One of the more interesting features of the Peruvian landscape are tiny islets floating on Lake Titicaca, fashioned from reeds, by Los Uros, people who lived in the area even before the Incas arrived. Most of the Los Uros people have moved off the islets, but a community of 200 remains today, still practicing their traditional methods of construction while adapting some aspects of modern technology; Uros use motorboats, watch TV, and have their own radio station.

Travel to see the Uros for yourself on our Legendary Peru  tour.

What’s the most interesting structure you’ve ever used? Please share.

Male blue-footed boobies are monogamous and have been known to whistle at passing females.

The poor blue-footed booby truly has an unfortunate name. The name “booby” originated from the Spanish term bobo, which means “stupid” or “foolish” like a clown. Although the bird may fly gracefully, he tends to be a bit clumsy on land. He dances to impress the ladies, showing off his blue feet and flapping his wings. As with most courtship displays, the majority of female birds in the vicinity of such a show just find it mildly amusing, until one takes pity on him and agrees to mate. The birds are monogamous, with partners taking turns to incubate the eggs. You can see this little guy and his friends on our Galapagos for Families tour.

Which animal makes you laugh? Share Below.

Guest Blogger William J. Higgins, FAIA is an architect with 37 years of worldwide experience, has practiced in 10 different countries, and has traveled through more than 20 countries across Europe, Asia and North America.  He is contributor to two recent books: International Practice for Architects and Founder’s Folly.  He has a Masters of Architecture degree from Harvard University, a Bachelor’s Degree from Louisiana State University, and has taught at Stanford University.  He is a founding Principal of Architecture International, Ltd. and was a Principal of The Architects Collaborative, Inc. Here, he shares a tale of travel planning with family.

Travel's always more fun with friends and family. (Cafe, Florence).

It was Christmas, and we were gathered at a family dinner.  My wife and I were regaling our parents with tales of our personal travels to Europe.  I paused, looked at my wife across the table, and then blurted out, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all of us went to Europe together?”  One would have thought that I was Santa Claus flying down the chimney loaded with gifts, for the resounding “Yes! What a wonderful idea!” that instantly sprang forth from my mother, mother-in-law, and father-in-law. Their happiness filled the dining room.  Even my wife, Norma, beamed with approval.  

I consider myself to be an educated, informed and, yes, mature individual. I generally have my wits about me and usually make wise choices when it comes to life decisions such as what color socks to wear, what channel to watch, or what to eat for dinner.  So why did a sensible person like me, married to an intelligent and insightful woman, think it would be a great idea to travel to Europe with our parents?   The Italians have a word for it: pazzo, or crazy.  The French would say fou.  Yes, crazy.

Both of us are of European descent.  Norma is Italian and Hungarian, and I am a blend of Italian, French, Irish, and English.  So the thought of journeying to Europe with our parents to explore the roots of our heritage seemed like an exciting way to bond with our family and enjoy some time together.  We are fortunate in that we get along with our in-laws, and that our three “old ones” enjoy each other’s company.  We all share common interests, one of which we now discovered, is travel.

As we continued with Christmas dinner, pouring more holiday wine, the questions came in rapid succession and with excited voices: when to go? where to go? how do we get passports? what about medicines? Travel insurance?  The question of when to go would not be as much a challenge as where to go.  Now that I had opened the proverbial can of  traveling worms, the suggested places to visit stretched across the entire European continent from the Danube  to the English Channel. My English Literature professor mother-in-law, Alice, was inclined to try Shakespeare’s England, or perhaps Shelley’s Rome or even Lord Byron’s Venice.  My High School principal mother, Gwen, thought it would be grand to see the Louvre in Paris, or the Uffizi of Florence, but “England would be nice, too”.  My recently retired yet adventurous father-in-law, Rus, yearned to see the majesty of the Matterhorn or Michelangelo’s Florence or the WWII cemeteries of France.  More wine please.  

The Danube River, as it passes through Budapest.

I asked myself, how do we see 2,000 years of history and 2,000 miles of landscape in a fourteen day timeframe?  Oh yes, the senior members of our family decided our trip had to be at least two weeks.  What the heck, they had plenty of time on their hands, why waste an opportunity to delve into old world culture especially if I am offering to be the tour guide?

Norma retrieved the World Atlas from the study and we moved all the dishes to one end of the table, poured more wine, and swarmed over the maps of Europe, measuring distances between destinations with a nearby, uneaten string bean. After much bean positioning and stretching, we decided that the farthest we should travel in one direction was 1,000 miles or three string beans.   Thus was born the rule of the haricot vert.

Our inaugural grand tour would encompass a scenic loop by car through Switzerland, Italy, and France, a mere 2,000 miles, or six string beans.  This way we would please everyone and be so exhausted at the end that the thought of doing this a second time would completely vanish from our collective noodle heads.  All heads turned to me, and in unison, said “So, when do we go?”

I paused because I thought it would be cool to travel to new places, visit world renowned museums, cathedrals, and historic sites and see them through the eyes of our parents.  Can you imagine exploring the inner streets of old cities discussing the window patterns and architectural detail of a French neighborhood with your mother?  Or sampling the local cuisine at an outdoor cafe in Rome with your mother-in-law?  Or taking a gondola ride to the base of the Matterhorn with your father-in-law?  Well, neither did I, until I realized that the excitement that was already expressed in their eyes and the gaiety in their voices meant that this could be a very energizing experience for our parents, at a time in their lives when they were contemplating what their next chapter was going to be.  We were ready to help them write it in a foreign language.

Where do you want to go next? Please share.

Ready to take off yet? Click here to see how you can travel to Europe with Smithsonian Journeys.

Note to readers: Want to share your own travel story? Just e-mail it to smithsonian.journeys@gmail.com .

Each summer, the Spoleto Festival USA  brings the world’s top performing arts talent to Charleston, South Carolina, for a few weeks of unparalleled opera, music, theater, and dance. This year, Poland’s Leszek Mozdzer, one of the best-kept secrets of the keyboard world, graced the festival with his distinctive and original sound.

Ready for more? We’ve got Orchestra Prime seats all set for you for the 2011 Festival. In fact, this tour is part of our upcoming one day sale. Call 877-338-8687 on August 25th between 9:00am and 5:00pm ET and save $100 on this, or any of our land tours.