13 replies to this topic

[Lee1234]

Tell us about the places you've visited, the places you plan to visit, the 'exotic' foods you've eaten, the 'exotic' animals you've seen and the one thing (place, food, animal) you found most interesting and why.

 

I'll start:

 

I've been to France and Dominica so far.

 

I plan to visit (everywhere if i can), Japan, Russia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Italy, Egypt and Greece.

 

I've eaten Dashin (I think that's how you spell it) which looks like a grey potato and wasn't one of my favourite experiences with food, but it was an experience nonetheless lol. I'd like to try frog's legs and octopus next.

 

I can't really say I've seen any exotic animals with my limited travelling experiences, but hopefully that will change in the future.

 

The most interesting thing I've seen is a parting of two oceans in Dominica. They're separated by a thin strip of rocky land and is never consumed by the sea on either side, despite being at the same level. On one side, the ocean is fierce and restless, on the other, calm and serene. I've stood between the two and I swear for a moment you'd think you were on another planet. (Think of that new movie "After Earth").

 

It took me a lot of energy and brain power to type this, so responses are mandatory. Remember, sharing is caring and I am interested. Gracias- Pronounced "Grassy-ass".

Edited by Lee1234, 10 February 2013 - 11:06 AM.

[Lapis lazuli]

The most interesting thing I've seen is a parting of two oceans in Dominica. They're separated by a thin strip of rocky land and is never consumed by the sea on either side, despite being at the same level. On one side, the ocean is fierce and restless, on the other, calm and serene. I've stood between the two and I swear for a moment you'd think you were on another planet. (Think of that new movie "After Earth").

 

That's an amazing story!

 

Anyway, I've been to Paris, France. The Eiffel tower was pretty impressive. It was amazing to see. And the Seine too although when I read that sewage is actually released into it on a regular basis it did make me look at it a bit differently. lol

 

 I liked the architecture. That was cool to see. I also liked seeing this:

 

 

 

I'll see if I have one other pic of the architecture. *looks on photobucket* Here's something:

 

 

 

It's not the best photo but ain't that just awesome?

 

I don't see myself returning to Paris that soon. It's real hard it seems to get a decent meal when you're a vegetarian. Plus just the whole vibe in Paris I thought was a tad...strange. I just thought it was odd. The people... The way they were... I didn't feel at home in Paris. Out of place. That's how I felt.

 

I don't really have that many places I'd like to visit. Maybe the Bahamas. Or something like that. Or maybe a trip to New York or something. See the tall buildings and so on. I don't really get out of travelling what many people get out of it.

 

Oh and I didn't see any exotic animals in Paris. Maybe they're out there in the Paris zoo waiting for people to come and see them but I didn't go there. lol

[Lee1234]

 

The most interesting thing I've seen is a parting of two oceans in Dominica. They're separated by a thin strip of rocky land and is never consumed by the sea on either side, despite being at the same level. On one side, the ocean is fierce and restless, on the other, calm and serene. I've stood between the two and I swear for a moment you'd think you were on another planet. (Think of that new movie "After Earth").

 

That's an amazing story!

 

Anyway, I've been to Paris, France. The Eiffel tower was pretty impressive. It was amazing to see. And the Seine too although when I read that sewage is actually released into it on a regular basis it did make me look at it a bit differently. lol

 

 I liked the architecture. That was cool to see. I also liked seeing this:

 

 

 

I'll see if I have one other pic of the architecture. *looks on photobucket* Here's something:

 

 

 

It's not the best photo but ain't that just awesome?

 

I don't see myself returning to Paris that soon. It's real hard it seems to get a decent meal when you're a vegetarian. Plus just the whole vibe in Paris I thought was a tad...strange. I just thought it was odd. The people... The way they were... I didn't feel at home in Paris. Out of place. That's how I felt.

 

I don't really have that many places I'd like to visit. Maybe the Bahamas. Or something like that. Or maybe a trip to New York or something. See the tall buildings and so on. I don't really get out of travelling what many people get out of it.

 

Oh and I didn't see any exotic animals in Paris. Maybe they're out there in the Paris zoo waiting for people to come and see them but I didn't go there. lol

 

Well damn, thank you for sharing that!. Eiffel tower is definitely on my "to-visit" list, once I conquer my fear of falling. It's a very impressive and iconic structure. Lol those figurines are epic, though I'm not sure if they're edible or not?.

