American President Dwight Eisenhower was no stranger to the world of war. As a supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, he played a key in the liberation of Europe from the Nazi Germany. However when the World War II ended in 1945, he was convinced that it was just a matter of time when the new war, this time with Soviet Union, would begin. That's why, once he became a president, he persisted that the country-wide network of highways be built in the US to assist a mobility of military troops and allow people to quickly escape big cities in case of a nuclear attack. The Interstate Highway System was finished long after Eisenhower had passed away, and the last stretch of the originally planned network was the Interstate-70 in Colorado.

It's been a third year in a row that I post my favourite pictures of the past year on my blog's anniversary day. The number of pictures equals the year's number, so this time around you'll be able to enjoy 18 pictures. Can't wait until my blog turns 100! Most of the pictures will be new to you as I'm slowly but steadily revealing my trips completed in 2018 as my time permits. Using this opportunity, I'd like to thank you for following my blog here and on social media, and giving me enough inspiration to continue delivering the very best content that is interesting, entertaining and relevant to you, my readers! Happy New Year and wishing you and your families all the best in 2019! 

The whole generation of Americans grew up on the Western movies featuring John Wayne and other fearless cowboys fighting unruly Native Americans. But how well do we know the period preceding the Expansion of the American West and forming the United States in their present borders? Bent's Old Fort hidden in the vast plains of Colorado under the endless blue sky is a living book that was once at the frontier of the Anglo-American civilization.

Italian city of Rome proudly bears a title of a "city of seven hills", however many other cities across the globe claims the same title. Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine is one of them. You can literally feel each hill as you go explore this ancient and beautiful city, but I think the best way to see them all (or at least most of them) is if you take a Dnipro river cruise from the River Port at the Podil neighbourhood.

What can be more christmassy than a sweet scent of fresh fir needles at your home? And what can be a better way to get a Christmas tree than cutting one with your own hands? Luckily, you can do it if you visit one of the u-cut farms in your area, and it's totally legal and nature friendly. After having an artificial tree for over a decade, we finally decided to dump it out and switch to a real one this year.

This and other famous quotes of Salvador Dali, my lifelong favourite artist, make you smirk a little bit, but they very accurately describe how well aware he was of his own genius: "I do not paint a portrait to look like the subject, rather does the person grow to look like his portrait" or "At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since". This past summer, I was extremely grateful to visit The Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, a museum that hosts the second largest collection of his finest artwork in the world. You too want to get a quick glimpse? Click a link below or scroll down.