Travel outside your comfort zone.

Originally posted by EAPOE
Where is the most different and memorable travel destination you have been?

Costa Rica! I loved it! We hired a car, traveled from one end of the country to the other (little place that it is), from the smelly, busy city to the rain forest. Beautiful, beautiful! We had a room overlooking the forest and ocean. Problem is, they are building more and more there, and they need more land conservation. It's troublesome, bc the locals need the work. 😞

I loved the monkeys, sloths and lizards, the extremely helpful, friendly locals, the horseshoe crabs making cities on the beach, the crazy waves, the music, the pounding rain storms, the food was heavenly....I even liked the questionable bridges and the odd insects. I don't speak much Spanish, but I tried damn hard!

Fond memories 😀.

Originally posted by Fat mans revenge
Vatican City/Rome

Would like very much to see the Architecture there. What did you enjoy about your trip?

Originally posted by Sunburnt
Costa Rica! I loved it! We hired a car, traveled from one end of the country to the other (little place that it is), from the smelly, busy city to the rain forest. Beautiful, beautiful! We had a room overlooking the forest and ocean. Problem is, they are building more and more there, and they need more land conservation. It's troublesome, bc the locals ...[text shortened]... s and the odd insects. I don't speak much Spanish, but I tried damn hard!

Fond memories 😀.

Sounds like the ideal getaway. What was the food like? How much did it cost to hire the car.

Originally posted by EAPOE
Sounds like the ideal getaway. What was the food like? How much did it cost to hire the car.

The food was very, very good, sometimes sweet and surprising. Fresh, not very spicy. Actually, best at tiny, mom and pop places, really, than the restaurants. I must say, the service in Costa Rica was exceptional. I have never had service so wonderful. Best ever. The best breakfast of my life I had there, at a place overlooking a river full of crocodiles and a horse pasture, and the restaurant was just on the side of the dusty road.

The car was inexpensive...can't remember exactly, but very cheap! Everything in Costa Rica is inexpensive.

Originally posted by EAPOE
Would like very much to see the Architecture there. What did you enjoy about your trip?

My favorite part of the trip was the lifestyle in Rome itself. Coming from the American southwest, I'm already somewhat used to a laid back lifestyle, but the Romans take it a whole new level.

One thing that I really loved is how eager most of the natives were to communicate. I could (And did!) stop a random person on the street, ask for directions, and they would happily repeat it until I was able to understand, even though I speak Italian poorly, and comprehend it even worse.

My favorite was this little old lady; every morning I was there, when I went out for a run, she was sitting outside her house, at a little table, drinking tea. The first morning, she saw me running, got my attention, and, in Italian, asked me if I wanted some tea. "When in Rome" I thought, and sat beside her. We spent the next hour or so just trying to talk to each other, and failing pretty miserably. Every day for the next 2 weeks, I joined her at her little table, watching the INSANE Roman traffic, and just trying to talk. During that time, we learned one another's past, and so much more. She was a widow who had never had any children, and regretted it. She was so interested in America, and was more than happy to explain some of the finer details of Roman living; we became close friends. By my last day there, I had become at least semi-competent in Italian, and the lady and I were able to hold a decent conversation. Leaving Rome was the hardest thing I did on that trip.

Unfortunately, where I am in America, it seems to me that if you stopped a person randomly on the street and asked them directions in a foreign language, they'd either tell you to piss off, or to learn English.

I'm happy to say that I learned a lot in Rome, and I hope those lessons stay with me forever.

Originally posted by Fat mans revenge
Unfortunately, where I am in America, it seems to me that if you stopped a person randomly on the street and asked them directions in a foreign language, they'd either tell you to piss off, or to learn English.

"they'd either tell you to piss off, or to learn English, BUDDY!"

Fixed.

D