britain calling

Abingdon Street / London, England
Big Ben is calling - and I best heed his call. I'll be flying across the pond this evening; spending the next month working in the UK. It will be a very busy month but I'm hopeful that I'll get a bit of time to put my new Nikon D90 to work, as well.

madonna monday

Kuekenstratt / Willemstad, Curaçao
Just like the real thing, this store in Willemstad was bold and brassy Madonna. I have no idea what commercial business is conducted here - there were silver mannequins in various stages of haute couture undress scattered across the front window on the second floor. Just like the real thing.

the older I get - the better I look

Solomon R Guggenheim Museum / New York, New York
Yesterday was one of those amazing NYC teaser days - where you know it is technically still Winter yet it is 68 degrees outside. I took the opportunity (even though by the time I got out it had started to grey over) and spent the afternoon walking the city from the Upper East Side to the West Village. My first stop was the newly renovated Guggenheim Museum on 5th Avenue at E. 89th. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and one of the 20th century's most important architectural landmarks, the structure recently completed an extensive three year renovation. The Museum, which opened in 1959, will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year - and looks better than ever.

phalaeopsis aplenty

Highway 3B / Orchid World, Barbados
Located between St. Johns Church and Gun Hill, Orchid World is an orchid lovers paradise. The well-landscaped, meandering paths lead you on a self guided tour past waterfalls, through a coral grotto and eventually through a number of orchid houses. However, most of the exotic orchids are on display in a very natural environment, growing along the path edges. The six acres site was a former chicken and pig farm so the soil is well conditioned for spectacular blooms year round. It was a good way to kill an hour or two before heading to the airport for home.

c'est gen fou anglaise

Les Sans Coulette East / New York, New York
Olive trees. Apple trees. Sausage trees. Excusez-moi?? Yes, last night we had dinner with out of town friends at Les Sans Coulette (which basically translates to No Pants) in Midtown East where the house appetizer is .. a sausage tree. French bread, mustard, paté, pickles, a crudité consisting of an entire basket of fresh whole raw vegetables - and a sausage tree. By the time we finished the appetizer, there was little room for dinner. Nevertheless, I managed to consume a perfectly edible chicken cordon bleu. C'est la vie!

setting summer sun

8th St NW @ I St NW / Washington, DC
Walking along the fringes of Chinatown before dinner one evening, I caught the last vestiges of sun shining against this office building facade. There's something about the evening sun setting on a warm clear night - or perhaps it's just summer. I look forward to its return.

carpathian cuddliness

Peleş Castle / Sinaia, Romania
Northwest of the town of Sinaia, nestled in the Carpathian Mountains is a complex of three monuments: Peleş Castle, Pelişor Chateau and Foisor Hunting Chateau. The most important of these is Peleş Castle which was built between 1873 and 1883 on an existing medieval route linking Transylvania and Wallachia. The castle was declared a national museum in 1953; however, during the last years of the communist regime (between 1975-1990), Ceauşescu closed the entire area off to visitors. According to some, this was due to Ceausescu's health phobias; he subsequently declared the building infested with dangerous fungus Serpula lacrymans. Fortunately, after the December 1989 Revolution, Peleş Castle was re-opened for tourism and it is indeed worth a stop. For us though, the highlight was a baby lion some guy was holding in his arms on the castle grounds - very cuddly.

waterworks

Central Park West / New York, New York
From where I live, you can look west in the evening and view a skyline dotted with the sillouttes of water towers. These wooden towers are a distinctive mark upon the New York City landscape; a rustic, turn of the century nod to practicality. In the 1800's, New York City required that all buildings higher than six stories be equipped with a rooftop water tower. This was necessary to prevent the need for excessively high pressures at lower elevations, which could burst pipes. In more modern times, the towers have become a Manhattan icon with many now protected from demolition. In a city full of skyscrapers, they are a gentle reminder of a more simple time.

shake those tail feathers

Plaza Pierino Gallo / Cartagena, Colombia
It's a snowy monday morning - which makes it hard to get out of bed, shake my tail feathers and get moving. It's going to be a busy week and having to deal with snow (which means idiot drivers) first thing does not help.

it's all about the hair

Thompson Street / New York, New York
Hair fashion. Sometimes it works; many times it doesn't.

out of the frying pan ...

