It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol' buddy... Let's go exploring!

The Pitons of St. Lucia hold such a place of pride for the country that they are prominently featured on its flag. There was no way I was going to pass up a visit to the twin peaks when I traveled to St. Lucia in the fall of 2016, so I hired a driver from a tour company in the port of Castries to take me to the Pitons Management Area in the southern part of the island, near the town of Soufrière. Along the way I passed banana plantations, fishing villages, and scenic Marigot Bay, but I was most impressed when the Pitons first came into view along the coastline. Before visiting the peaks, my driver took me to the Sulphur Springs geothermal area, which was rather decent to visit, even though I have seen similar areas in other countries. Following Sulphur Springs, we drove to a farm on the Piton Mitan ridge, which connects Gros Piton with Petit Piton. There was a hike on the farm which gave me a spectacular view of the Pitons--particularly Petit Piton--set against the deep blue of the Caribbean. I thoroughly enjoyed the natural beauty of the peaks, and I have fond memories of that evening as I left the island, getting one last view of the Pitons silhouetted against the horizon as the sun set.

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While hiking the Inca Trail last month, I was wondering how different North American cultural heritage might look if the Inca Empire had extended further north. We may never know what North American Incan architecture would look like, but North America does have incredible Puebloan architecture from the 12th century on display at Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado. Mesa Verde was one of the first two US World Heritage Sites, and part of the first group of World Heritage Sites inscribed in 1978. The exquisite Cliff Palace is rightly famed, and looks incredible from the viewing platforms; unfortunately when I visited in May 2016, palace tours had not yet started for the season. Instead, I signed up for a tour of Balcony House, built high up on the side of a cliff. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour, and was impressed at the craftmanship of the rooms and kivas, which look out over a valley. After the tour, I drove around the park's loop trails and stopped by the museum at the visitor center before continuing to nearby Wetherill Mesa, where I visited Step House and hiked some of the Long House trail. Mesa Verde deserves at least one full day for a visit, if not more, and is one of the best cultural sites the US has to offer.

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I think that I shall never see a fossil lovely as a tree... Although Joggins Fossil Cliffs does have some reptilian fossils, the vast majority of the fossils on display are of the arboreal variety. I visited Joggins on a cool September day in 2017 and joined a two hour tour on the beach below the cliffs. The tour guide very helpfully showed how the constant erosion of the cliffs was exposing fossilized tree trunks, and also displayed examples of fossils found exposed on the beach. A museum near the car park on the top of the cliffs provided an exhibit revealing what the prehistoric forests would have looked like for context. I enjoyed the tour, as well as the opportunity to wander around the beach afterwards and look for fossils. That said, I am not as much of a fan of fossil sites as I am of sites with natural beauty, so Joggins Fossil Cliffs resonated with me more for its scenic location along the Bay of Fundy. For those World Heritage Site travelers who love fossils, though, Joggins Fossil Cliffs is one of several Canadian sites that would be well worth a visit.

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For four to five days in August, every two years, the most scenic square in Brussels is adorned with a floral carpet. When I decided to visit World War I sites in Belgium this past summer, I opted to time my trip to coincide with this exhibit in the Grand Place of Brussels. This year, on the 20th anniversary of the Grand Place becoming a World Heritage Site, Brussels chose to display a carpet celebrating the culture of Guanajuato, Mexico (yet another World Heritage Site). On the Tuesday night prior to the display, the square had been blocked off, patterns had been traced out in the square, and some boxes of flowers were beginning to arrive. I was amazed at how quickly the carpet had been assembled when I walked by the square again on Wednesday morning. I met up with friends on Wednesday afternoon, and we purchased tickets to view the carpet from the second floor of the impressive Town Hall. From the balcony we had an awesome view of the floral display, as well as of the numerous guildhouses enclosing the square. The Mexican theme of the carpet continued at night, with a lively sound and light display celebrating Mexican culture. Although I was less impressed with the remainder of Brussels as a city, the Grand Place of Brussels was definitely worth the visit.

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The scope of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape can seem rather daunting, with its multiple components, but after my visit last May, I felt I had a better understanding of its role in the Industrial Revolution. I appreciated the recommendations of other reviewers on this site to help focus my travels, and used the quaint town of Tavistock as a base for my two day tour. From Tavistock, which is well described already, I followed its canal south to the Victorian river port of Morwellham Quay. This open air museum includes a copper mine, a village with a large water wheel used to crush manganese, and a quay once famed for the amount of copper transiting through it. Similar to Morwellham was the atmospheric port of Charlestown, where fog was rolling in over tall ship replicas when I arrived. This coastal harbor in southern Cornwall was also used to transport the region's copper out to the world. Some of this copper ore was shipped north to the Welsh port of Swansea, which, thanks to its nearby coal reserves, became famous as a copper smelting city in the 18th and 19th centuries. One can easily enjoy touring Cornwall and Devon with no knowledge of this World Heritage Site, but I really appreciated learning about the region's mining history.

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