ADVENTURE IS WORTH WHILE.
Every photo is my own and has a story or a description.
When we work
We work to do our duty.
We work as a worship.
In working, we diversify our worship.
In travel,
In studies,
In healing,
We worship.
Yes, the paycheck is there.
But it is not the result we seek.
The paycheck is a good consequence.
To be used to further worhip.
The result is in the work itself.
We are not idle when we work.
We further our worship when we work.
We further our worship when we travel.
We further our worship when we study.
We further our worship when we heal.
Real art is worship.
My travel is my art.
Therefore I say
My travel is my worhip.
So if I describe here my travels,
I am also describing here my art.
I am describing here my worhip.
A Guide Book For Life, my version of The Search For The Holy Grail.
"Travel is never a matter of money but of courage."
ROAD TRIPS IN NEW MEXICO.
Historic Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas NM has a nice ramp that we used to bring the luggage cart down to our car. The hotel also has a loading zone in front of the entrance doors so it was very easy to load up our car. At the bottom of the ramp, I noticed the 2 hardly used buildings at the right of the hotel so I photographed them.
What did we do for Father's Day 2020? We travelled through Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Valles Caldera Park, and Jemez Springs.
AT HOME IN ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO.
The moon shining above the trees seen from the west side of Roosevelt Park looking towards the east. This is near the Silver Hill neighborhood of Albuquerque. Roosevelt Park was created around 1935 as a result of Franklin D. Roosevelts' New Deal program. It is a historical landmark with about 2,000 trees and bushes.
The moon visible between the two towers of the Hyatt Hotel in Downtown Albuquerque at Third street and Tijeras Street. This photo was taken on the other side of 4th street which is west of the towers. These are 2 of the tallest towers in Albuquerque. This is easily accomplished because there are only about 12 skyscrapers in Albuquerque and most new buildings are only 7-8 stories tall, at the highest.
A COUPLE OF DAYS SPENT IN CREEDE, COLORADO AREA.
A sculpture that stands in the downtown area of Colorado Springs CO. He lived there but he is best known for his years living in Cripple Creek Colorado. He discovered a gold vein called the Independent Lode and this made him the first millionaire in Cripple Creek. He was a generous philanthropist which is probably why he deserves to be immortalized here. He was born in Jeffersonville Indiana 1848 and died in Colorado Springs CO 1902. In 1872 he was making $3.00 an hour as a carpenter. He helped to build the McAllister House and the Helen Hunt Jackson House. In 1891 he filed a claim for the Independence Lode which was a gold mine he was able to develop after having worked a small mine he had sold after several years of prospecting. He made about one million dollars a year for about 8 years until he sold the Independence Mine for ten million dollars. He bought quite a bit of land in Colorado Springs and donated a lot of it to the city. He provided the land for the Colorado Springs City Hall, the Mining Exchange Building, the Post Office and Federal Courthouse, The El Paso County Courthouse which is now the Pioneer Museum, and the land which is the location for Stratton Park.
A historic plaque concerning an especially important lady of Colorado Springs. This plaque is in the Pioneer Museum which is also located on land that was donated to the city by Winfield Scott Stratton. I don't have to write anything about Helen Hunt Jackson because this plaque did the work for me. 😄.
Photo of the lovely vase with Farida and Rayhend in front of me. This is just a tiny hint of the almost unbelievable opulence of the Operá Garnier.
9 DAYS IN PARIS, FRANCE PROVIDED FOR HUNDREDS OF PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES. Actually, we could have gotten THOUSANDS of photos in a city like Paris. Paris, especially within the 20 arrondissements, is a huge artwork.
There are 6 or 7 locations of the Angelina Tea House in Paris. This photo was taken at the Luxembourg location, on the north side of Luxembourg Gardens. I think the original location is at 226 Rue Rivoli. It is just down the street from the Louvre Museum. It was designed in the Belle Epoque style in 1903 by Edouard-Jean Niermans.... Tarte Citrus and mineral water at the exquisite Angelina tea house next to the Jardine Luxembourg, Paris. Another location of Angelina tea house is in Versailles.
These 3 photos are all within Montparnasse cemetery of Paris. We arrived here after leaving the catacombs and then having gone to Rue Daguerre to buy a bottle of vin rouge and then to Boulangerie Dossement where we bought desserts, we walked another 10 minutes to arrive at the cemetery. Farida and the boys sat near the entrance eating their desserts while I searched for a few things to photograph there.
