I entered for Wednesday but I thought it was tuesday!

I'm entered for today (2/4/09)

 

My Wednesday
(This one was hard)

The answer for Tuesday's question is Tikal National Park, Guatemala.

We had 14 entries and 13 correct answers.  I really thought it would only be 50%.  So, you are all toooo smart!     Good work!

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Tikal is one of the most amazing places one could ever hope to see.  After a 5 hour bus ride from Poptun you get dumped off outside of the gates to the park.  To the left is a large pond with the sign: "beware of crocodiles".  To the right is an airstrip that looks so short you are sure a plane would never be able land there.  In front is a collection of small wood buildings.  Everything else is just jungle!  You veer off to the left and start walking through the jungle.  After about 1/4 mile the jungle seems just to part away ...

... and there in front of you are Mayan pyramids as far as the eye can see!  It takes your breath away!  I would be wasting my time to try and describe it to you.  Only pictures would do justice. 

But back to Poptun ... How did I end up there?  As I said we went there to build an orphanage.  I never did see an orphan the whole time I was there!  But, we were seriously out in the middle of the jungle!  One kept expecting Tarzan to come swinging out of the trees on a vine.  Jaguars, coati mundis, parrots of every color, boa constictors, tropical fish, and bugs of every size and description!  Staying in little cabins, when we turned off the oil lamps at night (yep, no electricity) we would wait until we heard "plop, plop, plop" then lean over and re-light the lamp and proceed to stomp on the scorpions that had fallen out of the rafters!  What a bedtime ritual, eh?  Well, I could go on for pages with this, but I will cut it short ...

Oh!  I forgot.  Norm, the idiot without a passport, told us that they gave him a "Letter Of Transit" when we entered Belize.  At least we were able to get back home when we left 6 months later!  Should'a fed him to the crocs!   

Question for THURSDAY 05FEB09:  (#8)   Hmmm?? What day is Thursday???  Hmmm ... it seems to be the "orphan" of the days of the week...   WAIT!  I know!!!!  Pick me teacher!  Pick me! 

"Monday's child is fair of face.
Tuesday's child is full of grace.
Wednesday's child is full of woe.
Thursday's child has far to go.... "     Not really ... this clue puts us over half-way! 

(THIS ONE REALLY IS EASIER!!!!   It pains me to make it so easy .... NOT!!!!  )

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After being married, and chained at home for 8 years, then finally happily divorced ... in 1992 Loren took a “singles” cruise through the Caribbean to celebrate his 35th birthday.  The ship paid a visit to this “mystery Port-of-Call”.

      As of the 2000 census, it has a population of 433,733, making it the 42nd-largest city under the jurisdiction of the United States.  Spanish colonists founded it in 1521.  It is the second oldest European-established city in the Americas, after Santo Domingo, now in the Dominican Republic.  Several historical buildings are located in there; among the most notable are the city's former defensive forts, Fort San Felipe del Morro and Fort San Cristobál, and La Fortaleza, the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Americas.  As a settlement of the Spanish Empire, merchant and military ships traveling from Spain as the first stopover in the Americas used it.  Because of its prominence in the Caribbean, a network of fortifications were built to protect the transports of gold and silver from the New World to Europe.  Because of the rich transports, the city became a target of the foreign powers of the time.  In May 1898, United States Navy ships, among them the USS Detroit, USS Indiana, USS New York, USS Amphitrite, USS Terror and USS Montgomery, commanded by Rear Admiral William T. Sampson, bombed it during the Spanish-American War, though the city was not occupied.  On July 25, General Nelson A. Miles landed at Guánica with 3,300 soldiers and took over the island with little resistance.  Spain ceded the island to the United States later the same year by signing the Treaty of Paris.  Lieutenant Teofilo Marxuach (retired as a Lieutenant Colonel) was responsible for the first bullet shot by the American military during World War I, when he ordered a "Regiment of Infantry" to open fire on the Odenwald, an armed German supply vessel, when it was trying to force its way out of the city's bay.  This event occurred on April 6, 1917, the day that the United States declared war on Germany. 
      During the Spanish colonial times most of the urban population resided in what is now known as the old city.  This sector is located on the western half of a small island , which is connected to the mainland by two bridges and a causeway. The small island, which comprises an area of 47 sq. miles, also hosts the working class neighborhood of Puerta de Tierra and most of the central government buildings, including the Commonwealth's Capitol.  Narrow cobblestone streets and picturesque colonial buildings, some of which date back to the 16th and 17th century, characterize the main central part of the city.  Massive walls and several defensive structures and notable forts surround sections of the old city.  The 16th century El Palacio de Santa Catalina, also known as La Fortaleza, built by Ponce de Leon serves as the governor's mansion.

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WHERE IS HE?


PLEASE:  REMEMBER NOT TO POST YOUR ANSWER HERE!!!!

(You still have until midnight PST to answer the previous question!  If you are having troubles ... don't worry ... each question contains several clues that you can use, in like a google search, which will lead you right to the correct answer!)

 

I am hoping I got it right this time!

Entered for 2/5   Have a great day everyone and happy googling! 

  I entered for Thurs. 2/5   

The answer for Wednesday's question is Barra de Navidad!

We had 13 entries and 13 correct answers.   By the comments, it seems you found the last two questions a little tougher        But, all the correct answers reinforce my faith in all of you!

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(The first trip there marked the beginning of my "unstructured" mode of travel ... as you will soon see.  It gave me the "itch"!  As some of you have noted: I am not including ALL of my travels.  That is correct. I had to choose only 14 destinations for this contest, so you are only getting about a third of them.) 

Barra de Navidad, literally "Christmas Sandbar", is just a small, sleepy village on the western Mexican coast. 

