Alisonchilla's VirtualTourist Home Page

Oh, how spectacularly beautiful.
Lucked out on the weather. The hurricane had just passed through with miraculously minimal damage. The following week I was there, not a single drop of rain fell.

The place I stayed at was comfortable and beautiful and the food from our personal chefs was delicious. I felt spoiled rotten and rich.

Check out the travel tips.

Cancun was beautifully warm at Christmastime. Cancun is designed for tourists, so don't expect authentic Mexico there, but you can forgive this fact for the warm weather, clear water, and sparkling white beaches.

Stayed at the Melia Turquesa, and I would recommend it to others. Definitely try the homemade ice cream and get yourself a freshly made fruit-drink if you stay there. The activities staff does some pretty corny things during the day, but I can vouch that they'll show you a good time during the evening outings.

In the spring of 2004 I went to Bristol, England, to visit my friend Beth. Stayed at her lovely flat and treated her to Maryland's best chocolately treat -- Berger cookies. Saw Bristol, Bath, Caerphilly in Wales, and a bit of London. Not at all enough time to do it all.

After much preparation during the summer months, made it out to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, just north of Reno for the annual Burning Man festival. It is a fantastic event, in both senses of the word, and quite hard to explain. If you are someone who loves independent travel and trying new things, I recommend it.

Next stop -- CANCUN for Christmas. Won't be white this time, unless you count the beach sand!

November 1st and 2nd was the 18th Annual World Championship Punkin Chunkin competition in Rehoboth, Delaware.

There are all these expensive looking cannons, trebuchets, slingshots, and catapults that launch pumpkins into the air.

It's great people-watching! If you go, bring lawn chairs, maybe a blanket, food and drink. There is plenty of carnival-type food to be purchased as well. Chicken wings, boardwalk fries, pumpkin funnel cake and more.

My friend recently purchased a house in Lonaconing. A bunch of us hopped in a big white car and took the 2 1/2 hour scenic drive through Cumberland and Frostburg to get there.

Not typically the place you'd vacation, but there were plenty of things to see and do along the way.

Want a slice of Americana? Definitely check out this trip!

Homework: Watch "October Sky" to get a small taste of life in an American coal mining town.

Twice a year, my friends and I travel out to the Blue Ridge Mountains to relax in the woods, where we can't be bothered by work -- or anyone else for that matter, as cell phones don't work, and there is no phone in the Upper Cabin, where we stay.

We got beautiful weather for Friday and Saturday, though it POURED Friday night. Sunday was coooold though, and it snowed. Yes, almost April, and it's snowing in the Mid-Atlantic.

I will update my tips with some info I grabbed from the lodge. Take a peek.

Had a wonderful time on my 5-month trip to South America

I went to: Rio de Janiero, Iguazu Falls, Buenos Aires, Colonia, Montevideo, Punta del Este, Bahía Blanca, Puerto Madryn, Comodoro Rivadavia, Rio Gallegos, Ushuaia, El Calafate, Bariloche, Pucón, Santiago, Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Mendoza, Salta, Tupiza, Uyuni, Potosi, Sucre, La Paz, Cochabamba, Rurrenabaque, Copacapana, Puno, Cusco, Arequipa, Huacachina, and finally --Lima.

I do not have all my tips and travelogues here yet. Go to this website to get more tips:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DosGringas

Have traveled to Spain (4 month study abroad)

Live in DC area currently, and grew up in New Hampshire.

I studied Spanish language throughout high school and at the University of Maryland. Yes, this means the classes were conducted in Spanish! (This amazes my parents)

I went on a whirlwind tour of Spain with my high school classmates. This small taste only left me craving more.

I spent the spring semester of my junior year of college in Alcala de Henares, just outside of Madrid, Spain.

The program was terrific. Intense conversation and grammar classes 5 days a week with the University of Alcala's school for foreigners, and an even more intense course on Spanish history and culture with a professor from the University of Maryland.

Professor Naharro was DEMANDING but his course was excellent.

If anyone out there is considering a study abroad program -- DO IT. I learned far more in that one semester than I did during any other at college.