Following our stop in Kyoto, we hopped on another bullet train for Osaka. The trip made up over 55km in under 15 minutes, enough time to drink a beer but little else. The next day was all about the World Expo, an event that moves around the globe every five years. Nations are invited to join and showcase different innovations and cultural aspects around a central theme.
I planned my arrival in Tokyo for Memorial Day Weekend to give me an extra day off to get over my jet lag. Â I also booked a 9am walking tour of the more popular attractions close to my neighborhood. Â This way I could get my bearings on the area before diving headlong into work. Â Some of the highlights included Shibuya Crossing, Tsujiki Fish Market, Hongan-ji Temple, and Senso-ji Temple.Â
Guatemala has built up some renown for their celebrations leading up to Easter, so much so that UNESCO designated Guatemala’s Holy Week an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2021. For five straight weeks leading into Holy Sunday, you can find processions around the country. The most famous is during Semana Santa, when residents of Antigua build carpets made of dyed sawdust, flowers, scraps of paper, and other materials, called alfombras in Spanish.Â
When Misha was provided the opportunity to go to Bogota for a four-day training on atrocity prevention, we jumped at the chance to bundle it with some tourist activity. We flew down on a Friday in April, and I returned on Monday. Misha stayed for her training, which included one big tourist attraction outside of the city that I missed out on. Bogota is the third largest city in South America by population, home to over 8 million people. It’s also very high up in the mountains of Colombia, with an altitude of over 8600 feet.Â
We’ve gone on a number of trips around Guatemala since our first visit to Lake Atitlan in December. Most of these were limited to extended weekends or day trips and included trips with family and friends alike. Some stops along the way were new to us, while we returned to many others. Here is a recap of our Guatemala 2024 tour to date.
In what was perhaps our last excursion from Israel, Misha and I had an absolute blast in Jordan, Israel's eastern neighbor. The country is currently only allowing those with diplomatic visas to cross the border by car, so we took advantage of our status once again. This may also be our last road trip in my car before we sell it to a fellow diplomat, so it was a nice final drive for my Jetta. This trip didn't have the bewildering brush with border patrol that our Belgium trip had, but it wasn't complete devoid of anxiety all the same. Namely, as the trip wore on, I felt more and more certain that I was coming down with covid.
One of the best parts about living in Tel Aviv is the relatively cheap cost of travel. Coronavirus may have hindered some of our European travel plans, but that hasn't stopped us from making several trips throughout the country. We were originally on the fence about shipping our car here, but it turned out to be a smart move. Israel is only the size of New Jersey, so a large portion of the country is reachable after only two hours in the car. In those hours, you'd be amazed at how fast the landscape can change. Whether it's sand and deserts (south), luscious green hills and mountains (north), or leafy forests (east), I'm always amazed by what I see so soon outside Tel Aviv.
Every town and city across the country has a tradition of patriotic pride when it comes to the major holidays. Many more have their own local traditions that only locals truly understand. Growing up in Boston, this is how we feel about the Boston Marathon. It's a 26.2 mile party complete with a Red Sox... Continue Reading →
One of the cool things about living in Virginia is the proximity to Civil War and other historical sites. I come from Massachusetts, where Revolutionary history abounds and everyone who grew up there has been beaten over the head with this history from a young age. However, having only traveled to DC once when I was in high school, I never really got a chance to see much from the Civil War period. Living down here gives me the rare chance to visit these sites, and I chose the Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland as my starting point.
Beer and Diplomacy 
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