Whales and Wildlife: The Best of Alaska's Kenai Peninsula

Buenos Aires isn't Europe, but the architecture, museums, street life, and plentiful cafes and late night restaurants make it feel like a big city in Spain or Italy. Most city residents, called porteños, trace their origins just a few generations back to Europe, mostly Italy and Spain but also Russia and Eastern Europe. The city's gorgeous architecture is an eclectic mix, though to view much of it you'll have to walk on gritty streets and ignore the graffiti. A highlight is Teatro Colón, the lushly decorated Beaux-Arts performance hall that is home to the opera, orchestra, and ballet. The guided tour in English is worth the 130 pesos (discounts for seniors & students), and you might be lucky enough to glimpse performers rehearsing. A better way to appreciate its great acoustics is to book tickets to a performance in advance of your visit—unless you are willing to try standing room. Recoleta Cemetery is a must-see. The Cemetery is like a tiny city built for munchkins, with sculpture-covered mausoleums 20 feet high and grouped closely together along narrow paved walkways. Admission is free. Fifteen pesos gets you a map to the 4800 tombs of the elite, and also to the cemetery's biggest draw, the grave of Eva Peron, the Argentinian First Lady from 1946 until her death in 1952. To learn more about Evita's decidedly non-elite background, visit the Evita Museum (admission fee), housed in a mansion Evita converted into a temporary shelter for rural women migrating to the city. The museum features photographs from her early career as an actress and magazine pinup, newsreel of her good works, and a sampling of her gowns. Eva Peron still has a hold on Argentine people. Her image is used in ads for current political figures, appears on restaurant facades, in public art, and in graffiti. Visit the Latin American art museum, MALBA, to see a Frida Kahlo self-portrait, be introduced to other Latin American painters and sculptors, and enjoy the light and air of its soaring modern interior and glass-walled cafe. (Admission 45 pesos, discounts for students & seniors, half-price Wednesdays.) The decorative arts museum, housed in the luxurious former palace of a family that lost its fortune in the 1930's, also has a lovely café with indoor and outdoor seating. A quirky museum is Zanjon, an urban archeological site, with guided tours in English for 120 pesos.  Zanjon is a gutted 19th century mansion that, after the yellow fever outbreak of the 1870's, served as an overcrowded tenement shared by immigrant families. Its cisterns, artifacts, and underground tunnel give a glimpse into three centuries of urban life. By contrast, the Immigration Museum is a missed opportunity, a single room that barely skims the surface of the immigration story that has shaped Argentina, and has no English explanations. One legacy of Buenos Aires' Italian roots is its delight in ice cream. It is such an integral part of Buenos Aires life that ice cream shops often stay open after midnight and on major holidays such as Christmas or New Years Day and - incredibly—many will even deliver to your door. Dulce de leche is not just a rich caramel flavor but its own food group. It crops up in morning pastries, as a topping for coffee, in desserts, and most memorably in ice cream. Expect to see at least five varieties of dulce de leche ice cream on the menu. Good ice cream chains include Freddo and Persicco. Better yet, try one of the artisanal heladerías that make small batches, such as Faricci, also with multiple locations. Cadare is a hole in the wall that may make the best ice cream in the world. Try the bittersweet chocolate (chocolate amargo), samboyón (like eggnog), chocolate chip (chocolate granizado), and of course dulce de leche. Reflecting their Spanish roots, Buenos Aires eats dinner late: 10 p.m., 11 p.m., even midnight. While restaurants open at 7, few locals arrive before 9 and you may have better luck getting a table at 7:30 or 8. A visit to Buenos Aires must include grilled beef. Steakhouses, called parillas, are plentiful. While the highly recommended parillas Don Julio and La Cabrera were booked during our visit, we lucked into thoroughly delicious steaks at a nearby restaurant that did not specialize in beef, LeLe de Troy. If you go to the parillo Chiquilin, which was good but not great, skip dessert and walk a few blocks for outstanding ice cream at Cadare (see above). Wash all that steak down with Malbec, an Argentinian red wine. Every grocery store, even tiny ones, have a wine aisle, about $5 a bottle. Buenos Aires is a great walking city in part because there are plenty of welcoming spots to rest. You are never more than a block from the next café. An espresso or café con leche comes with a gracious extra—a tiny cookie or bite of corn bread. And the many parks are rejuvenating nature breaks. The tranquil Japanese Garden is especially lovely, with koi ponds, tiny bridges, benches studding the walking path, and landscaped grounds that somehow muffle noise from the street. Admission