Around the world – Castillo de la Glorieta in Sucre

December 20, 2012 architecture, Bolivia, photo, tips No comments
main gate to Castillo de la Glorieta

I think that Castillo de la Glorieta is one of the places you should visit in Sucre, Bolivia. At least I mentioned it as one out of 12 things to do in Sucre.

The castle is open from Tuesdays to Sundays from 9 am to 4.30 pm. The entrance fee for foreigners is 20 Bolivianos with 10 Bolivianos if you want to take photos/videos. You can get there by a local bus number 4. The castle is situated just 5 kilometres from Sucre on the road to Potosi.

main gate to Castillo de la Glorieta

main gate to Castillo de la Glorieta

the entrance to the Castillo de la Glorieta

the entrance to the Castillo de la Glorieta

The Castillo de la Glorieta in Sucre was the home of Don Francisco de Argandoña and his wife Clotilde. It was built in the end of the 19th century (finished in 1897) in the eclectic style by the architect Antonio Camponovo together with and Argentinian architect. The castle is one of the most curious buildings from the republican period and mixes the styles, such as Gothic, Manierista, Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical and Spanish Mudejar. It is one of the most important buildings that the husbands left behind and that reflects the places they visited in Europe.

one of the three main towers of Castillo de la Glorieta

one of the three main towers of Castillo de la Glorieta

The husbands were made Prince and Princess of the Glorieta in 1898 by the Pope Leon 13.

Castillo de la Glorieta was declared a ”National Monument” in 1970.

the view of the Princess Tower of Arab style

the view of the Princess Tower of Arab style

the view of the Gothic Church Tower of Castillo de la Glorieta

the view of the Gothic Church Tower of Castillo de la Glorieta

There are three towers in the castle: the English Gothic Church Tower reminds of London Big Ben, it’s 25 m tall and has 4 watches. The second tower is the one of the Princess Tower of Arab style and 30 m tall. The last tower is the tallest one – the Prince Tower (of Russian Byzantine style) which has 108 steps and is 40 m tall. I climbed it up and got a cool view of the surrounding areas and the military base outside the castle.

Prince Tower of Castillo de la Glorieta

Prince Tower of Castillo de la Glorieta

at the Prince Tower of Castillo de la Glorieta

at the Prince Tower of Castillo de la Glorieta

finally climbed 108 steps to the top of the Prince Tower

finally climbed 108 steps to the top of the Prince Tower

Apart from the towers, the garden and the chapel, there is not much to see inside the castle. The rooms are mostly empty, just some beautiful old mirrors and remains of the beds are there.

what is left in one of the bedrooms of Castillo de la Glorieta

what is left in one of the bedrooms

a beautiful old mirror in Castillo de la Glorieta

a beautiful old mirror

But from outside it is a very unique building because of the mixture of the styles. I am not sure if the castle is worth visiting from the inside as you have to pay, but definitely recommend you to see it from the outside at least. Castillo de la Glorieta in Sucre has also a lovely patio with a garden with palm trees.

at the patio to the garden

at the patio to the garden

the garden of the Castillo de la Glorieta

the garden of the Castillo de la Glorieta

Nowadays, Castillo de la Glorieta first owners – the Argandoña husbands are buried in one of the mausoleums of the cemetery in Sucre.

 

I am happy my plans changed completely when in Sucre I had to give Sucre – white city of the America a third chance. Only because of it I was able to visit Castillo de la Glorieta.

 

Unwelcome animals in hotels and houses around the world

December 13, 2012 animals, Costa Rica, Europe, Spain, Thailand, travel No comments
a huge green fly in Costa Rica

Being from Slovakia it does not make it easy to get used to things one cannot find back home. Living in an apartment on the 6th floor for 18 years meant I hardly ever saw any unwelcome animals inside (not talking about pets now). Yes, from time to time we could see a big grasshopper but we’ve never figured out how it got so high. Beside mosquitoes, wasps, bees or some cute little birds (mostly sparrows) very occasionally we could also spot a bug. I have heard a mouse or a little rat could appear in a Slovak house but never met any face to face yet, thankfully!

I am a huge lover of animals and like them so much our encounters sometimes make me cry of happiness and fill my heart with a gratitude. But insects, rats and some other animals just do not belong into the house or any other accommodation, I think. That being said, I’m afraid you can easily imagine my face each time I find an unwelcome animal in hotels or other type of accommodation I stay in when traveling around the world.

The worst to me is to see an animal late night, during the night or early morning which brings back my insomnia and maybe even some paranoia.

a huge green fly in Costa Rica

a huge green fly in Costa Rica

 

The first time ever I was disgusted by such a thing was when I used to live in Madrid during the University. We found a cockroach in our apartment on the 4th floor and it took three people to kill it with a thick telephone book. Also one night coming back from a party it was dificult not to step on a cockroach when crossing a road as they were just all around. I still have goose bumps and a horrible look on my face when I remember it.

I had many bad experiences with cockroaches ever since. Once in a cute hotel in Mexico, my room was just next to the swimming pool on the first floor so I could just open my door and jump into the cool water. I just took a shower after swimming and heard a tick tick noise when walking out of the shower. I saw 2 cockroaches passing underneath my room door and one headed straight into my open suitcase with clothes. I was terrified. I ran to the reception still with just a towel around me and half wet and scared the receptionist – a guy younger than me. He must have thought I was out of my mind or something. He just took a spray and sprayed it over one cockroach that was already leaving my room. It just turned over and died with its legs up. The second cockroach was more of a problem. The receptionist had to take all my clothes out of the suitcase, including my underwear (ouch!) and find the cockroach that then jumped out as if nothing so the receptionist just stepped on it. The end of the World War III.

