Split’s Old Town
May 24, 2026 With over 900,000 visitors a year, it goes without saying that the town is crowded. It is…
Diocletian’s Palace
With a population of 160,000, Split is Croatia’s second-largest city and hosts 900,000 visitors a year. My destination is the…
Fortress of Klis
May 26, 2026 Tvrđava Klis (The Fortress of Klis) has a history of more than 2.000 years, beginning with the…
Mala Crljivica necropolis
May 26, 2026 I have always been fascinated with burial sites, and this was truly amazing. The site has been…
Cathedral of Saint Domnius
May 25, 2026 To understand the Cathedral, one must learn of the Diocletianic or Great Persecution, which was the last…
Walking Around Old Split
May 2026 These are just random shots of the old portion of Split. There was so much to take pictures…
The Road to Split
May 23, 2026 Kirka National Park Once you arrive in the town of Scardona, you hop on one of the…
Wandering Zadar
May 21, 2026 In 1409, Zadar was sold to Venice for 100,000 ducats, a chapter known as the ‘shameful sale…
Walled Zadar
May 21. 2026 Zadar sits on the Adriatic Sea and is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. Since I…
The Church of Saint Donato
May 21, 2026 Zadar, Croatia Built on the remnants of the Roman forum in the 9th century, the church was…
Zeljava Airfield
May 2026 Zeljava Airfield Off the beaten path between Plivice and Zadar is the abandoned Zeljava Airbase. Željava Air Base…
Plitvice Lakes National Park
May 20, 2026 Plitvice Lakes National Park is one of the oldest and largest national parks in Croatia. In 1979,…
The Road to Plitvice
May 19, 2026 We have left Zagreb, and our destination today is Plitvice with a few stops along the way.…
First Impressions A Bit of Architecture and A Little History of Zagreb, Croatia
May 16, 2026 53 degrees F and raining I first came to Croatia in 1976 when it was still Yugoslavia.…
Mirogoj Cemetery
May 17, 2026 Mirogoj Cemetery The Mirogoj Cemetery, at nearly 180 acres, is easily the largest cemetery I have ever…
Unique Things Around Zagreb
May 2016 Kamenita Vrata Coming upon this spot is magical. It was built between 1242 and 166 although its present…
Walking Zagreb and Spotting Art
May 2026 Zagreb has almost as many sculptures around town as it has streets. These are some that caught my…
The Registan – The Place of Sand
May 2026 The Registan is most likely the most photographed site in Uzbekistan, and is, without a doubt, the most…
The Afrasaid Murals
May 2026 In the Museum of Samarkand are these amazing murals. The Afrasiab murals, also called the Paintings of the…
Samarkand – Bibi-Khanym Mosque
May 2026 Named for Timur’s wife, Saray Mulk Khanym (Bibi Khanym was her nickname, meaning ‘senior princess’) between 1399 and…
Shah-i-Zinda Necropolis
May 2026 The Shah-i-Zinda Ensemble includes mausoleums and other ritual buildings of the 11th – 15th and 19th centuries. The…
Samarkand – Gur-e-Amir
May 13, 026 Gur-e-Amir The Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum is the final resting place of Timur. The site of the tomb was…
Ulugh Beg
May 14, 2026 If you are a Westerner, your basic astronomy education was Copernicus, Ptolemy, Galileo, and Newton. If you…
Tamerlane
May 14, 2026 Tamerlane’s name was derived from the Persian Timur-i lang, “Temur the Lame,” which Europeans adopted during the…
Random Thoughts on Uzbekistan
2026 My Thoughts This has been a fascinating trip. Uzbekistan is anxious to expand its tourism, and yet it isn’t…
Embroidery of Uzbekistan
May 12, 2026 We visited two homes of families who make Suzanis. The first does everything in the traditional manner.…
Sitorai Mohi Khosa Outside Bukhara
May 12, 2026 Sitorai Mohi Khosa This was the summer palace of the Emir of Bukhara. Sitorai-Mohi-Khosa, which means “A…
Bukhara Continued
May 11, 2026 Bahoutdin Architectural Complex The Bahouddin Naqshband Memorial Complex was established after Bahouddin Naqshband’s death and has been…
Bukhara – Day 2
May 11, 2026 Ismail Samani Mausoleum The Ismail Samani Mausoleum is the oldest building in Bukhara. The mausoleum is believed…
Bukhara – Day 1
May 10, 2026 Bukhara is the seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents in January 2020. After its…
Archeological Sites Around Khiva
May 9, 2026 Toprak-kala I would love to share the historical lineage of this area, but it gets incredibly complicated…
Itchan Kala
May 8, 2026 Khiva, Uzbekistan To give you an idea of how much history is in this area, Khiva celebrated…
Tashkent Metro System
May 6, 2026 Our guide joked that the most beautiful Metro stations in all of Uzbekistan were in Tashkent. Of…
Exploring Tashkent
May 6, 2026 Tashkent – Day 2 Islamic Civilization Center The Islamic Civilization Center is one of those experiences that…
Uzbekistan – At Last
May 5, 2026 Tashkent – Day 1 I have tried to get to Uzbekistan for seven years. For various reasons,…
Cruising The Bosphorus
May 2, 2026 When in Istanbul, you are surrounded by water and history. I had taken a cruise down the…
Istanbul the Asian Side – Kadikoy and Moda
May 1, 2026 I am traveling with my friend Susan, who loves to go on market and food tours. Because…
Istanbul – The European Side
April 30, 2026 I am back in Istanbul for a very quick 5-day stop. Istanbul has always been one of…
Wandering Paris in September
September 2025 There is so much of Paris that just pops up while wandering. These are some of the moments…
A Stroll through The 1st Arrondissement
September 2025 The First Arrondissement is also called The Louvre The Cauldron Two years after the Paris 2024 Games, the…
Strolling in the Second and Third Arrondissement
September 2025 The 2nd – The Bourse The Bourse refers to the Palais Brongniart, the seat of the Paris stock…
Exploring the 4th Arrondissement
September 2025 The 4th is called Hôtel-de-Ville. It refers to the city hall at the corner of rue de Rivoli…
A Slow Stroll in the 5th Arrondissement
September 2025 The 5th is called Panthéon. The name comes from the grand monument on the hill built for Louis…
A Gorgeous Day in the 6th
September 27, 2025 The 6th is called Luxembourg. It takes its name from the palace built by Marie de Médicis…
Eclectic Mix of Things in the 7th and 8th and 9th Arrondissements
September 2025 The 7th The 7th is an interesting Arrondissement. It is called Palais-Bourbon in reference to the seat of…
Exploring the 10th and 11th Arrondissement
September 2025 The 10th The 10th is called Entrepôt. The arrondissement once contained the central customs warehouse on rue Léon-Jouhaux.…
Vineyards of Paris
August 2025 Paris has five vineyards within the city limits. This trip, I made it a goal to see all…
Ambling the 13th Arrondissement
September 2025 The 13th is called Gobelins after the Gobelin family, whose factory is described below. I got off the…
Small Neighborhoods in the 14th
September 2025 The 14th is called Observatoire. It refers to the Paris Observatory Plaisance The little area of Plaisance contains…
Villa Seurat in the 14th Arrondissement
September 2025 In 2021, I took a walking tour with Flo through some artistic areas in both the 15th and…
Two Gardens of the 15th Arrondissement
September 2025 The 15th is called Vaugirard, a commune annexed in 1860. Parc Andre Citroen In 1915, Citroën built its…
Balzac and a Chambre de Bonne with a Killer View in the 16th Arrondissement
September 2024 Called Passy, the 16th was once a spa village known for mineral springs and countryside retreats; it was…
Touring WWII Sites in Paris
September 2025 I once again had the pleasure of taking a walking tour of Paris with Flo. It was a…
Parc de Bercy and Frank Gehry
September 2025 I went to Parc de Bercy to find its vineyard and found oh so much more. Parc de…
Céleste Boursier-Mougenot at the Bourse
September 2025 I try to visit The Bourse de Commerce if for no other reason than the exhibitions that they…
Musee Des Arts Forains
September 2025 This is one of the more magical places you will step into. Unfortunately, like so many magical places,…
A Day in Reims – Champagne
September 2025 The cathedral was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and was the traditional location for the coronation of the…
Versailles Gardens
September 8, 2025 This will have been my third visit to Versailles. I seem to put between 2o and 30…
Visiting Friends Outside Paris – Herblay-Sur-Seine
September 6, 2025 I have met so many lovely expats on this trip. Peter and François invited a group of…
The Gardens of the 17th Arrondissement
September 2, 2025 Parc Monceau is one of my favorite parks in Paris. I had written about it when I…
The 17th Arrondissement
September 2, 2025 The 17th is known as the Batignolles-Moncea, a mouthful for sure. The 17th is anchored by the…
18th Arrondissement
August 2025 The 18th is called Buttes-Montmartre. The name refers to the hilly terrain shaped by gypsum quarries long before…
Montmartre Cemetery
August 30, 2025 I had been to Montmartre Cemetery many years ago, so it was a pleasure to return and…
Revisiting the 19th Arrondissement
August 28, 2025 The 19th is Buttes-Chaumont. It takes its name from the steep heights that later became the park…
La Campagne à Paris – the 20th Arrondissement
August 2025 La Campagne à Paris means “The Countryside in Paris” in English. This little neighborhood was founded as a…
A Walk Through The 20th Arrondissement
August 2025 The 20th is called Ménilmontant. A hillside hamlet named for its rising slope (“montant”). It was once known…
20th Arrondissement – The Parks
August 2025 I am back in Paris for 5 weeks. It is in the 80s, not something I am very…
Baddesley Clinton
August 17, 2025 Baddesley has Saxon origins, although no buildings from the time remain. A man called Baeddi, Badde, or…
Newstead Abbey and Lord Byron
August 16, 2025 Newstead Abbey was formerly an Augustinian priory. Converted to a domestic home following the Dissolution of the…
Southwell Minster
August 15, 2025 The current church is the successor to one built in 956 by Oscytel, archbishop of York. Some…
Belvoir Castle and Woolsthorpe
August 14, 2025 Belvoir Castle Belvoir Castle is pronounced beaver castle. Belvoir Castle is considered a faux historic castle. A…
Wollaton House and Keddleston Hall
August 13, 2025 Wollaton House Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire was built between 1580 and 1588 for Sir Francis Willoughby and…
Hardwick Hall – More Glass Than Wall
August 12, 2025 Hardwick Hall is a rather awe-inspiring and overwhelming place. It begins with Bess of Hardwick. Four highly…
Bolsover Castle and Sutter Scarsdale
August 12, 2025 Bolsover Castle The Peverel family built the original castle in the 12th century. It became Crown property…
Derbyshire
August 2025 Susan and I began this week traveling with a dear old friend of mine, James. It is hard…
Driving to Giverny
August 1, 2025 It is a lovely country drive from Rouen to Giverny with some sightseeing along the way. Chateau…
The Town of Rouen
July 31, 2025 The town of Rueon is absolutely magical, and I wish I had many more days to explore.…
Rouen Cathedral
July 31, 2025 Rouen is absolutely magical. Rouen Cathedral One of the more popular sites in Rouen is the Rouen…
Driving to Rouen
July 30 and 31, 2025 It was a long day driving from Bayeux to Rouen, but it was filled with…
The Architecture of Bayeux
July 2025 Bayeux Cathedral With its combination of Norman and Romanesque architecture, as well as Gothic spires, the Cathedral dominates…
The Town of Bayeux
Scenes From Around the City of Bayeux The city of Bayeux is on the English Channel, a mere seven miles…
Bayeux Tapestry
July 29, 2025 The Bayeux Tapestry Making headquarters in the small town of Bayeux for 3 nights is a lovely…
Omaha and Utah Beach and La Pointe du Hoc
July 28th 2025 This was a full box of Kleenex, mascara running day. Omaha and Utah Landing Sites I am…
Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial
July 28, 2025 The mosaic is by Leon Kroll. Completed in 1953, it comprises 500,000 tiles and tells a full…
Driving the Normandy Coast
July 27, 2025 The day began with a stop in the town of Avarnches, and in particular, the Scriptorial. The…
Mont Saint Michel
July 26, 2025 It is hard to believe, but I had never been to Mont Saint-Michel. Sadly, we arrived late…
Driving The Brittany Coast
July 26, 2025 Temple of Lenleff Lanleff’s temple is a pink sandstone ruin in Brittany. It is a round church…
The Pink Granite Coast – Brittany
July 25, 2025 This stop was probably more about relaxing than visiting and sightseeing. We are staying at the Grand…
The Valley of Saints
July 23, 2024 I read about this site without conducting enough research. When we arrived, I was surprised to find…
The Cairns of Petit Mont and Gavrinis
July 22, 2025 The day was spent wandering between Le Petit Mont and Gavrinis and visiting sites in between. Gavrinis…
Visiting Britanny Between Cairns, Tumulus and Dolmen
July 22, 2025 It was another full day of cairns, lovely towns and gorgeous scenery. Auray and Le Bono The…
Alignements of Carnac
