Justta...

We become somewhat jaded by
all of the
images and
messages around us.

We can feel that
each thing that
comes our way
is "justa" ...
"nuther"
thing.

When you travel and  you can discover
things you have seen
in a book
or magazine, are not "justa"
statue.

justa fountain

or justa church.

Favorite sights

Para-sailing in the Alps - not me - these crazy Italians.

WIndow in Venice

On a back street that goes into the Jewish Ghetto (old foundry) in Venice, there is a frog

 that serves as a guard watching each person entering or leaving.

Much of traveling for me is looking at the details.

Sunday - Church Day: Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

The village church in central Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy in the Alps

Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square

Where are you going this next year? What will be your next adventure?  We have trips planned, but the adventures include the preparing, waiting. imagining. As well, the adventure includes the every day wondering about what will happen next - for sometimes the most exciting and bewildering things occur at home, in the stillness of just being.

(Sign which stands in downtown Portland, Oregon - photographed last week.)

Portland Oregon Zoo Lights

INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA

There are many benefits to travel, but one of the more important for me is learning how to appreciate the "Here And Now". When you are sitting outside of a cafe in Innsbruck having lunch, you have real difficulty worrying about your job back in Tracy, California, USA. Your mind is on the present and thinking about potential problems 8,000 miles away doesn't do you much good. Besides, you are having to remember your college German so you can order your food. When I get over an hour from home, I can relax much more and enjoy the present. If I were to get phone call, I'd have to say "I'm sorry, I can't come and help you just now. I am too far away." Traveling gives you a more realistic sense of space and time. It also gives you a sense of your real importance.

 Sunday in Innsbruck

My choice of seat at outdoor cafe...

Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland, Oregon USA

Christmas blessings on all. May peace come as we all embody The Peacemaker.

Multnomah Village, Portland Oregon, USA minature library

A place to take a book and leave a book so others may enjoy it. Objective to get more people to read those old fashioned paper and ink books. This is located on the main street (SW Capitol Avenue) in Multnomah Village.

Protests cause BART riders to take crowded bus to SF.

Not everyone may enjoy you if you are cheerful in the midst of a negative event, but what the heck? We were stuck on a crowded bus because protesters blocked the BART line to SF the day after Thanksgiving. Folks were pretty grumpy about having their plans interrupted. It took me several tries to get them to sing "The Wheels on The Bus" and "100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall."

Newgrange - The Winter Solstice

Newgrange, Ireland is older than Stonehenge

 and a means of calculating the rebirth of the sun each December 21. 

Friday's Favorite Photo

Waterton Lakes National Park, Canada

Warming Hut in the Italian Alps

Maybe it is because I am cold today, even if it is a mild Winter in Oregon. I think of warm and warm reminds me of this September Day on a pass in the Italian Alps. A warming hut would be nice right now.

Austrian FedEx?

We were in Feldkirch, Austria when we saw one of the local postal letter carriers pull up to the hotel. We saw the same form of mail delivery in Liechtenstein. With the hills this takes great legs. There is a bell but no gears.

Long gone sunset from the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Waiting for a bus to the Sausalito Ferry.

Piazza Navona, Rome

In an beautiful Baroque style, this is Piazza Navona  in Rome.

Nothing exceptional about this photo except is was a sunny, hot day there

and it is a cold, rainy day today here in Tracy, California, USA. 

Warm memories.

On not looking like a tourist

     So, you don't want to look like a tourist? Do you dress like a Mountie when you go to Calgary, Canada? You might not look like a tourist, but you will look silly.
     When we first decided to go to Ireland (IE) I went out and bought a wool tweed jacket. I figured that I would look Irish that way. Dumb. I did not see many tweed jackets on people. I was sweaty all the time in the heat and other things gave me away.
     People's shoes are a give away as is the way we walk. In Rome I did not have to even get to my first hello and they started speaking English to me. I look American  and I walk like an American.
     It is okay to be a tourist. You are one. You likely will not blend in even if you want to. Just be a nice ambassador from the United States.
     Some people from the United States even try to pass themselves off as Canadians as Canadians are well liked around the world. But, I say leave your red Mountie jacket at home and just be yourself at your best.

The Dolomites

Picture taken with a very long lens of a "village" in the Dolomite area of

Northern Italy. In the winter it is likely that everyone skis to their

friends' homes for visits.

Mulnomah Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

 

Everyone who drives the gorge from Portland east has to stop and take a picture of Multnomah Falls. I am no different, although because we have a home near there we have photos from various seasons. This one is from June. A must stop is the lodge at the bottom of the falls. Sit in the glassed-in area and have a drink (drivers need to stick with coffee) and maybe lunch. Good food.

You can sit inside or outside.

