Travels in the 2nd half

I have used AirBnB 3 times - in Santa Monica, Montreal and Arlington VA. I have been very happy all 3 times. This is an interesting take on how AirBnB views the complaints about them by hotel chains. Link to article -  AirBnB not at war with hotels

Elyunque.com There is a lot that can be written about the culture wars between San Juan and Ponce in Puerto Rico. And I will describe some of that in another post. There is another cultural outpost that gets very little attention, especially by tourists and travelers. That is the town of Loiza. ( see map ) Loiza is one of two historically afro-puertorican townships in the general San Juan area. Loiza is famous for its traditional music, artisans and burin style of cooking. It is about 15 miles east of Isla Verde. Vejigante masks – Taller Ayala Among Loiza’s most famous artisans are the Taller Ayala (Rte. 187, Km 6.6, Loíza, 00772) – producers of traditional vejigante mask . The vejigante tradition goes back to the defeat of the Moors in Spain by St. James. They originally represented demons and were included in processions on St. James’ saint day to scare parishioners back to church.   In Puerto Rico this celebration became infused with African and T...

Okay, I am new to blogging. I don't know the etiquette. I rewrote my first piece. I think it is better. Let me know what you think. Yesterday I bought a travel pouch with the saying "I am not so much a traveler as an explorer." This is what gets me up off the couch. At the age of 52 some people like to settle in. "Been there, done that." Well that is not me. I was raised by parents who thought that getting the car and driving for the weekend was fun. I have spent many days in the back of our car seeing the surroundings while my brother slept. I even spent two weeks traveling to and from Prince Edward Island from New York City trading the “way back” (behind the luggage in our Datsun station wagon) with my brother.   My wife (hereafter known as The Amazing Ms. D ) and I were toasted at our wedding as "having been to more places that no one has ever heard of." There is nothing more exciting to me than beginning a trip. I will plan for months, but ...

A contrast in style when the temperature was "only" 82 degrees. As we were told many times- "It's winter! We don't go to the beach in the winter!"

Some good ideas and tips from the NYT NYTimes: Tips for Travel Savings in 2014 http://nyti.ms/JFydkF

Words to live by!

I have been a long time subscriber to Budget Travel . I find their articles and information to be the most useful for my kind of traveling. Here is a piece from their web-site on how to handle an emergency when traveling. many their suggestions are common sense but bear repeating:   Budget Travel - All-time Worst Travel Scenarios I hope you never need this info , but it is good to have, just in case.

One might think that when a traveler comes home he or she does is sit and hibernate until their next trip. Well, not this traveler. One of the advantages of living in NYC is that I can spend a lot of time being a traveler in my own city. There are so many things to do and explore right outside my door.  It is my goal to write this traveler blog to showcase parts of NY that people don't always think about visiting. Everyone writes about Mid-town, Times Square, The Village, hell they even write about Williamsburg. But there is not a lot written most of the outer boroughs, or Manhattan north of 116th street. You know, the places where most REAL New Yorkers live. So this will be a place to read about my favorite places, the places I've discovered. So let's start with my home neighborhood - Riverdale. Riverdale -  Riverdale   (see map) is the neighborhood that in the North-west corner of the Bronx. (that is only borough actually attached to the mainland). There are ...