Cities, Big Boats, and Hurricanes

One of the biggest treats of the big boat world happens when you pull into a big city. You moor at the dock and can set off on foot. 

We did this exact thing in Tampa, St. Pete and Clearwater. Of these St. Petersburg Florida was the MOST accessible. 

See the St. Pete's Post here: 

But then IAN - Now we are repairing. Step ONE is to replace the anchor and roller so that we can go out. 

Step 2 is replacing the lights we lost - anchor light and spot light - so we can go out at night.

Anchors and Anchor Rollers

Tahoe Trekking - Could we circumnavigate the lake on foot?

In Tahoe, long a bucket list item for us, we set our base of operations away from Lake Tahoe in the Northstar Resort courtesy of 3rd Home and friends. Truckee offers nature and water, but mostly hiking.

San Carlos

To get there, first, we hung out and trekked San Carlos, a small city between San Francisco and San Jose, at the base of the San Mateo bridge. San Carlos doesn't suffer from the density and homeless issues of San Francisco but does have the explosive housing costs driven by the tech industry. So far, the exodus based on work from home has not affected San Carlos the way it affected San Francisco. Some stores are closed, but in general Main Street is vibrant. In fact, the new trend of closed streets and restaurants spilling across sidewalks and onto the streets is de rigueur.  

Tahoe and the hikes

While in Tahoe we stumbled upon what has to now be my favorite coffee - San Francisco Bay Roasting Company French Roast. It's amazingly affordable, and the French Roast is light enough to serve as sipping coffee but dark enough and full-bodied enough to use as an espresso roast. I always have some in stock, and the travel version (in K-Cups or single-cup pods) works great for a short road trip. 

Sicilian Pizza and Greek Temples - Trekking the Ancients

We've done Rome, Venice, Florence, and the north. She's done the Amalfi coast. I've done the Adriatic coast. What's left to explore? A lot, it seems. When we were looking at Greece, we wanted to visit ancient ruins, but it turns out the best place to tour these is Sicily. Some of the remaining temples, theatres, and cities are larger than their Grecian counterparts. 

Cities and Cites (sights/sites)

Palermo 

Temple of Segesta

Marsala - For some veal?

Temple of Hera

Valley of the Temples

Villa Romana for the largest collection of mosaic art and history

Syracuse! The original one

The Greek Theatre in Taormina

Mount Etna

https://goo.gl/maps/y4Xhb9NJoQ7H1gzp9

Our YouTube Video Channel - Sharing is Caring!

Our YouTube Channel needs subscribers! This is the repository for all those coming trekker videos. 

Click here: https://www.youtube.com/citytrekkers

Wouldn't it be cool to share a live trek?!?!

Cuzco - Ancient City with Modern Tastes - Safe and Easy Walks

Once you get accustomed to the altitude, at around 11,000 feet, this old Inca capital is really the heart of Peru's tourism business. More than in the Sacred Valley, all travel originates here, and it's worth spending a few days taking in the enormity of the Incan culture and saying a silent prayer for those who suffered under the conquistadors. 

Best, though, is the walking tour of the city that you do without your guide. Sure there are interesting artifacts, but the city is buzzy, fun, and filled with distractions. 

I set out to walk the tail of the jaguar one evening. This means that, from the air, if you look at the layout of ancient Cuzco, you will see the shape of a jaguar. We had toured the head, which was a ritual or parade ground earlier in the day. Historic and interesting in its own way, but touristy. 

Around the plaza 3 distinct areas have different specialties. On the map I have identified them as:

1. The Shopping District, with a street, blocked from car traffic
2. The nightclub district, with music, bars, young people, and cool street food
3. The bohemian restaurant district

Machu Picchu City Trek - What really happened to the Incas?

Our group is probably physically capable of re-tracing Hiram Bingham's 5-day hike along the Urubamba River valley to the Machu Picchu sun temple entrance. But we decided to shorten the route to the one-day hike up the mountain, through ancient terraced cities and temples, and to the Sun Gate. That's where you get the payoff selfie photo you see all the time with the city in the background.

There is nothing technical about the hike, but it's relentlessly uphill. 