July 21, 2025 I am traveling with my friend Susan. You know you have a good travel buddy when you…
London Mail Rail
July 12, 2025 I have wanted to ride this silly mail train for years, and finally found the time. The…
Crystal Palace Park
July 11, 2025 I wrote of the Crystal Palace when I was here in the summer of 2024. At the…
Bromptom and West Norwood Cemeteries
July 10 and 11 2025 These finish my quest to see all of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries of London. The…
The V and A East Storehouse
July 9, 2025 The V&A East Storehouse is a purpose-built public space designed by architects Diller Scofidio+Renfro with support from…
Continuing to Wander Tokyo
February 2025 Here are some more random things from Tokyo that caught my eye. Fifteen years ago, Tokyo architect Keisuke…
Wandering Tokyo Finding Shrines and Such
March 2, 2025 Kira Yoshinaka was a high-ranking samurai immortalized in Japan as the notorious villain in Chushingura, the story…
Sumo Practice
February 2025 I love Sumo and was able to visit the Tatsunami beya (stable) for a practice. It was 1…
Wandering Tokyo
February 2025 I have been to Tokyo several times, so this trip involved showing my sister and niece around, shopping…
Thirty-Six Hours at an Onsen
Hoshino Resorts Kinugawa Nikko, Japan February 27, 2025 Onsens are hot springs, often with bathing facilities and traditional inns, hotels,…
Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park
Kanbayashi – Nagono – Japan February 24, 2025 Snow Monkey Park was established in 1964 as a conservation area. It…
Going to the the Dogs and Cats
February 2025 Tokyo Toyokawa Inari Akasaka Shrine The Toyokawa Inari Shrine was established in 1828 at its present site. The…
Otaru Yuki Akari no Michi – Snow Light Path Festival
February 12 and 13, 2025 When I was in Otaru in 2017, I read about the Yuki Akari no Michi…
Hokkaido Chocolate
February 2025 Shiroi Koibito Park – Sapporo Aside from the world’s best cold water fish, milk, and chocolate are two…
Ice Carvings – 2025 Sapporo Snow Festival
February 2025 The Sapporo Snow Festival has three venues. The Suskino Site is lined with ice sculptures. This site is…
Sapporo Snow Festival – 2025
February 2025 The Sapporo Snow Festival is one of the largest snow sculpture festivals in the world. The Festival started…
Heading South
October 2024 October 7th, we headed south and crossed back across the Arctic Circle at 8:45 this morning. The Arctic…
Northern Lights
October 2nd 2024 I am on a ship to see the Northern Lights. Sadly, the weather has not cooperated. Clouds…
Vesterålen
October 6, 2024 Vesterålen is an archipelago in Northern Norway. Its name comes from Old Norse. The first element is…
The Coast of Norway – Hammerfest
October 5, 2024 Hammerfest is one of three cities in the world that claim to be the Northernmost. I will…
The Norweigian Coast – Vardø
October 4, 2024 Vardø – Norway’s Easternmost Town On Christmas Eve, 1621, the northern coast of Norway suffered a vast…
The Coast of Norway – Bodø , Tromsø and Honningsvåg
October 2024 The ship crossed into the Arctic Circle in the middle of the night. The word Arctic has a…
The Coast of Norway – Trondheim
September 2023 Trondheim Like other cities in Norway, Trondheim has its own manhole covers. Their’s contain the Trondheim city coat…
The Coast of Norway – Urke and Alesund
September 2024 I boarded the MS Richard, a boat with the Hurtigruten Line, for their Astronomy Voyage along the Western…
Views, Views, Views
September 27, 2024 Bergen, also known historically as Bjørgvin, is believed to have been established by Olaf III of Norway.…
Historic Bryggen
September 27, 2024 The very first buildings in Bergen were at Bryggen, a vibrant and important area of the city…
Randomly Walking in Bergen, Norway
September 2024 You have to love a town that takes this much care with its bandstand in the public park.…
Stave Churches
September 24, 2024 Gol Stave Gol Stave is a 12th-century stave church originally from Gol in the region of Hallingdal,…
Vigeland Sculpture Park
September 2024 The sculpture park is the embodiment of the life work of Gustav Vigeland. The park contains over 200…
A Day Wandering Oslo, Norway
September 2024 On the side of the main train station is Knus Nazismen. It was dedicated by five remaining members…
Oslo City Hall and the Nobel Peace Center
September 2024 The Nobel Peace Center building was purchased from Consul General Christophersen in 1903. The architects Carl and Jørgen…
Norway’s Rich Maritime History
September 2024 Kon Tiki Museum I grew up with stories of Thor Hyerdahl and Roald Amundsen, so visiting these museums…
Norsk Folkemuseum
The Norse Folk Museum September 24, 2024 I could have spent an entire week at the Folk Museum. It has…
Bjørvika Neighborhood of Oslo
September 2024 I have never been to Norway, so this is a new adventure. I have come to view the…
Last days Wandering London
July 2024 There are two of these unique huts in Grosvenor Gardens. The Gardens have been known as “London’s French…
Ceremony of the Keys – Tower of London
July 28, 2024 My friend Susan arranged for us to attend the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of…
Abney Park Cemetery
July 2024 I managed to squeeze in my sixth of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries in London before my departure. Abney…
Royal Pavillion Brighton
July 2024 Where do I start? A few days ago I was touring Buckingham Palace with my friend Susan (no…
Two Cemeteries – Two Nature Reserves
July 2024 In a, not quite accomplished yet, attempt at seeing the Magnificent Seven, I was able to get to…
Crossbones and Kensal Green Cemeteries
July 2024 Crossbones Cemetery Wandering near the Tate Modern, I found this small graveyard that is only open three days…
19th Century Authors – An Oxford Education
July 2024 I have spent the last week at Oxford Experience, and the class I chose was Modernist Literature Through…
Busbridge Parish Church
July 2024 Busbridge Church was founded by John and Emma Ramsden of Busbridge Hall. Building work took place between 1865…
Watts Gallery Artists Village
July 2024 Watts Gallery is a gallery and an Artists’ Village in the village of Compton. Mary Fraser-Tytler Watts created…
Norney Grange
July 2024 Norney Grange was designed in 1897 by Charles Voysey, a Arts and Crafts Movement member, for the Reverend…
Jekyll and Lutyens – Lutyens and Jekyll
July 2024 Munstead Wood Munstead Wood is a collaboration between Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens. A collaboration of the finest…
Crossness Pumping Station – London
July 2024 The Crossness Pumping Station is a former sewage pumping station designed by the Metropolitan Board of Works’ chief…
Standen House and Gardens
July 2024 Philip Webb designed this house between 1891 and 1894 for London solicitor, James Beale, his wife Margaret, and…
Bedford Park and Highgate Cemetery
July 2024 Bedford Park Bedford Park in Chiswick began in 1875 under the direction of Jonathan Carr. It has many…
Sambourne House
July 2024 18 Stafford Terrace was the home of the Punch illustrator Edward Linley Sambourne (1844–1910) and his wife Marion.…
Leighton House
July 2024 Leighton House is part of Holland Circle but deserves a post of its own. Leighton House was once…
Holland Park And 19th Century Artists
July 2024 Holland Park is an area of Kensington, surrounds its namesake park, Holland Park and colloquially referred to as…
Kelmscott Manor
July 2024 It is impossible to study the 19th Century without a good dousing of William Morris. Kelmscott Manor was…
A Fast Run Through Oxford
July 2024 Fortunately, this was not my first or last trip to Oxford. Today, I am here with the VSA…
Buscot Park and the Faringdon Collection
July 10, 2024 Buscot Park was built in an austere neoclassical style between 1780 and 1783 for Edward Loveden Loveden.…
Rodmarton Manor – Gloucestershire
July 2024 Rodmarton Manor Rodmarton was built for the Biddulph family, who still reside there. For this reason, photos are…
All Saints Church Selsley
July 2024 This church in the rolling hills of Gloucestershire is most notable for its collaboration amongst the greats of…
Two Churches
July 2024 Ullet Road Unitarian Church * The Ullet Road Church was the first place of worship in the United…
Wightwick Manor
July 8, 2024 The last many days have been an overwhelming marathon of architecture. Today, we were at Wightwick Manor,…
Port Sunlight
July 8, 2024 Sunlight household soap was introduced by the British company Lever Brothers in 1884. It was the world’s…
Liverpool, England
July 2024 Liverpool Cathedral, the longest cathedral in the world, was constructed between 1904 and 1978, based on a design…
The Docks of Liverpool, England
July 2024 The first thing that comes to mind for many when speaking of Liverpool is The Beatles. But Liverpool…
Walking Manchester, England
July 2024 I want to begin this post with an apology. Manchester is an amazing city. My group had two…
St. Giles’ Church Cheadle
July 2024 St Giles was designed by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812- 1852) and is considered his most splendid work.…
The Church of Holy Angels – Hoar Cross
July 2024 It is often difficult to travel long distances and visit building after building and not have them run…
Churches of Staffordshire
July 2024 We visited four churches in Staffordshire all in one afternoon. It was very overwhelming but fascinating to observe…
Wandering Birmingham England
July 5, 2024 Birmingham—or ‘Brum’ as it’s affectionately known—is an incredibly architecturally varied city. It was once called the City…
The Jewelry Quarter – Birmingham, England
July 4, 2024 According to the Birmingham Directory of 1780, there were 26 jewelers at the time. Because the definition…
Northhampton, England
July 4, 2024 We were only able to stand outside the Northhampton Guildhall, and even then, it was too huge…
Bedford England
July 4, 2024 The Panacea Museum The Panacea Museum was once the home of Joanna Southcott. It still houses her…
Random London
July 3, 2024 The East End After revoking the Edict of Nantes, which granted Huguenots civil rights in October 1685,…
Westminster Cathedral London
July 3, 2024 Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral is the largest Roman Catholic church in England and Wales and the seat…
Knightsbridge and Pimlico London
July 2, 2024 Knightsbridge Fire Station functioned from 1907 to 2014. These stunning terracotta columns and pilasters are on the…
Fleet Street – London
July 1, 2024 Fleet Street is one of the oldest streets in London. It was established in the time of…
Walking the Albertopolis
June 30, 2024 Albertopolis is the nickname given to the area centered on Exhibition Road in London, named after Prince…
Bloomsbury – London
June 29, 2024 One of my favorite buildings in this area is the Kimpton Fitzroy. It is famous for its…
Westminster London
June 28, 2024 I am back in London for a month. Three of those weeks will be spent in school,…
A Walk Around Baltimore’s Mount Vernon
May 2024 This Washington Monument has graced Baltimore’s historic Mount Vernon neighborhood since 1829. It was based on a design…
Walking the Federal Hill Neighborhood of Baltimore
May 2024 In 1788, Maryland ratified the the U.S. Constitution. On that day, 4,000 Baltimoreans gathered to celebrate, and the…
The Fells Point Neighborhood of Baltimore
May 2021 The Fells Point Neighborhood Fell’s Point is one of Baltimore’s oldest neighborhoods and was once a bustling shipbuilding…
Odds and Ends of Baltimore
May 2024 Prohibition began on January 17, 1920, and for the next 13 years, the bar operated as a speakeasy.…
One very quick day in Annapolis, Maryland
May 2024 I am on a tour, so the trip to Annapolis was brief, which is a shame because driving…
Morocco – The Atlas Mountains and The Sahara Desert
April 2024 Just a few years ago, I spent a very long time in Morocco. However, I had an opportunity…
Bringing Water to the Desert
April 2024 Ancient water systems are fascinating. The Qanat system originated approximately 3,000 years ago in what is now Iran.…
Architecture of Morocco
April 2024 Berber Architecture The Berbers built traditional kasbahs and fortifications. The Berber clans were often fending off invaders, so…
Morocco – Architectural Elements
April 2024 Zellij Tile Morocco isn’t Morocco without the Zellij tile. Zellij is a style of mosaic tilework made from…
Odds and Ends – Morocco
April 2024 Valley of the Roses The M’Goun Valley is known as the Valley of the Roses in Morocco and…
Odds and Ends As I Leave Tokyo
January 2024 Chiyoda City, Tokyo All shrines are packed to the gills during New Year’s, and Hie is no different.…
Aoyama Cemetery
January 2024 It is my last full day in Japan, and I spent it at the Aoyama Cemetary. If you…
Japanese Fences
December 2023 I love the uniqueness of Japanese fences. Japanese-style fences, or “Sukiya-zukuri,” are rooted in traditional Japanese architecture—their origins…
Tokyo Architecture that has caught my eye.
