Silver and Roses, Henna and Myrrh

 

 

 

 

Other Travel Destinations

 

There are a few miscellaneous foreign spots I've visited that don't fit handily in any of the foregoing articles.  So I thought I'd toss them all together in a single variety page.

 

Panamá

 

In 2004, I took a bus ride from Los Angeles, California to Lima, Perú and back, along the so-called Pan-American Highway.  This name is a misnomer however, because there is an interruption called the Darién Gap, in Panamá and Colombia.  One may travel south only as far as a town named Yaviza, Panamá, about 8 hours beyond the capital, Ciudad Panamá.  I did in fact board a bus bound for Yaviza, but, long before I would arrive, I learned that there were no ships departing from there.  So I returned to Ciudad Panamá, and finally, I just decided to fly from Ciudad Panamá to Bogotá, Colombia.  In Bogotá, I bought a bus ticket for Lima from Ormeño lines.  I returned the same way.  I did get to see the Panamá Canal, pictured below:

 

 

The Panamá Canal

 

Beyond the Canal, there is dense jungle, with people living in near-primitive conditions, some without lights or water.  There are a few backward villages in the area, which is called Darién.

 

 

The Jungle in Darién, Panamá

 

 

Morocco

 

During my 1991 visit to Europe, I sailed from Algeciras, Spain to Tangiers, Morocco.  From Tangiers I went by train to Casablanca (ad-Dar al-Beyda), where I spent a couple of days.  Then I trained back to Tangiers, where I had made some friends, and eventually sailed back to Spain.  So I got a quick look at two famous Moroccan cities:

 

 

Tangiers. Morocco

 

Casablanca (ad-Dar al-Beyda), Morocco

 

 

Canada

 

I've visited Canada four times, the latest trip being in 1991.  In these four brief stays, I saw Winnipeg, Windsor, Montréal and Québec City.   Québec City is justly famous for its beautiful Old Québec district, which features many handsome buildings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  One such building is the Château Frontenac.

 

 

Château Frontenac, Québec City, Canada

 

In the trip I made to Québec City, I also went up the Gaspé Peninsula, along the St. Lawrence River, as far as Trois Pistoles.  From there, I circled back through New Brunswick and into Maine.  Below is the St. Lawrence:

 

 

St. Lawrence River, Québec, Canada

 

In addition to maple, of course, and pine, one sees many thousands of birch trees along the MacDonald-Cartier Freeway, which leads from Windsor, opposite Detroit, to Montréal.

 

 

 

Canadian Birch Trees

 

I spent about a week in a placid suburb of Montréal named Rosemère, within a quarter-mile of the beautiful Rivière des Mille Îles, with its willow-grown islands, and during the week I cycled downtown several times.  At one time, Montréal was Canada's largest city, but Toronto passed it up in the 1970's.  I noticed that in Rosemère. almost everyone spoke French, but downtown, in Montréal, many spoke English.  Montréal gets incredibly cold, with temperatures down to 45 below zero sometimes.

 

 

Montréal, Canada

 

Photo Credits:

The Panamá Canal:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lyng883/133064179/

The Jungle in Darién, Panamá:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/markandmichellepics/219356853/

Tangiers, Morocco:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TangerAvenue.jpg

Casablanca (ad-Dar al-Beyda), Morocco:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Casablanca_and_Hassan_II_Mosque.jpg

Château Frontenac, Québec City, Canada:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Chateau_Frontenac_in_Halifax.jpg

St. Lawrence River, Québec, Canada:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pont_de_l%27ile_2.JPG

Canadian Birch Trees:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70401204@N00/187517280/

Montréal, Canada:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mont.jpg

 

 

There are a few miscellaneous foreign spots I've visited that don't fit handily in any of the foregoing articles.  So I thought I'd toss them all together in a single variety page.

 

Panamá

 

In 2004, I took a bus ride from Los Angeles, California to Lima, Perú and back, along the so-called Pan-American Highway.  This name is a misnomer however, because there is an interruption called the Darién Gap, in Panamá and Colombia.  One may travel south only as far as a town named Yaviza, Panamá, about 8 hours beyond the capital, Ciudad Panamá.  I did in fact board a bus bound for Yaviza, but, long before I would arrive, I learned that there were no ships departing from there.  So I returned to Ciudad Panamá, and finally, I just decided to fly from Ciudad Panamá to Bogotá, Colombia.  In Bogotá, I bought a bus ticket for Lima from Ormeño lines.  I returned the same way.  I did get to see the Panamá Canal, pictured below:

 

 

The Panamá Canal

 

Beyond the Canal, there is dense jungle, with people living in near-primitive conditions, some without lights or water.  There are a few backward villages in the area, which is called Darién.

 

 

The Jungle in Darién, Panamá

 

 

Morocco

 

During my 1991 visit to Europe, I sailed from Algeciras, Spain to Tangiers, Morocco.  From Tangiers I went by train to Casablanca (ad-Dar al-Beyda), where I spent a couple of days.  Then I trained back to Tangiers, where I had made some friends, and eventually sailed back to Spain.  So I got a quick look at two famous Moroccan cities:

 

 

Tangiers. Morocco

 

Casablanca (ad-Dar al-Beyda), Morocco

 

 

Canada

 

I've visited Canada four times, the latest trip being in 1991.  In these four brief stays, I saw Winnipeg, Windsor, Montréal and Québec City.   Québec City is justly famous for its beautiful Old Québec district, which features many handsome buildings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  One such building is the Château Frontenac.

 

 

Château Frontenac, Québec City, Canada

 

In the trip I made to Québec City, I also went up the Gaspé Peninsula, along the St. Lawrence River, as far as Trois Pistoles.  From there, I circled back through New Brunswick and into Maine.  Below is the St. Lawrence:

 

 

St. Lawrence River, Québec, Canada

 

In addition to maple, of course, and pine, one sees many thousands of birch trees along the MacDonald-Cartier Freeway, which leads from Windsor, opposite Detroit, to Montréal.

 

 

 

Canadian Birch Trees

 

I spent about a week in a placid suburb of Montréal named Rosemère, within a quarter-mile of the beautiful Rivière des Mille Îles, with its willow-grown islands, and during the week I cycled downtown several times.  At one time, Montréal was Canada's largest city, but Toronto passed it up in the 1970's.  I noticed that in Rosemère. almost everyone spoke French, but downtown, in Montréal, many spoke English.  Montréal gets incredibly cold, with temperatures down to 45 below zero sometimes.

 

 

Montréal, Canada

 

Photo Credits:

The Panamá Canal:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lyng883/133064179/

The Jungle in Darién, Panamá:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/markandmichellepics/219356853/

Tangiers, Morocco:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TangerAvenue.jpg

Casablanca (ad-Dar al-Beyda), Morocco:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Casablanca_and_Hassan_II_Mosque.jpg

Château Frontenac, Québec City, Canada:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Chateau_Frontenac_in_Halifax.jpg

St. Lawrence River, Québec, Canada:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pont_de_l%27ile_2.JPG

Canadian Birch Trees:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70401204@N00/187517280/

Montréal, Canada:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mont.jpg