Sami Tent / Paksuniemi, Sweden
A trip to Lapland would not be complete without first racing reindeer - and then cooking the loser. Actually, we didn't cook the loser but after some rigorous racing across the frozen landscape we came back to a meal of cooked reindeer and lingonberry jam. This gamey meal was cooked for us over an open fire by our Sami guide while we sat around the open fire inside a reindeer skin covered tent trying to warm up. We were over 200km north of the Arctic Circle - and it was COLD.

among the trees

Schloss Schönbrunn / Vienna, Austria
Schönbrunn Palace is one of the most important cultural sites in Austria and since the 1960s has also been one of the major tourist attractions in Vienna. While the Palace was architecturally commanding in its scale, I found the surrounding grounds to be much more interesting. Unfortunately, we were there in late November so the numerous gardens were not in bloom but I'm sure in the spring and summer, the landscaping is spectacular. This was taken in the arboretum area and reminded me of parts of Central Park in Manhattan.

by the barrel

Amisfield Wine Company / Queenstown, New Zealand
New Zealand is a land like no other - and the wine is pretty good, as well. Over the past ten years, NZ Sauvignon Blanc, particularly from the Marlborough region, has widely become recognized throughout the world as setting the benchmark for this varietal. However the Otago region is better known for its Pinot Noir and we tasted some excellent Pinots at Amisfield.

magical mystery tour

California Lighthouse / Noodwestpunt, Aruba
These types of party tour buses are synonymous with the island of Aruba - though we chose to take a more sedate means of transportation for seeing the sights. For the next several days I am in southwest Florida touring eleven Brits around our renewable energy facilities in Tampa and Ft Myers. We will have our own magic bus transporting us about though I suspect it won't have a giant banana riding the roof.

path not taken

Margit-szigete / Budapest, Hungary
Otherwise known as Margaret Island, this park land area is a 225 acre, 1.4 miles long island in the middle of the Danube in central Budapest. The island is mostly covered by landscape parks, and is a popular recreational area perfectly situated between Buda and Pest. Its medieval ruins are reminders of its importance in the Middle Ages as a religious center. The island was dominated by nunneries, churches and cloisters until the 16th century. During the Ottoman wars the monks and nuns fled and the buildings were destroyed. It was declared a public garden in 1908. The island was called Nyulak szigete or Island of the Rabbits in the Middle Ages, and it received its current name after Saint Margaret (1242–1270), the daughter of Béla IV of Hungary who lived in the Dominican convent on the island.

queen of the thames

Thames Embankment / London, England
Boudica, derived from the Celtic word for victory, was a queen of the Iceni tribe of what is now known as East Anglia in England, who in AD 60 led an uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire. However, it was not until the Victorian era that Boudica's fame took on legendary proportions as Queen Victoria was seen to be Boudica's "namesake". Alfred, Lord Tennyson, wrote a poem, Boadicea, and several ships were named after her. As a more permanent memorial, a great bronze statue of Boudica with her daughters in her war chariot was completed in 1905 and stands next to Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament. Shadowed against the London Eye, Queen Boudica looks quite imposing.

splitting hairs

Râşnov Fortress / Râşnov, Romania
Set deep in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania, it would appear that the Râşnov Fortress was not known for its customer service. This was a depiction of the "saw" that I shot in the small museum area discussing the fortress' history. The saw may represent human ingenuity's darkest hour. The idea here is that when the victim is suspended upside down, most of the blood will go to the head. That is an important part of the process because as the torturers saw into the victim's crotch, all of the blood in the head will oxygenate the brain so that the victim will not pass out as one normally would under such excruciating pain. Typically, the saw would reach the victim's navel before unconsciousness would take hold -- sometimes as far as the midriff.

