BELIZE 2026: XUNANTUNICH, FAREWELL TO BELIZE, AND HELLO GUATEMALA!

The next morning we got up early to catch the water taxi back to Belize City, where we met our driver/guide who drove us the 2.5 hours to the archaeological site of Xunantunich (pronounced zoo-NAAN-tuh-nitch or zhuh-nan-TOO-nitch, depending on whom you ask). 

About halfway through the long drive, our guide spotted a Jabiru, a large stork on Bob's lifer list, which means it was the first time he had seen one. It has an impressive wingspan of 7.5 to 10 feet. Bob was very excited and got some photos of it on the ground as well as flying. This one is my favorite.

Shortly before the archaeological site, we stopped at a terrific little restaurant in San Jose Succotz called Benny's Kitchen, known for serving authentic local cuisine.

I had pibil, pork cooked in a pit and served with corn tortillas. It was fabulous--my best meal of the trip. We think Bob had cow foot soup, but he can't remember if he liked it or not.

GERMANY: WITTENBERG

 May 17, 2025

About 50 miles northwest of the sleepy little town of Torgau and also positioned on the Elbe River is Wittenberg, a somewhat larger city with 45,000 inhabitants. A university was established here in 1502, which attracted two important luminaries to its faculty line-up: Martin Luther and his friend and fellow reformer Philip Melanchthon.

Luther's and Melanchthon's portraits were painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder,
the most famous German portraitist of his day, who painted at least ELEVEN portraits
of Luther and over THIRTY of Melanchthon..

Wittenberg is a typical charming German town, maybe even more charming than most because unlike many other German cities of any size, it was spared destruction during World War II. Its religious history protected it from the Allies' bombs. However, it was occupied by the Soviets after the war and became part of East Germany in 1949.

Germany has their own version of "George Washington Slept Here." Two windows in this pretty building are marked with this information: Karl August (1757-1828), who was the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, visited the city in 1820, and Napoleon I, aka Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), King of France, slept here in 1806 and 1813. 

INDIA, AGRA: THE TAJ MAHAL AND A STONE FACTORY

 December 28, 2024

Before our trip, when we told anyone we were going to India, their first question was, "Are you going to see the Taj Mahal?" Yes, of course! This UNESCO World Heritage Site is the #1 tourist attraction in India (although it is being overtaken by a city I haven't heard of--Ayodhya--308 miles to the east). UNESCO declared it "the jewel of Islamic art in India and one of the universally recognized masterpieces of the world's heritage." It was also named one of the "New 7 Wonders of the World" in 2001. Taj Mahal is Hindi for "Crown Palace." It is interesting to note that out of the 7 to 8 million visitors it hosted in 2024, less than 1 million were international tourists and the rest were domestic.

To get to "the Taj," as it is fondly called, you first have to pass through the Monkey Guard, a long walk from the parking area to the Taj itself that is guarded by aggressive macaque monkeys.

There are a lot of them, both underfoot . . . 

. . . and overhead.

Tourists are given plenty of warning to use caution around the monkeys. The sign at right has five bullet points of advice. I should have paid more attention to the one that says "Don't make direct eye contact with monkeys." More on that at the end of this post.

INDIA, AGRA: THE ITIMAD-UD-DAULAH OR "BABY TAJ"

 December 27, 2024

Between the Agra Fort and our next destination, we passed a few interesting things on the street, including this man on horse back (left) who I think is Shivaji I, a 17th century Indidan ruler. The guy in the right peering in our van window is a bit scary, don't you think?

I think that is a mechanic's shop on the left with it's very own domed verandah. It's hard to believe that the "Hotel Alleviate" (right) could offer anything better.

This little roadside stand selling water and cigarettes had a sign that said "Try unmatched quality." It also had monkeys on the roof.

We saw more monkeys on a roof and in a tree when we got to our destination the Itimad-ud-Daulah, locally known as the "Baby Taj."

INDIA, DELHI: QUTB MINAR COMPLEX AND FUN TIMES IN THE IMPERIAL HOTEL

 December 22, 2025

I admit that I am obsessed with the traffic in India. Here's yet another post beginning with traffic footage. This one shows us trying to cross the street on foot. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS ON YOUR OWN. You should be with a guide who can, well, guide you across.

 

Pay attention to the signage, which is often good for a laugh or at least a smile.

And watch out for the traffic cops. Some don't look so friendly. And the trees have eyes (eyeglasses?)!

