Korea’s Best: The Awesome Andong Mask Festival

Julio Moreno Korean Festivals, South Korea , , , , 0 Comment
Korea’s Best: The Awesome Andong Mask Festival

Korean festivals and I have a long history that I must admit, hasn’t always been a happy one. While I love the idea of festivals and am glad that Korea has SOOO many of them, I approach them with caution. From time to time, I find myself in a place that is too crowded (Fireworks Festival), too overrated (Boryeong Mud Festival), and end up too disappointed (Yeosu Expo). I was pleasantly surprised that the Andong International Mask Festival not only lived up to my expectations, but surpassed them in every way!

Mask - Andong Mask Festival

For starters, this festival Read more →

Website Update #3

Julio Moreno Updates 0 Comment

So what is this? A website update is something I do every three months to tell you guys (and remind myself) about what is going on in Travel World Heritage or with me in general (if relevant). While some blogs do it every month or every week, but to say that I have a time consuming day-job is a bit of an understatement, so this will have to do. Nine months into blogging and I am still at it. To be honest, I don’t remember anything else I have been consistent with for this long :).

1. My Computer Broke: I never thought about it until now, but I was extremely dependent on my little Asus netbook for blogging and pretty much everything else. Read more →

Santa Maria delle Grazie with “The Last Supper”

Julio Moreno Italy, UNESCO World Heritage Site , , 8 Comments
Santa Maria delle Grazie with “The Last Supper”

Grazie - Last SupperLocation: Milan, Italy

Visited: August 11, 2012

Site Type: Cultural

Inscribed: 1980

Opinion and Background:

Santa Maria delle Grazie is a small church located in Milan whose call to fame comes from containing the painting known the world over as “The Last Supper.” While the inscription for making this a UNESCO World Heritage Site includes both the church and the masterpiece, it is obvious that most people have Leonardo da Vinci’s work in mind when they visit this site. When you purchase tickets to see the painting (which must be done weeks, if not months in advance to get a fair price) you have a very strict time slot when you are allowed to see it (15 minutes). Knowing this, I scouted the area the day before which happened to be a day when “The Last Supper” was closed. The whole area looked like a ghost town with virtually no tourists Read more →

UNESCO Monday #5:Sunrise Over Yellowstone Lake

Julio Moreno UNESCO Picture of the Week, United States , , 0 Comment
UNESCO Monday #5:Sunrise Over Yellowstone Lake
Yellowstone
Totally worth it.

After finishing college, my friend Nate, his friend Tomac, and I drove for 18 non-stop hours from Los Angeles to Yellowstone, a place that we had hoped to visit for years. As advertised, the park was gorgeous, with its serene lake taking center stage.

We came in pretty late, so we didn’t do much the first day except pitch our tent, make our fire, cook some dinner, and go to sleep. I did manage to overhear someone at the office talk about the sunrise over Yellowstone. “It’s amazing! Too bad it is so early.” Early? I could do that, considering how early we were sleeping. I grabbed a map of the campground and took it to our tent.

I woke up early in the morning determined to see this sunrise, but my friends didn’t share my 5:00 am enthusiasm. As the sunrise was at 5:30, I had awoken a bit late and it was decision time. I had no time to go around the entire camp as I would miss it for sure. Looking at the map though, I thought I could devise a short-cut. Read more →