Adventure of the month

Whenever I visit a new place, there are a couple of things that I normally look for, in order to best get my bearings. At the top of that list is the free walking tour. I love following a local around as they explain what it is that makes this particular place special. Add to that, being able to ask for recommendations after the tour, you've got yourself a full day right there.  In this case, I was not exactly in a new place. I had been to Brasilia once-18 years ago- but now there were 7 of us looking to explore and my foggy memories were not going to cut it. We needed a professional. I looked high and low but there were no walking tours, free or otherwise. There are always free walking tours. What gives? Ok, maybe the city is just really spread out. I looked into the possibility of a hop-on/ hop-off bus. Nope. There is one bus tour but not in the open-ended create your own adventure kind of way, plus it was sold out. It was quickly dawning on me that Brazil's capital city has ...

Ten years ago, a list of the new Seven World Wonders was announced. The process was gimmicky as hell- 7 year voting period, winners announced on 7/7/07- and skewed towards countries with large populations and readily available internet access. (Sorry mud mosques of Mali, better luck next time!) but considering only one of the original world wonders remained standing, we were due for an update. The new list includes the Great Wall of China, Petra, Machu Pichu, the Colosseum, Chichen Itza, the Taj Mahal and Christ the Redeemer. The Pyramids of Giza- the lone holdout from the original version got an honorary status but are not always mentioned because announcing the Eight World Wonders would have totally thrown off their marketing scheme. I have been to six of these babies (7 if you count the pyramids). Last Saturday, I had the chance to cross the last one off my list. I got into Rio in the middle of the night and had most of the afternoon before having to board my return flight. All ...

Q:  How cool is Manaus? A: It depends. Literally speaking, it may be the least cool city I have ever been to.  And by this I mean, it is hot.  Hot as balls. Hot, sticky, sweaty balls.  I, a native Miamian with a strong aversion to air conditioning, can't recall the last time I sweat as much as I did during my recent four day visit to Manaus.  And mind you, this was in late October! But figuratively speaking,  this is the coolest place there is.  It is a city that popped up squarely in the middle of the Amazon River Basin.  Remember the story about the 2014 World Cup Stadium that was so remote that all the building supplies had to be brought in via boats?  That was Manaus. The Stadium is still there and occasionally put into use- we had a soccer team from Rio staying in our hotel to prove it- but that's just the tip of the sweaty iceberg.  There are stores, bars, restaurants and all the other things you would expect in a city with...