Book Direct with Hotel

      I will tell you, after some experience, that hotels have to pay secondary booking companies a commission, so you will often get a better room by booking directly with the hotel. I look at the booking sites and then contact the hotel or B&B direct. (Photo of a B&B hotel in Granada Spain)

Florence from above

I loved seeing the city of Florence from the top of the hill.

Mont. Saint Michele

Some people look for souvenirs. Some shop for wonders. 

MiniEurope, Brussels, Belgium

Very detailed models of famous places all over Europe, MiniEurope was a choice of my Grandson during our visit to Brussels. It is well done and waterproof as we found out in the rain.

Photographing a Rhino In The Wild

     Here are some notes about taking a photograph of a rhino in the wild. 1) They are not easy to find. Many have been poached and there are fewer and fewer left. 2) You will wish to stay in a safari vehicle as they are faster than you are. They also would prefer to be left alone. 3) You will wish to stay in a safari vehicle for another reason. They are rare and protected and you can be shot. Many of the rhinos have armed security looking after them. The security folks do not know you have good motives. Lastly) this is their home and you are a visitor.

In celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year

Photos from Chinatown, London. Nothing like Chinatown, San Francisco.

Happy New Year.

Building Held Up By Ivy

An Edwardian house covered with Ivy in Dublin. The vines add color.

Street artist in Barcelona

We purchased this painting from a street artist in the Gothic Section

of Barcelona Spain. Better than a refrigerator magnet.

Pittock Mansion, Portland Oregon USA

On top of a hill overlooking Portland, Oregon stands the home of the publisher of the Oregonian  Newspaper. It is a grand place, completely furnished in period pieces. The remarkable thing is that it is a favorite place to go for children. It may be the scale or the fact that they can see what it was like in the days of their great-grandparents. 

Monet's Gardens (and house) In Giverny

      Located on the right bank of the Seine, the village of Giverny is the location of the home of Claude Monet. It is accessible by car, boat and bus from Paris and is a short way. 

         If you are like most of us, you have seen those famous paintings by Monet of his garden and especially the ponds with the waterlilies.  I have seen photos on calendars and prints of his paintings.  I have seen the actual paintings in Paris and even in San Francisco (The Place of the Legion of Honor.) 

          Yet, it is truly a pleasure to go trough the small gate passed the white and green sign, and there is the garden surrounding his home. And, there are the ponds and the waterlilies and the green bridge. It is very worth the trip, and hence you can forever recall walking in that garden.

South African Cheetah

This cheetah was on a preserve in South Africa. We visited the reserve as part of a four nation trip to study the animals and the ways these countries are seeking to protect endangered species.

What a beautiful creature.

Restroom, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

     The Victoria and Albert Museum is a truly good one and I fear suffers from not being the British Museum. They are very different and want to be. One thing about the V & A is that it has a very nice cafe to have lunch and I highly recommended it. The second thing of note is  that it has one of the nicest men's rooms I have used (maybe second to the restrooms in Terminal 2E of the Paris Airport.) The photo above  -taken not to show people or plumbing - shows the handmade tiles with the museums monogram. Not many places will do details like that.

Irish Tidy Towns

     All over Ireland the towns and cities have a competition for a label of "Tidy Town". They are judged on their appeal and cleanness. The photos above show you just one of these towns. No one litters and, if they do, someone else picks it up. The streets are clean and there is pride in the community. Great idea that really works.

In a Brussels Cathedral

Last summer we hired a guide-driver and took an eight hour tour

of Brussels. Admittedly Brussels  is not the most exciting city

I have visited in Europe, but it had some nice surprises.

Happy Valentine's Day

Marietta and Mike in Paris

Bridge over the Seine 

Winter Olympics: 1964 Innsbruck

Innsbruck Olympic Ski Jump - in the Summer - Marietta McLellan

Winter Olympics: 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo

   
     The Winter Olympics were held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy in the Dolomite Mountains. This is a photo I took just outside of Cortina.  The photo was taken in the summer after we had picked up some groceries in the city and were out on the road having a picnic.  This is a glorious area and it is a pretty town. If you go there, walk the downtown pedestrian area and certainly visit the church.