I am not even going to start about all the different bugs I have seen in hotels and houses around the world. I don’t even know most of their names.

Costa Rica was one of the countries that trained my patience and dealing with disgusting feeling when seeing all those unwelcome animals. As most of Costa Rica is covered by rainforest, expect ”weird” animals you are maybe not used to. At least I am not. Huge green grasshoppers, lizards of every kind and colour, lovely blue-coloured crabs (at least these were beautiful), millions of ants (some of them bite and even get into your bed) and flying insects were what I got to see every day in my hotels and villas around. But as well very pretty humming birds that I found in my shower or bedroom.

a lizard in the sink in Costa Rica

a lizard in the sink in Costa Rica

a big grasshopper

a big grasshopper

Once on Koh Lanta in Thailand I was sleeping and heard a weird noise coming from under my bed. I found out there were little frogs that maybe didn’t want me to be alone. I had to sleep with a shirt on my head not to hear them.

a frog in my house on Koh Lanta

a frog in my house on Koh Lanta

Unwelcome animals in hotels or houses when traveling around the world don’t have to be something you won’t like. I remember we had a lovely visitor in my friend’s house on Koh Phangan (a Thai island) one night – a fat blue bird.

a blue bird on Koh Phangan

a blue bird on Koh Phangan

Do you mind to find unwelcome animals in hotels or houses around the world? What was the weirdest one you have ever seen? Where?

Quote of the week – my heart was made to travel

December 10, 2012 Uncategorized No comments
This heart of mine was made to travel

I know many people who think that they were meant to here for some reason. Most of them are religious reasons, some are different. But more and more people find their reason of life in traveling. And yes, my heart was made to travel too.

This heart of mine was made to travel

My experience hitchhiking around the world

December 5, 2012 Argentina, Europe, Malaysia, Slovakia, Spain, transport No comments
hitchhiking in Cameron Highlands

I am not a person who goes hitchhiking a lot. When I am alone it feels a bit weird and I am not used to it, I guess. And also, it is no secret that I have no patience. So even waiting for a few minutes makes me nervous and, or I just want to jump in front of a car to make it stop, or just to take the dumb hitchhiking idea out of my mind and go to pay for any kind of transportation available.

But there is still a bunch of places where I did hitchike and I would like to share my experience with you.

 

1. Snina – in my home town in Slovakia I hitchhike pretty often but it is always with my mom only. When we go tomy grandparents house in a village 10 km away and we don’t make it to catch a train/bus, we hitchhike. I don’t think it has ever taken us more than 5 minutes because many people know us here so they stop to take us. We also hitchhike when going to the Rybniky swimming pools in summer or to the closest town Humenne.

2. Spain can be tough for hitchhiking, I learnt this when trying to hitchhike in Madrid but it deserves a whole separate story.

3. The only other time when I hitchhiked in Slovakia was back in summer 2005 when me and my best friend of that time decided to hitchhike to Madrid. We just spent 5 months there during Erasmus scholarship at the University and just after a couple of weeks back home we missed our friends so much we wanted to go back for summer. The only problem was that I ended up in Italy instead of Spain then.

4. Ipoh – Malaysia. Ipoh turned out to be a hidden gem not many tourists know about yet. I don’t even think I have seen any other tourists during my 2 days in Ipoh and the looks I was getting from the locals just proved it. One of the most beautiful things one can do here are no doubt the temples just outside of the town. I did take some buses but also did hitchhiking to get to the rest of the temples. It was around 10 minutes to make an Indian guy to take me to Kek Lok Tong temple where I was headed. He even waited there for me to take me back to Ipoh.

hitchhiking in Cameron Highlands

hitchhiking in Cameron Highlands

 

5. Cameron Highlands – Malaysia. I spent just 2 days of my holidays in Cameron Highlands but I would regret it for ever if I did not bother to visit at all. The mountains are such a marvelous place to visit with all the fresh fruit, beautiful flowers and butterflies, tea plantations and strawberry farms. I knew before I went there it was very popular for hitchhiking so I just stuck my thumb up between each 2 destinations on my bucket list. Absolutely easy to stop even the first car coming. The only small problem I had was to get to BOH Tea Estate so I walked there but on the way back a car with a young couple stopped to ask me if I needed a lift.

6. El Calafate to Perito Moreno glacier. It is not cheap at all to take a bus with one of the travel agencies to take you from El Calafate to Perito Moreno glacier and back. I met up with an American girl in El Calafate with who I traveled together already for a bit before and we said yes to hitchhiking. I have to say our local friend Pablo warned us saying

You will not get any car going to Perito Moreno as just organized buses go there. But if you still want to try, go early morning.

 

So we listened to him and around 9 am we were already at the outskirts of El Calafate taking turns with a thumb up. I lost all the hope after 30 minutes as it was definitely the longest hitchhiking I have ever done. At that moment I sweared to myself I was never going to hitchhike again and I have not ever since. At least not until December 2012. But in the end a huge truck pulled over. Yes, 4 crazy Argentinian guys were staring at us with their mouth open, but come on, some 20 euros saved on the bus was worth it. It even turned out to be a perfect day at Perito Moreno glacier.

 

I know some people do hitchhike regularly. The friend I went to Perito Moreno with is one of them. Another friend, Arne, I met as well that day hitchhiked most of the route from Argentina to the US.

What is your experience hitchhiking around the world?

Quote of the week – Dream in colour

December 3, 2012 quote One comment
dream in colour

You will hear a lot about how you should have dreams and not just have some, but also follow your dreams. But life is not just black and white even though bad things happen to you. I still remember how everything felt just black around me when my brother died. But I started to dream in colour and make my dreams come true ever since.

 

dream in colour

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