Globe Corner Blogs

Although Boston possesses a certain serene charm during the heart of winter, I confess that after weeks of trudging through knee-high snow I was looking forward to my week-long visit to Brazil‘s sensuous urban paradise, Rio de Janeiro. While I was there, Rio’s sky was blissfully sunny with the exception of only a few brief tropical showers. The air was hot, humid, and heavy. But it was a load I was willing to bear, especially when cooling off in the waters of Rio’s many picturesque beaches.

My father, brother, and I stayed at my uncle’s apartment in Copacabana, three blocks from the beach. Copacabana is a sliver of a neighborhood wedged between Rio’s iconic hills and the vast Atlantic Ocean. Rio’s culture is largely defined by the beach. On any day of the week, a multitude of beach goers relax with family or friends, conversing over the sound of the steadily pounding waves. Streaming through the crowds, vendors sell ice-cold beer, fresh coconut water, shrimp on skewers, towels, bikinis, jewelry, and souvenirs, rhythmically shouting the name of their merchandise as they pass. The atmosphere of the beach is very laid back, and this feeling permeates the rest of the city. Continue Reading »

Three women, all in their late twenties, struggle to balance careers and relationships. Work deadlines, happy hours, caffeinated beverages, and workouts at the gym fill their fast-paced, over-scheduled New York City lives. That is, until they up and decide to take a year-long, round-the-world trip. Starting in South America, they travel to Africa, then to Asia, ending with Australia and New Zealand. Then, they turned their experiences into a book – The Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World, by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner.

The story is filled with romance and adventure. Together, Holly, Jen, and Amanda hike the Inca Trail, try medicine from an Amazonian shaman, party at a Brazilian favela, write a play in Kenya, visit a Laotian spa, go surfing in Australia, and bungee jump 440 feet into a river valley in New Zealand. Continue Reading »

Ecuador --photo by Meghan

I recently traveled to Ecuador with a friend…and went without a plan.  We decided against one of the more traditional Ecuadorian travel destinations, with saddened hearts, but happy wallets – the Galapagos was just not a budget travel destination.  We decided instead to do an Amazon trek followed by some coastal R&R.  I think I had a more lively time this way. (And I certainly encountered more bugs.)

Fleeing the jungle and heading toward the coast with pre-primed sunburns and enough mosquito bites to look like smallpox victims, we arrived in Manta to the smell of fish factories, and the greeting of a statue in the town’s center – a large tuna and tuna can on a stick like a massive kebab.  A large-ish town filled with swimming pools, fish markets and discotheques, we unfortunately didn’t stay long enough to experience more of Manta’s flavor than that.

Panama hats --photo by Meghan

Early one morning we took our cab driver, Hugo, a short, jovial man, and his yellow mini-SUV taxi shopping in Montichristi.  It is a quaint, white washed and cobblestoned town with a gorgeous cathedral set among hills and has a collective chip on its shoulder. The streets are lined with vendors so unwilling to budge on prices that they would rather see you go across the street than pay them $1 less.  Hammocks, wooden figurines, necklaces, more hammocks and the infamous Montichristi “Panama” hat are all for sale from every Montichristi tiendas. But then again, maybe it has a right to be grumpy.

Continue Reading »

Moon's Patagonia Handbook --by Wayne Bernhardson

A great event is coming soon…REALLY soon. Say, tomorrow, October 16th (Thursday) at 6pm. Wayne Bernhardson, author of the Moon Guides to Argentina and Chile and the Moon’s Buenos Aires Handbook and Patagonia Handbook, is coming to speak for us at the First Parish Church in Harvard Square. (And rumor has it there’s a drawing for a prize!)

Bernhardson is definitely the man to listen to and shoot questions at if you are at all interested in the Southern Cone area of South America. On top of writing all these guide books, he also maintains a highly informative blog (Southern Cone Travel) about the area.

The talk will focus on the current conditions in Patagonia and about travel in it. But as the author spends half his year traveling in southern South America, he will be able to field questions during the Q&A from the whole region. …But the drawing?!

Okay, so then there is this drawing. Every person who comes to one of Bernhardson’s talks can be entered into a drawing for a free plane ticket to Santiago or Buenos Aires. The free drawing tickets from Bernhardson’s talks around the North America are put all together and chosen from in early November – Really? A free plane ticket? I’d put my name in that hat!

So come join the GCB and Wayne Bernhardson tomorrow, October 16th at 6pm in the First Parish Church (3 Church Street) in Harvard Square. Refreshments will follow the talk at The Globe Corner Bookstore.