Random Descriptions of My Travel Adventures

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This weekend at the Lath House in Heritage and Science Park in downtown Phoenix is the Tequilaaz tequila and mezcal celebration! I am attending of course and I'm thrilled to see they are honoring mezcal alongside tequila. I am a big fan of mezcal (as you might have guessed from previous blog posts), another product of the agave plant, but I will say it took me numerous attempts at drinking mezcal before I became an avid supporter. Mezcal originates from Oaxaca, or so I have been told, and many regard it as a cheaper, harsher version of tequila. It is definitely true that crappy mezcal can often taste a lot like gasoline but once you have experienced a good mezcal it is a bit of a revelation. I was told that many Oaxacans think that mezcal holds medicinal powers and use it ceremonially and I have to say I believe it; mezcal has made me feel like no other alcohol has, in good and bad ways (avoid the cheap stuff). I'm particularly fond of the drink because it is so important to O...

In my last post I indicated that I would not be taking any trips in the near future. This is not accurate! I'm headed to Tampa, Florida this weekend for the Gasparilla Pirate Fest ! Aaarrrggghhh(said like a pirate), how could I forget my upcoming attendance at this event! Photos of drunken pirates and more Argentina in the near future matey!

Unfortunately, due to dissertation writing and lack of funds, I do not have any fun travel experiences to blog about (though stay tuned for Las Vegas in March) so I thought I would post some photos from an Argentina trip in 2005. I went to visit my friend Shayne who had just finished his second (yes second) stint in Antarctica. I flew down to Buenos Aires and we decided to visit the southern portion of the country. Buenos Aires is a fantastic city, the most European I have encountered thus far in South America. In the photo below I'm standing in front of the obelisk which divides the massive, 9 de Julio, claimed as the worlds largest avenue. A better picture (lifted from the internet) to give a sense of scale. After a few days in BA, we flew to Ushuaia which is at the southernmost edge of the South American continent in the region known as Tierra del Fuego . Not a terribly attractive town, made that much uglier by the giant date stamp in the corner of the photo below. I borrowed m...