 

As for the photo, yes! no one can deny that's an awesome building! makes me question where I went when I visited France, because I never saw this building :/.

 

HAHA the French are often criticized for being strange folk, I'm pretty sure there's saying that goes "Never trust a Frenchman" lol. I know a few of their delicacies involve dairy and meat, so I understand how you'd struggle as a vegetarian to find a decent meal down there.

 

Cool! when I was in Paris, I saw a run away frog in the grocery store. The owner was chasing it with a net and I swear it looked like it was smiling.

 

Anyway, thanks for that

Edited by Lee1234, 10 February 2013 - 02:00 PM.

[Lapis lazuli]

Well damn, thank you for sharing that!. Eiffel tower is definitely on my "to-visit" list, once I conquer my fear of falling. It's a very impressive and iconic structure. Lol those figurines are epic, though I'm not sure if they're edible or not?.

 

As for the photo, yes! no one can deny that's an awesome building! makes me question where I went when I visited France, because I never saw this building :/.

 

HAHA the French are often criticized for being strange folk, I'm pretty sure there's saying that goes "Never trust a Frenchman" lol. I know a few of their delicacies involve dairy and meat, so I understand how you'd struggle as a vegetarian to find a decent meal down there.

 

Cool! when I was in Paris, I saw a run away frog in the grocery store. The owner was chasing it with a net and I swear it looked like it was smiling.

 

Anyway, thanks for that

 

The figurines are edible. You can see the card behind them that says "sucre" which means sugar. So you can eat them.

 

This might give you a bit of an impression of the Eiffel tower's bigness:

 

 

 

I didn't go up in it either. As it's HUGE and it actually wiggles back and forth if you get high enough which is scary. I actually got a little dizzy just standing below it, looking at it. lol

 

And lol @ the frog tale.

[Lee1234]

The figurines are edible. You can see the card behind them that says "sucre" which means sugar. So you can eat them.

 

This might give you a bit of an impression of the Eiffel tower's bigness:

 

 

 

 

I didn't go up in it either. As it's HUGE and it actually wiggles back and forth if you get high enough which is scary. I actually got a little dizzy just standing below it, looking at it. lol

 

And lol @ the frog tale.

 

 

Man, when I go back, I'll have to keep an eye out for those things

 

Ugh, I feel ill just looking at it. It wiggles?! most likely because of the way it designs but still   lol.

 

May I ask, are these your personal pictures? they're quite impressive. Feels like I can step into them from my computer

[Lapis lazuli]

Yeah, those figurines are awesome.

 

And yeah, I took these myself. They're snapshots I took while I was out there for five days. lol I once knew a guy who lived in a very high flat and he said his whole apartment wiggled sometimes too; it's indeed the construction. It has to do with it being resistant to heavy wind...I assume. lol I probably stated the obvious there.

 

My Sony Cybershot is really good so I can't take total credit. lol It has a 2.8 F-stop which is pretty "fast".

 

Be sure to go see it in real life if you can!

Edited by Lapis lazuli, 10 February 2013 - 03:43 PM.

[Lee1234]

Yeah, those figurines are awesome.

 

And yeah, I took these myself. They're snapshots I took while I was out there for five days. lol I once knew a guy who lived in a very high flat and he said his whole apartment wiggled sometimes too; it's indeed the construction. It has to do with it being resistant to heavy wind...I assume. lol I probably stated the obvious there.

 

My Sony Cybershot is really good so I can't take total credit. lol It has a 2.8 F-stop which is pretty "fast".

 

Be sure to go see it in real life if you can!

 

Lol no worries, I assume the architects knew what they were doing. You remind me, I need a good camera for my travels.

 

Anyway, will do man. Thanks again for sharing!.

[Kairasa]

I've been to: Australia (all around the East coast from Cairnes down to Sydney), Rome, Paris, London, Holyhead (Wales), all around Ireland, and Zurich (Switzerland...but only the airport haha).

 

I plan to visit: Every single country I can experience in my lifetime.

 

I haven't really eaten many exotic foods. I did have escargot in Paris and blood pudding in Ireland.

 

I've held a koala in Australia and been up close and personal with kangaroos!

 

I could not pick a place to be the most interesting because all of them left a strong impression on me. I flew to Ireland at the end of May last year and it was a pretty spectacular month spent there. I got to see my now fiance after 5 months of being apart upon arrival, he proposed on the second day in a CASTLE, I got to meet a lot of important people in his life, drive around the country for 3 weeks, and spend a few days in Dublin at a Catholic conference. It was a beautiful experience.