November 2023 I love Tokyo for its rich history and cutting-edge modern architecture, and it is all jumbled together. Much…
Beauty and Uniqueness Everywhere You Look
December 2023 There are always things when you travel that catch your eye. In the garden at Nijo-jo Castle, there…
Happy New Year – 新年あけましておめでとう
Tokyo January 2024 New Year is the most important holiday in Japan. I have moved to the New Otani Hotel…
Tamozawa Imperial Villa
December 2023 Tamozawa Imperial Villa is one of the largest remaining wooden buildings in Japan. It was the largest mansion…
A Day in the Countryside
December 27, 2023 At the invitation of a Japanese friend who lives in Shimotsuke, Tochigi, my travel friend and I…
Kabuki and Sumo
December 2023 Kabuki is thought to have originated in the early Edo period, when the art’s founder, Izumo no Okuni,…
Kappabashi – Taito City – Tokyo
December 2023 I love the off-beat you find in our world, and Japan specializes in it. Here are just a…
Nikko Toshogu Shrine
December 25, 2023 Nikko is a two-hour train ride from Tokyo. Much of the town is a World Heritage Site.…
Edo-Period Architecture of Hama-Rikyu
December 2023 I have a passion for Edo Era architecture and gardens. Hama-rikyu Gardens has three beautifully restored Edo-period buildings.…
The Rivers of Tokyo
December 2023 More than 100 rivers and canals flow beneath Tokyo. According to the Government of Japan in 2015: “The…
Tokyo’s Fishmarkets
December 22, 2023 I had the privilege of visiting the original inner Tsukiji fish market fifteen years ago when you…
Kasuga Wakamija Onmatsuri
Nara Japan December 17th, 2023 I arrived in Nara with no idea that I had arrived for one of the…
Nara, Japan
December 17, 18, 2023 I have been to Nara before, as has my travel friend Susan, so here is a…
Saiho-ji Koke-dera
December 15, 2023 Saihō-ji is a Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple. It is famous for its moss garden and is commonly…
The Food and Osaka
December 2023 Long-standing stereotypes about Kansai (Western Japan) folks run as follows: Kyoto-ites spend their money on clothes, Kobe people…
Random Kyoto
December 2023 Chion-in ( Monastery of Gratitude) Yasaka Pagoda Yasaka Kōshin-dō The temple is dedicated to Shomen Kongo, a guardian…
Ōkōchi Sansō
December 2o23 While the Bamboo Forest and other attractions of Arashiyama are jam-packed, Okochi Sanso is a serene oasis and…
Higashi Hongan-ji and the Fires of Edo
December 10, 2023 Higashi Hongan-ji Higashi Hongan-ji, the head temple of the Ōtani-ha branch of Jōdo Shinshū, was most recently…
Architecture of The Imperial Palace
December 3, 2023 You can not enter any of the buildings on the Palace grounds, but you can stroll to…
The Garden of the Imperial Palace in Kyoto
December 3, 2023 I have a passion for Japanese Gardens that verges on obsession. As one would expect, the garden…
Kennin-ji and Sor-ren-in Temples of Kyoto
December 2, 2023 The one thing you can get overwhelmed with and then exhausted from is the vast amount of…
Strolling the Streets of Kyoto
December 2023 I spent this morning just doing a Sunday Saunter. It was nice to see a side of Kyoto…
A Rant Regarding Over-Tourism
December 2, 2023 I have discussed the fact that it is Momiji-gari season in Japan. I have attributed a large…
Kyoto, Japan – Kinkaku-ji and Ryoanji
November 30, 2023 I was in Kyoto with my late husband in 2009, and I have nothing but wonderful memories.…
Momiji-gari at Nanzenji Temple
December 1, 2023 The tourists are rather overwhelming in Kyoto at present, and the reason is Momiji-gari. Momiji-gari literally means…
Momiji-gari at Eikando Zenrin-ji Temple
December 1, 2023 I would have loved to have taken photos of the structures and walkways of this temple. However,…
Ginkakuji – the Silver Pavillion
December 1, 2023 Walking the Philosopher’s Path between Eikando Zenrin-ji Temple and The Silver Pavillion The Philosophers Path The Philosophers…
The Art Island of Naoshima
November 2023 I have been on the art islands before and have written extensively about it. However, there are a…
Inujima Art Museum
November 26, 2023 Sometimes, you trip upon a magical space and relish in its uniqueness. I am at Nashima for…
Art around the Island of Inujima
November 26, 2023 Inujima, while centered on the museum, also has a few scattered “art houses”. This is, after all,…
Reflections of Naoshima, Inujima and Teshima
November2023 I have been to Naoshima and Teshima before, and this visit was to explore Inujima. Here are some photos…
Tokyo Tower
November 19, 2023 This is not my first trip to Japan. It is one of my favorite countries to explore.…
Finding the Ancient Among the Modern
November 19, 2023 Zojoji was founded by the priest Yuyo Shoso in 1393 as the first Jodo Buddhist practice hall…
Ueno Tokyo
November 2023 For my first week in Tokyo, I am staying in the Ueno district in Taito Ward. The biggest…
Wandering London – The Odd and Overlooked
November 2023 I am in London to enjoy the company of friends, see a few plays, eat some good food,…
Wandering London in the Pouring Rain
November 14, 2023 I began my day at Blackfriars Bridge. Blackfriars originated as a Dominican friary founded in the year…
Visiting London for Food and Fun
November 2023 I am leaving London with a heavy heart, despite the knowledge I will be back in a short…
Isle of Wight
November 10, 2023 I traveled to the Isle of White via ferry, leaving out of Portsmouth to Ryde. Once you…
Portsmouth, England
November 10, 2o23 Portsmouth’s history dates to the Roman times. It is said that Portsmouth was founded c. 1180 by Anglo-Norman…
The HMS Victory
Portsmouth, England November 9, 2023 The HMS Victory is undergoing a massive overhaul, so I was not able to see…
The Mary Rose
Portsmouth UK November 9th, 2023 If you want to get an honest and complete look at what naval service and…
Coventry England
November 7, 2023 I am here to visit an old friend, James. While he lives in Wales, we have agreed…
Homewood Cemetery
October 2023 Homewood Cemetery was established in 1878 from William Wilkins’ 650-acre estate, called Homewood. This is the final resting…
Fascinating Architecture of Pittsburgh, PA Part 2
October 2023 The Emmanuel Episcopal Church, completed in 1886, is by H. H. Richardson. Richardson did not live to see…
Fascinating Architecture of Pittsburgh Part 1
October 2023 Standing on the grass of Carnegie Mellon, you can see the University of Pittsburgh’s (Pitt) Cathedral of Learning.…
A Quick Introduction to Pittsburgh PA
October 2023 The Monongahela and the Allegheny meet and become the Ohio River. This is what defines Pittsburgh today and…
Odds and Ends When Wandering Boston
May 2023 The Boston Common is a 50-acre public park in downtown Boston, a perfect place to spend a lovely…
Wandering Boston’s Architecture
May 2023 Trinity Church and HH Richardson Our group has a tendency to drift toward H.H. Richardson buildings, and that…
Gropius House, Massachusetts
May 2023 We spent the day in Concord area looking at several very interesting homes, all of which I will…
The Peabody Essex Museum
May 2023 PEM is one of the oldest continuously operating museums in the United States and holds one of the…
Gloucester, Massachusetts
May 2023 A day spent outside of Boston in Gloucester was a quick but interesting day. The Sleeper-McCann House –…
Nashville Union Station
March 2023 The Nashville Union Station and Trainshed were constructed in the 1890s as part of the Louisville and Nashville…
Oman
January 2023 Oman’s Al Said Haitham bin Tariq Al Said replaced his uncle, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, upon his death…
Nizwa, Oman
January 2023 The Sultanate of Oman is the largest country in the world with a majority Ibadi Islamic population. Ibadhism…
Khasab, Oman
December 2023 Khasab and the Musandam Peninsula Khasab is an exclave of Oman at the tip of the Musandam Peninsula,…
Architecture of Abu Dhabi – Part 1
January 2023 Abu Dhabi is an Emirate in the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi has 200 islands, and the country…
The Architecture of Abu Dhabi Part 2
December 2023 As I mentioned in my last post, there is some excellent architecture in Abu Dhabi, and this post…
Fujairah, UAE
December 2023 This was finally a day of history. Fujairah is in the easternmost part of the UAE; the geography…
Architecture of Dubai
January 2023 Dubai is one of the Emirates that makes up the United Arab Emirates (UAE). There are seven emirates,…
Architecture of Doha, Qatar
January 2023 By now most people are familiar with Qatar thanks to the 2022 World Cup. The capital, fastest growing…
Playing God on Sir Bani Yas
January 2023 Sir Bani Yas is an example of what you can do when you have mountains of oil money…
Fun and Offbeat in London
December 2022 I took a Christmas-Food-themed walking tour put on by London Walks. When discussing Christmas geese, we were brought…
Cemeteries of London
December 2022 I am an avowed taphophile, so visiting cemeteries is part of my travels wherever I go. I made…
Wandering the Outskirts of London
December 2022 Eltham Palace Eltham Palace consists of the medieval great hall of a former royal residence, to which an…
Getting Around London
December 2022 Taxis With the advent of Uber and Lyft filling the world with cheap rides from underpaid drivers, the…
Christmas Lights of London
December 2022 The Lights at Kew Gardens * * * * * *** * * * * * Christmas Around…
Greenwich, To and From and Everything In Between
December 2022 A trip from downtown London to Greenwich is about one hour. As the sun was shining and the…
Saint Bartholomew The Great
December 2022 We walked into this churchyard because we were looking for a plague pit, we found so much more.…
Connecting the Past with the Modern
December 2022 Roman Walls and the Tower of London Some kind of fortification most likely completely surrounded the Roman city…
Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald
December 2022 Hill House When I was here just two months ago, I concentrated on the architecture of Alexander Thomson…
Books, Books and Gas Holders
December 2022 This is just one small section of the books from King George III’s library. The display dominates the…
Nicolinas Festivities
November 29th 2022 Saint Nicolinas We are here for the beginning of the festivities of Saint Nicolinas. The Nicolinas Celebrations…
Minho Region Wine, Granite and Eucalyptus
November 2022 The dominant white grape varieties of this area are Alvarinho, Arinto (locally known as Pedernã), Avesso, Azal, Loureiro,…
Driving the Backroads of the Vinho Verde Region of Portugal
November 2022 Peneda-Gerês National Park Soajo My traveling partner Susan and I picked up a dear friend Katherine who is…
Wandering the Countryside of Guimarães
Citânia de Briteiros The Citânia de Briteiros archaeological site of the Castro Culture is one of the more excavated sites…
Valença Fortaleza – Portugal
November 2022 The Walled Portion of the City of Valença, Portugal Valença dates from Roman times. Inside the fortified walls,…
Northern Portugal – Exploring Abandoned Monasteries
November 2022 This was a day of exploring the Minho Region, the oldest part of the country of Portugal. Originally…
Discovering Northern Portugal
November 2022 There are at least 42 aqueducts in Portugal. Fifteen were built for public water supply and 26 for…
Porto, Portugal – Literature and Wine
November 2022 This is my second trip to Porto and this trip is less about discovering the city and more…
One Reason You Come to Parma – Parmigiano Reggiano
November 17, 2022 The City of Parma is lovely but you come to Parma for Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma,…
Two More Reasons to Visit Parma – Prosciutto di Parma and Balsimico
November 2022 I have already discussed the tour of Parmigiano Reggiano, but on the same day spent Cooking with Stefania…
The Mura di Lucca and More
November 2022 The walls of Lucca (Mura di Lucca) are a series of stone, brick, and earthwork fortifications that are…
San Michele in Foro and San Martino – Lucca
November 2022 San Michele in Foro is a Roman Catholic basilica built over an ancient Roman forum, dedicated to Archangel…
Walking Around Lucca
November 2022 At one time Lucca had as many as 30,000 people living in its downtown behind the walls, once…
Bagni di Lucca
November, 2022 Bagni di Lucca is a respite and a divine little spot to unwind. The area has been known…
An Introduction to Ravenna
November 2022 In 402 CE the reality of barbarian invasions compelled the Western Roman emperor Honorius to move his court…
The Mosaics of Ravenna, Italy – Part 1
November 2022 Ravenna is a very quiet town at this time of year. There are very few people and almost…
UNESCO Sites and the Mosaics of Ravenna, Italy Part 2
November 2022 Basilica di San Vitale Gustav Klimt visited Ravenna twice in 1903, after which began the period of his…
Dante and Ravenna
November 8, 2022 I am a lover of Dante. I have read Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy) at a minimum,…
The Art of the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Vita in Bologna, Italy
November 2, 2022 Il Campianto sul Cristo Morto by Niccolò dell’Arca 1463 Inside the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Vita…
The Certosa of Bologna
November 2022 The Certosa di Bologna was a Carthusian monastery established in 1334. It expanded and flourished, and became an…
The Esprit Nouveau – Corbusier in Bologna
November 2022 A 30-minute walk from Piazza Maggiore, sitting in an open field, is the Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau. Originally…
Bologna – Wandering At A Leisurely Pace
November 6, 2022 I went through Bologna in May of this year at a pace that would defy the speed…
A Day in Cambridge
As a tourist, I must admit I prefer Cambridge over Oxford. Very simply because its entire downtown is pedestrian and…
York in 5 Hours
October 30, 2022 The city of York gives its name to the County of Yorkshire. While the House of York…
Galloping through Glasgow
October 28, 2023 Driving south to Glasgow The Glenfinnan Viaduct is a railway viaduct on the West Highland Line in…
The Highlands and Northern Hebrides of Scotland
October 25, 2022 Crossing the Forth of Firth The red bridge is the UNESCO World Heritage Site Forth Bridge. It…
6 Times By Antony Gormley
October 2022 6 TIMES is a series of six sculptures created by Turner Prize-winning artist Antony Gormley (b. 1950). They…
Scotland and The Royals
October 2022 Edinburgh Holyrood Castle Holyrood Palace (sometimes called Holyrood House) is the official residence of the British monarchy in…
Edinburgh Continued
October 22, 2022 Today was rainy and foggy making picture-taking problematic. But there is so much to see in Edinburgh…
Chatsworth and Hadrian
October 20, 2022 Leaving Oxford on the way to Edinburgh is a lovely drive, sadly it was pouring rain. Two…
Walking Oxford, England – Random Architecture
October 17, 2022 The buildings of Oxford are well known if one watches British television, in particular Inspector Morse. It…