This is one of the gravesites I wanted to photograph in Montparnasse cemetery. First to be photographed was that of Charles Baudelaire. Many months after posting this photo here, I found out that this is actually not the place where Baudelaire is buried. He is buried in the same cemetery but he is buried with his wife's family where his stepfather is also buried and Charles Baudelaire hated his stepfather. So a committee of artists who wanted to honor him more properly created this monument for him.
This tomb stone states that this explorer made the expedition that provided France with the territory of Cote d'Ivoire. He was an officer and an explorer who not only helped France colonize Cote d'Ivoire as a result of his exploration there but also updated maps of Africa. Maps of Africa used to include a mountain range called the Mountains of Kong (yes this was a real thing). This mountain range supposedly ran across most of western Africa just above the Sahel region. The Mountains of Kong were on world maps until around 1880 and were even shown in Goodes World Atlas until the 1895 edition. The explorations of Louis Gustave Binger helped to eliminate the notion that such a mountain range existed.
In Paris there are a few churches with the name Notre Dame. This is the interior of Notre Dame des champs. Champs means field and, since this is one of the oldest churches of Paris, at the time it was built, it was outside of the city walls, in the midst of a field. The neighborhood that would eventually be created around the church is Saint-Germain des près neighborhood. 🌹🌹 And for Notre Dame Cathedral, may she quickly be restored. 🌹🌹
Gertrude Stein was an American expatriate novelist who lived here in Paris. She held a salon here where she entertained many aspiring artists and a few who became famous artists like Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Actually, F. Scott Fitzgerald was already pretty famous during this period having already written a couple of novels. (This Side of Paradise and The Beautiful and the Damned). He was also writing The Great Gatsby which he finished around 1925.
Elliott Paul was an American expatriate journalist who wrote a book about life on Rue de la Huchette which is just 10 minutes walking to Notre Dame cathedral. He wrote about living on Rue de la Huchette and about the people who lived around him. The book is called "The Last Time I Saw Paris ". This photo is at Rue de la Huchette and Rue de la Harpe. On the other end of Rue de la Huchette is the narrowest street in Paris called Rue du Chat-Qui-Pêche. It means something like street of the cat that fishes. There are no storefronts on Rue du Chat-Qui-Pêche.
No comment nesessary. Actually, on a personnal note, I rarely appear in photos because I do not like making selfies. I have made only 4 or 5 selfies in my life. Bringing our sons with us on our excursions allows me to appear in a few photos. Farida, on the other hand, thrives on selfies and multifarious photos.
ONE WEEK IN SCANDINAVIA.
Danmark.
Kronborg castle is located at the Øresund sound and ships used to have to pay a toll while passing through Øresund Sund. This helped to make this castle and the nearby community Helsingør quite wealthy. It is a UNESCO site. This is a renaissance castle with defenses reinforced with several canons that have awfully big balls. 😃
SWEDEN
IN THE TOWER OF BASILICA DE LA VOTA NACIONAL, WE WERE ABLE TO RELAX AND SNACK A BIT. I DO NOT KNOW IF ALL THE TOWERS HAVE CAFES IN THEM. WE CLIMBED THE TOWER THAT IS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE MAIN ENTRANCE OF THE CHURCH. I DO NOT KNOW IF PEOPLE WERE CLIMBING THE TOWER ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE MAIN ENTRANCE BECAUSE WE DID NOT SEE ANYONE IN THAT TOWER. WE DID SEE PEOPLE CLIMBING THE THIRD TOWER WHICH IS NOT AS HIGH AS THE TWO FRONT SIDE TOWERS. WE ORDERED TWO HOT TEAS, A TEA WITH MILK, ONE HOT CHOCOLATE AND TWO HUMITAS. I CAN NOT GET ENOUGH OF THOSE HUMITAS.
THIS VIDEO IS A RATHER LONG WALKING TOUR AROUND THE AREA OF THE HOTEL WHERE WE WERE STAYING. I WAS LOOKING FOR THE BAKERY WHERE I HAVE SHOPPED A COUPLE OF TIMES ALREADY AND FOR A DESSERT PLACE CALLED GELATO MIX. I FOUND THEM AS WELL AS A COUPLE OF OTHER INTERESTING PLACES. WE CAN SEE HAPPY PANDA CHINESE RESTAURANT FROM OUR HOTEL WINDOW.
