Tag: travel

Pirates of the Nile

During a Nile cruise, friendly vendors, referred to as “pirates,” approached the ship. Two young men skillfully rowed alongside and attached their boat to sell goods.

No need for panic, as these are friendly pirates! As we are cruising up the Nile, our Viking crew had alerted us about the approach by some of the vendors, as we got closer to Esna. As we had our first encounter, I made sure to get some pictures of their process, which is rather daunting!

Here’s one of the images…

Pirates of the Nile

These two young men had rowed themselves into the path of our cruise ship, and I really thought that they were going to be run over, as they were that close. Clearly, they had a plan and attached their rope to one of the bumpers on the port side of the ship. Once attached, they immediately started hawking their wares!

Their technique was amazing, as they would throw samples up to people on the various decks with perfect aim! Additionally, they didn’t lose any returned merchandise in the river. I don’t know how much they sold, but they were attached for a good 3-4 miles, so they had a good row back to where they started.

Wednesday Window – pt 15

A 2008 trip to the Netherlands and a visit to Beeld & Geluid, the Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision.

In this week’s installment, it’s time to go back to the mother country, the Netherlands. This was from a trip in 2008 to visit family with my youngest daughter in tow. The two of us took several side trips and overall had a pretty good time.

Here’s a view of some windows that we encountered during this trip…

Beeld & Geluid

Beeld & Geluid (Vision & Sound) is the home of the Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision. It houses an audiovisual archive of Dutch media. The architecture of this building is striking from its facade to its interior. As we were exploring some of the galleries I managed to get this snapshot.

One of these days I have to come back here and look through their archives. I might even be in them, as our high school qualified for a nationally televised quiz show.

This is my mid-week contribution to the Monday Window thread, a creation of Ludwig Keck. To read more about Ludwig, check this page.

Giza – A Taste of Egypt

Today’s exploration covered the remarkable sites of Saqqara and Giza, famous for their pyramids. A view of the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure.

Today’s stops were the amazing sites of Saqqara and Giza, both know for their pyramids. The Saqqara location is truly outstanding, as it has access to a couple of tombs with amazing hieroglyphs and decorations. Not to be overlooked are the tomb of Kagemni, a vizier under pharaoh Teti, and the tomb of Teti. The latter is under a crumbled step-pyramid, where the burial chamber is accessible through a rather confining underground passage. Lots more to be feature about the Saqqara complex.

Today, let’s take a look at the rather well-known pyramids at Giza…

Giza Plateau Pyramids

In this image you can see the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure from left to right. Each of these are imposing structures within their own right, and seeing all of them together is magnificent with Greater Cairo in the background.

The Giza site is incredibly busy, as it is the biggest magnet for pyramid enthusiasts; Saqqara was not as busy and for my money more enjoyable!

More features on all of these are to come!

The Cairo Citadel

Today in Egypt, we began with a visit to the Cairo Citadel and the Alabaster Mosque.

Today is our first full day in Egypt and we started strong! In the morning we visited the Cairo Citadel and the Alabaster Mosque (Mosque of Muhammad Ali). After this site, we were off to the Egyptian Museum for a quick visit. Each of these were amazing by themselves, so there will be more photos to follow in subsequent posts!

Here’s a quick look at the Citadel…

Cairo Citadel

The history of this citadel is truly interesting. Its construction was started in the 12th century by Salah ad-Din (Saladin). Many additions and contributions were made by later rulers, which gives a great time capsule of Egypt’s history from the Middle Ages on.

More about this location later… after all, the Alabaster Mosque stands here too!

Once a Viking…

A moment from our Amsterdam to Basel cruise in 2022. A shipboard view of Pfalzgrafenstein Castle, built in 1327 as a toll-booth on the Rhine.

As we’re on our way to the starting point of our next cruise with Viking, let’s take a look back at a moment on a prior cruise. In 2022, we took a cruise from Amsterdam to Basel with Viking, which was our first cruise experience. It was amazing! From the guided tours to the service, everything was perfection, even when things went wrong.

Here’s a view from the ship as we travel up the Rhine…

Pfalzgrafenstein Castle

This picturesque castle was in essence a toll-booth on the Rhine river. King Ludwig had the castle builtin in 1326/7 to increase his toll revenue. After all, all that water doesn’t flow without the king’s permission! And yes, that means it is coming up on its 700th anniversary soon!

