Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!

Photo Hunt - Military/Veteran

This week's Photo Hunt theme is Military/Veteran in honour of November 11th (Remembrance Day here in Canada and Veteran's Day south of the border). For those who don't know why this day is the one selected to honour the sacrifices made by the men and women in uniform - this was the day that World War 1 - the so-called war to end all wars - ended. Now if only that had been true.

This picture is one from our trip to Maine in the summer. We spent much of the week on lovely Deer Isle. As we hiked around the island we would often find old cemeteries. While many of these cemeteries had fallen into disuse, the graves of veterans were still identified and clearly marked. Many had american flags placed on or near the grave.

This grave was one we found while we were on a hike. Deep in the woods, hundreds of feet from any street or house, we found this old pioneer cemetery containing about 12 graves from the 17 and 1800s. This gentleman was a veteran of the revolutionary war in the US. It was touching to see that he was remembered, even buried in this seemingly forgotten spot.

Lots of the slow travel  community members also photo hunt when they aren't traveling. You can find their posts by clicking the links below. 

• Old Shoes, New Trip
• Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings
• My Place in the Sun
• Churches in Venice – Mosaics, Marble, and Miracle-Working Madonnas
• Palmabella's Passions
• What I Really Think
• shave Ice and Gelato
• Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!
• Keep your Feet in the Street
• Baked Alaska
• That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it!
• Postcards from the Trail
• Cooking at the Whistlestop Cafe
• Candi's Corner
• Trekcapri's Blog
• Destination Anywhere 
   

Photo Hunt - Bags

This week's Photo Hunt theme is bags. I was tempted to post a pic from the end of our recent cruise - all of the bags lined up by deck number, and everyone racing to grab them at the same time. I'll just save that one for the theme of chaos.

Instead I am posting a pic showing the result of 1 hour at an outlet mall. This is from our first trip to Paso Robles to get together with the slow travel gang. We flew into San Francisco, picked up the car, and popped into the Gilroy outlets on the way south.

We are power shoppers; it doesn't take us long to size up a store, grab what we want/need (because it isn't often the same *smile*), and be on our way to the next store. It is because of this well honed skill that we can amass this many bags over the course of a short hour!

Lots of the slow travel  community members also photo hunt when they aren't traveling. You can find their posts by clicking the links below. 

• Old Shoes, New Trip
• Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings
• My Place in the Sun
• Churches in Venice – Mosaics, Marble, and Miracle-Working Madonnas
• Palmabella's Passions
• What I Really Think
• shave Ice and Gelato
• Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!
• Keep your Feet in the Street
• Baked Alaska
• That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it!
• Postcards from the Trail
• Cooking at the Whistlestop Cafe
• Candi's Corner
• Trekcapri's Blog
• Destination Anywhere

Photo Hunt - Tied

This week's Photo Hunt theme is tied. The first thing that I could think of was our recent cruise of the Greek islands. There was a whole lot of tying being done there every time the boat docked at a port. We would often go to the deck and watch the crew handle those huge rope that were as thick as their arms.

This is a pic of the cruise ships tied up in the harbour of the famous Greek island of Santorini. Santorini is famous because it is thought to be the basis for the story of Atlantis. The entire harbour you see here was once a part of a large, volcanic island. 3600 years one of the largest volcanic eruptions ever recorded took place and literally blew out the centre of the island leading to the destruction of the advanced Minoian civilization on the island.

This picture gives you a sense of the magnitude of that explosion. Essentially the entire centre of the island was blown away. You can see the size of the cliff compared to the waterline with the remaining surface of the island about 1000 feet above.

Lots of the slow travel  community members also photo hunt when they aren't traveling. You can find their posts by clicking the links below. 

• Old Shoes, New Trip
• Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings
• My Place in the Sun
• Churches in Venice – Mosaics, Marble, and Miracle-Working Madonnas
• Palmabella's Passions
• What I Really Think
• shave Ice and Gelato
• Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!
• Keep your Feet in the Street
• Baked Alaska
• That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it!
• Postcards from the Trail
• Cooking at the Whistlestop Cafe
• Candi's Corner
• Trekcapri's Blog
• Destination Anywhere 
   
   

Photo Hunt - Anything Goes . . .

