Phot-o' the Day: Another Saturday, Another Horse-Drawn Carriage. Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic

Horse-drawn carriages queued up next to Theatre Square Park in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic.

Yes, officially it is now "Czechia" and not "the Czech Republic." Nobody in that country calls it "Czechia"; they still use "Czech Republic." I defer to the locals.

Visited May 2019.

Phot-o' the Day: Trolley Cars, Old Town Bratislava, Slovakia

Trolleys and trams always make the best public transportation pictures.

These particular trolley cars ply the rails encircling Old Town Bratislava, Slovakia. This is the north side of Old Town. Old on the right side of the photo; new (-ish) on the left.

Bratislava is not really a travel destination in and of itself. But it is a perfectly pleasant manageably-sized capital, with some excellent food and beer. So if you are ever in the general neighborhood -- Vienna definitely, or maybe Budapest or even Prague -- a few days in Bratislava would be a nice detour.

Visited October 2011.

Phot-o' the Day: Viewing Dali's Soft Self Portrait with Grilled Bacon, Figueres, Spain

Everything better with bacon, no? So why not a self-portrait?

This is from inside the Dalí Theatre and Museum in Figueres, Spain, birthplace of the surrealist Salvador Dalí. These tourists are pondering Dalí's "Soft Self Portrait with Grilled Bacon." Why the bacon? If you have to ask, then you do not understand surrealism.

Same scene in living color:

Visited Figueres and its Dalí Theatre and Museum September 2015. Dalí, of course, was the reason for visiting Figueres.

Phot-o' the Day: Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Budapest, Hungary

A special Ash Wednesday edition of Sunday Church Phot-o' the Day, since Ash Wednesday is a Holy Day of Obligation and church attendance is mandatory, not optional.

This is Mária Magdolna Torony, the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, on Castle Hill, the Buda side, of Budapest, Hungary. More precisely, this is the bombed-out remains of the church. The church did not survive WWII intact.

I don't know how to love this church. I don't see why it moves me. It's just a church. And I've had so many churches before. In very many ways. It's just one more. Bonus points for getting the allusion.

This was my second visit to this church and my third visit to the wonderful, awesome, magnificent City of Budapest.

Phot-o' the Fat Tuesday: Mardi Grad World, New Orleans, Louisiana

Fat Tuesday! The day of the year when Thin is a Sin.

I've never been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, or Carnaval in Rio, or to any of those other places in the Catholic world which claim to have the biggest and bestest Mardi Gras/Carnaval celebration in the whole universe outside of New Orleans or Rio de Janeiro. But I have made it to Mardi Gras World in New Orleans. May 2013 to be precise.

Today's Phot-o' the Day is from inside the hulking Mardi Grad World complex on the New Orleans riverfront. Mardi Gras World is a large museum and workshop, where the Mardi Gras floats are designed and built for each year's Carnaval. It's a year-round job. (It's much more interesting than the Mardi Gras Museum in the French Quarter, if you only have time for one Mardi Gras themed tourist attraction on your next visit to the Crescent City.)

Phot-o' the Day: Tours Vauban, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

A small tower for a small country.

Today's Phot-o' the Day is the Tours Vauban in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. On a cold and rainy December afternoon, 2018.

The absolute best thing to do in Luxembourg is this: check off "another country visited" on your list of countries visited. Is it a perfectly nice place. And it has a FUNicular -- although it is very sleek and modern -- with this historic tower being a short walk from the lower end funicular station. But there's not a whole lot to see or do there other than say you've been to another new country.

Excellent Portuguese restaurant right near there, however. Glad I wore my Benfica hoodie that day.

Sunday Church Phot-o' the Day: Cadet Chapel, Colorado Springs, Colorado

It was a grey and dreary day in Colorado Springs, Colorado, when I visited the U.S. Air Force Academy grounds back in May 2007. So the black & white re-imaging didn't wash out any color that I know of. This was from a birthday trip to Colorado that I took back in 2007. I'm more adventurous now with my choice of birthday vacation destinations. (Jerusalem in 2020!)

Your Sunday Church Phot-o' the Day is the Cadet Chapel on the grounds of the U.S. Air Force Academy. The architecture is supposed to evoke the image of jet fighters in formation. It does, doesn't it?

