Travel Photography – Dutch goes the Photo!

Wonderful Wednesday

Tower of Babel or granary?

We made it to the middle of the week! In celebration, I thought it would be nice to have something wonderful to share…

This corkscrew-shaped building is commonly referred to as The Wonderful Barn and sits on the edge of the Castletown House Estate; the barn is in the town of Leixlip. The barn was built in 1743 and has a bit of mystery associated with it, as its purpose is in debate.

One theory is that it was used as a dovecote where doves were kept, which were considered a delicacy during Georgian times.
Another hints that the structure was used for sport shooting or as a gamekeepers tower
A third theory states that this barn was used as a granary, which is supported by the fact that there is a hole in the center of each floor.

Of course, it could simply have been built as a folly, which was not unusual during those times.

What theory do you have for this interesting building?

Throwback Thursday

Small town charm for the victory!

Sometimes miracles happen, such as Wednesday’s result of the French Cup match between Olympique de Marseille and FC Annecy; it was a dramatic result that went to a penalty shootout win for Annecy! This touched me as I visited Annecy many years ago, from which I have a slide that I had scanned a couple of years back…

My guess is that this image is from 1984 or 1985, when I worked for Digital Equipment Corporation and went on a business trip to visit our site in Annecy. It is a beautifully situated town in the Haute Savoie. When I saw the underdogs emerge victorious over mighty Olympique, I couldn’t help but think back to this visit!

Travel Tuesday – Ep. 7

A beautiful Spring day and a view!

Last week’s visit to the land of giants in Travel Tuesday – Ep. 6 was pretty easy to guess for some of you. Madurodam in The Hague is a popular place to visit, especially with children, as they get to feel tall next to the buildings.

For this week’s installment, I’m opting for something a little more challenging from one of my trips in 2018…

I think the style of this cathedral will help determine which part of the world this could be in. Let’s see who might pin-point this one!

Saturday Snapshot

A cream across dimensions?

Sometimes we simply take a snapshot, just because the moment is there…

As I walked across Mumbai, this caught my eye; was it just a leftover from a poster advertising an art exhibit, or was it an inter-dimensional being trying to traverse into our dimension?

I might never know…

Travel Tuesday – Ep. 6

In the land of giants?

Last week’s landscape image for Travel Tuesday – Ep.5 was right out of Star Wars! It might have been, but then again, it was the Isle of Skye and the majestic Quiraing range.

This week I went a bit further back in my catalog, all the way to 2002…

This shot was captured using an Olympus CAMedia CA-3100 Zoom camera with a whopping 3 Megapixel resolution! Our camera technology has progress a bit since then!

I expect that this is a pretty easy location for some of you to guess, as it is a much-visited attraction! Where would this be?

Silent Sunday

A field of peace

A moment of reflection from last year’s voyage to Iceland…

A moment of serenity from Hellisandur.

Saturday Activities

A Saturday of discovery!

As I sit here watching a bit of Premier League football after breakfast, a quick post to provide an idea for a Saturday if you happen to be in the Netherlands…

The Institute of Sound & Vision in Hilversum is an architecturally stunning building, both on the outside and the inside, as captured in this image. Striking colors and angles make this a sight to behold!

Additionally, the exhibits are always thought, ear and eye provoking making this a wonderful visit.

iPhone Friday

Rock of many colors

In between work on the larger blog post, here’s a quick shot from the recent Valley of Fire trip…

This was one of my iPhone shots looking back into the slot canyon that is part of the White Domes loop trail; I use my iPhone to get a quick view of what a shot will look like at different heights, so I only set my tripod up once.

One of the things that struck me about this canyon is how some of the rock is just about grayish white and almost integrates with the red rock next to it. It gave me the sense of a selective color image, which I don’t expect in Nature.

Valley of Fire – ep. 3

Brilliant colors and fiery reds!

As a follow up to the image from Valley of Fire state park that I shared in this week’s Monochrome Monday, I thought it might be interesting to see the color version…

My mind was blown by the variety of colors that are in the rock formations in this park and how the red becomes the fiery hue that gave the valley its name when the warm light of early morning catches it.

Travel Tuesday – Ep. 5

It’s an almost otherworldly landscape…

Last week’s Travel Tuesday might have been a bit tricky, even with a sign is written in Hebrew (it was rather small). It was a photograph taken at the Apollonia National Park in Israel just north of Herzliya. The park contains a 13th century fortress, roman villa and a 13th century mosque. Even on a hot day, it’s a wonderful place to explore, as long as you bring some water!

For today’s location, let’s find something a bit more straightforward…