Walking Oxford, England The Odd and Fun
October 17, 2022 I walked all day on the 17th and decided to break this into two posts, one architecture…
Colleges of Oxford
October 18, 2022 The University of Oxford has thirty-nine colleges and six permanent private religious halls. These institutions are autonomous…
Bath, England
October 15, 2023 There is a legend that Bath was founded in 860 BCE when Prince Bladud, the father of…
The Crossing
Queen Mary 2 The Week of October 7 to 14, 2022 A crossing is simply that. Cross the Atlantic Ocean…
Hudson Yards, The High Line and the 9/11 Memorial
October 6, 2022 If one begins the High Line at West 29th you start at Hudson Yards. While Hudson Yards…
Odds and Ends
June 2022 Kirkjugólfið Kirkjugólfið (the church floor) is a basalt column rock formation located in Kirkjubæjarklaustur. It was originally believed…
Icelandic Things of Interest
June 2022 Discovery Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarsson was the first Norseman to intentionally sail to Iceland. His story is documented in the…
Westfjords
June 2022 Westfjords are the oldest part of Iceland. They originated during a series of volcanic eruptions which took place…
Trolls, Dwarves, Sea Worms and Lore
June 2022 Öndvegissúlur, or high-seat pillars, were wooden poles placed on each side of the chair of the head of…
Food of Iceland
June 2022 Many people told me that the food in Iceland was blah and uneventful, if not downright bad. I…
Driving in Iceland
June 2022 Iceland roads are excellent until they are not. They are nicely paved, and the traffic is almost non-existent,…
Fire and Water, the Geography of Iceland
June 2022 Iceland is located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where the North America Plate and the Eurasia Plate drift apart.…
Northern Iceland
Northern Iceland is dominated by Fjords. Defined as narrow and long inlets surrounded by cliffs and steep sides, fjords are…
Iceland Farming
June 2022 Driving through Iceland, one comes upon these “furrows” that are regular and yet mysterious. They are created to…
Glaciers and Icebergs
June 2022 Skaftafellsjökull Or Skaftafell Glacier The glacier tongue Skaftafellsjökull sits in the nature reserve in Öræfi, Vatnajökull National Park.…
Skeiðarársandur A Sandur
June 2022 It is always interesting when ones preconceived notions are tossed to the wind and then brought back again.…
Turf Houses and Caves of Iceland
June 2022 Iceland is overwhelming on so many levels. Driving the Ring Road, which is essentially circumnavigating the island, every…
Walking Reykjavik Part 1
June 2022 I fell in love with Reykjavik the moment I stepped out of my hotel. It is at a…
Walking Reykjavik Part 2
June 2022 When I mentioned I was looking forward to spending time in Reykjavik to explore the architecture, most people…
Fogo Island
June 2022 I saw a picture of the Fogo Island Inn in 2013 when it was completed, right then and…
Tidbits Here and There of Newfoundland
June 2022 There are always things I see that don’t fit in a specific post, so here we go with…
Cod and Port
June 2022 Cod is such a huge part of Newfoundland’s history, and some of it is tied up with Port…
Newfoundland Architecture
June 2022 Specific to Port Union Port Union was established in 1916. It is the only “union-built town” in North…
What Was I Thinking
May 2022 Sometimes you have to complete a journey to realize it might not have been the best idea. I…
Geology and Root Cellars
May 2022 A quick geography lesson before the geology lesson. This area is actually called Newfoundland Labrador. The island of…
The Bay of Fundy
May 2022 This stop is for my late husband Michael. He loved to sail, and he had so much fascinating…
Looking at Munich’s History Through Art and Architecture
May 2022 Munich is Germany’s third largest city and has a population of over 1.5 million people. It is also…
Confronting the Past With Art and Architecture
Dealing with Difficult Times I often find it unsettling to be in Germany. The people are absolutely wonderful, and the…
Fun Findings of Munich
May 2022 The wealthy power couple Adolph and Apollonia Wolf were generous benefactors of the Munich art scene during the…
Nymphenburg Palace
May 2022 The Nymphenburg Palace and Park served as the main summer residence for the former rulers of Bavaria of…
Ulm, Germany
May 2022 The city of Ulm was founded in 850, it is a small city with a population of just…
Vienne, France
May 2022 Vienne is a mere 18 minutes by train from Lyon and yet it is a million miles away.…
Picture Postcard Perfect
May 2022 Annecy, France is one of those towns that simply stepped right off of a movie screen. It has…
Genova, Italy
May 2022 In all my many travels around Italy, I had never been to Genova. I wish I had more…
The World’s Fastest Day in Bologna
May 2022 This is a whirlwind trip via train through Europe. While I am accustomed to slow travel, I am…
Training it through Switzerland – Bern
May 2022 Bern, Switzerland Bern is the de facto capital of Switzerland, referred to as the “federal city”. It has…
Bernini Train of Switzerland
May 2022 The Bernina Express or Red Train has been on my list for a while, thanks to my friend…
Training It Through Switzerland – Lucerne and Zermatt
May 2022 Lucerne One of the most iconic sites of Lucerne is the Spreuer Bridge (Or Chapel Bridge). The original…
Amsterdam
May 2022 During the 17th century and Amsterdam’s economic boom, the city created a concentric canal belt. Four ditches were…
More Wanderings in Amsterdam
May 2022 The De Waag was built in 1488 and served as one of Amsterdam’s main city gates. It closed…
Antwerp, Belgium
April 2022 I arrived in Antwerp at the Central Rail station. Originally built between 1895 and 1905, and first used…
Bruges, Belgium
April 2022 Bruges is known as Venice of the North and is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It…
The Beauty of Costa Rica
January 2022 I have traveled from the coast to the rain forest over the last few days. The beauty of…
The Panama Canal
January 2022 The French were not the first to think of building a canal through Panama, but they were the…
Christmas Season in Paris
December 2021 Christmas in Paris is Magical. Lights are everywhere, stores, and neighborhoods get in the spirit, trees grace many…
Odds and Ends of Paris
December 2021 There are always pictures you take, and places you go that never quite fit into the narrative you…
The 19th Arrondissement
December 2021 The 19th is crossed by two canals, the Canal Saint-Denis and the Canal de l’Ourcq, which meet near…
Art Underground
December 2021 I am all for walking in Paris, I love getting lost, I think that is what Paris is…
Parisian History in Bits and Bites
December 2021 The Panthéon Architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot designed the Pantheon to fulfill Louis XV’s wish to glorify the monarchy in…
The Art World of Montparnasse
December 2021 While Montmartre was the center of the art world of the late 1800s, it moved to Montparnasse in…
Random Outdoor and Street Art of Paris
December 2021 It is rather ludicrous to write about art in Paris since the city is filled with art on…
Making Historic Connections
November 2021 It is difficult to write about Paris, as the city and its sites are so famous, but there…
Religion, Science and Madness
November 2021 Notre Dame du Travail The exterior of Notre Dame du Travail looks like any church in any town…
Tübingen, Germany
December 2021 I am in Tübingen to visit an old friend. What a delightful little diversion to my hectic schedule.…
Bilbao, Spain
November 2021 Bilbao, or Euskaltzaindia in Basque, was founded in the year 1300 by the Carta Puebla. In 1511, when…
San Sebastián, Spain
November 2021 Donostia – San Sebastián San Sebastián or Donostia in the Basque language is located in the Basque Autonomous…
Port Wine and The Duoro Valley
The writings of the Greek geographer Strabo, show that people of the Iberian Peninsula were drinking wine over two thousand…
Thoughts on Porto
November 2021 Porto is like a really comfortable sweater, you slip it on as though you have known it for…
Bridges of Porto and a Bit More
November 2021 The Arrabida Bridge was designed by Edgar Cardoso (1913-2000), said to have been the best bridge engineer of…
Porto, Portugal
November 2021 My friend Susan and I met up in Porto. It is a town where I slowed down, and…
Bom Jesus de Braga
November 2021 This stairway is why you come to Bom Jesus in Braga, Portugal. The first indication of a chapel…
Coimbra, Portugal
November 2021 Coimbra is a lovely town, and like every University town, it is multifaceted. The university was first established…
Convent of Christ in Tomar, Portugal
November 2021 Convent of Christ Tomar, Portugal To put the Convent in simplistic terms it was originally a 12th-century Knights…
Driving North in Portugal – Alcobaça and Batalha
November 2021 Alcobaça The Alcobaça Monastery is one of the first buildings to be associated with the Cistercian Order in…
Driving South to North in Portugal – Évora
Halloween – 2021 I am driving from the south of Portugal to Porto attempting to hit as many UNESCO World…
Lisbon: History, Art, Water and So Much More
October 2021 I have been wandering around Lisbon flummoxed. I am staying at a very nice hotel in the Braixa…
Gardens of Lisbon
October 2021 Calouste Gulbenkian Museum Born in Istanbul of Armenian parentage, Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (1869–1955) built a huge fortune through…
Sintra and Sensual Overload
October 2021 If you arrive by train, this is the ticket booth. The town becomes magical with the azulejos, upon…
Eclectic Collection of Art and Architecture in Lisbon
October 2021 Comércio Square This is the Rua Augusta Arch because it is found at the end of the street…
Wandering Belem and Parts of Alfama
October 2021 Lisbon sits on a Bay fed by the Tagus River and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. For this…
Walking the Chiado, Baixa, Avenida and Bairro Alto of Lisbon
October 2021 One of the first things you read of Lisbon is about the 1755 Earthquake. It was All Saints…
One last walk through Paris
September 2021 Today I spent the rainy morning at the L’Arc de Triomphe Wrapped, but the afternoon was spent walking…
L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped
September 2021 Christo and partner Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon’s latest project, L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped, came to fruition a year…
Walking and Walking and Walking Paris
September 2021 Covid is keeping me from doing many activities indoors in Paris, but there is still so much to…
Staying Outdoors in Paris
September 2021 Covid is still running rampant around the world and the Delta variant is making life even more difficult,…
The Society Islands of French Polynesia
August 2021 French Polynesia is a self-governing “overseas collectivity” of France that consists of five island groups – the 15…
Hot Springs, Arkansas
April 2021 Hot Springs, Arkansas, has a very rich history. It gets its name from the natural thermal spring waters…
Eureka Springs Arkansas
April 2021 Eureka Springs is an unusual town. Its architecture is primarily Victorian, and with its narrow streets and historic…
Public Art in St. Louis
April 2021 Saint Louis is an amazing city for art! City Garden Between Chestnut and Market Streets and 8th and…
Finding the Offbeat in Saint Louis
April 2021 The Union Station Hotel in St. Louis Now a National Historic Landmark the St. Louis Union Station was…
Gateway Arch
April 2021 I have wanted to see the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis ever since I stood in the Saarinan…
One Day in Kentucky
April 2021 The trip to Kentucky was to visit Mammoth Caves National Park. The park has limited their tours due…
Wandering Around North Carolina
April 2021 Fontana Dam, North Carolina The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was a paragraph in my 6th grade history book.…
Meandering Through Four Southern States
April 2021 Luray Caves, Virginia Visitors have been coming to Luray Caves since its discovery in 1878. The cavern system…
Congaree National Park
April 2021 Congaree National Park – South Carolina Congaree National Park is a 26,276-acre national park 18 miles southeast of…
The Odd and Unusual in the Environs of Charlotte
April 2021 Shell Oil Clam Shell Station This is the last Shell Oil clamshell station in the United States. A…
The Left Side of Nowhere
November 23, 2020 The drive home promised to be a long one so we broke it up with the weird…
The Grand Canyon’s South Rim
November 22, 2020 Today was dedicated to exploring the South Rim of the Grand Canyon with a special emphasis on…
Driving the North Rim to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon
November 21.2020 After leaving our hotel outside the North Rim of the Grand Canyon we headed for the South Rim.…
The Grand Canyon
November 20, 2020 We left Zion National Park via the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. Bored and blasted through the sandstone cliffs…
Zion National Park
November 18, 2020 We are staying at Zion Lodge, so after a quick breakfast, we headed out to do the…
The Hoodoo That You Do
November 17, 2020 Hoodoos of Bryce Canyon Weathering and erosion play only a minor role in the development of hoodoos.…
Entrenched Meanders
November 16, 2020 Arches to Bryce via a lot of fascinating places. We stayed at Red Cliffs Lodge and woke…
Gee Gee Gee It Is Geology
November 15, 2020 Today began with a drive from Palisades, Colorado to Arches National Monument in Utah. We took the…
The South West During Covid
November 2020 I am traveling during COVID, just to get a break. I am traveling with my cousin and we…
Casablanca
January 5, 2020 El Jadida A one and one-half hour train ride from Casablanca is El Jadida. Within the city…
Moving Medinas Into the Future
December 2019 Morocco has six Medina’s on the World Heritage List, and I started to wonder why. Was it to…
The Characters of the Medina
December 2019 Gnawa Dancers These dancers can be seen in most every Medina in Morocco. They are simply creating a…
Wandering the Desert outside of Marrakech
January 2, 2020 Palmeraie If you drive into Marrakech, you will most likely pass Palmeraie (palm grove). It is a…
The Jardin Majorelle
December 31, 2019 The Majorelle Garden was designed by the French artist, Jacques Majorelle (1886-1962). In 1917 Majorelle was sent…
Marrakech, Medina
December 30, 2019 There comes a time in a country when you realize that much of what you are seeing…
Meknes, Morocco
December 26, 2019 Meknes was first settled in the 9th century by the Miknasa a southern Tunisian Berber tribe. In…
The New Medina – Fes el-Jadid
December 22, 2019 The Fes el-Jadid is the new part of the Fes Medina founded by the Marinids in 1276…
Fes, Morocco
December 19, 2019 Fes (Fez) overwhelms when you are 10 miles out. There are over 1.4 million people living in…