Bonus Phot-o' the Day: Go For Gin, Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, Kentucky

Go For Gin. In artsy black & white. At his home at the Kentucky Horse Park outside Lexington, Kentucky. Visited April 2019 on my "horses and bourbon" tour of Central Kentucky.

Congratulations are now in order for Go For Gin, winner of the 1994 Kentucky Derby. His winning race in the mud at Churchill Downs is on the youtubes here. Go For Gin has now outlasted and outlived the competition and, now, is the Oldest Living Winner of a Triple Crown Race.

Here's Go For Gin in living color. These horses really do have noticeable personalities. The two (living) horses I most wanted to see on the "horses and bourbon" tour were War Emblem and Funny Cide. Both were aloof, like they knew they were superstars, living on a plain above the rest of us. Go For Gin seemed fun and sociable. He was the only horse there that enjoyed playing out in the rain (which is appropriate for a horse whose most notable win was on a muddy track at Churchill Downs). At the same time, he was very protective of another horse in the pasture next door, a champion pacer named Staying Together, who was blind (and, sadly, now deceased).

Sadly, Go For Gin ascended to the title of "Oldest Living Winner of a Triple Crown Race" upon the death yesterday of the great A.P. Indy. Although A.P. Indy's only win (in his only Triple Crown race) was the 1992 Belmont Stakes, he probably was the greatest thoroughbred racing horse since the immortal Secretariat. An injury kept him out of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, but his winning time in the Belmont of 2:26 was bettered only by Secretariat (and equaled in 1989 by Easy Goer). After his racing career ended, A.P. Indy became a legend in his stud, becoming what they call a "breed-shaping sire" because of the quality of his progeny. R.I.P. A.P. Indy.

Phot-o' the Day: Horse-Drawn Carriage, Parked, Cartagena, Colombia

Horsin' around, once again, on a Saturday. Today's Phot-o' the Day is a horse-drawn carriage parked on the streets of Cartagena, Colombia. From my visit in May 2015.

These horse-drawn carriages are all over the Old Walled City section of Cartagena. Apparently, it's a romantic thing to do, for people into that sort of thing. Speaking of the "sort of thing" that I am "into," please note the food cart on the far right of the pictures, selling "arepas con queso," arepa with cheese, on the streets of Cartagena. Cheesy arepas are just about the best street food in all of Colombia.

Phot-o' the Day: The Thinker, Rodin Museum, Paris, France

This is "a" Thinker. And it is in the sculpture garden of "a" Rodin Museum in Paris, France. Which I visited in June 2016.

Paris is lousy with Rodin's The Thinkers.  And many are originals.  Rodin did more than one.  Many more than one.  This might be the main one, the preeminent one, but it is hardly the only one.

And there are at least two Rodin Museums, apparently, in Paris.  That I know of.  There could be more!  And they could house even more Thinkers!  You can spend a week in Paris looking for all the Thinkers are you would barely scratch The Thinker surface.  Finding a Thinker in Paris is like finding a Stripper in Las Vegas.  They're everywhere.

This one is from France because I checked the statistics on this blog and the country that supplies the second highest number of visitors to this blog is France.  Merci.  This one is for you.  Bienvenue.

Phot-o' the Day: Searching for Reason on the Malecon in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, may not be the first place that comes to mind when you decide to go "Searching for Reason," but there is a sculpture on the Malecon along the beachfront in Puerto Vallarta named just that:  "Searching for Reason."  I visited in February 2011.

The Malecon is the beachfront promenade, studded with interesting sculptures and statuary, in front of the most touristed section of beach in this tourist-drenched beach resort town.  Stateside, we would call it a "Boardwalk," even if it were made of concrete and not wooden boards.  But we're not stateside for this Phot-o' the Day.  We're on the Mexico side.  And it's a malecon and not a boardwalk, entiendes?

Phot-o' the Day: Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain.

Be careful where you check your cellphone messages. You never know who might be behind you.