best NYC bagels

From the Kitchen of ... / New York, New York
The perfect morning. Sunshine. Hot coffee. And fresh homemade bagels! This morning was a first attempt at making completely homemade bagels which started last night with making the sponge, kneading the dough, shaping the bagels, passing the float test, retarding the dough - and then letting them sit overnight in the fridge. We got up this morning, briefly boiled the bagels and then into the oven they went. Twenty minutes later we were biting into the best bagels EVER - I mean it. Ess-a-Bagel, H&H, Absolute - move over.

keeping an eye on parliament

Westminster Bridge / London, England
I've been in London all week - typically grey but no rain. Yesterday afternoon I walked along the Victoria Embankment from Westminster Bridge (where this was shot from looking towards Parliament and Big Ben) down to Blackfriars Bridge; ending up at the Tate Modern. A nice afternoon fortified by excellent lamb shawarma from a hookah lounge.

open to the heavens above

Temppeliaukio Church / Helsinki, Finland
Temppeliaukio Church, better known as the Rock Church, is a Lutheran church in the Töölö neighborhood of Helsinki. The church was designed by architects and brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen, and opened in 1969. The interior was excavated and built into the rock, but is bathed in natural light entering through the glazed dome (above). The church is used frequently as a concert venue due to its excellent acoustics - with the acoustic quality ensured by the rough, virtually unworked, rock surfaces. It was also a great venue for photography - and one of few churches that actually encourage you to shoot away.

we have-a bananas today

18 Carerra / Santa Marta, Colombia
Santa Marta is located on the northern Colombia coast of the Caribbean sea and backdropped by the beautiful Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains. I was particularly looking forward to revisiting Santa Marta as I had been there a number of times back in the mid-90's for business purposes (not what you're thinking). The city was vaguely as I remembered - hot, dry, somewhat dirty, and with lots of people going about their daily lives - not a tourist town. As obvious from the above photo, there were lots of fresh fruit vendors which reminded me not to eat fruit off the streets unless you can fully peel it - and even then.

ing forward

Dózsa György Street / Budapest, Hungary
Architecturally, this is about as modern as it gets in Budapest. While socialism still has a strong grip on the mindset of the city, ING bank took a step forward with the design of its headquarters building across from Városliget City Park and the vast and empty Square of Heroes. The kinetic movement of the exterior glass, aluminum, and stainless steel components has served as an icon for a new era in Hungarian architecture.

domaclature III

Iglesia de San Pedro Claver / Cartagena, Colombia
San Pedro Claver Corberó was a Jesuit who, due to his remarkable life and work, became the patron saint of slaves of Colombia and of African Americans. He was beatified July 16, 1850 by Pope Pius IX and canonized January 15, 1888 by Pope Leo XIII. San Pedro Claver died in 1654 in Cartagena where he spent most of his life dedicated to the abolition of slavery. Cartagena de Indias was an important port in the slave trading business with many coming from Africa and then sold into slavery. The cathedral, which has this beautiful dome centered over the intersection of the nave and the transept, houses the bones of San Pedro Claver in a glass coffin in full view under the altar - a somewhat gruesome toothless skull and draped skeletal frame.

for dinner .. again???

Central Market on De Ruyterkade / Willemstad, Curaçao
While wandering around the circular public market in downtown Willemstad, I couldn't help but wonder if a pig can still smell without his snout? OK - I've seen pig's knuckles and ears - but these are the first snouts I've seen. Apparently, you deep fry them and serve them up with sauces. Think what more appetizing of a dish Mom could put on the table but pig snouts with some sort of delicious sauce dripping from its nostrils. Seconds please!

