"Welcome to TravelerM's World Travel" TravelerM's Profile

Hello Everyone!

My name is Maranda. I'm from Taiwan. Taiwan is an island (around the size of Holland) southeast of China with a population of 23 million. Yes, it's a bit crowded here. So from time to time, I like to get out of here and see the world. I love travel and would like to get to know people who love to travel too. Hopefully, I could meet some of you travelers out there on the road. Peace.

Salzburg at night...very nice!

September, 2004 I went to Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Munich, Strasbourg, and Paris on a 18-day trip. I spent most time in Austria. I found it a small but very interesting country. There's a lot more to offer than I had expected. I like those cities I went to and the Alpine side was breathtakingly beautiful. I climbed the giant ice caves in Werfen, which was something I'd never seen in my life. I was out of breath the whole way through, but when I saw all the ice formations and the wonders in the caves, it was all worthy!!! Vienna, Salzburg, and Innsbruck are all very delicate and culturally enriched cities. I could still enjoy the time there even though I'm not into classical music at all. Oh, I must say, the white wine there was fantastic!! I had a day trip in Wachau, which is outside Vienna, where I tasted wines in different vineyards and saw some pretty scenic towns on a bike. What an experience!~

A tent at Oktoberfest

As for Munich, it was my second visit, so I only aimed for the Oktoberfest. It was not bad, but I wish I could have companions to drink with. But I enjoyed walking around checking out different tents. A suggestion to those who want to go there--don't miss out on the first day parade...supposedly very fun, according to some other travelers I met...However, I missed out on it :(.

One of my fave museums

This was taken on the June 2003 trip to France and Barcelona. I spent around 3ish weeks backpacking on my own. I flew in and out of Paris, and visited Tours (for castles in the neighboring areas), Carcassonne (Really cool medieval town!), Nice, Cannes (missed the film fest though!), Marseille (horrible place that I don't want to go again!), and Avignon (kind of dull...). I traveled again to Paris and Nice, because I just can't get enough of my favorite city Paris and the heavenly cruisine in Nice!!! Check out my Nice page for the restaurant I highly recommand. Paris and Nice are two cities I can always go again and again. :o)

Helloween--not at their best though...

This is a photo I took at Pepe (a metal pub) in Barcelona. It seemed to be a BRN head bangers' regular hangout. It's also got lots of metal celebrities' autographs and memorabilia. As you might have guessed it, yes, I like hard rock, 90's grunge and metal music (I love a lot of Melodic Power/Progressive Metal bands from Germany! ) For hard rock music, I love Def Leppard best. Grunge, definitely Nirvana (Kurt Cobain is my personal hero ;-) and Pearl Jam (the earlier songs). For metal, I love ex-Helloween with Michael Kiske best. He's got the world's most amazing voice!!! Unfortunately, I've never participated in any of their concerts. I'm waiting for them to tour. Any fans out there?

Top 10 places I've been and loved:

Candied fruit in Nice

1. Paris, France
2. San Francisco, USA
3. Mykonos + Santorini + Chania, Greece
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Chicago, USA
6. Los Angeles, USA
7. Amsterdam, the Netherlands
8. Heidelberg, Germany
9. Venice, Italy
10. Nice, France

Top 20 moments that I said "wow!"

Oh! I love love love the Eiffel Tower at nite...!

As the following places to the degrees I felt the shock:

1. The Grand Canyon (Speechless for minutes!)
2. The Niagara Falls on the Canadian border (Spectacular!!)
3. The Dome in Köln, Germany (Humongous!!!)
4. The corn fields right outside of the airport of Cedar Rapids of Iowa, USA (I almost shed a tear!)
5. Los Vegas at night (Glamorous!)
6. The Eiffel Tower at night (Can't take my eyes from it!)
7. The mural paintings on the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican (Masterpiece!!)
8. The Varsailles, France (All that glitters!)
9. The Underworld in Camden and
other clubs in London (Total culture shock!)
10, The cliff view of Santorini, Greece (Can't believe it looks just like the postcard!)
11. Highlands, Scottland (So green and misty!)
12. The Duomo of Siena, Italy (Marvelous marble!)
13. The Rocket Gardon of the Kennedy Center, Florida (Science rules!)
14. The Mississippi River in the spring (Flowing like a stampede!)
15. The terracotta warriers at the emperor's tomb, Xian, China (Massive!)
16. A visit to farmers' horse trade market, Iowa (Never seen horses this huge and stocky!)
17. Graceland + Sun Studio, Memphis, USA (Goosebumps + chills...Elvis's back and standing among us...No kidding!)
18. The riverboat ride on the Rhine River from Koblenz to Mainz, Germany (Breathtakingly beautiful!)
19. The view of the snow-capped Alps from the plane (Truly Amazing!)
20. The roller coasters at Magic Mountain, Los Angeles (Awesome!)
21. The sighting of Nessi at Loch Ness (Just joking.........^_* I do wish, though)

Oia, Santorini...heaven on earth!!

Thank you for stopping by my page. I hope you'll enjoy some of my pages. My hometown Kaohsiung is a more completed one and there's a good story on my Irakleion (Crete, Greece) page. Also, check out the lovely photos of Pisa, Italy. It was one of my dream destinations as a kid. I was very excited to have been able to climb onto the top of it! Another is Disneyland (been there, but wasn't that much fun as I wasn't a kid any more). The only one I haven't been is Pompeii. Hopefully, I'll make it there one day. Ok, I'd be glad if you could leave a command. Happy Travels!!!

Maranda ;o)

Intro Updated Oct 17, 2006
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Personal Pages (1)

Written Jun 26, 2003

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Comments (68)

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THLIN Jul 12, 2010 at 5:43 AM

Happy happy birthday!!!
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cachaseiro Jul 11, 2010 at 8:27 AM

happy birthday maranda :O)
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Martin_S. Jul 11, 2010 at 4:36 AM

If you lived in Iowa, of COURSE you had nowhere to go....you were ALREADY NOWHERE...lived in DesMoines and know what you mean. Martin
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SirRichard Jan 7, 2009 at 11:03 PM

Hi Maranda. Thanks for the comments. I did them when I was there, I carry a small box of watercolors, sit in the shade and paint
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WorldMeet2008 Aug 8, 2008 at 2:26 PM

Your next trip? Make it really unique! It's not too late to attend WM08 - Jerusalem, Tel Aviv & Dead- Sea on 25- 28th Sept (+Petra 29-30th). We want to double the num of attendees to 100! Click to learn where, when, what, how, how much! Avi [FruitLover].
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barbskie Jul 12, 2008 at 6:42 AM

hi Maranda! sending you my belated birthday wishes....all the best! juliet
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Etoile2B Jul 11, 2008 at 2:07 PM

Happy Birthday from sunny California! Here's to many more wonderful years!
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heywinks Jul 8, 2008 at 11:21 AM

Your bday is coming up. Have a fabulous celebration and all the best to you, Maranda. :)
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deeper_blue Jul 11, 2007 at 11:42 AM

Happy birthday, all the best this year
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takla73 Jul 11, 2007 at 10:39 AM

Happy Birthday MARANDA and have a nice day Greeting from Alexandria Egypt TAKLA