South America’s Riviera:Punta del Este

 Punta del Este is often described as the Riviera of South America, known for beaches, marinas, and a reputation that attracts visitors from around the world. But beyond the postcards and summer crowds, the city feels like a collection of different personalities. One moment there are luxury towers and yachts, and a few streets later there are quiet neighborhoods, older buildings, and stretches of coastline that seem to move at their own pace. Like many places, Punta del Este reveals itself a little differently depending on where you decide to stop.

Read More

Somewhere Between Wales and Antarctica

 Sitting along the calm blue waters of Golfo Nuevo in Patagonia, Puerto Madryn somehow manages to be both rugged and strangely peaceful at the same time.

Read More

Punta Arenas, Piece by Piece

 Set along the Strait of Magellan in southern Chile,  Punta Arenas was founded in 1848 after Chile moved its earlier settlement from Fort Bulnes farther north to a more practical location. Originally established as a penal colony and military outpost, the city’s purpose was strategic: to secure Chilean control over one of the world’s most important natural sea passages between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. That control later became internationally recognized in the 1881 boundary treaty with Argentina.

Read More

Ushuaia: Where Land Runs Out

 At the southernmost tip of South America lies Ushuaia, the capital of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago in Argentina. Often referred to as the “end of the world.” 

This remote city sits between the Martial Mountains and the Beagle Channel, where the landscape feels both vast and contained at the same time; surrounded by shifting weather, rugged terrain, and endless southern horizons.

Read More

Cape Horn: The Last Light

 At the southernmost edge of South America, where the Atlantic and Pacific collide in a restless, wind-torn meeting, lies Cape Horn—a place that feels less like a destination and more like a final statement. It’s not grand in size, but in reputation, it carries the weight of centuries.

Read More

A Traveler's Diary- Begining Venture: Civitavecchia, Italy

 This post and the next few that follow are just as the title indicates, a diary of the the places we visited while abroad.

Needless to say when you have been away for several weeks and when you are addicted to hearing the camera's shutter button going "click", inevitably there will be thousands of photos.

Most of the captures are basically snapshots. 

My eyes saw something.

My eyes liked what they saw.

My brain said: "You need to click".

And "click" it went.

I decided to post the photos as is...very minor editing, if any, and then transfering them from raw to jpeg. Some of the photos, in my view have great potential for making them more artistic, and probably in due time I will play with them. But for the time being and for the sake of keeping the memory of all the places visited alive and fresh, I am just going to add all the photos as is.

Flight from Chicago to Rome took us approximately nine hours with a short stop in Amsterdam.

Read More