happy [heart] day

Banks of the River Usk / Llanhamlach, Wales
Walking along the banks of the River Usk last summer, I happened upon these beautiful but deadly digitalis purpurea, otherwise known as Purple Foxglove or Ladysglove. Due to the presence of the cardiac glycoside digitoxin, the leaves, flowers and seeds of this plant are all poisonous to humans and some animals and can be potentially fatal. Extracted from the leaves, this same compound, whose clinical use was pioneered as digitalis by William Withering in the late 1700's, is used as a medication for heart failure causing the heart to beat more strongly. He also recognized that it reduced "dropsy", now known as edema or an abnormal accumulation of fluids beneath the skin. Fortunately, his patients began vomiting violently within minutes of ingestion which prevented "most" of them from consuming a fatal dose.

straight up

Stockholm Palace / Stockholm, Sweden
The Stockholm Palace (Stockholms slott) is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch, Carl XVI Gustaf and the royal family. The palace has 609 rooms and is one of the largest royal palaces in the world still in use for its original purpose. Stockholm Palace is located on Stadsholmen in the Old Town area of the capital city. It was incredibly cold when we were in Stockholm and I suspect that this poor guy was frozen into his vertical position. Nonetheless, he made for a nice composition.

gentrified dungeons

Las Bóvedas / Cartagena, Colombia
Las Bóvedas, or dungeons, are strategically located between the forts of Santa Clara and Santa Catalina. They are considered to be the last major construction project during the colonization of the walled city of Cartagena. The structure, built between 1792 and 1796, has 47 arches and 23 vaults and was originally designed for munitions storage but is better known for its use as dungeon cells during the Spanish Inquisition which gripped Cartagena de Indias until the early 19th century. Las Bóvedas has recently been restored and now serves as retail space for handcrafts, antiques, bars and galleries.

gaelic glory

Ballintoy Parish Church / Ballintoy (Balle an Tuaigh), Northern Ireland
Set along the picturesque north Antrim coast and looking out over Ballintoy Harbor, the Ballintoy Parish Church currently serves a community of about 250 Church of Ireland parishioners. Ballintoy is located about 1km from the harbor, a small fishing village at the end of a very small, narrow, steep road down Knocksaughey Hill which passes by the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. The rope suspension bridge is taken down every November and put back up the following March (due to weather), linking the mainland to the tiny Carrick Island.

no. 2 urchin

Espanola Island / Galapagos Islands
Walking the beach of Espanola Island, I came upon this spiny pencil sea urchin "has been". Looks to me like an overused ashtray - place your butts here, please.

waddling back home

Portobello (Otago Peninsula) / New Zealand
I'm back - alittle bit bigger - but well rested and tanned. I've always heard what an eating orgy cruise ships are but until you've experienced it, it is hard to imagine the amounts of food available 24/7. After the first two days, I quickly realized what the end result might be so I paced myself better and decided to make healthier eating choices. It's all good. The weather was fantastic - very hot days full of nothing but sunshine.

through the church gate

Church of St Peter and St Illtyd / Llanfrynach, Wales
The church of St Illtyd and St Peter at Llanhamlach lies on the eastern side of the River Usk, about 5km downstream from Brecon, an historic market town dating back to the 11th century. The church tower is attributed to the 14th century but the rest of the building was comprehensively restored in 1887. We came upon the church while taking an afternoon walk from Peterstone Court, a beautiful country inn and spa that we stayed at this past summer.

renaissance reflection

9th Street NW / Washington, DC
A look up from within the courtyard of the Renaissance Hotel on the fringes of Chinatown. We were waiting for a table at a nearby restaurant, The Matchbox - I got antsy and started wandering. Nothing unusual about that.

red light district

Fifth Avenue / New York, New York
The iconic Flatiron Building, originally known as the Fuller Building, is considered to be one of the first skyscrapers ever built. Upon completion in 1902 it was one of the tallest buildings in New York City. The building sits on a triangular island block at 23rd Street, Fifth Avenue, and Broadway, at the northern end of Madison Square Park. The neighborhood around the building is called the Flatiron District after its signature building. That said, what strikes me about this shot is the complete synchronization of the red traffic lights - and corresponding brake lights of the cars.