If you want, you can hike to this bridge (easy) or to the top (less easy).

The Dolomites

This is why The Dolomites (Dolomiti, Sud Tyrol) Italy were on my bucket list.

A week here can change your life. To understand scale, note houses just under date.

They get to see that out of their window every day.

Dingle, Ireland

The man in the blue shirt is the former police chief of Dingle, Ireland. He took us out for a tour of the ancient sites. When we turned a corner and discovered that the fog and overcast had lifted, he pulled over on the pretext that we could get a good view. The truth is, I think, that he wanted to take in a rare experience of seeing the islands, especially the "Lying Man".  Marietta is to his left.

See the man lying there?

Chinatown, London. England

Kilkenny Castle

Kilkenny Castle (Manor), Ireland

As seen from the green...

A favorite place in Ireland.

Pearl Harbor Day

Remembering

Icefields Parkway

The Icefields Parkway from Banff to Jasper is remarkable in the lakes and the color of the water. The folks that own the Banff Avenue Bed and Breakfast suggested stops at several lakes to take photos. The problem I found was that the photos are close but not as strong as the actually blue of the water. The color comes from glacial flour that washes down and is suspended. It is truly beautiful.

The Falls Returning to Yosemite

The rains have kicked started the falls in Yosemite. Let's hope for a BIG snowpack.

Half Moon Bay

A flower seen on the beach near Half Moon Bay last Spring. 

Now that it is Winter we remember it and long to see it again.

San Francisco Ferry Building

Ferry Building as seen from arriving ferry, November 30, 2014.

The Hyatt, San Francisco

The lobby in the Hyatt Regency in S.F. has been hung with thousands of lights to copy the look of snow. We have stayed at this hotel and eaten there several times. The hotel is built around a lobby that is a giant atrium that soars up many stories and the doors to the rooms all open up to that space. The photo, which I took last week, shows the metal sculpture on the ground floor.

San Francisco Bay

Black Friday stroll over the Golden Gate Bridge

On Friday (yesterday) we walked over the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco to the Waldo Grade. It was a clear day before the rains came. There were protests in the city and it took us four hours by BART and bus to get to San Francisco and these shots were taken as the sun was setting. It was a good day. We did, however, miss the lighting of the Union Square Tree as there were protests there as well.

Black Friday

Black Friday at San Francisco's Union Square 2013 -  will report on 2014 tomorrow.

What to take/not take on a European Vacation

      The many travel sites that I monitor have nice lists on what and how to pack for a European vacation. Some people tell you how to use a carry-on bag for a month long trip. Others have a handy list of things you might need like duct-tape and Ziploc bags.
     Here are my suggestions. Don't take a nickle-and-dime attitude. The difference between counting the cost of everything and just being sensible is very little money and a huge amount of freedom. You can spend your whole time fussing about the cost of getting a 3-day museum pass in Paris, or you can spend the extra money and skip the long line of tourists waiting to get in. Your time is worth more.
     It is true that a carry-on makes for faster traveling, but if the reason you are sticking with it is the cost ($50?) then you are worrying about the wrong thing. I will guess you will spend more than that on things you do not need.
     Take a sense of humor. Traveling is a little stressful, but if you cannot laugh at missing a bus or making a wrong turn you are not ready to discover the joy hidden in the misadventure.
     Take along a sense of wonder. Ugly Americans are those that carry with them a yardstick based on what they have at home. When you stop trying to see if the new places measure up to your expectations you will be amazed at wonderful new things.
     Keep your loud voice at home. People in Austria who speak German do not understand English whether it is whispered or shouted. Americans are, in my opinion, louder than others except for drunk Italians.  
     Do not take a tight schedule. I know people who have a huge checklist for each day and rush around making sure they do it all. Sitting at a small, outside table looking up at the Alps in the Sud Tyrol for two hours - sipping a crisp Pinot Grigio - beats hitting four churches during the same time. You will remember the wine.

Roman floors

These are photos of floors in Rome.

It is so thrilling to look up at the marvelous Italian ceilings that we rarely look down.

The builders spent a good deal of time making those floors just as wonderful as the rest of the buildings.

These floors are of stone and marble. Some in Venice are delightful parquet. No matter, the floors tell the story of the generations that walked over them.

The third picture down shows four holes. These are drain holes. The floor is in the Pantheon which has a open circular roof. Water can enter when it rains and thus the drain is necessary.


Many floors in the churches are actually covers for crypts of beloved priests. The major tombs in the walls are reserved for wealthy patrons.

Crater Lake, Oregon

 From 25,000 feet.

Oregon and Washington - like the same latitude in Europe such as England, Scotland and Ireland - are often under a cloud cover. It is why they are so green, lush and beautiful when the clouds clear.