A day trip out of Fes
December 20, 2019 Volubilis Volubilis was founded by the Berber people in the 3rd century BCE and was part of…
The Blue City
December 18, 2019 Chefchaouen This is by far the most tourist town I have seen in Morocco. There are more…
The Labors of Hercules
December 16, 2019 Cave of Hercules The cave is part natural and part man-made. The man-made part was used by…
Tangier: A city with a fascinating history
December 14, 2019 Tangier (French Tanger, Spanish Tánger, Arabic Ṭanjah) has an interesting connection with the United States. Morocco was…
Rabat, Morocco
December 13, 2019 Day 2 in Rabat was spent finding a few more UNESCO World Heritage sites and exploring a…
Rabat, Morocco
December 12, 2019 Rabat is the capital of Morocco and yet it is not really high on the tourism trail.…
My Personal Thoughts on Tunisia
December 10, 2019 There are many types of travelers and many types of travel, Tunisia requires a unique traveler for…
Sousse, Tunisia
December 8, 9 and 10, 2019 Sitting on the Gulf of Hammamet, Sousse looks out on the Mediterranean, albeit, through…
Agricultural Staples of Tunisia
December 6, 2019 One can not drive through the middle of Tunisia without becoming aware of the fact that olive…
El Jem and Sbeitla, Tunisia
December 5, 2019 The Amphitheater of El Jem This Unesco World Heritage-listed amphitheater in El Jem (Thysdrus in ancient times)…
Farming in the Deserts of Southern Tunisia
December 4, 2019 The south of Tunisia is characterized by an arid climate where rainfall does not exceed 2 to…
The South of Tunisia
December 3, 2019 The far south of Tunisia is sparsely populated and spreads out as a dessert landscape dotted here…
Historic Sites of Northern Tunisia Part 2
December 1, 2019 The Medina in Tunis The Tourbet el Bey is a Tunisian royal mausoleum in the southwest of…
Historic Sites of Northern Tunisia Part 1
November 29, 2019 Dougga (or Thugga) was a Punic, Numidian and then Roman settlement outside of Tunis by about 2…
The Bardo Museum of Tunis
November 27, 2019 The Bardo National Museum is said to be one of the most important museums in the Mediterranean…
Carthage and some R&R in Sidi Bou Saïd
November 18, 2019 Carthage is not at all what this author expected. It is far larger than one can comprehend,…
Wandering the Medina and New Town in Tunisia
November 26, 2019 Tunis is a very approachable town. It has a sense of ordered chaos about it. The streets…
Odds and Ends of Sicily
November 23, 2019 The Ear of Dionysus When the painter Michelangelo da Caravaggio, fled from Malta, he sought refuge in…
Mount Etna
November 22, 2019 A private tour with Davide, guide extraordinaire of Mount Etna Tours, was one of the most fascinating…
Caravaggio in Sicily
Caravaggio left Malta and was on the run for the second time in his life. He found his way to…
Wandering the West of Sicily
November 20, 2019 Hilltowns of Val di Noto In 1693 an earthquake struck parts of southern Italy near Sicily, Calabria,…
Villa Romana of Casale
November 19, 2019 The ancient Roman Villa of Casale in the town of Piazza Armerina The visible remains of the…
Exploring the Northwest of Sicily
November 18, 2019 Erice Eryx (associated with the Greek hero of the same name) as it was first called, has…
Segesta and Selinunte. Two Cities, Two Enemies, War
February 18, 2019 The colonization of Sicily in the 8th century BCE pretty much kept the Greeks to the East…
Arab Norman Palermo – Monreale
November 16, 2019 After the occupation of Palermo by the Arabs in 831 the Arabs transformed the Cathedral of Palermo…
Wandering Palermo With No Particular Place to Go
November 13, 2019 Folk Arts Puppets became popular in Sicily during the fifteenth century, and marionettes are still considered an…
Wandering the Historical Sites of Palermo
November 14, 2019 The Church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria St. Catherine’s of Alexandria has a bakery that is worth…
Arab-Norman Palermo
November 13, 2019 The Arabs influenced the island is in its cuisine, its dialect, its tastes and, its architecture. It…
Timeline of Sicily’s History
The layers of history in Sicily are complicated at best. Like most every country in the world that has ever…
Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo
November 12, 2019 The Capuchin Catacombs are a dichotomy. Everywhere there are signs that the place is a holy area…
Malta’s Neolithic Sites
November 2019 The historic timeline of Malta differed little from any other Neolithic society around the Mediterranean. That is, until…
Southern Malta
November 9, 2019 Mosta, Malta The Rotunda of Mosta is built in the neoclassical style, and its structure is based…
Protecting Malta
Valetta, Malta November 8, 2019 Protecting Valetta A harbor tour is the best way to understand the massive undertaking humanity…
Caravaggio and Malta
November 8, 2019 Caravaggio is a painter with a range that stupefies. These innocent paintings, while filled with sexual inuendos,…
Saint Johns Co-Cathedral
Valetta, Malta November 8, 2019 Recognized as one of the most incredible examples of the high baroque style, Saint Johns…
Malta and the Knights of Saint John
November 7, 2019 The Maltese Islands went through a golden Neolithic period. Later the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Romans, and…
Byrdcliffe
Woodstock, New York Byrdcliffe was founded in 1902 near Woodstock, New York by the husband and wife team of Jane…
Lake Mohonk Mountain House
New Paltz, New York The ten-room inn, Stokes Tavern and surrounding acreage on Lake Mohonk were purchased by Albert Smiley…
Artists Colonies of the East Hudson Valley
Artist Cemetery Woodstock, New York The Woodstock Artists Cemetery is officially operated by the Woodstock Memorial Society, the original 80…
A Smattering of Public Art in Philadelphia
Grumman Greenhouse Lenfest Plaza This crashed and artfully crumpled full-size airplane is titled “Grumman Greenhouse,”. The creation of 27-year-old Jordan…
A Whirlwind Trip of Architecture in Philadelphia Day 2
Philadelphia, PA University of Pennsylvania College Hall College Hall is the oldest building on campus. Designed by Thomas Webb Richards…
A Whirlwind Trip of Architecture in Philadelphia Day 1
Philadelphia, PA City Hall Tomes have been written about Philadelphia’s city hall, and I have visited and photographed this building…
A Weekend in Vancouver
Vancouver British Columbia This Giant W stands at the location of the now partially demolished historic Woodward’s Building in the…
Jordan in Black and White
Shot on a Leica Monochrome, I do not use photoshop, so these are straight out of the camera. *
Starting in Amman, Jordan
Jordan January 7, 2019 I came to Jordan with no knowledge about the country other than what I learned from…
Outside of Amman, Jordan
One hour outside of Amman January 8, 2019 Today I visited the Ajlun Castle and Ancient Jerash. The one hour…
Two Seas – One Red and One Dead
January 12 and 13, 2019 The Red Sea One can not come this far and not see the two seas.…
Egypt in Black and White
Egypt December 2018/January 2019 Shooting black and white always gives me, not only a different point of view but makes…
Alexandria, Egypt
Alexandria, Egypt January 4 and 5, 2019 Alexandria was a nice break from almost two steady weeks of Ancient Egyptian…
Churches and Cemeteries
January 4, 2019 Wadi el Natrun The name Wadi El Natrun refers to eight different lakes in the region that…
Luxor and Karnak Temples
Luxor January 2, 2019 Cult temples Karnak and Luxor are linked in history and love. You can not do one…
Dendera and Abydos
Egypt January 1, 2019 The whole complex of Dendera covers about 10 acres and is surrounded by a mud brick…
Workers, Nobles, Queens and Boats
December 31, 2018 Deir el-Medina, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is an ancient Egyptian village which was home to the…
Outside Luxor
Tomb of Hatshepsut January 30, 2018 The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, also known as the Djeser-Djeseru is dedicated to Amun…
The Valley of the Kings
December 30 2018 If I were to do this trip over I would begin in Luxor. This is the seat…
Edfu Temple
Edfu December 29, 2018 The Temple of Edfu is located on the west bank of the Nile in Upper Egypt.…
Egypt in Snippets – Part 1
December 2018 What can one say about Egypt that National Geographic has not done better? However, I want to write…
A Quick Vacation in Fort Kochi
December 2018 Fort Kochi in the State of Kerala Known as Cochin to the locals. Kochi was a fishing village…
Madhubani Paintings of Patna
These Madhubani paintings are going up all over Patna, Bihar. The project is aimed at beautifying the walls in the…
Samadhi of Bodhgaya
December 2, 2018 Bodhgaya is one of the holiest sites in Buddhism. This is where Buddha found enlightenment under the…
Barabar Caves
December 8, 2018 The Barabar Hill Caves are the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India, and date from the Maurya…
Lesser known and out of the way Buddhist sites.
November 21 and 22, 2018 Kasaria Kesaria is a Buddhist stupa first constructed around the 3rd century BCE. The stupa…
A New Buddha
Rajgir November 24 and 25, 2018 Ghora Katora Lake is a small, serene spot near Rajgir. The name Rajgir came…
The Robes of a Bhikkhu and Bhikkhuni
November 2018 The robes of Buddhist monks and nuns are part of a tradition that goes back to the time…
The Black Buddha
Nalanda/Rajgir November 2018 In the Black Buddha Temple is an ancient large black Buddha in the Dhamma Chakra Mudra position.…
Two Protests, Toilets and Tuk Tuks
Vaishali, India November 18-20 2018 I am in Vaishali as part of the 2nd Annual Tipitaka Chanting Ceremony. If you…
Lumbini, Nepal – Part 2
November 14-18 2018 I am here as part of the 1st Tipitaka Chanting Ceremony ever held within the Maya Devi…
Lumbini, Nepal – Part 1
November 14 to 16, 2018 Crossing the border into Nepal was an adventure. The drive from Kushinagar was a little…
Following Buddha, Xuanzang and Fa-hsien
District of Kapilavastu Outside of Lumbini, Nepal November 15, 2018 Today I had the absolute pleasure of being taken around…
Wanderers of India and the Governor of Bihar
February 8, 2018 Leaving the city of Sankissa we passed these travelers. I do not know where they were going…
Some History of Sankissa
Sankissa (also Sankasya) November 6, 2018 I have mentioned earlier that we are traveling with Deepak Anand, a knowledgeable person…
Tea at Home
Sankasya (or Sankissa) November 5, 2018 One of our monks from the Mahabodhi Center in Bangalore is from Sankasya and…
Happy Diwali
Lucknow November 7, 2018 Diwali means “row of lamps”. It is traditionally thought of as a Hindu festival, but it…
Rambling in Delhi
November 2, 2018 Today we had an afternoon to do some sightseeing, and thanks to the abominable traffic in Delhi…
Three Religions – One Site
November 1, 2018 This is known as Lat Bhairav. According to our resident scholar Deepak Anand: “Chinese monk-scholar Xuanzang (Hsüan-tsang,…
The Search for an Authentic Candy Shop
Rasvanti Sweets CK 21/24 Sugga Gali, Thatheri Bazar, Govindpura, Varanasi October 31, 2018 The Indians love their sweets, and this…
Banaras and The Ganga
Banaras/Varanasi October 30, 2018 What is India was one of the real reasons maps of India did not exist for…
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
Sarnath October 28, 2018 By: Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr The more things change the more they stay the same. I have…
County Sligo
October 9, 2018 You know you are in for an adventure when the guide to the house meets you at…
Saint Patricks of Armagh City
October 8, 2018 Armagh is the site of two cathedrals, both on hills and both named after Saint Patrick. Considered…
The Ridiculous and The Sublime
October 8, 2018 John Leslie (later to become Sir John Leslie, 1st Baronet of Glaslough) had studied art in Rome…
County Armagh
October 7, 2018 THE ARGORY The Argory got its name from the Irish ‘ard garraidhe’, meaning hill of the garden.…
Clandeboye House and more of Belfast
October 6, 2018 There are no photos allowed inside of Clandeboye, but take it from me, it is a museum.…
Ballywalter Park
October 5, 2018 This Victorian Italianate Palazzo was built by the present owner’s great great great grandfather. Ballywalter Park was…
Mount Stewart House in Ards Peninsular
October 5, 2018 Mount Stewart was created by the Stewart family (later Vane-Tempest-Stewart), holders of the title Marquess of Londonderry…
Wandering Belfast
October 4, 2018 The name Belfast is derived from the Irish Béal Feirsde, which was later spelled Béal Feirste. The…
Hillsborough, Northern Ireland
October 3, 2018 Hillsborough Castle is a beautiful late Georgian mansion built in the 1770s by Wills Hill, first Marquis…
Grandview
7351 Route WI-39 Hollandale, Wisconsin This lovely and imaginative spot well in the countryside of Wisconsin is the creation of…
A. D. German Warehouse
300 South Church Street Richland Center, Wisconsin The Albert Dell German Warehouse was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the…
Wisconsin Historical Society
816 State Street University of Wisconsin, Madison Campus The building that houses the Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical…
The State Capitol of Madison, Wisconsin
There is more information on the State Capitol of Madison than many I have seen. So I will just be…
The Jacobs I House
Madison, Wisconsin 441 Toepfer Avenue Traveling with the VSA we had the true pleasure of touring the home of James…
The Unitarian Meeting House
Madison, Wisconsin Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and completed in 1951, when Wright was 84 years old, this church is…
Taliesin East
Spring Green, Wisconsin So very much has been written about Taliesin that it seems silly to write a post about…
Wyoming Valley School
Spring Green, Wisconsin Built in 1957, the building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, who donated his design and 2…
Wanamaker, An Organ, and An Eagle
1300 Market Street Philadelphia, PA Designed by renowned organ architect and Scotsman, George Ashdown Audsley, and built by the Los…
A Victorian Art Gallery
Laurel Hills Cemetery 3822 Ridge Avenue Philadelphia, PA Laural Hills Cemetery was founded in 1836 by a group of local…
Haunting and Beautiful
Mount Mariah Cemetery 6201 Kingsessing Avenue Philadelphia, PA Mount Mariah has a fascinating and tragic history, most of which can…
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville is a fast-growing city with a large influx of people looking for an affordable place to live with a…
The Hotel New Otani Garden of Tokyo
January 2018 Most large, high-end, hotels place a Japanese restaurant near some form of Japanese Garden, the Hotel New Otani…
The Art Houses of Naoshima
January 2018 The Art House Project was a large leap into the lives of the locals of Naoshima Island. There…
An Art and Architecture Heaven on Earth – Benesse Art Site