THE BAKERY IS NEXT TO THE HOTEL; PANIFICADORA AMBATO. GELATO MIX IS LOCATED ONE CITY BLOCK FURTHER DOWN AVE. 12 DE OCTUBRE. CAFÉ QUITO IS AT THE SWISSÔTEL QUITO WHICH IS ACROSS THE STREET FROM OUR HOTEL. THERE IS ALSO AN ITALIAN RESTAURANT CALLED LA BRICIOLA AT THE CORNER OF AV. ISABELLS CATÓLICA AND FRANCISCO SALAZAR. SAN HONORÉ AND MUSA RESTAURANTE ARE ALSO GOOD SOUNDING PLACES IN THEIS AREA.
OH, AND WHILE AT CAROLINA PARK, WE TRIED THE ESPUMILLA. WE DID NOT REALLY LIKE IT. THE TOP PART WAS RATHER FUNKY. THE TEXTURE IS ODD AND THE FLAVORS DID NOT STAND OUT ENOUGH TO MAKE UP FOR THE STRANGE TEXTURE. WE DID LIKE THE BOTTOM PART THAT CONSISTS OF SEVERAL TYPES OF FRUIT PIECES SOAKING IN A DELICIOUS RED SAUCE. ESPUMILLA IS A TRADITIONAL ECUADORIAN DESSERT. IT IS A FOAM, NOT AN ICE CREAM, WHICH IS WHY IT IS NOT MELTING AS VENDORS SELL IT IN THE STREETS. IT IS MERINGUE WITH EGG WHITES, SUGAR, AND PUREED FRUIT. THE FRUIT IS SOAKING IN A RED BERRY SYRUP. THAT LAST PART IS GOOD.
WE SPENT SUNDAY IN SHOPPING CENTERS AND PARKS. WE FIRST WENT TO PLAZA OF THE AMERICAS. IT IS REALLY SMALL WITH FEW SHOPPING OPTIONS. IT DOES HAVE A FEW NICE CAFES AND A LARGE CINEMA. THE PLAZA OF THE AMERICAS IS SMALL BUT COZY. IT KIND OF LOOKS LIKE A SQUARE PARK WITH SHOPS, CAFES, AND CINEMARK SURROUNDING IT. AFTER WE LEFT PLAZA DE LAS AMERICAS, WE WALKED DOWN TO PARQUE CAROLINA. WE STOPPED TO TAKE A PHOTO AT A FUNKY STATUE. I COULD NOT FIND A NAME FOR THIS STATUE OF FOUR CHILDREN SITTING ON A BENCH TALKING TO EACH OTHER. IT IS IN A TINY PARK AND MAY BE CALLED DESCANSO. WE THEN CONTINUED WALKING UNTIL WE REACHED THE VERY LARGE PARK. IT HAS A VIVARIUM HERE. IT IS A SMALL SAMPLE OF REPTILE SPECIMENS INDIGIONOUS TO ECUADOR. THERE IS A SUPERMAXI SHOPPING CENTER ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE SOUTHERN END OF CAROLINA PARK SO WE WENT THERE TO BUY COLD MEDICINE FOR RENO WHO MAY HAVE GOTTEN A HEAD COLD. WE RELAXED AT A SPECIAL PLACE CALLED REPUBLIC DE CAFÉ. THERE IS A VIDEO HERE ABOUT JUST THAT. IMMEDIATLY ON THE SOUTHERN END OF PARQUE CAROLINA IS A METRO STATION. ONCE I SAW THE STATION ENTRANCE, I DECIDED WE SHOULD TRY IT OUT. IT IS GREAT. IT IS STILL NEW AND MADE TO BE EASILY USED BY THE MOST UNITIATED PERSONS IN METRO USE. IT ALSO COSTS ONLY .45 CENTS FOR ADULTS. I AM HAPPY TO HAVE USED IT. I TOOK A VIDEO OF IT WITH MY CELL PHONE SO I MAY UPLOAD IT HERE ALTHOUGH VIDEOS FROM MY CELL PHONE COME UP SMALLER HERE. WE GOT OUT AT PARQUE EJIDO METRO STATION. AFTER TAKING A COUPLE OF PHOTOS OF WRITERS (THERE ARE MANY STATUES OF POETS AND NOVELISTS HERE), WE WAKED THE REST OF THE WAY TO THE HOTEL.