Around the world in 2 days

You can travel the world in a day by simply hitting the Global Loop at the World Expo. This elevated walkway made of eco-friendly plant biomass connected the countries of the world together while minimizing the Expo’s impact on the environment.

Visit a few pavilions and you’ll find that countries just want to debunk the stereotypes the rest of the world has about them. Like New Zealand, which wants to get away from its pastoral image of having more sheep than people; or Spain, which wants you to know that they’re quite scientific, and not just a country of flamenco dancers and bullfighters.

Other countries with somewhat fuzzy images in the minds of global travelers had to resort to gimmickry to draw people in, but a popular attraction like the German pavilion, which offered an actual roller-coaster ride, generated such lines you had to wait three hours to get in.

Here’s a survey of what the rest of the world had to offer:

• Japan. The history of Japan presented in the pavilion starts post-war, from 1945 onwards, evidence that Japan is eager to move away from its past and focus on the future. For the Expo, the host country naturally pulled out all the stops with two radically different pavilions. One was organically shaped, housing the world’s first 360-degree spherical theater system. Viewed from a glass walkway, you saw planets wheeling overhead while African elephants cantered under your feet. Japan’s second pavilion was a monolith over which sheets of water cascaded. Inside was a gigantic kaleidoscope and a truly trippy light show.

• Spain. Possibly the pavilion with the most arresting facade, a colorful honeycomb made of ceramics from Alicante and designed by Alejandro Zaera-Polo, the 38-year-old architect who also built Japan’s Yokohama port. Inside themes varied wildly, from a Mars exhibit by Spain’s Astrobiology Center to a tribute to Don Quixote, celebrating the novel’s 400th publishing anniversary.

• Germany. A six-person ride takes passengers through the "life of water." Beginning deep under the earth’s crust, the ride aims to give you a sense of how nature co-exists with technology. You also speed past some beautiful German scenery.

• Australia. This three-module pavilion was particularly kid-friendly, with a forest of video monitors showing not only scenes from Aussie life but also a guessing game for kids (which animal will jump the highest?) The last room offered the perfect photo op: a model of a giant furry platypus that kids could climb on or simply pet.

• New Zealand. Called the Land of the Long White Cloud by the Maori, this simple but effective pavilion sported a large dacron cloud overhead and a huge slab of jade (worth $2.5 million in jewelry) that visitors would touch for luck.

• Morocco. Truly a sensory experience, the scent of spices wafted through the air of this pavilion, modeled after a bazaar where you could sit on pillows and drink mint tea, or shop little lantern-hung stalls for ornate metalware, caftans and Moroccan slippers.

• Singapore. You know when they hand out umbrellas at the door that something’s bound to get wet, but my pants were completely soaked after this pavilion’s indoor rainstorm. They also had a spice wall, modern decor made from recycled materials and a merlion at the top of the stairs.

• Aichi. A comic dressed as Einstein and Cirque du Soleil-type acrobat leads the audience through a show chronicling the development of Aichi’s cutting-edge technology, from fuel cells to energy generated by wind and solar power. – By Therese Jamora-Garceau