January 2018 Benesse – To Live Well The biggest employer on Naoshima is a Mitsubishi metals processing plant, but due…
New Years in Japan
Like many countries, New Years preparations begin before the actual day. There is a very large Shinto Shrine, also called…
The Island of Teshima and Art
December 2017 Teshima is a rural island in the Seto Inland Sea that, with the nearby islands of Naoshima and…
Teshima Art Museum: an Indescribable Experience
December 30, 2017 Teshima is a small island in the Inland Sea of Japan. It had suffered economically until the…
The Older Architecture of Sapporo
December 2017 Getting around Hokkaido in the winter is not the easiest of tasks, so this trip is limited to…
Things to do in Sapporo
December 2017 Sapporo is a very walkable city, and what you will notice is the lack of automobiles, most likely…
Otaru on the Sea of Japan
December 2017 Otaru is a lovely little town situated on Ishikari Bay of the Sea of Japan. It was an…
Sapporo Beer Garden and Museum – Sapporo, Japan
Christmas Day – 2017 The Sapporo Beer Museum and Bier Garten are a fun way to spend an afternoon. The…
Christmas Eve in Sapporo, Japan
December 24, 2017 It is Christmas in Japan, and Sapporo does it big. Today we spent the day walking the…
Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri and Udayagiri, The Diamond Triangle
December 2017 Over the course of the three days at our last stop, I was able to indulge my passion…
Exploring Rajgir
December 2017 All of India is an Archaeology site, so picking and choosing what you want to explore can be…
Gijjhakuta – Vultures Peak
December 2017 We have begun our second Dhammayatra at Vultures Peak. This time we are traveling with monks from the…
The Jethian Valley – Walking in Buddha’s Footsteps
December 2017 December 13th we walked The Buddha Walk. First organized in 2014 by several Buddhist organizations it is intended…
Finding Ancient History in Bodhgaya
December 2017 Wandering the town of Bodhgaya I could spot this old building peaking above the normal height of many…
A Parade and a lot of Speeches
December 2017 The 13th Annual Tipitaka Chanting Ceremony in Bodhgaya began on December 2nd this year. The first morning starts…
Decorating the Mahabodi Temple of Bodhgaya
December 2017 Where does one start to explain the monumental project that putting on the 13th Annual Tipitaka Chanting Festival…
Working in Bodhgaya
November 28, 2017 We arrived in Bodh Gaya on November 21st. The time has been spent preparing for the 13-day…
Vaishali, India
November 2017 Vaishali is on the pilgrimage route for Buddhists for many reasons, but the two most important are that…
A Birthday Party
November 2017 This is the highest ranking Buddhist in the town of Kushinigar, he is Burmese and he was celebrating…
Sitting in the Back of the Tent
November 2017 Today was spent chanting all day. This is my view of the event. Those that know me, know…
A Parade in Kushinigar
November 2017 Kushinigar is a pilgrimage site because this is where Buddha took his last breath. Our first day in…
A Relaxed Day
November 2017 Today was a down day so I thought I would catch up on a few odds and ends.…
Sravasti Day 2
November 2017 Today began at Jetavana. We were accompanied by His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgön Chungtsang. I had met him…
Our Gracious hosts the Buddhist Vihar Shanti Upvan
November 2017 Today was another road trip. We were to start at 5:00 as the monk’s last meal must be…
Road Trip to Sravasti
November 2017 Today was another road trip. We were to start at 5:00 as the monk’s last meal must be…
Day two of Holy Days
November 2017 Today was a repeat of yesterday. We started quietly, in the heavy fog, chanting under the tree. We…
A Road Trip to Sankasya
November 2017 So the road between Delhi and Sankasya consists of a 6-hour bus ride. Bus rides through India are…
A Holy Day
November 2017 Day two in Sankasya started out with a lovely morning of chanting. We always break for lunch and…
An Ashram and a University
We spent the day and night at the Sri Aurobindo. It is an Ashram that was begun in Pondicherry with…
A Difficult Day
We spent the day and night at the Sri Aurobindo. It is an Ashram that was begun in Pondicherry with…
Wrapping up Sarnath
Bits and Pieces of Sarnath November 2017 I had the chance to head into Varanasi and go to the Kriti…
A Day of Fun and Culture
Sarnath Day 2 November 2017 Day two was a day of fun and relaxation. We rose at 5:00 in the…
Tipitaka Chanting in Sarnath, India
Day one in Sarnath was spent chanting the Dhammachakka Sutra in the shadow of the Damekh Stupa, where it is…
Entering the Unknown
November 2017 I am at a total loss as to how to convey what is actually transpiring on this journey.…
Belle Isle
Belle Isle Detroit, Michigan Belle Isle is a 982-acre island park in the Detroit River, between the United States mainland…
FLW in Detroit
The Melvyn Maxwell Smith and Sara Stein Smith House Bloomfield, Michigan The Melvyn Maxwell Smith and Sara Stein Smith House…
Detroit’s Guardian Building
500 Griswold Street Detroit, Michigan There has been so very, very much written about the Guardian Building of Detroit, that…
Detroit’s Renaissance
The Book Building at 1249 Washington Blvd, Downtown Detroit So much has been written about Detroit’s decline, and yet so…
Heidelberg Project
3600 Heidelberg St McDougall Hunt Neighborhood Detroit, Michigan Just 15 minutes away from the African Bead Museum is the Heidelberg…
African Bead Museum
Dabls’ MBAD African Bead Museum 6559 Grand River Avenue Detroit, Michigan * I had the absolute privilege to speak with…
Pewabic Pottery
1025 Jefferson Avenue Detroit, Michigan Pewabic Pottery is a ceramic studio and school founded in 1903 by artist Mary Chase…
The Saarinen House
Academy Way Cranbrook Bloomfield Hills, Michigan A tour of the Saarinen house is an amazing look into the perfectionism of…
Detroit’s Giant Tire
Along Interstate 94 West Between the Southfield Freeway interchange and Outer Drive overpass Allen Park, Michigan This giant Uniroyal Giant…
The Way to the Copper Canyon
Tijuana to El Fuerte via Los Mochis May 2, 2017 There are many ways to travel to Mexico’s Copper Canyon,…
Chihuahua Pacific Railroad
El Fuerte to Cerocahui May 3, 2017 It would be normal to begin your Copper Canyon train ride in Los…
Cerocahui, Mexico
Cerocahui, Mexico The Place of Grasshoppers (pronounced: Sara ca hooey) May 3, 2017 The Jesuits were either directly in front…
Traveling to Urique, Mexico
The Road to Urique May 4, 2017 The road from Cerocahui to Urique took about 2 and 1/2 hours one…
Tarahumara or Rarámuri
May 5, 2017 Kuira-Ba is a Tarahumara word. Kuira means hello, and then adding the Ba means Good Morning, Good…
Creel, a fast changing town on the Chihuahua Pacific Railroad
May 2017 The town of Creel was established by Enrique Creel. History views him as both monster and paragon, as…
The Road to Batopilas
May 2017 It is impossible to describe the drive from Creel to Batopilas. The first portion of our drive took…
Batopilas, Mexico
May 2017 Enchanting is the only appropriate word I can find for the small pueblo of Batopilas, in the state…
Divisadero, Mexico
May 9, 2017 Our day began with a train ride from Creel to the Divisadero area. The trip is rather…
Main Street Railroad Station in Richmond, VA
1500 East Main Street Richmond, VA March 2017 This glorious building was not included in the VSA Spring study tour,…
Bolling Haxall House
2111 Franklin Street Richmond, VA March 2017 The Woman’s Club, that is housed in Bolling Haxall House, was founded in…
Off the Beaten Path in Richmond, Virginia
There are always weird and wonderful things that one finds when traveling, and here are three that I found in…
Two Unique Churches in Richmond, Virginia
Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church 815 E. Grace Street and Confederate Memorial Chapel 2900 Grove Avenue Saint Paul’s is located directly…
Virginia State Capitol
Virginia State Capitol Richmond, VA March 2017 Virginia’s State Capitol, located in Richmond, is the third capital city of the…
Monument Avenue
Monument Avenue Richmond Virginia March 2017 Monument Avenue is either a bone of contention or an art gallery, and stirs…
Richmond, Virginia’s Old City Hall
1000 E Broad Street Richmond Virginia March 2017 This High Victorian Gothic structure was designed by Detroit architect Elijah E.…
Egyptology and Richmond, Virginia
Monument Church 1224 East Broad Street The Egyptian Building 1223 East Marshall Street March 2017 Egyptian revival is an architectural…
Maymont
2201 Shield Lakes Drive Richmond, Virginia March 2017 In 1893, Major James H. Dooley, a wealthy Richmond lawyer and philanthropist,…
Richmond, Virginia’s Canal Walk and Edgar Allan Poe
The Edgar Allan Poe Museum 1914 East Main Street March 2017 Though Poe never lived in the building, the museum…
Hollywood Cemetery
412 South Cherry Street Richmond, Virginia March 2017 Hollywood Cemetery is the resting place of two United States Presidents, James…
Shockoe Hill Cemetery
Fourth and Hospital Street Richmond, Virginia March 2017 Just north out of the downtown area of Richmond, Virginia is Shokoe…
One Architectural Day in Athens
October 25, 2016 Athens held the Olympics in 2004, and its stadium, like many after the Olympics, is abandoned and…
Heraklion, Crete
October 23, 2016 You come to Heraklion to visit Knossos, but it is a city worth exploring as well. It…
Knossos: Myths amongst the Ruins
October 22, 2016 Heraklion is one the top of everyone’s list to visit when they go to Crete. The reason…
A Road Trip of Ruins
October 21, 2016 Phaistos The day began by visiting Phaistos, an important site of the Minoan civilization. The Minoan civilization,…
Wandering the Amári Valley
October 20, 2016 The Amári Valley is not for those with an agenda. The drive is through some lovely and…
The Holy Monastery of Arkadi
October 20, 2016 People come to Crete for many reasons, I came to get off the beaten path as often…
Rethymnon, Crete
October 20, 2016 So many of the Cretan towns are built on the same model, i.e. large protective walls in…
Katholiko Monastery, a very, very hidden gem
October 19, 2016 Today we moved from Chania to Rethymnon with a side trip to the Katholiko Monastery or Monastery…
Chania Continues
October 18, 2016 In 1620, during the Venetian rule in Crete, the constant threat of the Ottoman Turks led the…
Χαίρετε From Chania, Crete
October 17, 2016 Chania, Crete is a fascinating city with an equally fascinating history. It is a large city with…
High Above Istanbul
October 15, 2016 A boat ride up the Golden Horn is worth the trip if you have the time. I…
Off the Beaten Path in Istanbul
October 14, 2016 There are so many places to explore in a city that covers almost 600 square miles with…
Two Beautiful Train Stations in Istanbul
October 13, 2016 The Istanbul Haydarpaşa Terminal was a major intercity, regional and commuter rail hub as well as the…
Antalya, Turkey
October 12, 2016 Antalya is an interesting town. The city has a population of almost 2 million people, which almost…
Termessos, Turkey
October 12, 2016 Termessos was built at an altitude of more than ½ mile up Solymos Mountain in the Taurus…
Kaş, Turkey
October 10, 2016 The town of Kaş is a lovely, unspoiled, tourist town that sits on a hill and runs…
Xanthos and Letoön, Turkey
October 9, 2016 I am on the Mediterranean and have already written about the tombs of Myra. I did so…
Agriculture of Turkey
October 9, 2016 You will find tomatoes and cucumbers at every meal in Turkey; in fact there is a salad…
Myra, Turkey and Saint Nicholas
October 8, 2016 Myra was an ancient Greek town in Lycia in the fertile alluvial plain between Alaca Dağ, the…
Yörük Köyü
October 2016 This is really an adjunct to the post on Safranbolu. The town of Yörük Köyü is just a…
Safranbolu, Turkey
October 6, 2016 In researching about the homes of Safranbolu I came across the Gülevi Safranbolu dissertation on the history,…
121 Miles in over 4 Hours – What a Road!
October 4, 2016 Our day began this morning in the town of Abano. We had driven from Sinop the day…
Driving parts of the Turkish Black Sea
October 2, 2016 Our Black Sea journey begins at Sinop and will end in Amasra. Sinop sits on the most…
The Outer Edges of Inner Anatolya
October 2, 2016 Our last day in Central Anatolia was spent in Amasya. Amasya is on the short list to…
The Hittite Empire of Anatolya
October 1, 2016 The reason to drive nearly 200 miles across Central Anatolia is to visit the center of the…
Wandering from Ürgup to Sobessos in Turkey
September 29, 2016 The Keslik Monastery sits just on the outskirts of Taşkinpasa. The Monastery held about 250 people and…
Soğanli, Turkey
September 30, 2016 Our day began in the Soğanlı Valley, (The Valley of Onions). This is about off the beaten…
Walking the Ihlara Valley
September 29, 2016 The Ihlara Valley sits near Mount Hasan and Mount Melendiz, two of the three volcanoes of Cappadocia.…
Selemi
September 29, 2016 The Selimi Cathedral is not a highly visited area, mainly because the walk is extremely difficult. If…
Derikuyu, not for the faint of heart
September 29, 2016 Derinkuyu (Deep Well) is just one of many, many underground cities lying underneath Cappadocia. In fact they…
The town of Göreme and the Open Air Museum
September 28, 2016 Cappadocia is a large region that includes many towns, named by the Persians it means beautiful horses.…
Nemrut Daği, King Antiochus and the Romans
September 27, 2016 There are several important historical sites with Nemrut Daği. One of these is the Tomb of Karakus,…
Mount Nemrut, Turkey
September 27, 2016 The Kingdom of Commagene was an ancient Armenian kingdom of the Hellenistic period (between 323 and 31…
The drive from Kayseri to Mount Nemrut
September 26, 2016 Turkey is a vast country with lots and lots of open space between its cities. I am…
Kayseri, Turkey
September 25, 2016 Kayseri surprised me, I had read some article that gave me the impression it was a very…
Laodicea, Turkey
September 24, 2016 Just a short bus ride from Denizli is the ancient city of Laodicea. Established between 263 and…
Hieropolis
Hieropolis is a fascinating place to visit as there are only a few historical facts known about the origin of…
3 Jitneys, 2 Gentlemen, 1 Çay
I chose to stay in the town of Denizli for this leg of my trip. I cannot recommend my hotel,…
Thoughts on Istanbul in September
September 22, 2016 I wanted to write about a few things to wrap up this part of my Istanbul trip.…
The Grand Bazaar of Istanbul
September 20, 2016 The Grand Bazaar needs no words, photos will do all my talking. You might like a little…
Not Your Normal Itinerary in Istanbul
September 20, 2016 This is not my first time in Istanbul, so if you are looking for a rundown on…
Some Unusual Architecture in Montreal
September 18, 2016 This is the Grande Bibliotheque, a public library in Downtown Montreal. Its collection is part of Bibliothèque…
More of Montreal, its landscape and architecture.
