marezydotes

One of the most unusual places on earth. I’m not going to expand. If you’re in Chiapas, especially San Cristobal de las Casas, you will hear about this town, and most likely want to visit. It is fascinating.

A very underestimated Mayan ruin. This is the easiest site to get to from San Cristobal. It is not overrun with hoardes of people and shows and lights (as I’ve heard the bigger sites are). It is still being excavated and you can climb it randomly…as if it was just a hill. The peaks of the pyramids just keep going up and up. It is so impressive. At the bottom of the ruins they have an area set up that you can meander through like a maze – it is meagerly lit, and you feel like you could get lost. But you don’t. When you get all the way to the top you most likely won’t see any more people. The small museum is also very nice. It is very beautifully designed, but unfortunately, all the plaques are only in spanish and are very complicated. The bathroom was unique…
Loved the experience. Stop on the side of the road if you see textiles being sold – they’ll be different than the ones in town.

This is one of my favorite places in the world. I have been to places more beautiful, more exotic, more unusual (not by much though, hee hee)...but this is one of my favorite places because there is something here that tugs at my heart. I love this town and I love the people. I love the smell, and the plants and the mountains and the children and the bazaar and the internet cafes…and I want to protect it, and preserve the cultures of the area. Is humanity worthwhile without such awesome traditions and culture? I don’t understand why missionaries come to places like this (still!) and try to make everyone the same…Anyway. I have a ton of photos…if I can get them scanned, I’ll put them up. If you’re hoping to visit here, it’s so worth it! There are lot’s of nice inexpensive hotels – you don’t need reservations. Just walk in, ask for a room, ask to see it (important) check it over – make sure you’ve got hot water and you like the room and take it. Also, you can stay at Na Bolom – a center for protection of indigenous culture, started by an anthropologist years ago, it’s a wonderful place in an old colonial house. You can bunk down there, hostel style, or just come for their heavenly breakfast, info on the area, or even tours into the jungle, ruins, etc. Wow that was a paragraph.

We stayed at a B&B in Port Angeles to have easy access to the park for a couple of days. We arrived in the afternoon and after getting settled in, decided to drive up into the park. It was a cloudy day in spring and as we drove up the mountain away from town it started to get…foggy. After a bit, it became so dense, we couldn’t see much in front of the car. My mom started panicking – she wanted us to stop, turn around, something! It was mountainous, and the road was nowhere to be seen (and let me tell you she’s had some hair-raising experiences on roads in the mountains of Mexico). So my dad’s chuckling as usual and I’m in the back, “Let’s go, let’s go!”.

All of a sudden BAM! The fog disappears like a curtain and there’s the road, the trees and mountains…everywhere. There’s not another car or person to be seen. And we just stopped with our mouths hanging open – it was like we were in this huge cloud and we came out the other side. We pulled the car over as far to the edge of the road as we could and got out to look around, because it was just breathtaking. Mind you, we hadn’t reached the top yet, when up the road a ways we realize that it’s foggy looking again…I don’t remember who it was who said “Oh s&*@t! That’s another cloud!” It was rushing right at us like a giant truck barrelling down the road. We all dove for the car like a bunch of idiots, but we didn’t turn around. We realized it was just too amazing what we were experiencing to not go further. So we kept going up the mountain through the cloud, and came out again at the top. It was clear and cold when we reached the peak. My mom and dad had overdone it for the day and sat looking at the view from the car – which wasn’t too shabby I must say, but Em and I jumped out and went running up over the field and down the ridge. There were still huge snow banks blocking the trails in places and the sun was sinking on the opposite side of the ridge. But it was so amazing up there – there were tiny alpine wildflowers blooming and lichens and everything seemed to want to lay close to the ground to get away from the cold wind.

We finally dragged ourselves back to the car when it became too unbearably cold. The setting of the sun must have taken the clouds with it because we got back down the mountain with no hindrance…

I can’t begin to say how unique and beautiful a place this is. Haunting. Stunning. Otherworldly.

I can’t remember how many years back I’ve been going to Otakon at the Convention Center now…was it back to 2000? Might have been ‘01…something like that…anyhow…the first year, they only rented half the center and the other half had another function going on. The year after that, they had about 2/3 the center, the next year, 3/4 and after that the whole thing. Then they just started tweaking it for more space…It’s been neat seeing the convention grow every year. They started moving the concerts to the Baltimore Arena and the dealer’s room is so big you can’t see the other end.
The crowd has changed too. Everyone has gotten younger and younger. The majority of fans are not very knowlegable. Is this convention for Otaku anymore? Or for Cartoon Network watchers who don’t know anything else exists? Anyhow, I’m completely off track. Sorry. :)
The convention center is pretty cool. The design is fairly practical, the place is kept very clean and the climate control has been better in past years.

I don’t like that the vendors in the dealer’s room cannot sell food anymore. I also think the center is large enough, there could be a Starbucks stand at each end – you can never have enough SB’s? Right? I’m not going to go to a convention and stand in line for 20 minutes to get a cup of coffee. And stagger the chairs please! Isn’t this common sense?

Wow. I guess I’m avoiding getting back to work.

While I dislike the city in a general way, the BMA is an excellent museum and is worth the time if you are in the area. I have seen some brilliant exhibits here, and the regular collections are excellent as well.

There is more here than you can possibly see in one day. Besides the paintings, I remember seeing some wonderful Egyptian artifacts.

After an absurdly pricy disappointment this past spring at Nobu Next Door, I can’t wait to try my favorite Iron Chef’s omakase!

This is a necessary stop for any beer aficcionado. Monk’s has probably the largest selection of Belgian ale in the country…well, Zot is fast becoming a contender (and I’m sure Chef Bernard will try and surpass them). Use the Beer Bible to select what style you like from the wonderful descriptions – and definitely try something on tap, and if its close to the holidays, try a Belgian seasonal.

As for food, I’ve only had burgers and frittes – they’re very good, and the homemade mayonnaise that comes with the frittes is addicting!