kiwi sunrise

Lanarch Castle / Dunedin, New Zealand
This was the spectacular view of the Otago Peninsula from our room at Lanarch Castle. The Otago Peninsula is a long, rugged finger of land that forms the easternmost part of Dunedin, New Zealand. Volcanic in origin, it forms one wall of the collapsed crater that now forms Otago Harbour, part of which you can see on the left side. The peninsula lies due east of Otago Harbour and runs parallel to the mainland for approximately 30 km. The peninsula is home to many species of wildlife and ecotourism is an increasingly important part of its economy. This is where you will find the rarest of penguins, the yellow-eyed.

domeclature II

Church of St Peters and St Pauls / Krakow, Poland
Located along the Royal Route (Droga Królewska) in the Old Town area of Krakow, St Peters and St Pauls is a grand 17th century Baroque structure modeled after Rome's del Gesu. I have always been fascinated by domed structures, particularly from the interior. This one was magnificent.

swept away

ICEHOTEL / Jukkasjärvi, Sweden
Suite 320 of the 2007/2008 ICEHOTEL. Now in its 19th year, the ICEHOTEL is an annual construction feat using nothing more than the snowflakes that fall to the ground and ice carved out of the nearby River Torne - incorporating the expertise and experience of builders, designers and artists from around the world. From start to finish, the ICEHOTEL takes approximately six weeks to create with each year bringing a completely new design. This room was designed by two artists from Bulgaria; one a sculptor and the other an architect. A truly amazing experience.

horizontal tonality

Hilton Barbados / Needham Point, Barbados
Some shots work much better than others in black & white - I think this one works well. We had just arrived in Barbados for a week of sailing on a tall ship through the Grenadines and were staying at the Hilton the night before boarding. An incredible storm swept through not long after I took this shot.

vegetarians are sexy?

Hester Street / New York, New York
NBC pulled the plug on a PETA pro-veggie commercial planned for the Super Bowl because it "depicts a level of sexuality exceeding our standards," according to an NBC Universal's advertising standards executive. The ad, which carries the tagline, "Studies Show Vegetarians Have Better Sex," shows lingerie-clad women getting "intimate" with vegetables. Perhaps PETA should have lined these experienced guys up instead.

we're waiting for you

Peters Island / Caribbean Ocean
By the time this post hits my blog today, we will be on our way to a week in the Dutch Antilles - my first big cruise ship adventure - woo hooo. Itinerary is: Panama - Colombia - Aruba - Curaçao - Bonaire - Panama. Fortunately, these two little fellas are holding the boat for us. If all goes well, new postings should appear every day automatically - if not, I will be back.

decaying beauty

San Telmo / Buenos Aires, Argentina
As one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, San Telmo was inhabited by the wealthiest families of Buenos Aires until the early 1870's Yellow Fever epidemic forced those who could afford to move North. With the passing of time, San Telmo's appearance has changed and it has now become one of the trendier neighborhoods for the arts. It is a great neighborhood of colonial buildings and narrow, stone paved streets; perfect for walking with lots of coffee shops, tango and jazz clubs - and antiques. Every Sunday there is an open air antiques market where, as we did, you can spend endless amounts of time wandering through the vendors capturing glimpses of a Buenos Aires past.

truth in labeling

Puke Pub / Pukekura, New Zealand
Pukekura is a small place: it has a population of two. Peter and Justine Salter claim to be mayor and mayoress, law enforcement officers, cook and cleaner, gardener and rubbish man of their tiny township in the middle of the bush on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island. The Salters are also owners of the Puke Pub (Puke rhymes with cookie) which specializes in local wild food. It would appear that the Salters also like their guests to know exactly what they’re eating and are true to the core in labeling ingredients. I'll take that with a glass of opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of your cow out back, thanks.

evening reflection

Gapstow Bridge in Central Park / New York, New York
The Gapstow Bridge, located in the center of the Park opposite 62nd Street, is a Central Park icon. It spans the northeast end of the Pond and provides an excellent viewing point looking back at the mid-town and east-side skyline. The original bridge was built of wood in 1874 but barely lasted 20 years. It was then replaced by a stone bridge which continues to serve Park visitors today.

