This is another catch-up post. We visited Vatican City years ago while travelling to Florence, Rome and Venice. Vatican City State is a landlocked independent country, city-state, microstate, and enclave within Rome, Italy. This is technically the smallest country in the world with a landmass of just 0.49 square kilometers (0.19 square miles).
While I know that Sardinia is a part of Italy, it did feel very different. I travelled there in July, 2023 to present a paper on “Three Strategies for Responsible Leadership” at the European Group for Organizational Studies Annual Conference. The conference was held at the University of Cagliari and I was fortunate to stay at a very charming upscale hotel, the Neko Boutique Hotel. The staff were very friendly and the room was spacious and comfortable.
Most of my photography centered on the narrow streets and ally ways of the old town.
The food provided a very unique twist on Italian cuisine, with Fregula (Sardinian pasta) with meat sauce, Spaghetti a la Vongole (clams), and Pecorino cheese my notable favorites.
We finally made it to Ireland after planning the trip in 2020 only to be denied by the pandemic. My wife, my parents and I traveled to Dublin and then south along the eastern side of the country. We stopped at Kilkenny, Midleton, Kinsale, Waterford, Enniscorthy and Powerscourt. Pictured here are the Molly Malone statue (Dublin) along with Waterford and Powerscourt Waterfall.
We stayed at a combination of lodging including The Belvedere in Dublin, The Mt. Juliet in Kilkenny and Powerscourt Hotel. From city location to outstanding nature views, these provided the great base of operations for our visit.
I forgot to post Wales previously when recording our trip to Great Britain a while back (OK, a good while back). Shown above are pictures of the Wales Museum in Cardiff as well as my wife looking quite serious at Cardiff Castle. We had driven over from London, staying a couple of nights at the Angel Hotel. It is claimed the Angel Hotel existed in Cardiff since 1666 but at least from the 18th century when it was located opposite the gates of Cardiff Castle, a short distance from its current location, on what was then called Angel Street. The hotel has had some interesting history. In 1917, during World War I, the hotel was requisitioned on behalf the US Navy and was officially renamed the USS Chattanooga. At the turn of the 20th century the Angel Hotel was owned by Lady Honywood’s Honywood Hotels, who built a new facade for the building. Throughout much of the 20th century, the new Angel Hotel remained an important place to stay for politicians and celebrities, including Greta Garbo, The Beatles, and actor Anthony Perkins (who was arrested at the hotel in 1989 after a package of cannabis he mailed to himself was inadvertently given to another guest).
We also dined at some interesting locations in Cardiff including La Madeira Restaurante. I hope to return to Wales at some point and visit Portmeiron, the filming location of The Prisoner. The Prisoner was an early 1970s British spy television show starring Patrick McGoohan and has a cult type following still today.
While visiting Estonia, I had the opportunity to take the Tallinn-Helsinki ferry which provided a full day in Helsinki, Finland. The ferry docked in Helsinki at 8:15 am and I took a return ferry at 9:00 pm. With a combination of walking and bus riding, I was able to see much of the city from the old Olympic stadium to the many historic and unique churches. Shown above is the famous “Rock” church and the Presidential Palace.
The Temppeliaukio “Rock” church is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city with over half a million people visiting annually. The church is located in the heart of Helsinki and built directly into the rock.
The Presidential Palace served as the official residence of all the Presidents of Finland up to 1993 when the Palace ceased to be used as the President’s principal official residence. The Palace contains the Office of the President, which includes offices for the Secretary General, the Special Counsel to the President, and the Master of the Household. The Palace’s State rooms include the Hall of State, the Dining Hall, and the Hall of Mirrors (the small Hall of State) which are used by the President for official functions and receptions.
In July 2018, I traveled to Tallinn, Estonia to present a paper at the European Group for Organizational Studies 34th Annual Colloquium. Along with my conference presentation, I spent two days touring around the Old Town and other parts of the central city.
Shown above are Kadriorg Palace and the town square in Old Town. Kadriorg Palace was built for Catherine I of Russia by Peter the Great and both the Estonian and the German name for the palace means “Catherine’s valley.” The palace was never occupied by Peter and Catherine and today it houses the Kadriorg Art Museum displaying foreign art from the 16th to 20th centuries.
Tallinn’s Old Town is one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In addition, Rataskaevu 16 along with Olde Hansa are two recommended restaurants in Old Town that do not disappoint in terms of food or atmosphere.
In May of 2018, my wife and I traveled to Panama City, Panama for our anniversary. After dragging her to the Panama Canal, I made sure to wine and dine her at a couple of very nice restaurants in Casco Viejo, the old quarter of Panama City. Though we did take a wrong turn or two and observe some colorful life in the working class neighborhood just outside the old quarter, the entire experience was very rewarding. The two meals at Diablicos and Tantalo Kitchen were well worth the long day of strolling through the city during a very humid time in May.
In March 2018, I traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina to present a paper at the Latin American and European Meeting on Organizational Studies, a conference for organizational studies and management faculty. I certainly enjoyed the sights, food and experiences of the city – a city which is known for tenderloin steak, baroque architecture and the Tango. From Recoleta to San Telmo to Avenida de Mayo, it is a great city for walking and exploration.
While in El Salvador, I had the opportunity to travel to Antigua, Guatemala for the day. The drive was long, the border crossing a little hectic, but the end result was a fantastic morning and afternoon in a very beautiful city, even if a great deal of the city shows the effects of centuries of earthquake activity. Antigua is a listed UNESCO site and was former capital of the Kingdom of Guatemala. There are too many wonderful historic sites to show or even to list but two of the most popular sites to visit in the city are the ruins of The Cathedral and the ruins of Iglesia del Carmen. While the facade and sanctuary of The Cathedral have been rebuilt and still serve today as a place of worship, the large ruins directly behind the restoration reveal the true size of the original structure. The Baroque style Iglesia del Carmen was heavily damaged by the major earthquakes that have repeatedly torn down Antigua, and today, lies in ruins. Still, the ruins are a very striking sight, complete with elaborate columns, fluted archways, and intricate relief carvings.
In September 2017 I traveled to El Salvador and visited several interesting locations including the UNESCO listed Joya de Ceren, a pre-Columbian archeological site. The site is a former Maya farming village preserved remarkably intact under layers of volcanic ash. Because of this, it is often referred to as the “Pompeii of the Americas.” I also visited Lago de Coatepeque and the Los Volcanes National Park. The large national park includes three volcanoes: Cerro Verde, Izalco, and Santa Ana. Shown above are the view of Lago de Coatepeque, very comparable to Crater Lake in Oregon (only quite a bit larger) and the ruins of Joya de Ceren. For my base of operations, I stayed in San Salvador for a taste of the city and also visited the second most populous city of El Salvador, Santa Ana.