The homes and buildings in the historic section of Passau were all beautiful pastel colors and very well cared for. Above you have a fountain which pays tribute to the three rivers that flow through Passau. Every blog and article ever written in history about Passau comments that this is the city of three rivers, Why should I be any different? These three rivers are the Main, Danube and the Ilk. We cruised the Danube and the Main when visiting Bamberg and Passau, Germany.
A beautiful staircase inside Melk Abbey, oddly enough, located in Melk, Austria.
Many visitors to the Melk Abbey are anxious to see the vast library of over 100,000 books or the castle like structure with 365 windows, one for each day of the year. Many came to see the golden Fall colors along the Danube. I came only to see the ornate spiral staircase. Our tour guide immediately proclaimed photos were not allowed throughout the Abbey, so I was quite worried the entire tour. It turns out, the staircase is seen after the tour, so photos were thankfully not a problem.
The sail-away view our first night leaving Budapest was the most spectacular we have ever had. You need to watch the video later in the blog to see it. Beautiful! But wait, there’s MORE… You get three fine videos in this blog.
Layers upon layers of rock in a mile deep canyon, the Grand Canyon
Most any photo of the Grand Canyon landscape will reveal the many colorful layers of very different rocks. Billions of years of erosion and upheaval have revealed ten distinct layers. My favorite to photograph was the vishnu shist.
Reflections – Blue Sky and Golden Walls
In April of 2022 I was fortunate to snag a single spot rafting down the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon for 10 days. Continue reading
Niagara moon
The best view of Niagara Falls is of the American side viewed from Canada. The American Falls above are illuminated in the evenings and colored spotlights turn the falls all colors of the rainbow.
If a task is not written down on a list for me it will likely not get done, or certainly not get done on time. I am a methodical list maker. With that in mind, I created my first travel bucket list.
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Porto Douro River View
Porto, Portugal was built along the Douro River in northern Portugal. This view is of the oldest section, Riberia, which is largely dedicated to the port wine and tourist industry. The bright yellow billboard near the center of this photograph is the Sandeman trademark of one of these wines.
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Sedona was our first extended stay since returning from six months in Europe. Driving across the country from the ship’s port in Fort Lauderdale to Northern California can wear a person down. Clearly it is better than sitting in a cubical struggling with a company budget on a cold, windy Chicago day, but the travel can get a bit old. We do our best to find fun places to visit along the way such as Graceland, but three weeks in Sedona, not having to move suitcases or learn new appliances and shower workings, was a welcome relief. Continue reading
The prominent attraction and landmark in York, England is York Minster Cathedral. Our landlord was kind enough to escort us to hear the choir sing one evening. While we had already been to many churches in Europe and Great Britain, we realize each church is unique if you take the time to learn about them. For example, it is easy to gaze upon a huge stained glass window, think it is beautiful and move on, not seeing anything special or unusual. In one window of York Minister, there was a surprising amount of humor. For example, one pane depicted a wife twisting the ear of her husband who was on his knees.
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