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...

Scenic Sunday: View from on high

Here is another fairy tale view, this one of an ancient church on a mountain on the outskirts of Mtskheta, the old capital of Georgia. I confess I cannot remember its name, nor do I remember how you get to it—but it's certainly scenic!

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Highway or byway?

When we were in Puerto Rico, we decided to forego the highway and drive to the Southern coast on the mountain road—as you can see, the view was quite lovely, and so was the sky. There was absolutely nowhere to stop though, not even for a cup of coffee, so after four hours we gave up our principles and sought out the highway—and lunch!
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What are we in line for?

Everyone always talks about how the British are so willing to stand in line without complaining—well, they are not alone. When I was in Soviet Moscow, the Russians were endlessly willing to stand in line — the thinking was, if there's a line, there must be something good to buy! In fact, you're supposed to get in line first, then ask what "they" are selling--otherwise three more people will be in front of you!
Now, the first shot is just for water, which was usually available, as long as not all the machines were broken. It just seems very orderly to me though, I think I would get my water and walk away with it. In the second shot, the line is the longest because the items are particularly hard to find: children's clothes.
Now, in this line, everyone is quietly waiting for something that was not really that hard to find, but still extremely desirable -- and that's probably the line we would have joined if we wanted to do "as in Rome": ice cream! Must have been the popular one, the one that tasted really good so it was less available, a log of creamy vanilla (always vanilla) enrobed in a soft chocolate cookie. Yum. (I don't believe we ever stood in a line this long, except perhaps once for Russian champagne, which was only available for a couple of days before holidays!)

Looking for roots

OK, I've discovered I like taking photos of roots! Other than the light, these two photos are quite similar, right? I took the top one in at the Barnum place in Sarasota, Florida; and the bottom one at the Dole Plantation in Kauai, Hawaii. I can't decide which light I like best--cool and soothing or hot and sunny! What do you think?

Another day, another castle...

Looks like my photos from Hochosterwitz are still in the "to do" pile, so I thought I'd post a few from Riegersberg, another Austrian castle up a BIG hill. The castle itself is not as exciting, but great views up there! I hope you get an idea of scale from the hubcap in the last photo.

Scenic Sunday: Austria

Here are two photos of the fairy tale castle of Hochosterwitz in Austria. As you can see, it's perched way up high at the top of its own mountain—and it's a LONG way up! You leave your car at the bottom and walk up and up and up through a dozen or so fortified gates (photos another day). I was pregnant when we went and it was quite tiring! I really love old places, though, and I loved this one. Plus, the view from there was lovely—as you can probably imagine from the second photo!


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Skywatch Friday: Thar she blows!

I think the clouds here make the Rock of Gibraltar look like a whale, don't you? Blowing out the wrong end, of course, but other than that...
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Watery Wednesday: Mtskheta

Here are two views of the 3,000-year old city of Mtskheta (we didn't use to pronounce the 't,' if that helps), at the confluence of the Rivers Mtkvari and Aragvi. This was the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Iberia in what is presently Georgia, and is located less than 20 miles from the present-day capital of Tbilisi. I like the way the water suddenly turns green in the second photo.
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