This week's Photo Hunt theme is  . . . well, there is no theme! This week anything goes. Frankly this is more challenging tan when we have a specific theme! LOL

Anyway. I am at Schipol airport recovering from a 5 am flight out of Athens. I went through the 1200 photos I have taken while in Greece and struggled to select a photo. Finally I have decided to post this one from Mykonos:

 

 

This is for our friend Gail who was almost blinded by the famous Mykonos pelican a few years back. Back in the 1950s a flock of pelicans flew over the island one, sick and tired of the journey, landed on the island where he was nursed back to health by a fisherman. Named Pedro, this pelican knew what was good and stayed out where he became an island celebrity. While we were on Mykonos we saw at least two different Pedros. Every time we saw a huge crowd of tourists snapping pictures we knew one of the famous Mykonos pelicans were nearby.

This fellow was hanging out at the back door of a fish restaurant. Every now and then the owner would toss a bit of leftover fish to the happy bird. I've seen lots of cats hanging out near fish shops/restaurants over the years but Pedro was the first pelican we've seen doing this! *smile*

We learned from Gail's unfortunate incident - we stayed FAR back (well, within picture range, anyway).

Lots of the slow travel  community members also photo hunt when they aren't traveling. You can find their posts by clicking the links below. 

• Old Shoes, New Trip
• Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings
• My Place in the Sun
• Churches in Venice – Mosaics, Marble, and Miracle-Working Madonnas
• Palmabella's Passions
• What I Really Think
• shave Ice and Gelato
• Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!
• Keep your Feet in the Street
• Baked Alaska
• That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it!
• Postcards from the Trail
• Cooking at the Whistlestop Cafe
• Candi's Corner
• Trekcapri's Blog
• Destination Anywhere

Photo Hunt - Sports

This week's Photo Hunt theme is "sports". We have been in Athens this week so there have been many opportunities for a picture that I could use for this week's theme. In the end I went with this picture that I took of the Panathenic Stadium as seen from the top of the Lykavittos Hill . This picture really provides a sense of how large this stadium is.

The stadium was originally a natural hollow part of the ground between the two hills of Agra and Ardettos, over Ilissos river. It was transformed into a stadium by Lykourgos in 330-329 BC for the athletic competitions of the Great Panathinaea Festivities. It is believed that the Stadium had a seating capacity of 50,000 people.

In the Roman times, the stadium was used as an arena. 

A modern restoration of the stadium at the end of the 19th century allowed it to be used for the first Olympic Games when they were reborn again in 1896. The stadium was used again as the site of the finish line of the marathon in the 2004 Olympics.

Lots of the slow travel  community members also photo hunt when they aren't traveling. You can find their posts by clicking the links below. 

• Old Shoes, New Trip
• Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings
• My Place in the Sun
• Churches in Venice – Mosaics, Marble, and Miracle-Working Madonnas
• Palmabella's Passions
• What I Really Think
• shave Ice and Gelato
• Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!
• Keep your Feet in the Street
• Baked Alaska
• That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it!
• Postcards from the Trail
• Cooking at the Whistlestop Cafe
• Candi's Corner
• Trekcapri's Blog
• Destination Anywhere

Photo Hunt - Words

This week's Photo Hunt theme is "words". I decided to post three pictures of words that made me smile during our last trip to Maine . . .

A sign on a pier in Portland:

Another sign, this time on Ilse Au Haut . . .

And finally, a man carrying a sign just before the Deer Isle 4th of July parade.

Any wonder why I love Maine so much?

Lots of the slow travel  community members also photo hunt when they aren't traveling. You can find their posts by clicking the links below. 

• Old Shoes, New Trip
• Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings
• My Place in the Sun
• Churches in Venice – Mosaics, Marble, and Miracle-Working Madonnas
• Palmabella's Passions
• What I Really Think
• shave Ice and Gelato
• Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!
• Keep your Feet in the Street
• Baked Alaska
• That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it!
• Postcards from the Trail
• Cooking at the Whistlestop Cafe
• Candi's Corner
• Trekcapri's Blog
• Destination Anywhere

Photo Hunt - Twisted

This week's Photo Hunt theme is "twisted".  once again I traveled back to Italy for the inspiration for this week's theme. Venice to be precise and the lovely palazzo Scala contarini del Bovolo. This wonderful, and unusual, outdoor spiral staircase seemed to call out for this theme!