fee of 40 pesos; the ice cream kiosk and elegant tea house are extra. There is no admission fee for the slightly down-at-the heels Botanical Garden, which features outdoor sculptures, a green house, flowering shrubs, and shade trees, plus park benches and imperious stray cats lounging in the sun. Also free is wandering the Parque Tres de Febrero, shaded by trees and used by picnickers, joggers, and families. Kids may enjoy the many small playgrounds that dot the Ricoleta and Palermo neighborhoods. Different neighborhoods (barrios) have distinct personalities. For cafes, restaurants, and boutiques, both glamorous and funky, visit the tree-lined streets of the Palermo barrios—Palermo Hollywood, Palermo Soho, Palermo Viejo, and Palermo Chico. Lining the streets of Recoleta are upscale apartment buildings built in lush early 20thcentury styles. The Once neighborhood is home to observant Jews and has kosher restaurants, like the family-friendly Romini Pizzeria which serves up thick crusted pizza with gobs of gooey cheese, and Kehot, which sells Judaica. Chine is a miniature Chinatown, with Asian grocery stores, tea houses, sushi, and other restaurants born out of recent waves of immigration. The subway (subte), at less than a dollar per trip, is a quick way to jump between neighborhoods. At first we resisted going to a tango show because it seemed too touristy. But ultimately I was glad we did see one, and glad we waited until we had some cultural context for Argentina's sexy signature dance—like that tango originated in the immigrant slums of Buenos Aires and became "respectable" in Argentina only after Parisians embraced it in the early 20th century. The Esquina Carlos Gardel, an elegant 500-person theater, showcases pairs of professional tango dancers. It also serves dinner. This splurge can be more affordable if you skip dinner and buy tickets only to the show, then ask for a discount for paying in dollars rather than pesos. Key tips for travelers to Buenos Aires: Bring U.S. dollars. You may get discounts if you pay in dollars instead of pesos and the black market exchange rate is much higher than the official rate. Since Buenos Aires is in the southern hemisphere, the seasons are the opposite of the U.S. Our winter is their summer. January-February is the equivalent of July-August and temperatures can reach 90-100's. Porteños love their dogs. And the sidewalks, littered with dog poop, are proof. Watch your step.   Sarah Ricks is a Clinical Professor at Rutgers Law School-Camden and a lifelong travel junkie.

Evoking dreams of an exotic past, the temple of Angkor Wat is the number one attraction in Cambodia. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the world's largest religious monument. Cambodia has taken Angkor Wat as its national symbol; a depiction of it even appears in the flag. Originally built as a Hindu temple, Angkor Wat remains crammed with stone reliefs and statues of Vishnu, Ganesh, Shiva, Hanuman, and the mystic dancing girls, the Apsaras. After the disintegration of the Khmer Empire it was eventually repurposed as a Buddhist temple. Throughout the centuries, the temples have remained in use and they are still the stage for ceremonies and observations for both Buddhists and Hindus. In the 12th century, King Suryavarman ordered the construction of Angkor Wat as his official temple and royal capital city. In the Khmer language, Angkor Wat means temple city. The location was central, strategic, and fertile, and it fit into celestial alignments. The arrangement of the structures relates to the positions of the earth, the sun, moon and the stars, and to the seasonal equinoxes. The central temple symbolizes Mount Meru, the Hindu home of the gods. The surrounding moat represents the sea. The four sides face the cardinal compass points. Angkor Wat is one of many temple complexes near the modern city of Siem Reap. These include: Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm and Bayon Temples, Phimeanakas, and the Terrace of Elephants. Ta Prohm Temple is instantly recognizable. It was a key setting in the hit movie, Tomb Raider, chosen for its exotic, overgrown state. Tourists love to pose for photos before the gnarled jungle roots and branches that have grown into the carved rock over the centuries, disassembling the work of ancient artists and masons. The temples are a circuit of several miles that could take years to fully explore. Seam Reap (the city nearest the temples) in the Khmer language means "defeat Siam," the enemy of the Khmer for a millennium. They overran Angkor Wat in 1431, and the site was forgotten by the outside world. During French colonial times, explorer Hermi Mouhot publicized the ruins. Restoration of the site has continued ever since, interrupted by War and reign of the Khmer Rouge. Today Angkor Wat draws half a million visitors a year. The Angkor Archeological Park (A World Heritage site) has one day admission fees of just $20. The site is open from 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. When I arrived in Cambodia, fellow travelers were eager to