One Sunday morning I woke up, did the NY Times crossword, and then proceeded to read the travel section in the Sunday Seattle Post-Intelligencer.  WHOA!  $150.00 round trip to Puerto Villarta from Seattle?  Hot dog!   I did a little searching at the local library ... (pre-internet days) ... and read about this little town to the south that sounded like a great place!  So ... I purchased my airline tickets (with a two week return!) and headed off one week later to Mexico! 

I fly into Puerta Villarta ... get off the airplane ... and proceed to determine how I am going to get to Barra.  Yep, no plans at all.  No hotel reservations, no transportation.  Just a destination and $200 in my pocket to survive 2 weeks on!  So, about 11am I hop a local "milk-run" bus that is heading south toward Barra ... I should be able to get in there and to find a hotel ... No Problemo!  Right?  Well, they don't call them "milk-runs" for nothing!  By 6pm it is starting to get dark and we aren't there yet!  Finally the bus pulls into Barra ... and it is pitch dark!  There are no street lights in this town!  And there are goats and chickens roaming the streets!  Luckily there are 2 "unwashed" German kids on the bus who spoke English and were willing to steer me to a hotel!  So, I get a room and it is really great.  All for a mere $5 a night.  Whew!!!!! 

All and all it turned out to be a great place!  At that time Barra was mainly an expatriot community.  Folks from the States, a German couple that ran the best breakfast joint in Mexico, a Canadian guy that had won the lottery.  Otherwise it was just a vacation spot for the local folks from Guadalahara. 

The next day I found a local 'watering-hole' called Charles and Rueben's which was located in the old movie set from Caboblanco, hence the Charles part.  Rueben was the current owner. He was a great guy so I decided that was the place to wet my whistle on a daily basis.     That night a couple of local guys came into the bar, it turned out they were lobster fishermen.  Well, they saw the Gringo and decided to have some "fun' with him so they challenged me to a "pepino" eating contest.  That is:  sliced cucumbers topped with the hottest peppers known to Latin America!  Who am I to say no??  They were going to buy!  Beer ... pepinos ... ta-kill-ya ... Beer ... pepinos ... ta-kill-ya ... beer ... pepinos ... you get the idea. Guess what???  The Gringo out lasted them!  They were begging for mercy and I was still rip-snortin' ready to go!  As they started to depart Ruebens they turned and looked at me with a steady stare and said, "You'll get your reward tomorrow!"   This could be very bad or very good!   

Well, after all those peppers and ta-kill-ya from the night before I got 2 rewards ... but we won't discuss the first one!  The 2nd one presented itself when I went to a bar later in the day to get a nip of "the dog that bit me"  I handed the barkeep my money to pay-up and he looked at me and told me that my money was no good there!   Que pasa???

As it turned out, those 2 lobster dudes had taken their losses well and had gone to every bar in town and told them that all of Loren's drinks were on the house forever!  The Gringo had held his own and had proven he had 'cajones'!  And for everytime I visited the next 4 years I never had to pay for a single drink! 

At Ruebens we had many great dinners.  Fresh prawns, lobster, and crab right off the boat!  This was not off the menu ... I just had to pay for enough shrimp right from the boats for several people and Rueben would have his cook prepare it and serve it with all the goodies ... as long as he got a plate!  FIESTA!!! We even went Sailfin fishing and landed a 7 footer that we feasted off of for 3 days! 

Wonderful place!  (but I better cut this short!)   

 

I am entered for Thursday!

Question for FRIDAY 06FEB09:  (#9)  Let's see ... Friday ... that's the day of the week when you make up a phoney excuse to leave work early because you have a hot date later at the local Greek Taverna!

(This clue is a little tougher, but you have shown me that you are up to a challenge as small as this!    Wait til #11!!! )

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In 1993 Loren felt the urge to get in touch with his roots by traveling to Ireland.  There he spent 3 weeks in this “mystery Village”.

      A town on the coast of County Galway, Ireland and being Connemara's largest town, it is often referred to as "the Capital of Connemara".  It is located on the Owenglin River.  The town is linked to Galway City by the N59 and is a popular tourist destination for those touring the Connemara.  The town was founded at the start of the 19th century by John D'Arcy who lived in a local castle (which is now a ruin that can be seen from the Sky Road west of town).  The Sky Road is one of the best tourist attractions in the entire Connemara region.  The circular route is 11km long and takes you out west from the town.  It is the birth place of Jon Riley, a Saint Patrick battalion's commander, who fought for Mexico in the Mexican-American War in the 19th century. 
      The town gained prominence in the early 1900s when Guglielmo Marconi built his first high power transatlantic long wave wireless telegraphy station four miles south of the town to minimize the distance to its sister station in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia.  The first point-to-point fixed wireless service connecting Europe with North America opened for public service with the transmission of 10,000 words on 17 October 1907 and ceased operation on 25 July 1922 after suffering serious damage in the Irish Civil War.  Transatlantic wireless service formerly provided by the station was transferred to the more modern Marconi wireless station near Waunfawr, Wales.  At peak times, over 400 people had been employed by the wireless station, but none more famous than Jack Phillips, who later died as the heroic chief radio operator on the Titanic.  It is near the landing place (53°26'N, 10°01'W) of the first transatlantic flight by Alcock and Brown on 15 June 1919.  The plane crash-landed in Derrygimla bog, close to Marconi's transatlantic wireless station.  A lot of the outdoor scenes from "The Quiet Man", starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, were filmed in this picturesque town.

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WHERE IS HE?


PLEASE:  REMEMBER NOT TO POST YOUR ANSWER HERE!!!!

(You still have until midnight PST to answer the previous question!  If you are having troubles ... don't worry ... each question contains several clues that you can use, in like a google search, which will lead you right to the correct answer!)

Day 8 guess in.