HEADING HOME

We took this trip for many wonderful reasons, and most of them played out just as we had hoped. Being able to Skype with the kids and friends allowed us to keep connected to those at home...a feeling that would not have been possible a decade ago. Thank goodness! While we thought we had left at a calm time in our family's life most everything changed while we were gone.

We made unexpected detours to Tasmania, Lake Como and St. Andrews in Scotland from our scheduled itinerary. Margo suggested all of them and I am very thankful she did. Each unplanned stop added a great dimension to our trip.

We learned the US is morphing into a new phase in its history. Our position in the world is definitely evolving. We are no longer THE superpower. It was very interesting to talk to people about their country and the US. Their opinions of the U.S. and its politics were very varied. Everyone had an opinion...down to the driver from the airport. And they were passionate. We felt the rise of countries such as Turkey, Australia, and Brazil just by observation. Countries with natural resources are gaining power. No surprise... particularly oil. We learned how completely interconnected the world is today...more than ever.

The people you meet along the way make all the difference in a trip (and in life) and the fact that we are relatively extroverted allowed us to make a lot of new friends. We especially enjoyed meeting our new Hong Kong/London friends on the Milford Track, our visit with the Zinks in their beautiful home in Sydney, the Langleys for dinner in Sydney, Jane Fairley in Melbourne who also lives in Sun Valley, the Handkes and Cathcarts from Cleveland in Tasmania, the most generous Rosenbergs in South Africa, Sylvia, a native of Santiago, Chile showed us her city and the Schultzs coming to our villa on the Riviera and, of course, Scotty visiting us was an added bonus. Wished we could have had a visit from Taylor and Morgan. The difference between knowing friends in a new city and not made all the difference.

The breathtaking beauty of the places that we were lucky enough to visit- among them the Grand Canyon in Kuaui, the Milford Track in New Zealand, the unspoiled beaches of Tasmania, the vast savannah plains of South Africa's Phinda game reserve, the powerful historically important location of the Bosphorus and Istanbul and its amazing juxtaposition in world history and the magical, mystical Machu Picchu stunned us.

I loved speaking Spanish throughout South America, savoring a Malbec or two with Margo and reliving the summer of 1970 when I researched my senior thesis in Peru and spent a week in the shadow of Machu Picchu reading the history of Peru in Spanish. I was dumbfounded that the same type of expropriation of Peru's sugar plantations in the late 1960's was still going on in countries such as Argentina and Bolivia today. Countries were still taking back companies without reimbursing the companies for their value. Basically, a form of eminent domain.

Re-entry was all the more sweet by visiting friends in Dallas, Sea Island, Hilton Head and Palmetto Bluff on our way home to a Welcome Home party at the Beach Club. God Bless the U.S.A.!
We had a magical four months holding hands and seeing many of the world's wonders, countries and their people. We became closer than ever as a result and highly recommend this experience to those who are thinking about it. "Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward in the same direction."-Antoine de Saint-Exupery

COSTA RICA

Before we reentered the good ol' USA we decided to chill in Costa Rica!We selected a couple of resorts for the last week of our travels intending to relax and refresh. The Springs Resort and The Peace Lodge, related resorts, fit the bill. Three days in each which were very different experiences - The Springs Resort is a new resort with an incredible spa and workout room and has more than 20 pools to choose from at varying temperatures fed from mineral springs with amazing and spacious rooms facing a volcano and then The Peace Lodge for three days in a rain forest with many native animals, birds and insects to enjoy! We loved them both! We especially enjoyed the tour of the miniature nocturnal frogs! Finding them with a flashlight and then photographing them in the dark was quite a challenge-but rewarding!

CUZCO AND MACHU PICCHU, PERU

We arrived into Cuzco, Peru and 11,000 ft in altitude and needed to spend a couple of days there to get adjusted to the altitude and lack of oxygen before we headed out to Machu Picchu! We found Cuzco to be a beautiful city situated around a large square which was beautifully lit at night! We loved the food there, especially a little restaurant called Limo which served the best ceviche, sushi!, and lomo saltado! The lack of oxygen was somewhat off putting and we drank coca tea to adjust. The people of Peru were also warm and welcoming. We took a 4 hour train ride DOWN to Machu Picchu from Cuzco.

We were fascinated by the Inca culture from the beginning and learned more through guided tours of their amazing intelligence and industriousness.The mystery and magic of Machu Picchu was captivating and breathtaking. It was hard to leave and one of the most fascinating parts of our entire trip. How they build their civilization to avoid destruction during the powerful earthquakes (or terramotos) was an incredible feat. The buildings are perfectly preserved with not mortar between the stones! Perfect engineering and perfectly amazing to see!
While we did not hike the 4 day Inca Trail we did read a great book called, "Turn Right at Machu
Picchu" which was the story written by Mark Adams who rewalked the path  of Hiram Bingham who originally discovered Machu Picchu in 1917. A fascinating and fun read. We left Peru through Lima, which we found unmemorable except for a fabulous dinner we had at Herve's celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary. We passed this random sign outside a hotel on our anniversary! Tacky but funny! Off to Costa Rica...

SANTIAGO, CHILE

We flew over the Andes to Chile. They were a sight to see in an airplane! We arrived in Santiago and had one of nicest rooms yet, looking back at the Andes, watching the sunrise over the mountains every morning from the 18th floor of the Park Hyatt. It was breathtaking! A friend of a friend, Sylvia, who is from Santiago, showed us around Santiago which was wonderful! She took us to special restaurants she liked and we spent a day shopping with her daugher. We look forward to seeing Sylvia in Sun Valley!

Behind us in the photograph is an Easter Island statue (or head) that her grandmother bought years ago and an auction. We loved Santiago! We found her family also to be incredibly warm and welcoming.

MENDOZA, ARGENTINA

We took a wine tour through Mendoza on a beautiful sunny day and started tasting wine
no later than 10am! We toured 4 very different wineries all specializing in 100 percent Malbec which we discovered we both love. Our first stop was a very old one begun in 1928-Mendel with very high end boutique wines; another new and very modern winery- making Gran Estirpe; and one that also made delicious olive oil as well as wine named Tapiz and where we had a 5 course meal and I can't remember the fourth one...haha! Just kidding! It was Clos de Chacras. Each one was unique and special. We loved Mendoza after Buenos Aires. Clean, safe with very friendly people.

We spent three days in Mendoza including a trip to the foot of the Andes and an hour walk up the incredible Aconcagua, 22,000 ft at the summit and the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere! The Andes are enormous, rugged and majestic. Off to Chile and then Peru!

IGUAZU FALLS AND MENDOZA-

Amazing Falls and beautiful Wine Country. We loved Mendoza-very walkable, clean, great restauarants.