 

Rome was also wonderful because it was at Christmastime, I hadn't seen aforementioned person in 4 months, I got to attend mass in St Peter's on Christmas Eve with the Pope....got to explore the city....

 

My life is just full of blessings and traveling is definitely way up there on my list for things to share with my soon to be husband and our future children. Whether it's on a roadtrip through America (we did that for a month a few summers ago!), or a foreign country. The world is endlessly fascinating to me.

[o Havoc o]

Wow some great stories here.

 

This year i will be doing a cruise around the med and the Caribbean. So will hit many countries in 2 weeks. Can't wait.

 

I have been to France a few times. I have family over there.

 

I have been to Spain man years ago, great food

 

Been to Amsterdam, beautiful city albeit expensive.

 

I've been to Scotland when i was very young. Don't remember it that well.

 

Experiences. Too many to name but nothing like a few brushes with death to make one feel alive.

 

I think my greatest experiences comes from the people around me and close to me. I have learned a lot from these people and dare say taught them a few things. I am simply a combination of the people around me.

[Siava]

Outside of the US I've been to Puerto Rico, Vieques (a tiny island off of PR), and the UK.

 

Vieques was by far the most exotic and fun. Horses roam the island and go wherever they please from frolicking on the beach to grazing in the school yard. You get fined if you harm one. Their eyes don't reflect since they're not nocturnal, so you have to be very careful when driving at night. The culture is like taking a step back in time. Slow pace. Conservative. Folks are up early in order to catch the ferry to the mainland and they go to bed early. Some bars stay open late if the crowd is good enough, but for the most part everything shuts down around 8pm. Chickens and cats run the street.

 

I'd have to say the most exotic animal I saw while there was the mongoose. They're fast so I only caught glimpses of them darting across roads. Best part about them being there is you don't have to worry about snakes.

 

Hmm, the most exotic food I ate was conch, but my favorite to look at was spiny lobster. They look totally different than Maine lobsters...almost spiderlike. Kinda creepy.

 

The most interesting thing there is the bio bay. There are only 5 on the entire planet. Micro-organisms called dinoflagellates feed off of dead mangrove leaves. They glow whenever the water is disturbed. I kayaked in the bay and then the instructor told us to swim. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life, like swimming in sparkling fairy dust. You could even tell where the fish were because they'd leave a glowing trail under the water's surface.

 

There are so many places I want to visit, but the only one on my bucket list is Machu Picchu in Peru. I like the history and architecture, and would find the hike to be a beautiful challenge.

 

I've enjoyed reading everyone's stories. Keep em comin!

[Lee1234]

Amazing, Great stories guys. Makes for very interesting reading and now I have a fair few ideas of what I'd like to do, travel-wise, later in life. Thank you!.

 

side note: I thought a Mongoose was a vehicle. The downfalls of video games I guess

[NessaVenasaur]

Nice stories, Lee and Siava! I read all of the posts.... very interesting. Nice thread!

 

I've been to:

• Canada (As an American, hardly worth a mention if you ask me... no offense to Canadians! It works both ways, I guess.)
• Macedonia (North of Greece)
• Kosovo (Further North from Greece)
• Zurich for a couple of days... layover haha
• Antalya, Turkey
• Beijing and Shangai, China - Also stopped in a few of the smaller cities between the two.

 

I'll start with the exotic food. China of course was the least familiar to me, in all respects really, so I saw a lot of food that was a big change for me. We spent a few days in, I quote, a "small city" 3-4 million? The city is Taizhou, my professor played an integeral role in the creation of a Feng Shui museum there - so we were hosted by the city and given an expensive, formal dinner - the sea slug alone was $80!! There was also cow ligaments... I'm not an adventurous eater so I didn't try them, but there was plenty of non-adventurous food to choose from, too. Whew!