How did they ensure toll collection you ask? Massive chain booms were raised across the rather narrow river passage by the castle. Upon payment the chain was lowered. Otherwise the ship and cargo were seized and the crew thrown into the dungeon. Those were tougher times!

Time to Get on the Road!

We’re off on a vacation to Egypt, which will be amazing. So we take a look back at Montepulciano in Tuscany, a stunning hill town!

Yes, today my wife and I take off on another vacation trip! It’ll be our most epic one yet, as we’re off to Egypt! You can be sure that I have packed my camera gear for this trip and will take a decent photo or two. As we’re traveling today and tomorrow, it’s time for a look back at one of our other trips.

Here we go back to 2017…

Montepulciano street

The town of Montepulciano in Tuscany is a lovely hill town in the province of Siena. As a hill town it sits upon a 605 meter limestone ridge and has an amazing wine producing reputation. The wines are delectable!

It’s a historic town that can trace its existence back to Etruscan times, as findings date the original settlement to 400-300 BCE.

The streets and alley-ways make this a great town to explore on foot, so that you walk up an appetite and find yourself a restaurant. I recommend checking out the various alleys for great hospitality and amazing food!

Spring will arrive soon!

Spring is almost here in the Northern Hemisphere; as we await Nature’s renewal, here’s a taste from Italia!

Only 10 or so days for the arrival of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere! As I’m eagerly awaiting the budding of trees and the greening of Nature in my area, I’ll continue with a Spring theme. Don’t worry, InfraRed photography will come back, as I’m looking forward to trying out my latest conversion.

For this week, let’s go back to 2017 and Italia…

Fields of Summer

Even though I titled this image ‘Fields of Summer’, I took this photo while it was still Spring. It was taken on May 25, 2017, outside of Montepulciano. On the way into town I had noticed these lovely fields but the sun was not in the right spot. I knew that there would be a better opportunity to get this shot after our visit. Luckily, the afternoon light came in pretty nicely and resulted in acceptable wallpaper for my system. There’s nothing like using your own images for background wallpaper for inspiration!

Winding Road into the Clouds

In Iceland, the beauty of the scenery often encourages moments of pause and reflection. Here we find ourselves at such a vantage point.

Sometimes we just need to stop and take in the scenery. It’s good to take a deep breath and let it all soak in. In Iceland, I find that occurs pretty frequently to me. During my first trip to this amazing country in 2015, I found myself experiencing that sense of having to take it all in quite often. It was the middle of June, so it didn’t really get dark at night. This enabled me to take extended drives through the countryside and explore.

Here’s one of those explorations…

Winding Road into the Clouds

I was struck by the multiple layers of cloud decks in this view. Low clouds hanging above the fjord and higher formations behind the mountains. Together with the winding road, it speaks of mystery, as expressed by Nature.

Thursday Throwback – 14

This week’s edition highlights Madurodam, a favorite travel destination from a visit in 2008.

This week’s edition takes us to Madurodam! This ranks among my favorite travel destinations, and I heartily recommend that you go there whenever you get a chance. Today I am taking to back to the year 2008, when I visited Madurodam with my youngest daughter.

Let me introduce you to this highlight of my voyages…

City View

We have a lovely city view in front of us on a rather overcast and dreary day. Luckily, it’s not raining! There is a bit of traffic along the canals, and parking is definitely at a premium! And, yes, Madurodam is a small city full of intriguing miniatures and all the sights you expect to see in the Netherlands. As architectural updates take place in the Netherlands, you might just find them in Madurodam as well.

I hope you like this trip back to 2008!

Wednesday Window – pt 13

The Harpa Concert Hall features a unique glass facade with ten different types of glass, including three dichroic varieties that reflect vibrant colors during the day.

After last week’s reception of the Harpa Concert Hall and Convention Centre, I’ll reprise this amazing structure with a bit of a detail view. One of the unique features of the glass facade is that it provides bits of color. Yes, there are a large number of same sized panes of glass. No, that doesn’t mean there is no variation.

Here’s a more detailed look…

Harpa Details

There are 10 different types of glass used across the building’s facades, including three dichroic glasses. These dichroic glasses are yellow, green and orange, so that they reflect blue, red and purple. These create a nice touch during daylight hours, as you can see in the image.

Next week, I’ll focus on the night time view, which is thanks to the efforts of artist Olafur Eliasson.

This is my mid-week contribution to the Monday Window thread, a creation of Ludwig Keck. To read more about Ludwig, check this page.