offer me advice and to share their temple experiences. The guidebooks I had read suggested walking through the temples in the morning to avoid afternoon heat. This would take a minimum of five days. Temple veterans were quick to dismiss this strategy and advised me to rent a bicycle in Seam Reap. I could see all the temples in a couple of days and the cost would be minimal. Another advisor believed a bike would be too strenuous in the heat of the Cambodian plains. A tuk-tuk could be hired for the entire day for $20. Another option was a bus tour, offered at most area hotels for a similar price. The easiest way, if you are with a two or three other visitors, is to hire a car and driver. In Phnom Penh I found a driver to take my two friends and me the five-hour ride to Siem Reap, and then all the next day drive us around the temples; all for $130. Split three ways, it was an unbeatable deal and a great convenience. By one o'clock the temperature was hot and humid. Properly seeing the main temple, Angkor Wat, involved walking three or four kilometers across the moat, around the sculpted galleries, and climbing the steep stairway to the top of the artificial mountain. I couldn't imagine walking or riding a bicycle another five kilometers to the next temple complex. Instead, at the appointed hour, our driver was waiting near the gate. Waiting in the air conditioned sedan were iced towels and bottles of water. As we refreshed ourselves on the way to The Terrace of Elephants, our driver explained it was a viewing stand from which the royal Khmers watched parades and processions. The life-sized stone carved elephants were complete with their Mahouts (drivers) and ceremonial garb. Later at Bakhent Temple, the stone elephants came to life for us. A circuit of the temple aboard an elephant was offered for $10. It was a break from walking in the afternoon heat and a unique, high vantage view of the ruins, a perfect way to end the day's tour. This article was written on behalf of Tucan Travel, providers of tours to Costa Rica and throughout Latin America. Born in The Hague, Andrew Kolasinski arrived in Canada as a small child riding in the luggage rack of a DC-7. Since then he has felt at home anywhere. As the publisher and editor of Island Angler, Andrew spends half the year fishing for salmon and trout, and in the off-season, traveling the world looking for a story.

A little bit of planning goes a long way as Sydney is full of natural beauty, hidden hotspots, and exciting events. The best part: many of them are free. Here are a few suggestions to kick off the fun on a dime (or an Aussie 10 cent piece!): Undoubtedly, Circular Quay and its surrounds are usually among the first stops for visitors to the city. Two of the city's great icons, the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge are in the same cityscape, which makes for a brilliant scene at the cheap price of free. Buskers including didgeridoo players line the wharves, entertaining the crowds in exchange for a few dollars, adding to the atmosphere of this iconic Sydney scene. Just behind the Opera House is the Royal Botanic Gardens—a great place to visit, sharing its spectacular visuals over the harbor without charging an admission fee. Plan to spend a minimum of one hour there, as anything less won't be enough to take it all in! My favorite time to be there is as the sun falls and the flying foxes, which sleep in trees across Sydney's parks during the day, take to the sky, bringing a new light to the city. Want to explore Sydney Harbour? Look no further than the ferry. Though some people take the ferry to and from work each day, this way to travel is much more than just a means to commute. It's an attraction in itself. Arguably the most scenic route is the one between Circular Quay and Manly. It's one of the best ways to see Sydney Harbour—from the water—and seriously beats out other options in terms of price. Once in Manly, you can visit the beaches, cool cafes, and even the breeding grounds of Little Penguins that hang out under the wharf and come out in the evening. There's no doubt that along the way, hunger will strike. If you're anything like me, when it comes to eating experiences, authenticity is a big factor. One of the biggest secrets around is Eating World, hidden up the sleeve of the city's Chinatown. It's a food court that immediately reminds you of the Chinese or Singaporean "hawker" that locals enjoy so commonly. Walk to the stall that has the type of food you want, choose from the picture menus built into the wall, and pay an incredibly fair price. When I eat, I want good food, period. Saving a few bucks at the expense of décor but getting food as authentic as possible is the perfect tradeoff. Another take on getting full by reasonable means will take you straight into the history-laden The Rocks precinct of Sydney. Each Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Rocks Foodies Market sets up stalls full of fresh, locally-produced foods like lamb kebabs, barbequed salmon, Turkish gozleme, bottled oils, an array of sweets, and