I recently returned from a two-week business trip to India. This time I was prepared and knew what to expect from it. Visiting India for the second time can be less overwhelming, but surprising nonetheless. A stroll in old Pune, just like any other tourist, proved it to me. I knew I wanted to visit a Hindu temple and the city’s market. So I put on tennis shoes, wore light comfy clothes, grabbed my camera and hopped into a cab.
Although a less renowned Japanese city, Nara was once the capital of the Land of the Rising Sun and today is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These facts alone should attract tourists, yet we decided to visit it for three main reasons.
One, it’s got more than a thousand deer that walk freely in the city park and we couldn’t miss these messengers of the Gods. Two, it’s got a 15-meter tall Buddha (one of the biggest in the country). Three, it’s less than an hour away from Kyoto and since we had the Japan Rail Pass, it was worth the ride.
Kyoto is a magnificent Japanese city that holds hundreds of temples, some of which are of unimaginable beauty. As I think about our time here, flashes of cute streets and shops, beautiful geishas walking around Gion (a popular neighborhood, not to mention my favorite), great street food, and an amazing train station come to my mind.
As the customs officer stamped my passport I thought This is it: I’m officially in Japan, and I couldn’t refrain from smiling with excitement. This was no business trip. This was my honeymoon and all I had to do was enjoy every second of it. My husband and I were entering for the first time in our lives the Land of the Rising Sun not yet knowing that ten days later, leaving was going to be heartbreaking.
Japan does this to you. It makes you fall in love with vending machines and neon lights. It makes you want to stay forever to watch Japanese fashion and its crowded streets. It makes your time spent on the toilet a quite pleasant one (I’m not kidding, bathrooms are super clean even on metro stations), and when it is time to go back home, well…it breaks your heart to leave.
Vending machine products
The first time I touched Asian ground was a few years ago when I visited a very special friend of mine at Istanbul. She lived in the European part of the city so when we took a boat to the Asian side, I was thrilled. The landscape didn’t change much but I was officially in Asia! A continent I’ve always dreamt of visiting, and the city between two continents was a nice first taste.
But I only ventured into the wilderness of Asia when I visited India for the first time. It was on a business trip: I had to go to Pune to reach my colleagues, who had travelled a weak earlier. I was not prepared at all. I bought my ticket a day before my departure and I didn’t know what to pack or what to expect.
I had heard stories about how India was not a friendly place for women, but I had also heard stories about how India was this remote wonderful place. So I said to myself: just live it and don’t expect anything from it. Continua a leggere
Hace unos meses con un grupo de amigas decidimos pasar un fin de semana en alguna ciudad europea. La meta dependería del vuelo: el más barato, con los mejores horarios y un nuevo destino para todas. El objetivo era viajar sin tener que pedir permiso en el trabajo y aprovechando al máximo el tiempo. La mejor opción era Varsovia. Así que un viernes por la noche nos subimos a un avión con destino Modlin, uno de los dos aeropuertos de la ciudad polaca.
Los primeros polacos que encontré fueron los aeromozos. Noté que no eran muy amables. Eran bruscos en sus movimientos y caminaban somatando los pies, con prisa. Tal vez era el horario y el cansancio. No fue una buena primera impresión, pero no quise juzgar tan pronto.
Al bajar del avión, por poco me congelo. Es noviembre, pensé, ¿como será en enero? Y luego pensé a la guerra (es imposible no hacerlo visitando este país) ¿Cuánta gente no habrá muerto literalmente de frío? Sin maletas que recoger (llevábamos mochilas), nos subimos al bus que nos llevaría a la ciudad y fue como llegar al Caribe: 40 grados. A quitarnos todo, guantes, bufanda, gorro y chumpa.
El chofer también era brusco y para nada amigable. Al subir lo saludé amablemente con un Hello y una sonrisa pero ni se molestó en responderme. Uhmmm… Tal vez no es el horario o el cansancio. Bueno, mejor lo dejo pasar.
Durante el camino hacia la ciudad noté que la carretera era totalmente obscura. No habían postes en ninguna parte; no había nada hasta que poco a poco se empezaron a ver las luces de la ciudad. ¡Y qué ciudad!
When I first walked on European ground I had a very special man with me, my father. He had come to visit me in the United States, where I was getting my college degree. He had never seen the Big Apple and was thrilled to do it with his younger daughter. We were staying in Connecticut, near the New York State border, with his cousin Chiqui, a cheerful sweet person. On the day of our departure, she was to drive us to the airport. So for the next few days we needed only to relax and enjoy the city that never sleeps, literally.
Times Square, NYC
After strolling through Central Park, having a hot dog, admiring the Statue of Liberty, going blind in Times Square, and enjoying Chinatown, the big day finally came. It was time to cross the pond on an airplane London bound.
We left the house four hours before our departure time, just in case we encountered any traffic jams or any other problem. As we were approaching the JFK, I turned to our cousin and said, “El JFK? No, nuestro vuelo sale de Newark.” She hit the breaks and with a wild-eyed expression said, “No, you’re kidding!” I took out our flight details, and realizing I was right, we all got very nervous. Newark airport was in New Jersey, and we had to cross Manhattan to get there. The smartest thing to do was to take a bus from the JFK. We kissed her good-bye and our adventure began with a beat.
Clock ticking. Heart pounding hard. Lines that seemed endless, a passport stamp, and a race to our gate. We made it. Traveling to the old continent had never been so intense.
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