Okay - so, Altitude

By the time you've spent some time in the Sacred Valley, you are relatively well acclimated. Cusco is 11,000 feet, and you crest the Andes at 12,300 feet on your way to Urubamba at 9,500 feet, so you are actually descending out of the valley as you head to Machu Picchu. But make no mistake - the air is thin. The walk is steep. The sun is hot. I don't see someone landing in Cusco from the U.S. and making this trek on the same day. There is some logic in simply acclimating with small tourist tours in the days before you go to Machu Picchu, the tip of which is only 10,000 feet. 

The Payoff Selfie!

What Happened to the Inca?

As my guide, Fredy, would tell you - no one knows why the Inca suddenly disappeared. There is little knowledge of their culture, except for what anthropologists can deduct. Why was such an evolved culture unable to repel the Spaniards? Everything everyone talks about is conjecture. There was no written language, and the conquistadors did everything they could to erase the culture. So we are left to guess and marvel at what they accomplished. But for all their advancement, the Inca evolved more slowly than the European or Asian cultures of the same vintage. Primitive weaponry, but extremely evolved architecture for a primitive culture. 

Do you remember Kontiki? That was the Peruvians, who settled the Polynesian islands, sailing there from Lima in a balsa wood ship. Crazy. 

Lima - en route to Machu Picchu

We are urban trekkers, but what exactly is "urban?" Does it naturally mean just modern cities? Or can this include ancient cities long abandoned by their citizens? Let's find out!

We flew to Lima to stage our Machu Pichhu trek. In the process, we got to check out one of western South America's largest cities.

Lima Trek

The sad fact of Spanish colonialization goes largely unnoticed here, as tourist attractions feature late 16th and early 17th century buildings. They speak to the strategy of the colonialists - set up administration and churches quickly, using granite mined by the Incas and the conquered natives as slave labor.

BEST Restaurants in the world? In Peru?? Yes.

The locals attribute it to the fact that Peru’s fertile soil and temperate climate can support almost any kind of product, often producing crops year-round, in several harvests. I do believe I had one of the best meals of my life here. Not at Michelin-rated Central or Astrid’s, but at Raphael's.

The menu was so inventive and fresh that I couldn't wait to try our next place. Unfortunately, nothing matched the meal we had there, and it's easy to see why this is consistently listed as one of the top 50 restaurants IN THE WORLD.

A Word about City Walking

For those less intrepid walkers, Raphaels is only a 7 block walk from the waterfront shopping district in Miraflores. In hindsight, I would have walked a lot of places the hotel told me I had to have a cab for. They look at Americans and, if the destination is more than a few blocks, insist that you need a cab. It's sad really because the way they lock it in is they say "it's dangerous to walk."  The truth is, it's always dangerous to walk anywhere... probably more so in American cities where guns are rampant. In Peru, guns are illegal - it's very difficult for even criminals to get them. As everywhere, keep your head on a swivel and don't draw attention to yourself, stay on lighted streets where there is a lot of activity, and you'll be safer than in many large cities in the world.  

Brace Yourself - Lots of Corn Varieties here!

... and over 4,000 varieties of potatoes!

Trekking Western Long Island

Trekking western Long Island, I feel strangely at home. Not a surprise, given my great-grandfather, had an estate nearby. Circa 1890's during the Gilded Age, he built a 660-acre estate complete with a 300-foot horse stable, a chapel, and quarters for staff. The residence was so large that, when the property was later re-developed and subdivided, four buildings were separated from the main complex and remain today.

Wheatly Estate - a fascinating article from Old Long Island 

Long Island's cities and villages are all quite accessible via Long Island Railroad. Get off at almost any stop and you'll have a history lesson. We had one at Garden City. Manhattan-sized Cathedral of the Sacrament. Built to the memory of Alexander Turney Stewart, the Cathedral of the Incarnation is the only cathedral in the United States funded by a single person, and the only one that is built in memory of a single individual 

Garden City Hotel is not as Grand as it was in 3 previous iterations. But still a beautiful setting, and a walk down any street yields lat 19th and early 20th century mansions.

Looking back - 10 Years of Urban Trekking and forgetting to post!

That's my biggest problem. I'm having such fun; being in the moment, enjoying the food, sights and people. NO CHANCE I'm going to stop and blog. So check out my haphazard playlist.

Urban Trekking - YouTube

So a friend of mine is doing a similar thing, and why NOT? It's so fun and she said, let's compare!

The Real McCoy Adventure!!