why go bald

South Great Georges Street / Dublin, Ireland
A landmark well-known to Dubliners since the 1960's, this city centre neon sign, which had been destined for demolition was restored in 1999 to its former glory. It was about to be removed and dumped when a group of preservationists pushed for its restoration instead. The classic retro sign has since appeared in the films "A Man of No Importance" and "Educating Rita". It is apparently Bono's (U2) favorite Dublin landmark - but based on the many photos of Bono, it wouldn't appear he's a client - or at least not for hair loss.

monday is market day

El Mercado / Quito, Ecuador
We spent a morning wandering around the enormous outdoor markets just outside of Quito. There was an abundance of woolen and other fabric goods, as well as fresh produce and meats - lots of raw meats just hanging in the open air. It was a warm day - I can only imagine what bonus bacteria came along with it. I suppose if you've been eating it all your life, no worries - but not for this gringo. We went for the panama hats instead.

czech your roof

Petřín Hill / Prague, Czech Republic
Petřín is a hill in the center of Prague that rises some 130 m above the left bank of the Vltava River. The hill, almost entirely covered with parks, is a favorite recreational area for the inhabitants of Prague. If you go up the hard way (like we did), the hill is roughly a half-hour walk up a zig zag of stone steps that get quite slippery when wet. But it was worth it as the views looking out over Prague were phenomenal.

winter pastel

Birmingham Canal Main Line / Birmingham, England
As I've blogged before, the canal lines in Birmingham are delightful to walk on those rare winter days of clear skies. The miles of remaining towpaths make for scenic walking paths through both city and country. The Birmingham Main Line, designed by Thomas Telford and built in the 1770's, runs through the heart of the Black Country including city centre Birmingham. The Main Line runs straight as an arrow to Tipton before heading off to Wolverhampton, shortening the previous route to Birmingham - Wolverhampton route by over seven miles. And does Birmingham really have more miles of canal than Venice? The exact numbers depend on where you draw the city boundaries, but the whole Birmingham Canal system extends for over 100 miles in total. It is indeed one of the most intricate canal networks in the world.

park this way

Lafayette Street / New York, New York
Just arrived home from 3-plus weeks in Birmingham, England - working late nights and every weekend. So this weekend I'm parking - with no plans other than dinner tonight at one of my favorite restaurants in Hells Kitchen, Chelsea Grill - and sleeping in! My new 24" iMac arrived while I was gone so I've just set it up (gotta love a mac - plug it in and go). Having all of this screen real estate will be awesome for my photography work - looking forward to it.

audible cubism

The House on the Rock / Spring Green, Wisconsin
Last Fall we visited the House on the Rock, an amazing combobulation that has less to do with a house or a rock, but a lot to do with what's inside the house on the rock such as music machines, sea monsters, carousels and excess amounts of schlock. This music machine reminded me of Picasso in his cubist period (1909-1912) - think Violin and Grapes.

a vampire weekend

Bran Castle / Bran (Brasov), Romania
Based on a online travel article I read yesterday, Bran Castle which is located outside of Brasov, is one of the ten most beautiful castles in the world. Both the keepers of Bran Castle and the Romanian Tourist Board are keen to emphasize links between Bran Castle and Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Count Dracula. While the connections are tenuous (Vlad may have spent a night or two there at best), there's no denying the spooky charm of this massive structure's many turrets and towers. After several days of dreary November greyness, it turned into a brilliant day for vampire overload in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania. And four of the other top-rated castles are here in the UK; which I hope to visit if I ever get a work-free weekend!

on this day

Giants Causeway / County Antrim, Northern Ireland
I just finished watching the inauguration of our 44th President, Barak Hussein Obama, on BBC here in England. Once again, I feel the rock strength of being an American.

"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics."

The inspired word of President Obama is only the first of many steps towards healing the scars inflicted over the past eight years, both domestically and around the world. And Aretha, loved the hat. (update: best line I've read regarding such.. "I'm proud that Aretha is supporting renewable energy by wearing a wind turbine on her head")