the all-time Australian favorite: gourmet meat pies. The food itself is very satisfying, but so is paying around AU$5 for a solid lunch. When you're ready to work off all that amazing food, having an adventure is some of the best exercise. As a visitor to Sydney, you'll likely find yourself at the iconic Bondi Beach. You can capitalize on the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk—it's a decent hoof with some of nature's best aesthetics on offer. For those seeking something more casual, Bondi to Bronte is slightly less aggressive, but just as serene. And just as a reminder, this comes at the cost of $0. Perfect! Back in Bondi, why not try your hand at surfing or paddle boarding—renting a board is cheap—and afterwards, check out the North Bondi RSL for a good-value bite of food and a cold drink with a view over the beach that's hard to beat. You'll be told that Australia has good coffee over and over and nobody is wrong when they say that. There are many small roasters in Sydney, and some are exceptional. Buy bags of "filter roast" beans from the likes of Mecca Espresso, Single Origin Roasters, Rueben Hills, or Sample, and brew at home! A single-cup cone filter and some boiling water is all you need to make the same (or arguably better) cup of coffee. Sydney is one happening city. There seems to be something going on every second of every day. What's even better than the variety and frequency of the city's festivals, exhibitions and spectacles, is that many are free to the public, like Vivid Sydney. An 18-day festival of light, music and sound, Vivid is held May 23 to Jun. 9 this year, and a chunk of the program is free. Last year, more than 800,000 people attended the event, which features giant light installations and light projections, covering iconic buildings such as the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, as well as music performances, talks and creative workshops. A great free event is Biennale, Australia's largest and most exciting contemporary visual arts festival. Held every two years, the Biennale is a three-month exhibition with artist talks, forums, guided tours and family days—all free. This year, the event runs Mar. 21 to Jun. 9, with a program highlighting tours and performances at Sydney Harbour's largest island, Cockatoo Island, just a short ferry ride from the CBD. So where will you be staying during all of this? Accommodation is routinely the biggest expense for most travelers, but it doesn't have to be. Consider the Sydney Harbour YHA - The Rocks as it will probably make you rethink what's considered to be a hostel. Nestled high up in The Rocks precinct, it has a view like no other: Sydney Harbour Bridge to the left, Opera House to the right, and the Harbour in the middle. The rooftop terrace there is the perfect place to grab a drink and meet some new friends. YHA has multiple locations across the city, all of them worth considering. Beyond these tips, definitely hop on www.sydney.com. It's a massive wealth of information, with hyperlinks out to practically every event or festival going on in the city, a great tool for planning a trip before you get to Sydney, or searching for inspiration sporadically while you're in the destination. And last but not least, when you're looking for tips, ask a local! Sydneysiders (and Aussies in general) are typically more than happy to provide information about their city and are excited to share their personal favorites hidden about. I've gotten some of my own best tips from locals and strongly recommend it. To this tune, you can also ask me! I've been living in Sydney and travelling around the State of New South Wales (NSW) since mid-December 2013 and have picked up plenty of tips and tricks along the way. You can check out my adventures on social media and of course, feel free to shoot any questions or suggestions my way, tagging in #funster. This article was written by Andrew Smith, Destination NSW’s Chief Funster. Hailing from Orange County, California, USA, Chief Funster Andrew Smith has been tasked with showing that New South Wales, Australia, is the most fun place in the world for youth travellers. He's responsible for The Funster Experiment—a challenge set for him by Destination NSW to uncover 802,000 moments of fun—one for each square kilometre of the State. He's spending six months travelling around NSW in search of fun activities, events, and attractions, and sharing his finds with travellers from around the world via social media. Tracking his progress is a real-time tally of fun moments, featured on the The Funster Experiment hub at www.sydney.com/workstudyplay. To follow the Chief Funster's adventures and progress, go to: Facebook: Sydneyfunaustralia; Twitter: @sydneyfun; Instagram: @sydneyfun; Blog: www.sydney.com/sydney-life; and join the conversation: #ilovesydney #NewSouthWales

