Travelogue (VII)

Hello my friends! It has been a while since my last post. Time flies… and snowflakes too at the moment. We are supposed to get over 5 inches of snow tonight, again. This winter is apparently in no hurry to depart. 😦

As I mentioned before, the year 2012 was a bit complicated. I traveled to 8 countries (UK, Italy, Switzerland, China, Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Belize) and spent 71 nights away from home. I saw quite a few wonders of the world, and some other amazing things. The number of trips to New York City was cut back significantly which helped to keep my weight in check.

• Saw amazing snow geese migration in Middle Creek, PA. It was breath-taking to watch and hear thousands of birds take off all at once and then land back on the water.
• Saw “El Castillo” (Pyramid of Kukulcan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site) in Chichen Itza, Mexico. This was part of a long relaxing weekend in Cancun, Mexico.
• Saw many masterpieces and visited many cool places during the wonderful trip to Italy and Switzerland in May. I was beyond excited to finally get to see so many things that I had known since childhood – Colosseum and Pantheon in Rome, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Ponte Vecchio and ‘David’ in Florence, ‘The Last Supper’ in Milan, and Jet d’Eau in Geneva. I will definitely write a separate post for this trip.
• Saw Niagara Falls from the Canadian side, with a magnificent rainbow.
• Saw (thru my plane window during taxiing) the space shuttle Enterprise attached to the NASA 747 at Washington Dulles Airport, awaiting clearance to depart for New York for delivery to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

In addition to feeding my eyes with all these cool things, other interesting trips and experiences of the year include –

• Caribbean Cruise in December – Hondurous, Belize, Mexico. I went snorkeling and scuba diving for the first time in my life. Even though my focus turned out to be more staying alive than admiring the underwater view, I enjoyed the new experiences.
• During the Niagara Falls trip, David and I stopped by Toronto pretending to be ‘proud Canadians’ on their National Day. 🙂

To wrap up this post of a busy travel year, let me mention that I also managed to go to London twice for work, Bloomington, IN for a business trip, and Beijing to visit my family. All in all, 2012 was a very productive and memoriable year!