Images from the Banner

One of my new favorite places, San Sebastian provides beautiful beaches and views of the Bay of Biscay, like this night view. San Sebastian is in Basque country, in the north of Spain near the French border. Not only is it a beautiful place to spend a few days...or weeks, but the food is some of the best in Spain.

Casa Popenoe was my favorite attraction in Antigua, Guatemala. A beautifully restored colonial home, Casa Popenoe gives a window into how a royal official lived in the 17th century. With an impressive courtyard and garden, a rooftop terrace, beautiful woodwork and period furniture, and pigeon holes formerly used for carrier pigeons, the house is well worth a visit.

Vineyards, orange groves, and olive trees abound in and around beautiful Alicante, Spain. The view is from a rural house where we stayed and enjoyed the tranquilidad of the region.

This yellow arch in Antigua is perhaps the most photographed part of the city. This detail of the clock is located right near the top of the actual arch (the arch, of course, has been cropped out of the photo).

The wines included in the Tempus Alba line from Mendoza, Argentina.

One of the many geometric designs at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain.

Coffee Beans and Leaves from the Guacamaya Mountain preserve near Copan, Honduras. Much of Central America counts coffee as a major industry, and many coffee plantation offer tours to show the process of growing, harvesting, and roasting coffee beans.

This picture was taken from a hammock at my hotel in El Salvador in the town of Las Palmas. Las Palmas is a nice cool mountain, a definite contrast to the hot, jungle air of Suchitoto, El Salvador. Learning some Spanish is definitely a good idea before heading to El Salvador, since its tourism industry isn't as developed as neighboring Guatemala and Honduras.

Mendoza, Argentina has a growing winery industry that is attracting plentiful wine tourism. Wineries offer tours and tastings, and are usually in picturesque locations like Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza.

Easy to get to from Denver, Puerto Vallarta is a great destination if you're looking for a quick easy getaway. We stayed at an amazing 3-bedroom on Playa Conchas Chinas.

Antigua, Guatemala has been an increasingly popular destination for tourism looking for the charm of a colonial town in Central America. The town itself is adorable, with colorful building facades, ruins of huge churches destroyed in earthquakes, and plenty of restaurants, hotels, and tourist activities. Although Antigua is pretty well set up for tourism, it's a good idea to have a some ability to speak Spanish.

This night view photo was taken near our hotel.

The quintessential Latin American sport: football (soccer only in the US). This photo was taken at an elimination game for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Although the world cup is clearly several years away, the passion the fans have for their team is impressive.

The Alhambra in Granada, Spain is one of the most famous and well-preserved examples of Mudéjar-style architecture typical of the Andalucia region in the south of Spain. The amazing patterns and detail used in the Alhambra palaces and the Alcazar in Sevilla are truly breathtaking.

One of the many fascinating things about the Mudéjar architecture of Andalucia is the incredible plaster and tilework. This photo, taken at the Alcázar in Sevilla, showcases one of the geometric designs typical to the Mudéjar style.

Famous for its colorful facades, Antigua, Guatemala is a picturesque colonial town, and the previous capital of Guatemala.

A church destroyed in one of Antigua's earthquakes of 1773 is now simply surrounded by beautiful flowering bougainvilleas. Antigua is a fascinating contrast of spruced up facades with fresh coats of paint and ruins left by earthquakes.

On our drive between Alicante and Valencia, we passed through vineyards and small Spanish towns. This photo was taken near La Font de la Figuera. To visit wineries in the region, you need to make an appointment. Unfortunately, we arrived at the vineyards just in time for siesta.

One of the many interesting things to see while visiting beautiful Viu Manet winery in the Colchagua Valley of Chile.

One of the most impressive things about visiting the Alhambra is the amazing plaster detail work, with elegant yet geometric shapes. This close up detail of a pattern shows just how complex the designs are, but in reality whole walls and rooms of the building are covered with panels like this.

The gazebo benches filled up with Uruguayans sipping mate with friends and family, and we all watched the sun set. For being a small country, Uruguay has some great options of things to do and see: beaches, a nice capital city, a colonial cities, wine, and estancias.

One of the older more traditional wineries in Mendoza, Argentina, La Rural is worth a visit with its wine museum.

A parade through the street in Antigua, Guatemala marking the festival of Corpus Cristi.

Detail of tile and plaster work at the Alcazar in Sevilla (Seville) Spain.

One of the best preserved Mayan ruins in Honduras, Copán is a great place to visit for the ruins and the cute town with the same name. The ruins are a beautiful contrast of jungle and stone...watch macaws fly overhead and imagine the plaza as the center of trade in the height of the Mayan civilization.

The church in Suchitoto, El Salvador that is located right on the main square. For most visitors to Suchitoto this church is both dominant part of your initial view of the city square and also the dominant sound you will hear in the city (the bells at least).

This photo was taken under the yellow clock arch, one of the most photographed sites in Antigua, Guatemala.

The upper portion of a small keyhole at the entrance of several rooms to the Alcázar in Sevilla, Spain. This keyhole shows what much of the plasterwork used to look like--painted bright colors.

Mendoza, Argentina's already establish wine industry continues to grow. The wineries of Mendoza not only make wonderful wines, but are attracting wine tourism, giving people the opportunity to visit and learn about wineries while enjoying the picturesque location that usually involves vineyards and a view of the Andes.

We came across this church outside of Antigua, Guatemala on a bike tour to a coffee plantation. The whole picture includes the accents of a typical gothic-style church, but I like this section of the photo, with the fading of the colorful paint and typical streetscape.

This giant water feature in Antigua has a covered walkway on the left side. Inside of that area are large wash basins where locals (mostly in days gone by, no doubt) could wash items.

It's not unusual to happen upon a religious ceremony when in Latin America, with its strong Catholic roots. We ended up in the middle of the annual Corpus Cristi festival in Antigua, Guatemala, and enjoyed watching neighbors decorating the streets with confetti, pine boughs, and flowers.

Cerro el Pital, on the Border of Honduras and El Salvador, is the highest peak in El Salvador, at 2730 meters (8957 feet). You can take a bus most of the way up and hike the rest.

Amazing woodwork can be found around every corner at the Alcázar. This ceiling is found in el salon de embajadas.

Puerto Madero, formerly an industrialized port of Buenos Aires, has become a fashionable place to live, dine, and work. We call it LoDo. A view of the water as the sun sets...

Bouganvilla from Pablo Neruda's house in Valparaiso, Chile named La Sebastiana. A visit to Valparaiso is only complete with a visit to one of the poet's most amazing homes.

Eduardo Chillida is San Sebastian's most beloved artist, specializing in sculpture like the one pictured, Peine del viento. Chillida also has his own sculpture park in town.

The use of water is an extremely important part of Mudéjar architecture. Since water is scarce in the desert, fountains conserve water and make little sound, though provide a calming presence.