This article was written by Mike Gasparovic, a freelance writer, editor, and translator who devotes his free time to studying the history, art, and literature of the Spanish-speaking world and learning about its people. He currently lives in Lima and wrote this article on behalf of South American Vacations, providers of tours to South America. A strange kind of time warp awaits you when you visit Lima, Peru. One minute you'll be walking along a 21st-century street, bustling with 21st-century noise and congestion, and the next you'll turn a corner and be confronted with colonial houses dating from the early 1700s. Two blocks further, a KFC will abut ruins that date back a millennium. Such temporal telescoping is apparent all over the Peruvian capital, but nowhere so abundantly as in Pueblo Libre, a sleepy district some 20 minutes from both Miraflores and downtown Lima. Quietly residential and overlooked by most travelers, the district is nonetheless surpassingly rich in history, boasting 19th-century taverns, pre-Colombian ruins, a house shared by the heroes of Latin American independence, and the two of the best museums in Lima—all packed together within a single square mile. So if you're in Lima for a few days and longing to escape the tourist herds, check out the following walking tour—its 16 blocks will allow you to survey over 1,600 years of Peru's vast history. Bring your imagination. Stellae and Sandwiches Tours of Pueblo Libre inevitably begin at the Plaza Bolívar, the district's main square. Here you'll find two of Lima's prime attractions, the Museo Arqueológico and the Quinta de los Libertadores (Calle Antonio Polo cuadra 8, 463-5070). The Archaeological Museum is the most comprehensive of its kind in Peru. Founded in 1924 by the great Peruvian anthropologist Julio Tello, it leads visitors through 3,000 years of the country's history, with special emphasis on the pre-Colombian civilizations that flourished along Peru's coast before the arrival of the Incas. Housed among its winding galleries are two world-renowned treasures from the prehistoric Chavín culture: the Raimondi Stella, a sacred stone carved with jaguar and serpent deities whose design changes depending on the direction from which it's read, and the Tello Obelisk, an engraved monolith that once served as a sundial in the great temple at Huantar. In the same building you'll also find the Liberators' Museum, a series of rooms once belonging to Joaquín de la Pezuela, Peru's last Viceroy before being occupied consecutively by Jose de San Martín and Simon Bolívar, the two great revolutionary leaders of South America. Swords, letters, and furniture belonging to the two generals afford a glimpse of their (highly intermittent) domestic lives. After a morning spent imbibing Peru's history, you'll probably be hungry, so you'll want to head to the Taverna Quierolo (San Martín 1079, 460-0041), a Lima hallmark that's been in continuous operation since the late-1800s. Founded by an Italian immigrant who got rich selling locally made wines and piscos, it serves some of the best sandwiches in Lima. On the other hand, if you're up for heartier fare, the Restaurante Bolivariano (Santa Rosa 291, 261-9565) is right around the corner and dishes up superb versions of all of Peru's criollo classics. Especially recommended: seco de cabrito (stewed goat) or pescado a lo macho (fish in a spicy seafood sauce). Haciendas and Sexy Pots After lunch, should you need spiritual support before yet another round of Peruvian history, you can head down Sucre two blocks to see the Traveler's Cross (Av. Sucre cuadra 6). First erected some seven blocks away in 1579 and reconsecrated by Franciscan monks in 1672, this monument was a waystation where Spanish travelers setting out from Lima to the port at Callao would pray for divine protection against attackers. The ladder and hammer affixed to the structure represent the implements used to nail Christ to the cross. From there, it's two blocks east to the Casa Orbea (Jr. Juan Acevedo cuadra 1), one of the few 18th-century haciendas remaining in Lima. The house has been amazingly well preserved, and sports enchanting balconies and a lovely baroque chapel. The original family still lives upstairs. The final two destinations mark a return to Peru's deep past. For sheer dazzlement, not to mention the beauty of the grounds, the Museo Larco (Av. Bolívar 1515, 461-1835) is hard to beat. Lodged in a former hacienda bought by the archaeologist Rafael Larco Herrera to house his staggering collection of pre-Colombian artifacts, the museum sports impressive gold- and silverwork, textiles, and other artifacts from the Moche, Chimu, and Huari cultures. Check out the Moche tools used in ritual human sacrifices, and then slip outside to peek at the annex filled with pre-Colombian erotic pottery. If men and women have done it, it's depicted here on these pots. Finally, from the museum, take Av. Bolivar west till you hit Calle Rio Huaura. Turn right, and in two blocks you'll find yourself in front of the Huaca Julio Tello, one of the many pre-Inca huacas (sacred sites) that dot the Lima cityscape. Surrounded by middle-class houses, this 1,000-year-old complex belonged to the Maranga tribe and serves as a reminder of the persistence of the past in Peru's great capital.