Our next stop was the Qutb Minar Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I'm not sure how to pronounce it, but it sounds like a disease.

MALTA, DAY 2, PART 3: A SERPENT MONUMENT, MORE ST. JOSEPH'S DAY CELEBRATIONS, MDINA, ST. PAUL'S METROPOLITAN CATHEDRAL, AND MORE

March 19, 2024

There is a bridge between Mdina and Rabat that is claimed by both cities. The problem was solved when the cities agreed to give the bridge to the church, making it a "no man's land."  In the center of the bridge is a column.

On first glance at that column, it looks like Captain Hook's hook is on top of the heptagonal base, but on closer examination, we discovered it is a snake rising from a fire--the serpent that bit but did not injure St. Paul. This may be the only monument to a snake I have ever seen.

The pillars on the sides of the bridge have interesting embellishments. If I am recalling correctly, there was a church graveyard on one side of the bridge.

PORTUGAL: EVORA, PART II - EVORA CATHEDRAL, ROMAN RUINS, A LOST CAR, AND DINNER AT TABERNA TIPICA

 July 2, 2022

As I noted in the last post, we realized that we hadn't really paid attention to where we had parked the car, and so we decided we had better retrace our steps before we went any farther. We knew the more places we went, the less likely we'd be able to remember how to get back to the starting place. By the time we had walked about two blocks and made two turns, we realized we had no idea where to go next. There were so many narrow, twisting alleys and staircases that looked the same. We also disagreed on the general direction to go to find the car. I was sure it was one direction, and Bob was convinced it was another. We had no real landmarks in mind. We were in serious trouble.

However, in our wanderings, we did come across several other sites on our list, starting with the mid-gothic Cathedral of Évora, the oldest and largest medieval cathedral in Portugal. Construction started in the 12th century and was completed in the 14th century, although significant changes and additions were made up until the early 1700s. This cathedral is one of the structures cited in the UNESCO World Heritage Site designation for Évora.

A few years ago I read the book The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris, which tells of the author's experience living in a Benedictine monastery for nine months. I think of her quiet, soul-searching prose every time we stroll down a cloister walkway, and somehow at the Évora Cathedral the laughter of running children made this particular experience that much more spiritual.

Off the cloister is a funeral chapel that contains the tomb of the cathedral's founder, Bishop King Peter, as well as the Archbishop of Évora who died in the 20th century. (However, I am not sure if I have these labeled correctly because there are also a few other tombs connected to the cloister.)

PORTUGAL: BRAGA

July 1, 2022

Our Braga accommodations, the Hotel Vila Galé, was about a five-mile drive from the Bom Jesus Basilica. At first we couldn't find it. The address led us to this building, which was clearly (we thought), a church and not a hotel:

Eventually, however, we noticed the hotel signs on the right end of the building.

We learned that our hotel was occupying a site that was originally the Hospital de São Marcos, established in the 1500s--similar in some ways to our hotel in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The Iberian people built incredible hospitals! The original building was expanded a few times over the centuries, and the building as it now appears served as a public hospital with a capacity of 521 active beds in 2007. It was vacated in 2011 in favor of a new, modern structure. In 2016 the Via Galé hotel group purchased the building, and in 2018 it opened as a four-star hotel. 

The hotel is enormous. Once we checked in at the front desk, we walked through a series of corridors for almost five minutes before reaching our room.

SPAIN: THE CATHEDRAL OF SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA AND THE CATHEDRAL MUSEUM

 June 29-30, 2022

As noted in the previous post, the current Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela was built in Romanesque style in the 13th century, with Gothic and Baroque additions in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. It is a massive structure, and no doubt gets its notoriety from being the reputed burial spot of St. James (aka Santiago) the Greater, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. However, it is a magnificent edifice of its own accord.

By the way, the only other churches in the world built over the tomb of an apostle are St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, St. Thomas Cathedral Basilica in Chennai, India, and the Basilica of St. John in Izmir, Turkey.

A sign of the importance of this cathedral is that it was visited THREE TIMES in a span of 28 years by two different popes--Pope John Paul II in 1982 and 1989 and Pope Benedict in 2010.

The interior of this cathedral is about 310 feet long, has a transept that measures 206 feet, and stands 72 feet high, making it the tallest building in Europe when it was built. Today it is still the largest Romanesque cathedral in Spain. At first glance it looks rather austere.

But then you see the main altar, and the closer you get, the more opulent it is.