Why Trinidad Cuba is a UNESCO site Trinidad is one of Cuba's UNESCO World Heritage sites recognized for its "Outstanding Universal Value" (a category where Blonde hopes to eventually gain recognition). Trinidad was founded in the early 16th century in honor of the Holy Trinity, back when Spanish Catholics were running things and Fidel Castro wasn't even the proverbial gleam … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2015
The Bay of Islands, Fiji – #2 in Places Without Postcards
Where is the Bay of Islands? The Bay Islands are part of the remote northern Lau Islands which lie about 200 miles from Fiji's mainland and near the international date line. Interesting factoid: The international date line isn't straight because it was made to sort of wiggle around the Fijian Islands so they would all be on the same side. Otherwise it could have … [Read more...]
Layover in LA with art and ash
Some things to do if you have a layover in LA Several years ago we learned the exhausting way that if we are flying to Los Angeles en route to another continent then we need to spend the night on our layover in LA. When we didn't do this we arrived at our destination drained of energy for the beginning of a trip. On the way home from Australia Blonde once spent 5 hours in … [Read more...]
Like ceremonies? You’ll love Fiji!
Fijian ceremonies (a sampling) Before Methodist missionaries came to Fiji one of the favorite Fijian ceremonies was killing and eating people. The (perhaps vegetarian) missionaries got the Fijians to quit doing that but, as far as we can tell, that seems to be the only ceremony they have discontinued. (If they were only going to pick one that was a good choice.) It's … [Read more...]
Islands of Fiji – Vunisea, Kadavu #1 in Places Without Postcards
When we read the brochure from Captain Cook Cruises about their new itinerary to the very remote Lau Islands of Fiji we noticed them using the phrase "places without postcards". Vunisea on Kadavu (not actually one of the Lau Islands but on the itinerary) is our first choice for a series of posts about these places. Vunisea is so remote they don't have postcards, mail comes … [Read more...]