September 17, 2016 Montreal is laid out in an interesting pattern. Every fourth street was created wider in order to…
One day in Ottawa
September 16, 2016 In 1841, Lower Canada (now Quebec) and Upper Canada (now Ontario) joined to form the Province of…
Montreal, Canada
September 15, 2016 Walking all around Montreal Attempting to get a sense of history and architecture Montreal, is the most…
Boulder Man
951 Chicago Avenue Oak Park, Chicago On the piers flanking the entry to Frank Lloyd Wrights 1898 architectural studio in…
Standing Lincoln
Off N. Lake Shore Drive near W. North Avenue Chicago This is one of the two sculptures in Lincoln Park…
Shakespeare in Chicago
N. Lincoln Parkway West and W. Belden Avenue Chicago According to the Chicago Parks Department: “When Samuel Johnston, a successful…
Eli Bates Fountain
This whimsical fountain is known as both the Eli Bates Fountain and “Storks at Play”. Eli Bates was a Chicago…
Fountain of Time
6000 Cottage Grove Avenue Chicago, Illinois Fountain of Time, or simply Time, is a 126 foot long sculpture by Lorado…
Fountain of the Great Lakes
Nichols Bridgeway Off E. Jackson and South Michigan Avenue Chicago Fountain of the Great Lakes or Spirit of the Great…
Eternal Silence
The Eternal Silence, (also called Eternal Silence or Statue of Death) marks the grave of Dexter Graves, who led a…
Casa de Velazquez
Parque Cespedes Santiago de Cuba Diego Valazquez was the first governor of Cuba. He was a cruel despot by all…
Parque del Ajedrez or Chess Park
Santo Tomás and Enramada Streets Santiago de Cuba This small corner park was designed by American architect Walter Betancourt. Betancourt…
The Conga
Americans think of the Conga as a kitschy dance done in a line. It is a very different thing in…
The Mosaics of the Marquette
The Marquette Building 140 South Dearborn Chicago This spectacular, and difficult to photograph, mosaic is in the rotund of the…
The Marquette Building
The Marquette Building 140 South Dearborn Chicago These four bronze plaques sit above the entry doors of the Marquette Building…
The Knot
Santiago de Cuba In December of 2010, the city of Santiago de Cuba held its first Rene Valdes Cedeño Public…
Clouds in the Mountains
Santiago de Cuba In December of 2010, the city of Santiago de Cuba held its first Rene Valdes Cedeño Public…
S. T. by Mario Trenard
In December of 2010, the city of Santiago de Cuba held its first Rene Valdes Cedeño Public Sculpture Symposium, an…
Jose Maria Heredia – One of Cuba’s Great Poets
Traffic Circle at Avenue Manduley and Calle 11 Santiago de Cuba According to Cuba Facts Jose Marie Heredia y Heredia…
Jose Marti by Alberto Lescay
Santiago de Cuba José Julián Martí Pérez (January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895) is a Cuban national hero. Martí…
Cuban Internet 2016
I recently read an article about Americans that don’t use the internet, and it was essentially what you would expect,…
Valladolid, Mexico
We were in Valladolid for only a few hours, with the main intention to have lunch and visit the convent.…
Coba, Mexico
January 2016 The ruins of Coba lie approximately 22 miles northwest of Tulum, in the State of Quintana Roo and…
Tulum, Mexico
The city of Tulum is not something to write home about. It, like Cancun and Playa del Carmen developed due…
Cuban Road to Freedom from the Spanish
October 2015 This trip goes from La Demajagua to Bayamo, the trail marks the beginning of the Cuban struggle for…
Cuban Families in the Countryside
October 2015 There is nothing like being a member of a Cuban family, there is love, fierce loyalty, and drama,…
Museo Zoologico de Piedra
October 2015 The Museo Zoologico de Piedra This fun little diversion about 12 miles east of Guantanamo is the brainchild…
Jardin de los Helechos
October 2015 One day, out for a hot and steamy drive from Santiago de Cuba, we tripped over the Jardin…
Morikami Japanese Gardens, Delray Beach, Florida
October 2015 Morikami Museum and Gardens were established in 1977 after Mr. Morikami bequeathed the land for the garden. The…
McKee Botanical Garden, Vero Beach, Florida
October 2015 The McKee Botanical Garden began its life in 1932, when land speculator Arthur G. McKee and architect Waldo…
Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania
October 2015 Jim Thorpe was originally called Mauch Chunk (Bear Place in the Lenape Indian Language). It is the seat…
History and Architecture of Scranton, PA
October 2015 Scranton Pennsylvania is the county seat of Lackawanna and the 6th largest city in Pennsylvania. Incorporated in 1866,…
Lackawanna Station – Scranton, PA
October 2015 This is now the Radisson Hotel, however, it originally was the Lackawanna Train Station a vital piece in…
Masonic Hall – Scranton, PA
October 2015 The Masonic Hall in Scranton Pennsylvania is so massive, this postcard is the only way to show it…
Walking Scranton Pennsylvania
October 2015 This is the Lackawanna County Courthouse at 200 Washington Avenue. It was designed by Isaac G Perry in…
Lunch at a Bhutanese Farmhouse
Haa Valley, Bhutan September 2015 Our small group was treated to lunch in a farmhouse in the Haa Valley. Tea…
The Haa Valley
Haa, Bhutan September 2015 The Haa valley was not opened to tourism until 2002, it is the home of the…
The Four Friends
Bhutan September 2015 This is the story of the Four Harmonious Friends. It is found everywhere in Bhutan. The image…
Prayer Flags and Ghost Catchers
Bhutan September 2015 Most people throughout the world have been exposed to Tibetan prayer flags, but the Bhutanese take the…
Crafts of Bhutan
Bhutan September 2015 In Thimphu there is the Thimphu Institute for Zorig Chusum. This school, established in the 1970s is…
Punakha Dzong
September 2015 Punakha, Bhutan The Punakah Dzong is one of the must do’s of Bhutan, situated at the convergence of…
The Intimate Relationship between the Market and the Table
September 2015 Punakha, Bhutan Chilis and red rice are the main staples of Bhutanese cooking. A typical Bhutanese meal may…
Chef meets Chef
Hotel Zangto Pelri Punakha, Bhutan September 2015 Chanterelles (Sese Shamu) are in season in Bhutan, so our mushroom expert and…
Namgyal Chorten and a perfect walk
September 2015 Punakha, Bhutan The walk to the Khamsum Yuelley Namgyal Chorten begins by crossing a delightful, and very stable…
Drukpa Kunley – The Divine Madman
September 2015 Punakha, Bhutan The ride from Thimphu to Punakha goes across the Dochu La pass. At the top of…
Buddha Dordenma
This is the Buddha Dordenma a gigantic Shakyamuni Buddha statue the sits in the mountains just outside of Thimpu, Bhutan.…
Archery, Khuru and Dotsho
September 2015 Archery became the national sport of Bhutan in 1971. Played between two teams, the distance to the target…
Paro Dzong
September 22, 2015 Paro, Bhutan Dzongs serve as the citadel of each of the 20 districts of Bhutan, they are…
Kyichu Lhakhang
September 22, 2015 Paro, Bhutan Blessed Rainy Day Today is Blessed Rainy Day, a national holiday in Bhutan marking the…
Mystical and Magical Taktshang Goemba
September 22, 2015 Paro, Bhutan There are many photos one see in ones life and thinks how wonderful it would…
Introduction to Bhutan
Written on September 21, 2015 From Paro, Bhutan 59 Degrees F and raining The moment you land in Bhutan you…
Cuba Factoids
April 2015 Every since I began writing about Cuba I have been asked some darn good questions. Before getting into…
Bits and Pieces of Cuba
January 2015 If you are traveling on a tour to Cuba you may see this statement on the top of…
Cuban Education
2015 I often hear people say that one of the advantages of Cuba’s socialist system is the free education. My…
Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the Midday Sun
While the actual numbers regarding July temperatures do not scream hot to many, it is one of the hottest July’s…
Today We Had Eggs
In July I was walking down the miserably hot streets of Santiago de Cuba on my way to the mercado.…
Today there is no water
It is July 26th, one of the most important days in Santiago de Cuba. The heat is stifling and the…
Religion in Cuba
August 2015 My Cuban friend, whom I call Tio, asked me the other day what I thought of Raul Castro…
I Tried to take a Drill into Cuba
It is actually very simple. You can not get decent tools in Cuba. Yes, you can purchase badly made, highly…
Monumento al Cimmarón
The Monumento al Cimarrón, by Alberto Lescay, or Monument to the Runaway Slave is in the Cuban town of El…
Carnaval in Santiago de Cuba
The most famous of all Cuba festivals is the Carnaval of Santiago de Cuba. The festival is held annually from…
Carnaval Santiago de Cuba for the Kids
The second night of Carnaval I headed out to the kid’s area to see the rides. This is worth every…
Bonaventure Cemetery of Savannah, Georgia
I have had a fascination for cemeteries for much of my life. My love of them comes from their quality…
Architectural Styles of Savannah
The architectural styles of Savannah are varied and, thanks to many preservationists, available for us all to study. There are…
Details of Savannah
There is so much cast iron in Savannah but one of the more impressive pieces is the fountain in Forsyth…
Savannah Tidbits
There are so many wonderful architectural styles in Savannah, with details galore. I wanted to focus on a few items…
The Square as the Heart of Savannah
I studied the squares of Savannah in Urban Planning classes at school. I was anxious to finally get to see…
Cotton is King
May 2015 Savannah, Georgia is like other towns in the United States that have a plethora of historic architecture. They…
Two Hours in Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is steeped in Southern history and they are proud of it, beginning with their flag. The South Carolina flag…
Odds and Ends
This post, I hope, will give you a better insight to the Cuba outsiders just don’t see or know. This…
Iris Jazz Club
Music: breathing of statues. Perhaps Silence of paintings. You language where all language ends. You time standing vertically On the…
Outer Harmony
In December of 2010, the city of Santiago de Cuba held its first Rene Valdes Cedeño Public Sculpture Symposium. Sponsored…
Nature
This piece, titled Nature, is by Juan Quintanilla. In December of 2010, the city of Santiago de Cuba held its…
Santiago de Cuba
It is April 2015 and I have returned to Cuba. This time I am traveling with a Cuban national, one…
Santiago de Cuba – El Morro
Strategically located on a cliff top, the structure, Castillo de San Pedro del Morro, took 62 years to build and…
Saint Ifigenia Cemetery – Santiago de Cuba
Created in 1868 to accommodate the victims of the War of Independence and a simultaneous yellow-fever outbreak, the Santa Ifigenia…
El Cobre – Santiago de Cuba
This is El Cobre, a church with a colorful history and a stunning interior. Built in 1926, El Cobre lies…
El Cobre for the View
Once you leave the Cathedral in El Cobre, and if you are willing to walk 400 steps, be certain to…
Guantanamo
April 2015 I have come to Guantánamo to visit my friends family. This post is really just a walking tour…
Felix Baez Sarrias and Jennifer Reyes Chavez
Jennifer Reyes Chavez is a very very bright young 9 year old from Cuba. When this article appeared in the…
The best Albariño I have tasted – Galicia, Spain
This is not a plug for a winery, this is about a Spanish gentleman that makes great wine. I had…
Househunting in Galicia
March 2015 I have traveled to Galicia, Spain with my friend Julie B. to go house hunting. The house is…
Taking the Waters at Balneario de Mondariz
What ever happened to Taking the Waters? What a lovely way to pass the time, and yet you only see…
The Lamprey
It is Lamprey season in Galicia Spain. If you are a queasy about cuisine, I suggest you stop reading right…
Skiing Courchevel
Courchevel is the name of a ski resort in the French Alps. It is a part of Les Trois Vallées,…
Raclette at Hotel Courcheneige
Food at the Hotel Courcheneige is excellent, and we walk away from dinner every night astounded and sated, however, one…
Miscellaneous thoughts on Courchevel
Winter 2015 The Airport Courchevel’s airport stops you in your tracks. It has a very short and steeply sloped runway,…
4 Hours in Geneva
The train from Courcheval, France arrives in Geneva at 2:00 p.m. and we had a 7:00 dinner reservation, followed by…
Paris – March 2015
It is hard to believe that I was in India just a mere 5 days ago, it is days like…
How to Exhaust yourself in Paris
When you only have three days in Paris, there are just a few things that have to be accomplished, and…
You want to go where in Paris?
