hohokam, Salado and Sinagua peoples as they moved from one place to another following game or the rains.We began our exploration at the big house, no, we didn’t wind up in the slammer, we went to… CONTINUE READING >>
Cliff Dwellings at Tonto National Monument
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By building high in the cliffs, looking out over the entire valley, the Salado, a branch of the Anasazi, or ancient ones, had… CONTINUE READING >>
On a Mission in San Antonio
There are two things we’ve known about San Antone since childhood. Davy Crockett, whether played by Fess Parker or John Wayne fought at the Alamo there, and Charley Pride wanted to know if anybody was goin’ there. Seemed like we should learn more about Texas’ second-largest city, so we had our mission, should we decide to accept it.And mission… CONTINUE READING >>
What in the Sam Hill is a Yosemite?
OK, show of hands. How many of us first heard of Yosemite from Looney Tunes? C’mon, reach fer the sky fragnabbit! On those childhood Saturday mornings Yosemite Sam introduced us to the name but he had nothing to do with the National Park. Friz Freleng just liked the plumb western sound of California’s premier park for his loud-mouthed, sourdough, going-off-all-half-cocked, six-shootin’ little fella. Fifty-odd years of Saturdays later yer flea bitten GypsyNestin’ varmints finally met Sam’s namesake… CONTINUE READING >>Yellowstone – What a Gas Hole!
Our odyssey deep into the American West continued across cowboy country, The Cowboy State, Wyoming. Vast expanses of open range stretch as far as the eye can see. The deer and the antelope really do play out here. It was hard to tell from a distance but we believe it was… CONTINUE READING >>Big Heads, Badlands & Bear Claws
After the seemingly endless trek across the windswept northern prairie, the landscape suddenly changes. On second thought, suddenly hardly describes it.Abruptly, immediately, instantaneously the topography dramatically goes from flat grassland besieged with billboards to the spectacularly gnarled Badlands.
Out of nowhere the South Dakota plains give way to layers of soft shale, clay and limestone that wear away at a rate of about an inch a year… CONTINUE READING >>
THIS is Plymouth Rock?
True story: On our pilgrimage to Plymouth, Massachusetts we hit the visitor center to ask directions to Plymouth Rock. “Hope you guys brought a magnifying glass,” snarked the lady with the welcoming smile behind the desk as she pointed down the road. Ah sarcasm, we had to like her.
Without fully grasping the gist of the lady’s statement we headed across the road, past the replica of the Mayflower, toward the attractive ancient-Greek-esque monument that houses the famous rock where the first Americans landed.
Giddy with the exhilaration that can only come from setting one’s eyes on a truly epic piece of history, we leaned over the rail and peered down… CONTINUE READING >>
The "Cottages" of Newport
It was called the Gilded Age, a time when robber barons and their useless offspring built excessive tributes to their self-proclaimed awesomeness. Newport, Rhode Island is the epitome of this unbelievable excess, aptly dubbed Conspicuous Consumption.
Newport is chock full of gaudy mansions erected by the “more money than class” club. In an embarrassing effort to one-up each other with their “summer cottages” these iconic American families of railroad, mining and steel fortunes, threw ridiculously lavish parties for their pets, sat atop carriages every afternoon to show off their new outfits, had notorious affairs, harassed their overworked… CONTINUE READING >>