For today's Phot-o' the Day, let's take the funicular up Montjuic hill in Barcelona, Spain, to the Fundació Joan Miró. This is from outside the museum dedicated to the art of Catalan native Joan Miró. I hate that cancer upon our culture known as "modern art," and the even more virulent pestilence known as "post-modern art," but I love the art of Joan Miró. His art depicts actual tangible things -- albeit from a fever dream perspective.  There is extraordinary talent and creativity evident, unlike the vast bulk of the modern and post-modern works.

From my visit to Barcelona. Tourist-saturated Barcelona. Been there. Loved it. I can't imagine any reason why I would go back.

Visited September 2015.

Phot-o' the Day: Dockside outside the Ver-O-Peso Market, Belém, Brazil

In a languid mood for today's Phot-o' the Day.  Dockside, beside the Ver-O-Peso ("Check the Weight") market in beautiful Belém, Brazil.

Belém is located just inside the mouth of the Amazon, where the planet's mightiest river meets the Atlantic Ocean.  As such, just about all of its tourist trade is people starting or ending Amazon River cruises.  But not me!  I went to Belém because I wanted to see Belém.  And I was not disappointed.

The city has that tropical decay you find in the high-humidity zones between the tropics.  Nevertheless, it is a beautiful city filled with beautiful and friendly people.  If you forced me to choose, I would say it was my favorite place I've visited so far in Brazil. 

Phot-o' the Day: George Washington in Budapest, Hungary

Phot-o' the Presidents' Day is George Washington in Budapest. From my first visit to Budapest in May 2010.

I was wandering around the City Park on my last in Budapest -- my last day of what was my first big international trip in nearly a decade and a half -- visiting the Széchenyi Thermal Baths, and checking out the mock castle. I'm walking along the green, shaded pathways when, suddenly, unexpectedly, I see this. I do the proverbial double take. Is that really George Washington? Yes. Yes it was. I've never found out why he's there or what he's doing there. But there he is.

It's always nice to run into an old familiar friend when traveling abroad.

Sunday Church Phot-o' the Day: the Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourvière, Lyon, France (with St. John Paul II)

It's Sunday. Time to go to church. Today's photo is La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière in Old Town Lyon, France.  I visited in June 2016.

La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière is a beautiful basilica, in a beautiful physical setting, with a beautiful and magnificent collection of religious art inside.  It is located on a hillside overlooking the City of Lyons, with excellent views of the city.  And it has St. John Paul II outside to welcome visitors, albeit in statuary form.  Contrary to the angle at which this photo was taken, St. John Paul II most certainly is not trying to push the basilica down the hill into the Saône River.  Now why would he do such a thing?

Phot-o' the Day: Hansom Cabs Outside the Palace, Vienna, Austria

Horsin' around on a Saturday for today's Phot-o' the Day.  Hansom cabs outside the sprawling Hofburg Palace complex in the tourist core of the city of Vienna, Austria.  Visited December 2018.

Two Vienna photos for Phot-o' the Day this week.  Well, Vienna is a very photogenic city, so, of course, there are multiple photos to consider.  And, although these hansom cabs certainly are handsome, the name is correctly spelled "hansom."

Valentine's Phot-o' the Day: Butcher's Bridge, Ljubljana, sLOVEnia

A special "love love love" edition of the "Phot-o' the Day" for the Day of Love, St. Valentine's Day 2020.

This is from the Butcher's Bridge, Ljubljana, sLOVEnia. (Which is how I will spell the name of this country for the duration of the One Single Day Dedicated to Love on the calendar.)  This is from my visit to Ljubljana in September 2014.

sLOVEnia is the only country on the planet with the word "love" embedded in its name. (I believe.) (Please correct me if I am wrong.) (I don't like to be wrong on matters of geography.)  There are a lot of very romantic places in sLOVEnia, including this bridge over the Ljublanica River in Ljubljana, which, incidentally, is the only modern bridge spanning the Ljubljanica in the city's historic core.

This is the first place, in all of my traveling, where I saw one of those "love lock" bridges, where the couple in love locks a lock to the bridge and throws the key into the river because their love will be eternal so long as the lock is locked .  It's a thing now pretty much all over Planet Earth.  (They use bolt cutters to regularly cut them off the Charles Bridge in Prague, for example.  Love is not meant to last in Prague.)  The place I saw this global phenomenon first was the Butcher's Bridge in Ljubljana. Butcher's Bridge?

