The 7 wonders of my trips

Writing this blog is getting me back a lot of memories. When I started, I looked again at all the pictures from my trips, and I started to understand the amount of places I had visited. I am a traveler easy to please: I have enjoyed most of the destinations, there are a lot where I would like to go back, and there are a few that really impressed me. Tomorrow is the last day of the year, and year end is a period of summaries and lists ‘the best of...’, so I have prepared a list with the places I have liked the most from my trips until 2013. 

I am unable to create a ranking from 1 to 7, so I present the list in chronological order (just to order them somehow).

  

PARADISE - Fjords (Norway)

No doubt, my favorite place in Europe are the fjords in Norway, where I have been three times: twice in the south and once in the north. How to explain the first impression I got there? It is a place that bewilders me, because of its colors, the calm of the water, the grandeur of the mountains, the reflections, the season contrast (even in summer there is snow on the top of the mountains). Except for a few small villages of white and red houses, the fjords have a lot of nature. The air is fresh, the environment quiet. The first time I was there, the first word that came to my mind was ‘paradise’.

 Flåm was my first fjord (summer)

Lyse fjord seen from Preikestolen (pulpit rock), a massive cliff of 600 metres – recommended for people who like hiking (summer)

Trollfjorden, in Lofoten Islands, at the north (winter)

Lyngen fjord near Tromsö, at the north of Norway (winter)

HISTORY - Machu Picchu (Peru)

Machu Picchu, ‘old mountain’ in Quechuan, old Andean village built during the XV century on the top of a mountain 2490 meters high. Early morning, the combination of fog and sunrise gave the secret mountain a magic environment. I have visited older places, but Machu Picchu had something especial. I felt trapped between reality, history, and a landscape which reminded me a bit of fairy tales.

early morning

sightseeing from Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu with Huayna Picchu behind

BEAUTY - Taj Mahal (Índia)

Usually I do not feel very impressed in front of monuments, but Taj Mahal is pure beauty. The mausoleum constructed by emperor Shah Jahan in honor to his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, is built with white marble and combines elements from Islamic, Persian, Turkish and Indian architecture styles. I cannot describe it with words.

In the morning, it wakes up surrounded by fog, which gives it an unreal, magic atmosphere. The sun comes up and follows the channel placed in front of the monument, in which it is reflected. Time goes on, fog disappears and the Taj Mahal is reflected, with all its majesty, on the water of the channel.

Taj Mahal in the fog

if you walk next to the channel, the sun is always reflected on the water

decoration detail

Taj Mahal in one of the most typical images

POWER – Iguazu Falls (Argentina)

If there is a place where I felt the power of nature, this is Iguazu Falls. The falls are on the border between Argentina (Iguazu) and Brasil (Iguaçu), and can be visited from both sides of the river. We decided to go to the Argentinean side, because it is bigger and has better sightseeing, but if one has more time, it is recommended to visit both parks. In one word, it is just spectacular.

the big waterfall at the end is called ‘Devil’s throat’

‘Devil’s throat’

SHOW – Northern lights (Norway)

A trip to see the northern lights is like buying a lottery ticket: you never know if you will win, and if you win, it can be a lot or just a little bit. Northern lights have no schedule and no fix place. Some nights is possible to see them, some nights is not not, sometimes they are very swift, sometimes they appear and disappear rapidly. They are capricious. Due to these difficulties, when I finally managed to see them, felt very fortunate, and I felt a great emotion.

Before seeing them in life, I had seen lots of pictures, but there is something the pictures cannot capture: the movement. Northern lights are not static, they move, they dance through the sky while they change their shape and (if you are really lucky) their color. It is a real show, and each time a different one.

near Tromsö

IMMENSITY – Sahara desert (Morocco)

When I went to Morocco, I was looking forward to the sand dunes, and I really liked them. They are big, they are elegant, they are photogenic. Sitting down on the top of a dune, surrounded by sand, with the horizon all around me, I felt like a little ant in the middle of the immensity of the desert. And, like some other places, they become magical during sunrise and sunset: they change color, from yellow, to orange, and red.

dunes in the afternoon

and in the evening

COLORS – Sky and sunsets (world)

Finally, to prove that it is not compulsory to travel far away in order to see impressive things, I present the seventh wonder of my list: sky and sunsets. There is sky everywhere, and there is a sunset every day. Travelling does not only consist in going far, it is also about observing and being surprised about the world around us, we can always discover new corners of our city or getting amazed in front of a fantastic sunset.

sky in the evening

I took this picture from my apartment’s balcony

sky, clouds, water, reflections and colors, what else could a passionate of sunsets ask for?