Over Easter me and mom visited my day care buddy Juliana and Elleina in Beijing China. We had so much fun spending the weekend and weekday evenings together. Mom packed our days to visit lots of interesting places. Despite thousands of tourists in some attractions mom wasn’t complaining as 99% of the tourists were from China, what is the difference? They come from different parts of China and they dress in their traditional clothing which looks spectacular and since they love taking pictures with me (I will tell you more about it) mom had great opportunity to take pictures of them.
I was the only western kid we saw and we had to implement a system for visiting busy places. If we stopped for a few minutes crowds surrounded me to take pictures, touch my face, my head, or give me hugs or lift me up. Mom had to be very assertive plus we tried to avoid stopping while walking. There was nothing wrong with taking a picture if asked but touching ????;(
In general people were very happy, smiley and loud.
We spent a few days driving outside of Beijing. We saw amazing Guyaju an ancient rock dwelling, Cuandixia Villiage, Longqing Gorge, and of course the Great Wall of China.
We managed a painless visit( after the second attempt) to see the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Summer Palace.
Mom couldn’t resist going to the Flea Market were she showed me her bargaining skills, then the Silk Market with all the famous knockoffs and last but not least the Night Food Market were we didn’t eat anything after seeing live scorpions on sticks to snack on.
One of the favourite parts of Beijing was the 789 Art District. Mom was blown away. I managed to take a jewellery class there while mom was wandering around. We will be back to spend at a least few days at 789.
Special thanks to our guide David for showing us secret China. Pictures are taken by mom, me and David.

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Cuban locals welcomed us with open arms. We stayed in people’s houses and were treated to their yummy food. Everybody was so kind and generous. My backpack was full of kids clothing I wanted to give away. I didn’t expect anything in return but I received so much from everybody. Most of our accommodations were in small towns except the last 2 nights in Havana. In Boca we stayed with Yenny and her husband. They took us around the town, we visited the school their daughter goes to and met lots of their friends. In Casilda (small town close to Trinidad) we met Sergio and his lovely family. It is hard to describe in words the hospitality and friendship we received. We stayed a block away in a traditional Cuban house with Yoandi family. Everybody’s tears were sincere at the time to say goodbye. I will miss all the friends I made.
We visited iguana island where mom was in heaven taking pictures of iguanas. The island had the biggest shells I have ever seen in the wild. It is a national park and well preserved. Mogotes in Viñales welcomed us with peace and tranquility before chaotic Havana. We learned a lot about Cubans that books will not give you, it is a feeling that stays in your heart.
Of course we couldn’t resist and Che tee shirts are coming home with us.
Cuba You will be missed. “Hasta siempre Comandante!”
Enjoy 6 pages of pictures.

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Blue sky, sunny peaks, no people and mega cold -26 Celsius. It was fun to celebrate New Year’s up on the mountain.We met mom’s friends and we all hung out for a few days. Skiing was the thing though and I had so much fun even a with cut lip after an epic jump. Taking picture with Nancy Green, Olympic Gold medalist in 1968 was priceless.

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The trip came to an end. We did a quick LA tour to see and touch Star Wars on the Hollywood Boulevard. Grauman’s Chinese Theatre had a Star Wars exhibition and in general wherever you turned you saw Rogue One signs. Right there we found out the news about Princess Leia being taken to the hospital :(.
We visited Beverly Hills, saw one of Marylin Monroe’s rental houses (with no windows as she liked privacy). I managed to snap a picture with a Bugatti, a 2 million dollar car. We were all tired and ready to go home.

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Our journey by boat and land was filled with wonderful people I will remember for ever. My biggest success was winning Flag Trivia against 40 other adults participants. I got 19 flags out of 20 and the second place got 16 out of 20. I was lucky to participate in a magic/card show and I was helping the magician with his tricks. My heart was fulfilled with new friendships.

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Acapulco used to be a mecca for actors and musicians so we decided to follow in their footsteps and visit all their favourite places. We stumbled upon John Wayne’s (I used to have crazy crush on this guy when i was 2) favourite flamingo hotel with the best view. Visiting an old part of Acapulco was a bit creepy as we didn’t see many people on the streets and of course hearing it being the most dangerous city in Mexico Mom started using her 360 degree sensors. Nevertheless, the taxi driver told us that during Christmas season they bring over 12 000 police to town and it becomes the safest one 😉 So Mom decided to get to a small island and see the Lady of Guadalupe sunk under the water and the sculpture on the island. We found out that that was the main destination for Mexicans on their vacations and we had a great time with them sharing the boat and the beach.

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Guatemala was a very special to Mom as she was here about 8 years ago backpacking around with dad. We drove to Antigua through an active volcano landscape. Locals dressed up in traditional clothing, colorful buildings, yummy food and lots of history hidden in the little gem of Antigua. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We visited a community which lives off of their handmade arts and crafts. I got a beautiful old hand woven poncho while we were there. We visited an old monastery, some churches, candle factory, jewelers studios and we walked and walked in the cobbled streets of Antigua.Shotguns seems in fashion in Guatemala.

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Thanks to Reynaldo (mom found him online) we had a great time in lush Nicaragua. Volcanoes, hot mud pools, the colorful city of Leon and lovely people is what I remember from the trip.
It was hot no doubt, mom had to carry me for a bit as i just didn’t have the energy in such heat. We visited a lovely village next to hot volcanic mud pools where kids my age were digging mud and making lovely pottery for sale. We had a great time in a great place.

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