celsomollo's VirtualTourist Home Page

One of my biggest dreams is traveling around the world getting to as many countries as I can, visiting the 5 continents and making friends in each one of them.
So far I've been in Canada (North America) Brazil (South America) Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Italy (Europe). I'm still missing the other three continents however I have no doubt in my mind that I'll get there. I'm on my way!!!

I set out from my small town, called Mococa, to my travels around the world.
Took me 29 years to realize that my town, state and country were not enough so I decided to discover the world out there.
This personal race around the world will have several legs, each one being a new country. I have no idea how it will change my life and the way I see people and things.
After the last leg when I finally get to the finish line I'm sure the prize will be a million of stories and priceless experiences to share with my love ones!

My first destination was Quebec, Canada.
I've been in Canada several times and I've traveled a lot there with my Canadian friends. I've been in many cities such as Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Halifax, Windsor, amongst other nice places.
I've been to the Montreal Jazz Festival and too many Dog shows around the country.
My favorite city is Montreal; the old part of it is just fantastic!
I'd like to thank all my Canadian friends that made my life so much easier and enjoyable there.
I would say that Canada is my favorite country and I'm very glad it was my first Pit Stop

I Left Canada to Europe and on my way I stopped by in Brazil again to see my family.
Next destination would be Germany; I have a cousin there that I always wanted to visit, so I found it would be the perfect opportunity.
Germany was more than I expected from. I arrived in Frankfurt and the very next day I took a tour to the center of the city, walking by the Main river and visiting "Roemer" the old part of Frankfurt. The weather was very nice and I took lots of pictures.
Next day, my cousin Tica and his fiancée Diana invited me to visit a historic town called Heidelberg an hour drive from Frankfurt.
It was amazing, I visited the ruins of "Heidelberger Schloss" a 12th century castle and after that we had lunch in a nice restaurant, typical German cosine. We finish the day walking through the old streets enjoying the sights.
I hope I can go back to Germany again, but next time I want to visit Bavaria.

Germany was wonderful, but I had to keep moving, next destination Fredesnborg Denmark.
I got a train ride from Frankfurt to Copenhagen where a friend of mine was waiting for me.
I don't recall if it was raining that day however 90% of my days in Denmark has been a rainy day.
The country is wonderful, lots of beautiful castles and very nice people. I visited three awesome castles, Fredesnborg's, Frederiksborg's (Now Denmark's Museum of National History) and the Kronborg Castle, which was the inspiration for Hamlet's Castle.
I also had a short sightseeing trip to Copenhagen and I liked it. The city looks very nice; hopefully the weather changes and I will be able to spend a whole day traveling through the city.

After many days of rain it was time to leave for the next leg. I was heading to Sweden. It was going to be a very short leg. My friend and I had to take her dog for a breeding section in the near by Helsingborg, we left in the morning and although the day was a little overcast it wasn't raining that morning. The ferry crossing was nice and I took nice pictures, I really enjoyed the 20 minutes ferry ride.
After that we drove a few miles to a Jack Russell kennel where the dogs were bred.
On the way back we stopped by a nice church where I took some more pictures including the one under the Swedish flag. After that we just went back to the ferry.
It was a very short trip and my first time in Sweden.

I decided to call this leg of my race "Lost in Norway" because I lost counting how many times we got lost in Oslo trying to get to a friend's house.
This was one of the most adventurous leg of my race so far, Kiu and I went to Norway for a weekend Dog Show, we left on Friday morning heading to Helsingor to catch a ferry to Sweden, It would be a 7 hours trip to Oslo and my friend decided that I would drive all the way and he would drive back. On the way we had to stop a few times and we decided to stop in Gothemborg for some sightseeing, it was very nice indeed, after that we went direct to Oslo, but on the way to our friend's apartment we got lost countless times. Driving in Oslo is not an easy task so we had our friend picking us up at the old train station in downtown Oslo. At that same night we went to some pubs in the harbor area and we enjoyed the night.
Saturday and Sunday were dog show days and we won best of breed and best in group with my friend's wolfhound. After the dog show we decided that we had to go back home, this time my friend was driving and he managed to make a lot of mess, even more than I did, and just for a change we got lost again. We finally found our way out of Oslo, which by the way is a fantastic city, but half way to Sweden we got stuck in a massive traffic jam, going 20 km/h.
After long time we decided to stop and wait hoping the traffic would flow better latter, but talking to a lorry driver I just found out that it was normal in the weekends and we just had to go few kilometers more and it would be better. Latter on I decided to drive for an hour to let my friend rest for a while but what he doesn't know is that I slept behind the wheel, it was quick but dangerous, Sorry Kiu!!!
I really liked Norway and hopefully I can go back someday, but not without a very good navigation system.

Going to Italy on this sixth leg of my race was like coming back to my roots and I wasn't disappointed at all.
I flew from Copenhagen to Rome where a friend was waiting. I stayed with a fantastic family in a small town called Velletri.
Fist I got a train ride to the main train station in Rome. From there I hop in a metro to a station called Otaviano, next to the Vatican.
I bought a map, grabbed my compass and after that... well I walked a lot.
Rome is the most beautiful city I've ever seen. The Vatican, the Coliseum, Piazza Veneza with the Monument to Vittorio Emanuel the II, the Roman Forum, Piazza Navona and the Campidoglio, blew me away!
After Rome was Pompeii. An ancient city which was destroyed by the fury of mother nature... Vesuvius!
I saw all the excavations which were breathtaking!!! Not to mention the fantastic Italian food. Pasta and pizzas washed down with great red and white wine from different regions of Italy.
This leg will never "ever" be forgotten!!!