 

Interesting sights/moments... Spending half the day climbing up the Great Wall was absolutely amazing!! We didn't climb the renovated tourist area, so we had to go up and down some very large, steep stairs. It was a very hot, sunny day, so it was challenging but worth it! Of course we all learn how "great" it is, but having climbed it for hours and then being told how much ground we covered... it's humbling I guess? The group also got a chance to go to the World Expo that was held in Shangai - several countries had pavillions to share some aspect of their country. The crazy part is that they took years to put together, stayed up for a few months, and then had to be taken down. Just the amount of land it took for all these countries to put up temporary buildings... kind of mind blowing!  In Beijing, we got to see the Bird's Nest and a few other buildings that were used for the 2008 Olympics. I love watching the Olympics so I enjoyed that.... We also saw the Forbidden City.... It was all cool! Loved it

 

I went to Antalya, Turkey when I was 14 so the adults determined all the activities, which meant going to the beach all day, every day. LAME. We took a trip to an ancient Greek city (in Turkey), so that was cool. Seeing the iconic white pillars, acquaducts and ampitheaters was all awesome! I need better adjectives haha. We also visited a city called Pamukale, which has these natural white hot springs. Check it out! Lastly, we went on a yacht with a bunch of other tourists and got to jump off into the Mediterranean Sea - one of my favorite travelling moments ever!

 

The places I still want to go to: Japan, Scotland, England, Germany, Thailand, Australia/New Zealand, Greece, and I want to travel more in the U.S.

[Lee1234]

Nice stories, Lee and Siava! I read all of the posts.... very interesting. Nice thread!

 

I've been to:

• Canada (As an American, hardly worth a mention if you ask me... no offense to Canadians! It works both ways, I guess.)
• Macedonia (North of Greece)
• Kosovo (Further North from Greece)
• Zurich for a couple of days... layover haha
• Antalya, Turkey
• Beijing and Shangai, China - Also stopped in a few of the smaller cities between the two.

 

I'll start with the exotic food. China of course was the least familiar to me, in all respects really, so I saw a lot of food that was a big change for me. We spent a few days in, I quote, a "small city" 3-4 million? The city is Taizhou, my professor played an integeral role in the creation of a Feng Shui museum there - so we were hosted by the city and given an expensive, formal dinner - the sea slug alone was $80!! There was also cow ligaments... I'm not an adventurous eater so I didn't try them, but there was plenty of non-adventurous food to choose from, too. Whew!

 

Interesting sights/moments... Spending half the day climbing up the Great Wall was absolutely amazing!! We didn't climb the renovated tourist area, so we had to go up and down some very large, steep stairs. It was a very hot, sunny day, so it was challenging but worth it! Of course we all learn how "great" it is, but having climbed it for hours and then being told how much ground we covered... it's humbling I guess? The group also got a chance to go to the World Expo that was held in Shangai - several countries had pavillions to share some aspect of their country. The crazy part is that they took years to put together, stayed up for a few months, and then had to be taken down. Just the amount of land it took for all these countries to put up temporary buildings... kind of mind blowing!  In Beijing, we got to see the Bird's Nest and a few other buildings that were used for the 2008 Olympics. I love watching the Olympics so I enjoyed that.... We also saw the Forbidden City.... It was all cool! Loved it

 

I went to Antalya, Turkey when I was 14 so the adults determined all the activities, which meant going to the beach all day, every day. LAME. We took a trip to an ancient Greek city (in Turkey), so that was cool. Seeing the iconic white pillars, acquaducts and ampitheaters was all awesome! I need better adjectives haha. We also visited a city called Pamukale, which has these natural white hot springs. Check it out! Lastly, we went on a yacht with a bunch of other tourists and got to jump off into the Mediterranean Sea - one of my favorite travelling moments ever!

 

The places I still want to go to: Japan, Scotland, England, Germany, Thailand, Australia/New Zealand, Greece, and I want to travel more in the U.S.

 

You've already got a fair bit of travelling under your belt . Thank you for sharing that.

 

sea slug and cow ligaments! my word..it's a shame you didn't try it, I'd have loved to know their texture and flavour. Who knows, it may have tasted like chicken

 

I forgot about the great wall. One of the great landmarks I've resolved myself to seeing before I die. Do they have checkpoints, where you can purchase food and water? or did you guys just go in one burst?. Regardless, it's a privilege to climb the great wall and I hope I'll have that same priveledge sometime in the future.

 

I still hold the belief that, the Beijing olympic opening and closing ceremonies were the greatest of our generation, or at least the best I've ever seen (and I've seen a few).

 

What's the forbidden city? *scratches chin* I'm intrigued.

 

Thank you for that link btw , I appreciate your input.

 

Edit: Just saw the link! so pweetty *_*

Edited by Lee1234, 21 February 2013 - 02:56 PM.

[Siava]

Oh man, I love mythology and would love to see the architecture in Greece. You're so lucky, Nessa!