The Scala Contarini del Bovolo (also called Palazzo Contarini Minelli dal Bovolo) is a small palace in Venice. It is hidden away in an obscure little alley known as the Calle della Vida, near the Campo Manin, and was the palace of Contarini family.

The original structure was designed by Giovanni Candi in 1499. The main attraction of this palace is an elegant spiral staircase with a plethora of arches.

The family hired a second architect, Giorgio Spavento, to add the staircase to the original structure. The spiral is often compared to the snail’s shell (bovolo) and hence the palace got its name as “snail house”.

There are two small courtyards and several wellheads at the base of the tower.
Many of the wellheads belong to previous structures and are far older than the palace although one bears the Contarini family coat-of-arms and was probably added at the time of the palace’s construction.

Architectural elements of the first Renaissance merge to the building techniques Gothic-Byzantine, producing a harmony of forms, with a typical Venetian character, in a monument that is unique in its type.
From the dome of the belvedere it is possible to get a splendid and unusual panoramic view of Venice: the roofs, the bell towers, the domes of Saint Mark. It is, no doubt, a privileged observation point over the city

Lots of the slow travel  community members also photo hunt when they aren't traveling. You can find their posts by clicking the links below. 

• Old Shoes, New Trip
• Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings
• My Place in the Sun
• Churches in Venice – Mosaics, Marble, and Miracle-Working Madonnas
• Palmabella's Passions
• What I Really Think
• shave Ice and Gelato
• Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!
• Keep your Feet in the Street
• Baked Alaska
• That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it!
• Postcards from the Trail
• Cooking at the Whistlestop Cafe
• Candi's Corner
• Trekcapri's Blog
• Destination Anywhere

Photo Hunt - Upside Down

This week's Photo Hunt theme is "upside down".  This pic needs no explanation . . . turning the bowl upside down to get every drop of milk!

Lots of the slow travel  community members also photo hunt when they aren't traveling. You can find their posts by clicking the links below. 

• Old Shoes, New Trip
• Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings
• My Place in the Sun
• Churches in Venice – Mosaics, Marble, and Miracle-Working Madonnas
• Palmabella's Passions
• What I Really Think
• shave Ice and Gelato
• Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!
• Keep your Feet in the Street
• Baked Alaska
• That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it!
• Postcards from the Trail
• Cooking at the Whistlestop Cafe
• Candi's Corner
• Trekcapri's Blog
• Destination Anywhere

Photo Hunt - Electric

This week's Photo Hunt theme is "electric".  I decided to post a picture of some electric art we once saw in the Distillery District in Toronto. If you've never visited the Distillery District District you really should the next time you're in the city - lots of fun and excitement here.

Lots of the slow travel  community members also photo hunt when they aren't traveling. You can find their posts by clicking the links below. 

• Old Shoes, New Trip
• Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings
• My Place in the Sun
• Churches in Venice – Mosaics, Marble, and Miracle-Working Madonnas
• Palmabella's Passions
• What I Really Think
• shave Ice and Gelato
• Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!
• Keep your Feet in the Street
• Baked Alaska
• That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it!
• Postcards from the Trail
• Cooking at the Whistlestop Cafe
• Candi's Corner
• Trekcapri's Blog
• Destination Anywhere

Photo Hunt - Orange

This week's Photo Hunt theme is "orange".  The first thing that came to mind was the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The famous International Orange colour was originally used as a sealant for the bridge. Many locals persuaded Morrow to paint the bridge in the vibrant orange color instead of the standard silver or gray, and the color has been kept ever since. We read once that the bridge is constantly being painted - it takes so long to paint the huge bridge once a coat has been applied from one end to the next that the paint first applied has weathered enough that it needs a new coat!

This picture was taken on a quick trip to San Francisco before a relaxing week in the Russian River Valley in 2005.

Lots of the slow travel  community members also photo hunt when they aren't traveling. You can find their posts by clicking the links below. 

• Old Shoes, New Trip
• Eden's Wanderings and Wonderings
• My Place in the Sun
• Churches in Venice – Mosaics, Marble, and Miracle-Working Madonnas
• Palmabella's Passions
• What I Really Think
• shave Ice and Gelato
• Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!
• Keep your Feet in the Street
• Baked Alaska
• That's my story...and I'm stickin' to it!
• Postcards from the Trail
• Cooking at the Whistlestop Cafe
• Candi's Corner
• Trekcapri's Blog
• Destination Anywhere