Where you get locked into love? I hope that's not a metaphor.

Phot-o' the Day: Busker with Accordion and Chihuahua; Lisbon, Portugal

The photo of the day is from outside the Torre de Belém, in the Belém neighborhood at the western edge of the city of Lisbon, Portugal.  From September 2017.

On that trip to Lisbon, I saw multiple people -- three constituting "multiple" -- busking in the city with (a) an accordion and (b) a chihuahua.  Never a shih-tzu.  Never a Doberman.  Always a chihuahua.  Apparently, in Portuguese culture, the squeezebox and the chihuahua go together like bourbon and ginger ale.  Or, to give it a more Portuguese spin, octopus and fado.  Or pasteis de Belém and life itself.

Phot-o' the Day: the Roger Miller Museum, Erick, Oklahoma

Today's Phot-o' the Day was not from a destination, but from a detour. The Roger Miller Museum in Erick, Oklahoma.  Visited on a cross country drive in November 2006 when I flew back east to pick up my 2001 Audi TT roadster convertible, which oh by the way is visible in the photo parked next to the museum.

The museum was located at the corner of Sheb Wooley Boulevard and Route 66.  Unlike Mr. Miller, who was raised in Erick, Oklahoma, after his family moved here when he was at the ripe old age of three, the One-Eyed One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater Himself, Mr. Wooley, was born in Erick.  But he did not rate a museum back then, apparently, only a boulevard.

The museum was little more than a Roger Miller merchandise seller.  I bought a coffee mug.  Sadly, it did not say "I smoke old stoagies that I found," which would most certainly not be true, or "Dang me They Oughta Take a Rope and Hang Me," the truthfulness of which is more uncertain.  It only read "Roger Miller Museum Erick, Oklahoma."  Even sadder yet, the museum appears now to be permanently closed.

Phot-o' the Day: the Grave of Hedy Lamarr, Vienna, Austria

The Phot-o' the Day is the grave of Hedy Lamarr, from the Vienna Central Cemetery, Vienna, Austria.  I paid my respects to this actress and inventor in December 2018.

If in all of your years of tourism, you visit only one cemetery, I would highly recommend Vienna's Central Cemetery.  It is an easy tram ride from Vienna's tourist core.  And a huge number of ornate gravesites await you, including those of many famous individuals from the world of classical music (Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert), pop music (Falco), and science (Boltzmann).  And from Hollywood and the world of invention.  Ms. Lamarr was born in Vienna in 1914 and died in Central Florida in 2000.

Phot-o' the Day: On the Riva, Zadar, Croatia

Three trips to Croatia.  Only one to Zadar.  And, yet, Zadar is probably my favorite place in all of Croatia.  And the Riva in Old Town Zadar, along the sapphire blue Adriatic, just might be the most beautiful spot in all of Croatia. The competition is stiff, but I think it's the winner.  You don't always get puppies to photograph on the promenade, but it's always nice when you do.

Just to the right, outside the shot, would be the wonderful Sea Organ (Morske Orgulje) and the equally wonderful Greeting To The Sun (Pozdrav Suncu).

How do the colors compare to the original living color version of this shot?

Sunday Church Phot-o' the Day: Convento de Santo Ecce Homo, Villa De Leyva, Colombia

Sunday is the day to post photos of churches.  Today's Sunday Church Photo is from the Convento de Santo Ecce Homo, just outside Villa De Leyva, Colombia.  I visited there in November 2017.

The monastery dates back to 1620, the same year that the Pilgrims stepped foot on Plymouth Rock.  This is the monastery chapel.  It's a little more recent than that, but, I believe, only a little more recent.  It is a beautiful combination of ornate and simple.

The monastery grounds are one of the major historical sites in Colombia.  It is located on the road somewhere between the Vineyard Ain Karim and the field of giant stone phalluses (phalli?) that is politely referred to as the "Observatorio Astronómico Muisca," an "astronomical observatory."

Phot-o' the Day: Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida

Still working the glorious black and whites.

Today's Phot-o' the Day is from the afternoon parade at the Animal Kingdom park in the Walt Disney World complex in Orlando, Florida.  I visited September 2010, on the occasion of celebrations of various 50th birthdays.