Morning began with perfection and one of the world’s biggest sugar rushes, Chocolate Chaud at Angelina’s. The chocolate comes in…
Random Thoughts on Paris
A LITTLE SHOPPING We really had absolutely no time for shopping, but I do love the individual neighborhood shops of…
India in February 2015
New Delhi A reminder of once again how brutal the flight is from California to New Delhi with an arrival…
Delhi, Sarnath and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh
We rose early in Delhi to head to the airport for a flight to Varnasi. Alas, the plane was late…
Varanasi at Night
“Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of…
Varanasi – Bodh Gaya and the Road In Between
Varanasi in the Morning February 2015 Up before dawn to catch the river as it wakes. It was truly amazing…
Bodh Gaya to Munger
It was an 8-hour drive from Bodh Gaya to Munger to catch the R.V. Bengal Ganga. Along the way we…
The R.V. Bengal Ganga
Our first stop in the morning was to the Bihar School of Yoga. The school was established in 1963 and…
The R.V. Bengal Ganga and Bateshwarsthan
February 2015Our only stop today was Vikramshila University in the town of Bateshwarsthan. This is the birthplace of Vajrayana Buddhism.…
The R.V. Bengal Ganga and The Raj Mahal
February 2015 We have been told of the dolphins of the Ganges, and in fact two days ago we sailed…
Curry and Saris on the R.V. Bengal
February 2015 Our last day on the boat held a cooking class by the chef. It was not so much…
The R. V. Benghal and Kalna the Temple Town
February 2013 Our only stop today was Kalna or Ambika Kalna called the “Temple Town”, and dedicated to the goddess…
Kolkata and Bhubaneswar
Our morning began with disembarkation from the R.V. Bengal in Kolkata (Calcutta). We were given a very brief tour of…
Bhubaneswar – The Temple City of India
February 2015 There are over 400 temples, only a fraction of what is thought to have once been 7000 temples,…
Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konarak
February 2015 Our last day in Bhubaneswar, was very long, and yet amazing, sadly, tomorrow we fly to Delhi and…
Indian Wrap Up
February 2015 As this is my second trip to India, albeit to a completely different region, my ending thoughts are…
Camilo Cienfuegos
Revolution Plaza Havana, Cuba On the Ministry of Ministry of Communications building is another line sculpture by Enrique Avila Gonzales.…
Che Guevara, Korda and Gonzales
Plaza de Revolucion Havana, Cuba Plaza de la Revolución “Revolution Square” is one of the 13 largest outdoor plazas in…
Cuba in January 2015
Cuba has the most tightly controlled internet in the world. Their internet is characterized by a low number of connections,…
Miami/Santa Clara/Cienfuegos
January 16, 2015 The day started at 5:00 in the morning to get to the airport for the Cuban airport…
Cienfuegos/Trinidad
After a buffet breakfast we were bound for Trinidad. Before leaving town we headed to the local Mercado. It was…
Cuba-Topes De Collantes:Parque Codina
We were joined by a local guide Luise. Luise has a degree in journalism but is a fountain of information…
Cuba – Topes/Zapata Peninsula/Bay of Pigs
We began our day in the Zapata Swamp looking for the Emerald Hummingbird and the Bee Hummingbird. This was day…
Cuba Playa Larga/Soroa/Vinales
We had the privilege of a lecture from Frank Medina, director of the Zapata Park. This 5000 square kilometer Park…
El Caballero de Paris
This is one of my favorite public sculptures in Havana, and as you can see how the patina has been…
Cuba – Vinales/Soroa
Today was filled with those moments that just reek of the tourism that no one in this group wants, and…
Cuba Soroa/ Terrazas/Havana
The morning began with a tour of a Botanical Garden that specialized in Orchids. Our guide, Aliett Cecilia Diaz, was…
Cuba – Havana
The older portions of Havana are built on a system of squares. We hopped off the bus at the Malecon…
John Lennon in Cuba
Lennon Park Havana, Cuba In the John Lennon Park at 17th and 6th, is a sculpture of the former Beatles…
Benny Moré
Prado Promenade Cienfuegos, Cuba Benny Moré (Bartolomé Maximiliano Moré Gutiérrez, 24 August 1919 – 19 February 1963), or Benny, was…
Yasser Arafat in Cuba
7th Avenida Havana, Cuba Havana, Cuba, Nov. 24 2012 In the words of its sculptor, Andres Gonzalez Gonzalez, the bust…
Cuba – Havana
The morning of Day 9 we started at the largest crafts market, a grouping of storage lockers inside a quonset…
The Cars of Cuba
Wow, I got to see the backseat of a ‘56 Chevy again. – William Madar So you have heard about…
A Small Sampling of Art in Cuba
Cienfuegos Our first people to people experience was in Cienfuegos. We had the pleasure of listening to a choral group…
The Buena Vista Social Club
Dancing in Cuba is spontaneous, and absolutely gorgeous. I am convinced the Cubans have an extra gene just for grace…
Hemingway and Cuba
I had the luxury of being given a tour of the grounds of Hemingway’s Cuban home by Deputy Director Isbel…
Tobacco Farming in Cuba
One of the best regions for growing tobacco in Cuba is the Pinar del Rio region which is where we…
Buddy Bears
Oh Cuba I Bearly Knew Ya….Bill United Buddy Bears is an art project to promote tolerance and understanding among nations,…
Bat to Bat Days in Louisville, Kentucky
July 2014 Louisville is an interesting town. Everyone knows it for the Kentucky Derby, and I have always wanted to…
Where has service gone?
I have been traveling quite a bit in the last 12 months, both inside and outside of the United States.…
Chicago River Cruise
June 2014 There are several river cruises available to take in Chicago, and I highly recommend that you take at…
Chagall in Chicago
10 South Dearborn Exelon Plaza Chicago Composed of thousands of inlaid chips in over 250 colors, this mosaic is by…
Gillette Castle
67 River Road East Haddam, Connecticut This, truly unique residence was commissioned and designed by William Gillette. Gillette was an…
The Blue Garden and the Arthur Curtiss James Estate
School has finished and I am spending a few days with dearest friends Robert and Gail Ornstein. Robert is an…
Newport, Rhode Island
I arrived in Newport today (May 30, 2014) to begin an 8 day course on the History and Architecture of…
Early Newport
We were told when this course began that we would learn the meaning of “Death March” or “Sherman’s March to…
Newport – The Calm before the Storm
So, I have come to the conclusion that the reason these are called death marches isn’t just because we hike…
So You Want an American Renaissance…
Today was a day of only 3 houses, but what houses they were. All three houses were designed by Richard…
MM&W meet LaFarge
Our day started at the Channing Memorial Church. (E. Boyden and Sons 1881). William Ellery Channing was the foremost Unitarian…
Floors, Ceilings and Walls
Our day began at Slater Mill. The mill is part of the Blackstone River Valley, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Pawtucket…
Castles, Views and the Servants
After a morning of lectures we headed out to Belcourt Castle. Belcourt is a R. M. Hunt building( 1891-94). The…
Out and About in the Countryside
We began this morning in my favorite genre, Japanese revival. The house is just lovely, as are the couple that…
Baku, Azerbaijan
I arrived at 9:30 last night April 29th, 2014 after leaving San Francisco at 3:00 April 28th. Flights like that…
Baku, Azerbaijan Day 2
We began the day at the Fountains Square, a public square in downtown Baku. The name derives from the presence…
Day 3 in Baku – Still Exploring the City
May 2014 When taking the funicular yesterday we ended up at Martyr’s row. Like so many city’s around the world…
Leaving Azerbaijan
May 2014 I feel like I have just stepped up to the water fountain and haven’t even had a chance…
Tblisi, Georgia
Tblisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia. The Mtkvari River runs through the middle of it and…
The Countryside of Georgia – Dmanisi and Bolnisi
May 2014 We headed out of town to Dmanisi. Dmanisi is a medieval town overlooking the confluence of two rivers…
Tblisi to Kutaisi
May 2014 We began our day heading straight out of Tblisi to Kutaisi. Today was an entire day of archaeological…
Kutaisi to Bakuriani
After an interesting night at Lali’s Guesthouse our first stop was just down the road at Bagrati Cathedral. Bagrati Cathedral…
David Gareja Monastery and the East of Georgia
Today we had a 2 and 1/2 hour drive out of Tblisi. Our destination was the David Gareja Monastery complex.…
Tblisi to Yerevan
May 2014 Armenia is much smaller than Georgia, covering only 11,482 square miles. It is a country of only 3.2…
2 Days in Yerevan, Armenia
Since everything is so far from Yerevan and, like Georgia, there are no hotels outside of the big cities we…
An Archaeological Day – Yerevan to Sisian
Today we drove from Yerevan to Sisian – approximately 130 miles, at 30 MPH, through windy, sometimes gravel roads, for…
Sisian, Armenia and its Environs
Mt Ararat We stayed the night in a very interesting hotel in the town of Sisian. This time I was…
Our last day in Armenia
We begin our last day heading back to Yerevan. We are taking a slightly different route, but again, due to…
Dublin – Day One
Dublin February 2014 I am traveling with my friend Mari Zatman. We arrived at 9:00 am, which means for a…
Dublin – Day 2
Tá lá breá ann (It’s a Beautiful Day) Okay that truly is the only thing I can attempt to write…
The Art of Saint Stephen’s Green
Saint Stephen’s Green is a small park in the city center. The park has a very rich history in itself,…
Public Art in Dublin
Like any old European town, Dublin is littered with statues to the famous, and often, the long forgotten. I am…
Harps and Shamrocks and some Guinness Thrown in for Good Measure
Shamrocks and Ireland are synonymous. This comes from St. Patrick and the use of the shamrock to represent the Holy…
Pubs, Pubs, Pubs
Pubs and Ireland, an unbreakable bond in everyone’s mind. There are approximately 800 pubs in Dublin at this time. However,…
Rain, Rain, Rain
We have been very fortunate with our weather, but we fear that is about to run out. Ireland has been…
Glendalough and Moher and an Aron Sweater for Warmth
These two sites are exactly what one’s minds eye sees when they think Ireland. This would be more the case…
County Kerry without the Rain
Well, we lucked out today, cloudy and cold, but nowhere near as much rain as we experienced yesterday. We joined…
Blarney – Oh My!
Today was a visit to Blarney Castle, so yes, that meant kissing the Blarney Stone. Blarney Castle is a little…
Ogham Stones
February 2014 We had a few moments to kill when we had a flat tire on our bus, so we…
Delhi to Agra
Today we drove to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. The drive was extremely interesting. Getting out of Delhi was…
The Taj Mahal
Well I promised I would write about it, but I am not sure I can. It is magical, it is…
Insanity and Tranquility
Our guide, the professor Annapurna Garmiella (you can google her if you are interested, and by the way, she is…
Elephants
This is wedding season in India. Weddings are not necessarily on a Saturday like we think of them in the…
Sweets of India
We spent day 10 in the bus driving to Jaipur, so not much to report. Day 11 we have spent…
Jodhpur to Udaipur
FINALLY had kulfi. Saffron Kulfi to boot. Kulfi is traditionally prepared by evaporating sweetened and flavoured milk via slow cooking,…
Food of India
November 2013 Today I decided to address food – I have been hesitating to do this because frankly, most Indian…
Mumbai/Bombay
November 2013 We flew into Mumbai Friday around 10:00 a.m.. We are truly confused as how we got here, as…
General Thoughts on India
The very first night that we joined our tour group the leader asked us to say why we had come…
Very Very Random Thoughts on India
I mentioned that our guide had the most wonderful smile, and a fabulous laugh. THAT is India. Smiles and laughter…
Camino de Santiago
September 2013 September 2013 My dear dear friend Julie Belott asked me a few weeks after Michael passed away if…
Camino de Santiago Hiking Day 1
September 2013 Day 1 – 21 miles or 33.8 kilometers – Way toooo much – and I will explain why…
Camino de Santiago – Hiking Day 2
September 2013 I started my morning by hiking up a hill to Castromaiar. Castro means stone in Galician, and at…
Camino de Santiago – Hiking Day 3
September 2013 14.1 miles – 29,482 steps – Rain for about 15 minutes – more about that. At the end…
Camino de Santiago – Hiking Day 4
September 2013 14.9 miles and 35,000 steps I promised to give an update to last nights meal, good but nowhere…
Camino de Santiago – Last Day of Hiking
September 2013 9.9 miles – 23,500 steps Today was bitter sweet. My feet are so glad we are done, and…
Eccentric Mercer and his Moravian Tiles
This is the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, (Bucks County) Pennsylvania. Henry Mercer inherited his money from a maiden aunt and…
Magic Gardens
1020 South Street Philadelphia, PA My favorite artists are ones that find their passion and pursue it, with no thought…
Eastern State Penitentiary
2027 Fairmount Avenue Philadelpha, PA I am in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My habit in any town is to seek the oddball.…
Gifts to Cuba
I am often asked what to take to the Cuban people. Please tread carefully here. Like so many countries around…