Olympics: Barcelona

     This is the cauldron of the Barcelona Olympics. We have visited the sites of a good number of these events as well as actually attending two of them over the years. The flame is a central theme and the cauldron of each game site is very different and very much a central symbol. Most of the sites for both the Winter and Summer Games still stand.

Roman Garbage Trucks

     So that people do not think that Rome is only glamour and romance here is a couple of photos of Roman garbage truck.  Indeed, they have trash just like folks everywhere. Notice, however, that these trucks are about 1/4th the size of ours in California due to the narrow streets. And. maybe they don't make as much trash as we do.

Victoria Falls, Africa - from the air

     Top photo is of my 12-year-old grandson in a helicopter or the Zambezi  River. The lower photo is one he took of the over 1 mile long Victoria Falls. The falls lie between Zimbabwe and Zambia and, on the ground, we visited both sides, but the view from above is well worth it. You cannot get the scale from these photos, but it is very large.

Anne Frank's House

Anne Frank's House, Amsterdam

Get your tickets early on line.

The Fenice, Venice

     Outside the Fenice Opera House in Venice - star of the book, "The City of Falling Angels" - and the inside. It is ready for a concert. We were in an almost empty house when a man walked out, tuned the piano, tested it by playing a wonderful piece, and walked off. We could not have planned it.

The Colosseum, Rome

     We went to the Colosseum twice when we were in Rome in 2012 - seems like yesterday, not six years ago - and we learned some interesting things. First, some of it is not there because authorizes took the stone to use in other projects. (The arena in Verona is more complete and is still in use.) Second, it is better with a tour guide than by yourself. The guide will point out a whole bunch of things you do not notice. Third, it looks great from the top looking down, but go down and see the walkways under the arena where the gladiators and animals walked. Spooky to think people were led to their death that way.

Ice fields Parkway, Canada

     We stopped for a picnic and then a short walk across a bridge to see the river. You will notice the people looking at the water at center left. The water is rushing passed them and more coming under the bridge on which we were standing. What you cannot experience is the sound. The water was roaring and it was hard to hold a conversation.  Maybe it is good that you cannot talk. The sight is worth just being there and listening to the power of the water.

High in the Italian Alps

     Marietta McLellan took the top picture of me as we walked toward a chalet to get lunch in the Italian Alps (Dolomites). I post it to boast about being there, as it is a favorite place. I post it, as well, because somehow her photo makes me look abut 20 pounds thinner than I am.

The Abbey at Iona

     I did not take this photo and will gladly credit it if it is yours. Whoever you are, I thank you. I was on Iona for a couple of days and the weather was not good for photos. We stayed at a lovely B&B and went to vespers at the Abbey.

     Vespers are the evening services and the theme the night we were there was "hospitality". It was lived out by the people there. We received a warm welcome and it was as if we were coming home. In some ways, it is home for a Presbyterian Minister (Iona is where Christianity came to Scotland and Scotland is in place of genesis for Presbyterianism). 

     More importantly, it was a goal of many years to visit there. I have had some other goals completed and have sometimes been disappointed. Not here.

A380@CDG

     We live in a world of digits instead of words. We type LOL rather than telling someone that we are amused. In the world of airports, we fly from SFO or JFK to LHR. 

      As I fly Air France to Europe from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) I find myself on an Airbus A380. It is two stories and wide. It has lots of room and I like the aircraft. However, when I see it at the gate - the photo above is at CDG on the way to Johannesburg South Africa - I think to myself that it is too big to fly. How does it get off the ground with all that weight?  It has to have two boarding ramps. WOW - that is just what it spells, "wow!".