I believe this is the "Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade," which ran afternoons at Disney's Animal Kingdom from 2001 to 2014.  How "jammin'" was the "Jammin' Jungle Parade." Jammin'!  The highlight of the parade, I kid you now, was the float with Goofy on board, singing the Brazilian bossa nova classic "Mas Que Nada."

Bonus pic in living color of said scene:

Goofy is no Jorge Ben, or whichever hired hand Sergio Mendes had singing on his classic version (Lani Hall, maybe?), but he did a credible job with the tune. If Goofy had wanted to go full Brazilian, this tune probably worked better than "Corcovado." Goofy's version of "Waters of March," however, likely would have been beyond awesome.

I've been to DisneyWorld twice. I've been to Disneyland, if my count is right, three times. I enjoyed those visits, but I don't think I'm going back.  The prices are even more astronomical now (and they were astronomical before).  But, more important, I've been there -- repeatedly -- and done that -- repeatedly.  There's a whole lot more world to see.  Even if I can see a lot of it in EPCOT.

Phot-o' the Day: Eger Castle; Eger, Hungary

Another day. Another continent. Another castle-fortress.

This is Eger Castle, overlooking the City of Eger, Hungary, which I visited in October 2011.

Eger Castle is a very important locale in the history of Hungary and of Europe.  This is the site of the Siege of Eger in 1552, when a major invasion from the Ottoman Turks was repelled. Even to this day (well, even up to 2011 when I visited), school groups from all over Hungary make the trek to tour the historic castle grounds.

(Unfortunately, the victory over the Ottomans was short-lived, as Eger and Hungary fell a few decades later.  Fortunately, the victory by the Ottomans was short-lived as Eger and Hungary were liberated and returned to Christendom.)

Phot-o' the day: Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, Cartagena, Colombia

This is the Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, in Cartagena, Colombia.  I visited in May 2015.

This was the fort built to protect the harbor in Cartagena during the Spanish era.  Which did the harbor need to be protected by such a big, impenetrable fort?  This was the main port in the New World for shipping all that Incan gold back to Spain.  Peru, being on the Pacific side, was somewhat impractical for purposes of providing a shipping port for such a valuable commodity.

Phot-o' the Day: Monumento al Ahogado, Punta Del Este, Uruguay

This is the Monumento al Ahogado, a.k.a., La Mano de Punta del Este. It is on the beach in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Visited November 2013.

I thought that those fingers from the land, "la mano," were whimsical and fun when I visited there. A few years later, someone told me that "Ahogado," as in "Monument to the," means "Drowned." This is the "Monument to the Drowned." This is the last thing you would see of someone who is drowning in the ocean. Kind of takes away the whimsy, no?

Phot-o' the Day: Ponte Luis I, Porto, Portugal

Ponte Luis I (the Luis I Bridge), Porto, Portugal.  Shot September 2017.

This picture was shot from inside the Burmester Port Cellar on the south side of the Douro River in Porto.  Excellent port there for the tasting, by the way.

Phot-o' the Day: Zzyzx Road, California

The official Phot-o' the day is the above, taken March 2011, at the semi-quasi abandoned Zzyzx Mineral Springs resort at the end of Zzyzx Road in the California Desert.  It is now a research center of the Cal State system, but the old post-WWII era resort long ago was closed.

Bonus B&W photo from Zzyzx that I almost used, but decided the contrasts in the above photo popped out better in the artsy black and white:

Pronounced ZIE-ziks, rhyming with "Isaac's" rather than "physics."  Just so you know.

Phot-o' the Day: St. Nicholas Cathedral, Hamburg, Germany

The ruins of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Hamburg, Germany.  Taken in May 2019.

The main cathedral in Hamburg was destroyed, in large part, in the retaliatory firebombing campaign by the Allies against Hamburg, in response to the German bombing of London.

Phot-o' the Day: Forbidden City, Beijing, China

In between trips, I will start posting a photo of the day.  I've been posting these on Facebook for a few days now and I figured I make it more permanent by posting on the travel blog, too.

This is the northeast corner of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.  Taken in July 2018.

Using the "vanilla" filter at 80% level to get an appropriately artsy black and white effect.