Home, sweet home

I didn't have to travel far to take these photos—just opened the front door, in fact, right here in snowy Maryland! It's still snowing, so the sky isn't lovely and blue, but the sky is wonderfully white, which it won't be once the cars come out! The photo just above reminds me of the first Narnia movie, what do you think? The backyard looks like a winter wonderland, as you see below.


And here's our new little snow bunny
No one's told little Daggers that cats don't like snow...
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A room with a view

It's been raining all day, so I have transported myself back to Schloss Kapfenstein, a fabulous converted castle we visited in Austria. The fortress was originally built in 1065--just before the dastardly Normans invaded England!--but, as you can see, it is now quite peaceful and lovely.

Scenic Sunday: Flowers over the wall

I walked up to this lovely flowery bush to take a photo and was rewarded by a fabulous view over the walls of the Alhambra.
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People watching in Zagorsk

Other than at the monastery, elderly women definitely dominated the landscape in Zagorsk. Like anywhere else, young people flee to the cities; and, of course, among the older generations, many more men than women were lost in World War II. Russia lost more people than any other country in that war—20 million, I believe—and many more were killed by Stalin when they returned.
I confess I really enjoy taking photos of older people, especially in the countryside—so I didn't put my camera down much in Zagorsk.

Back to Dagenham with the Prodigal Tourist

No photo today, thought I'd share a different type of travel with you: my trips back to England to visit my hubbie's real-life Cockney parents and show him that his old home is pretty great. Here he is reading from his upcoming book about our experiences, A Yank Back to England: A Prodigal Tourist. If you've been on the Prodigal site this week, you've probably seen it already, but I'm so excited about it I thought I wanted to post here as well.
Enjoy!

W. Wednesday: Ride the wave

Lovely Lavenham

Wasn't able to post this week (switched over all our equipment AND servers) but, to celebrate, here are a few photos from Lavenham, which I think is my favorite little town in England--so far, at least. We discovered it quite by accident, and enjoyed every minute. Dozens of Tudor houses line the street and, as you see in the last photo, they're not all the traditional black on white.

Scenic Sunday: Andechs

This could be a wordless post, I think--will just say I took this photo on a perfect day in beautiful Andechs, Germany.

Suggestions please!

I was asked to take some photos of my husband the soon-to-be-published author for a large poster that will be displayed in a bookstore (!). So we took a bunch and narrowed it down to these four.
What do you think? Should we go friendly like the top ones (with/without glasses), or more author-y like the lower ones (with / without glasses.
We all have a different favorite, so please help! What do you think? We'd appreciate some input... or should we scrap these and start again?

Watery Wednesday: So peaceful

This is how I imagine Minnesota looks (I've never been), but I actually took this photo in Maine.

Scenic Sunday: Wish I was there...

I started scanning my slides again today and was thrilled to find this photo of one of the prettiest coves I have ever seen, from my visit to Nerja, Spain. I posted a close-up of the little cottage in the cliffs here, but feared this photo had somehow gotten lost in the shuffle. I apologize for posting two beaches in a row, but they are quite different, I think. Plus, it's been raining all day and these cheer me up!
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W. Wednesday: What tourists?

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Great send offs

Still in Kauai, I spent a quiet half hour walking through a Japanese cemetery with very unusual--and quite beautiful--tombstones. The top one is my favorite, but I do love the can of beer in the bottom photo! I've been to many cemeteries on my travels, but this one remained with me a long time. Obviously well-loved departed.

Scenic Sunday: Island Touring

Driving around the Garden Isle of Kauai, you pass many spectacularly scenic spots. Here is a photo I took at the Kalalau Lookout.
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Skywatch Friday: A Perfect Day

A beautiful blue sky over Djvari Chapel in Mtskheta, the former capital of Georgia.
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Wordless Wednesday: Tennis, anyone?

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Scenic Sunday: Timeless Mountain

Here is an out-of-time mountain-top in Armenia, which was a Soviet Republic when I was there, but is now independent). I was lucky enough to get out in the countryside, which was truly beautiful and quite unlike other places I've been to.
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Skywatch Friday: Back in--no, out--the USSR

Here is a beautiful sky over the Gulf of Finland. I took the photo on the ferry escaping (oh, sorry, leaving) the USSR, from Estonia to Helsinki.
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Watery Wednesday: Puerto Rico

Here's another photo from that beautiful, deserted beach in Puerto Rico. Definitely not for swimming!
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A deserted beach with a kick

We found this beautiful beach n the northern shore of Puerto Rico. While some of the beaches were swarming with locals and tourists, there was no one but us at this little gem. Perhaps it was because the waves were more than a little intense, but we thought it was lovely and stayed an extra day. The last photo reminds me of a downed pterodactyl.

Skywatch Friday: True blue

Here in Washington, DC, we haven't seen the sun much lately, so I had a hankering for a true blue sky. Here's one from Seville's Alcazaba. I'm smiling just looking at it--hope to see something other than gray here soon.
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Wordless Wednesday: Tallin

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Market day in Tallin

I love open air markets, they're always so colorful—the people as well as the goods! Here is one I went to in Tallin, the charming capital of Estonia. Of course, when I was there, everything had to be in Russian as well as Estonian; the locals were rather hostile about that—people only spoke to us when we switched from Russian to English—so I can only assume today's signs would not be bi-lingual.

Scenic Sunday: 'Round Ronda

A couple of shots from spectacular Ronda, a small town in Spain built on two sides of a deep--very deep--gorge. The last photo shows the bridge connecting the two parts of town.

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Skywatch Friday: Hawaii

Another fabulous sky from the beautiful Garden Isle of Kauai.
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Wordless Wednesday: In an Austrian restaurant

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Protected from the elements

This is one of my favorite photos from Spain--a charming little fisherman's cottage, built right into the cliffside in Nerja. Somewhere I have a photo of the entire cove...