as perhaps the most frequently visited town by tourists, antigua has no shortage of hotels or places to indulge in meals and accomodations. casa santo domingo is exactly one of those places. as one of the oldest hotels of antigua, it is much more than simply a hotel. the sprawling grounds are immaculate and are […]
Read MoreAntigua first stop in Central America
Antigua is usually the first stop for travelers because of its proximity to the airport and Guatemala City having a bad reputation for being sketchy. We decided to do the same. We didn’t arrange for airport transfer beforehand so we were a bit apprehensive when we arrived, our fears were proven groundless. There is a […]
Read Morefirst 24 hours in flores (guatemala)
jojo: what do i like? -the islet of flores is connected to the main city, santa elena, via a two lane causeway. we drove into town during sunrise and you could see the reflection of the sun bouncing off of all the surrounding water. even after a grueling travel day (and night), we could appreciate […]
Read Moreweekly recap #30 – santa cruz & flores
q. current home/addy where i stayed (neighbourhood) and how longa. a. lake atitlan (panajachel, 1 night & santa cruz, 2 nights), bus (1 night), flores (3 nights) q. favourite meal a. we’ve had some great meals this week thanks to our set menus at la isla verde in santa cruz. our two dinners there were […]
Read Morehiking volcano pacaya, guatemala
on our third day in antigua we planned for a daytrip out of the city. the landscape of guatemala is riddled with volcanos and mountainous passes; antigua itself is nestled between a trio of volcanos with two additional volcanoes nearby that are very popular for hiking. volcano fuego is the most active of the three. […]
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weekly recap #29 – antigua & panajachel
q. current home/addy where i stayed (neighbourhood) and how long a. antigua (4 nights), lake atitlan (panajachel, 3 nights) q. favourite meal a. in the interest of switching up our diet i broke down and ordered up a seriously delicious burger from deli llama de fuego (which i think translates to ‘blaze of fire deli’) […]
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first 24 hours in panajachel (guatemala)
jojo: what do i like? -one seriously boss sunset. vancouver has the northshore mountains, santorini has hillside villages, albania had empty beaches but panajachel’s is something else. three volcanos (atitlan, pedro and toliman), virtually no boats and constantly moving clouds so the visuals and lighting change from minute to minute. amazing. we previously read that […]
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first 24 hours in antigua (guatemala)
jojo: what do i like? -food! tasty and cheap are a perfect combo in my book. while my stomach isn’t as bulletproof as i’d like it to be, this trip is going to be a training mission whether it likes it or not. in our first day we’ve eaten el salvadorean and mexican and have […]
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what’s in our bags: central america
well it’s been 3/4 of a year since the last time i packed my bags from home and while the process is the same, the nuances feel considerably different. looking back to what i packed for hokkaido, japan sends a shock through me. i’m both impressed and amused at my thought process that lead me […]
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zombie walk vancouver
since 2005, zombies have paraded their way through downtown vancouver and the tradition continued this year. although we haven’t done the walk before, a friend’s wedding day landed on the day of the 2015 walk so they incorporated a zombie escape into their wedding video. this year’s walk started at the art gallery and pathed […]
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the surprises of the netherlands
our time in the netherlands has been a welcome surprise from what i was expecting and i’m so glad that haha pushed for us to spend nearly two weeks in rotterdam and amsterdam to close out our stay in europe. my preconceived notions about the netherlands prior to arriving with the realities: amsterdam being packed […]
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Laidback Haarlem
If the crowds of Amsterdam gets you down, I would suggest a day trip out to quaint Haarlem which is only a 15-minute train ride away. The city is pretty small, perfect to be explored by foot. Lots of great shops and restaurants within the town center. There’s even a windmill that you can take […]
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rotterdam architecture & sightseeing
rotterdam has been one surprise after another. from the food to the beaches to the people, we enjoyed them all equally. the most noticeable trait about the city is that which stares you in the face… its bold and modern architecture. we arrived in rotterdam at the central station and the complexion of the city […]
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staying fed in the netherlands
juices from albert heijn 3 euros for fresh juices, our favourites were the orange & kiwi and apple, pear & raspberry. it must seem ridiculous that we’re listing this as one of favourite indulgences in the netherlands but finding good, fresh juices in europe for less than the price of a firstborn isn’t as easy […]
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biking through the historic windmills of kinderdijk, netherlands
our biking adventures continued in the netherlands and haha has been making leaps and bounds over this year. there are many daytrip options from rotterdam and while we originally planned to spend the majority of our excursions to the beaches we convinced ourselves to decide between either visiting a historic windmill area or the cheese […]
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beaches in the netherlands? whodathunkit?
while in riga, we took refuge from the many flash latvian rainstorms to plan out the final weeks of our european travels. we managed to squeeze in a few hours at a nearby blue flag beach (jurmala) while in riga but we really wanted to stretch our legs out in some more sand. we booked […]
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exploring netherlands: the hague
we spent our first day in the netherlands daytripping it north of rotterdam to the hague which sits alongside the north sea on the western coast. its population is nearly half a million and is a very popular summer destination for the dutch. our motivation for visiting scheveningen beach was for the firework display that […]
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looking back at asahikawa
when did we visit and for how long? late february for 10 days what kind of accommodations? two hotels. we barely stayed in the first one for 30 minutes because it was so disgusting. smoke was seeping out of everything, even the toilet paper. we moved down the street to the washington hotel and it […]
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