Tag: tourism

Peaceful Places to Visit: St. Patrick’s Cathedral

You Don’t Have to Be Catholic to Go In At a moment when the universe seems especially volatile, what with climate fluctuations, terrorist strikes, and police v. civilian discord, even adventuresome travelers can be tempted to stay indoors for a…

What’s Left of the Berlin Wall?

A portion of the Berlin Wall Photo credit: M. Ciavardini

Seeing Where the World Really Changed It seems almost unimaginable now that for so many years, between 1961 and November 9, 1989, a wall divided East and West Berlin and tourists couldn’t cross easily beneath the Brandenburg Gate, and East…

Traveling with Witches

traveling with witches

It’s a good thing that the law has evolved a bit since the 1600s given my penchant for visiting shamans, inquiring about witches, and talking directly to higher powers without any male or priestly intercession. In May 1647, the first…

A Spiritual Altitude Adjustment at Machu Picchu

Looking out at the world from Machu Picchu, Peru Photo credit: M. Ciavardini

I am so concerned with the physical challenge of Machu Picchu—how much will the altitude affect me? will my head hurt? will I be able to breathe?—that I don’t spend as much time as I should contemplating the spirituality of…

Embracing Winter

Because January is not cold enough in the mainland United States, the Bashful Adventurer embraces winter and heads to Iceland

Machu Picchu for Tea Time

Set back by the mid-January wind chill and an ick-disease variation of the flu, I turn to Mark Adams’s Turn Right at Machu Picchu to carry me away far from the sniffles and Nyquil-charged fog. I am already enthused by…

Have a Quirk and a Smile

A counter at Burger King in Moscow with the name of the restaurant written in cyrillic. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini.

The Bashful Adventurer experiences the joy of visiting everyday places, those frequented by residents but not always by tourists.