Thanksgiving truck

Spotted on the side of a highway in Texas, this truck full of pumpkins looked very countryish and even cozy, I'd say.

Pumpkins

 

Monaco coat of arms

 This is located on a building opposite from the Palace.

Faces of Disneyworld

Disneyworld is such a place where you can see incredible scenes everywhere. Like this guy with Yoda on his back. Imagine, if he came to an office with is?! But here's the Magic Kingdom, a place where you can be yourself.

Monaco at night

This is the entrance to the "Moods" night club.

Where's the gondolier?

Notice the 'Made in Italy' on the gondolier's hat. Things are still made in other countries than China, yay! :-)

Colorful zebra

Who said the world is just black and white? There are other colors too!

St. Nicholas Cathedral, Monaco (Cathédrale de Monaco)

Pont du Gard

Pont du Gard is a true gem of Provance. This 2,000 year old ancient Roman aqueduct crosses the Gard River and is located in Southern France, not far from Avignon or Nimes.

Amsterdam cat

This Amsterdam resident has long ago learned to philosophically ignore the curious by-passers.

Speeding up in New York

Yet another car theme today.

New York is such a city where it is impossible to just slowly stroll around. At least, I can't, nor can anyone I know, and, I suspect, neither can the New Yorkers. I'm sure, there are some rare exceptions that only support the rule.

Each time I visit New York, I feel and see this crazy whirlpool: everyone hurries somewhere, not noticing anything and anyone on their way. Even the tourists, after a day or two, get "infected" with this wild speed and run, run, run... In this city one can't be slow - the aura is pushing him from behind, forcing him to lurch forward.

Get around your own way!

Enjoy this funny scene in Paris, where parking space is so much in demand, and so scarce, that even tiny "toy" cars can't always fit into an opening.

Monte-Carlo Casino reflection in the Sky Mirror

Sky Mirror, by Anish Kapoor.

 

 

Orchids

Just been experimenting with special effects. The results are pretty interesting.

Wooden cart in Gruyères, Switzerland

I just loved this little cart I spotted in Gruyères a while ago.

The Concrete Jungle - the REAL one!

Some call New York City the 'Concrete Jungle.' Well, I've been to NYC many times (10, 20? can't remember), and I can say without a doubt that NYC Concrete Jungle can't beat the Monaco Concrete Jungle. Not even close. People literally live on top of other people's heads. Now I have to go to Hong Kong and Singapore to see if those actually can beat Monaco (which I somehow doubt).

See it for yourself:
(This is Monaco)

 

So blue!

I never believed there are flowers this blue until I saw them with my own eyes. Blue is one of those colors I love in flowers the most. All shades, light and dark - as long as it's blue.

Colorful Colmar

There is one town in France that I particularly love - the colorful medieval Colmar. It is located in Alsace, not far from Strasbourg. I've been there twice and I'd go there again. Colmar was one of those rare European towns that were barely touched by WWII, thus never destroyed and rebuilt. The allies avoided bombing old Colmar. What you see here is original; those beautiful 15th and 16th century half-timbered houses are authentic.

A little bit of Provence

For those who love Provence, here's a shot of a cozy local restaurant at Pont du Gard (I'll write a post about it a bit later). It's beautiful here on a warm, sunny day: light freshening breeze, gentle swish of the leaves, and indescribable serenity around. I'm just tempted to lay my bones under the shade of an umbrella and relax, forgetting about everything in the whole world...

Mystical Paris

There's something about the Eiffel Tower that drives me to it, and that I can't explain...

Before the sunrise in Montreux

A sunrise, of course, is an awesome experience in pretty much any place. But there's something else that is also quite attractive to me. It's that serene time between the night and the sunrise. In some places they last just minutes, in others it might take a long time. But it's the quietness and the crispness of the air that makes this moment so special. Even the birds are still quiet. There's nothing that can distract you from meditation and calm observation of the beauty around you.

Have you ever seen a tree this big?

These monsters grow in Redwoods National Park, California, USA.

Paris pigeons

Moody day in Paris - but not for the pigeons!

Black tulips exist! :-)

Did Cornelius van Baerle (from Alexandre Dumas novel “The Black Tulip"), who was obsessed with the tulipmania and attempted to cultivate the elusive black tulip, know what would be the final result?

Would fascinating Black Parrot Tulip that resembles colorful tropical birds let him win the prize sooner?

Time for some sea!

There are things I get used to and barely notice them after a while. Or take them for granted. Or whatever. My emotions just get quite neutral then. But every time I see Mediterranean Sea, I never get enough of it. I can stare at it for hours and never get tired of it. Just like I never get tired of blueberries, no matter how much I eat them day after day. :-) Those two things can never get boring for me.

This is what the sea looks like from the Monaco's Jardin Saint-Martin (St. Martin Garden).

A random photo of Monaco

New Year's Eve in Disneyworld

NewYear's Eve in Disneyworld is a special experience. I normally don't go to Disneyworld but this time I did - to celebrate the NewYear's Eve at the Magic Kingdom. Already, at 11 AM they had closed the gates and didn't let any new visitors in as they've filled the allowed quota (by the fire regulations) of 100,000 people. The park was packed! Waiting lines everywhere. But I was rewarded at night with a fabulous view of the Cinderella Castle. 

Weekend mood

Sunrise in Venice

One of my best travel experiences is getting up early in the morning and watching the sunrise. It's a torture for me to wake up at 5 AM, but this is the only time when I'm actually looking forward to getting up. :-) I have seen many sunrises in various places - in fact, it's almost like a ritual that must be done in a newly visited location. But so far, besides the Grand Canyon, nothing could beat the sunrise in Venice.

Smiles

Quedlinburg - a well-hidden German gem

It was in Quedlinburg that in 1945 one of the biggest art thefts in the 20th century occurred. An American soldier had stolen several medieval artifacts from the Collegiate Church of St. Servatius and mailed them back to his home in Texas. For years, these treasures (now worth about $200 million) remained hoarded in obscurity. But after some of the relics surfaced on the international arts market in the late 1980’s, a waterfall of events led to a United States District Court case against the soldier’s brother and sister, who had attempted to sell the stolen items. By 1993, the looted relics had been restored to the Quedlinburg church.

Eiffel Tower: here, there, and everywhere

The Eiffel Tower is so popular that besides the original tower in Paris, there are quite a few large and small copies in the United States. I will tell you about only two of them today.

The original tower was built in 1889 for the World's Fair and today it is one of the most visited monuments in the world. It's interesting that the Parisians at first disliked the structure, but today it's hard to imagine Paris without this "Iron Woman" that is 330 metres (1,083 ft) tall.

The other side of the Palace

This is what the Prince's Palace looks like from another angle. This part is a private section of the palace.

The Prince's Palace of Monaco

The Monte Carlo Casino might be a widely known iconic symbol of Monaco, but I personally think that the Prince's Palace of Monaco is more significant. Just because it's been there for centuries before the Casino was even projected on paper. In fact, the Prince's Palace of Monaco was founded over 800 years ago (to be specific, in 1191). The Grimaldi family captured it some hundred years later (all right, if you really need to know the date, they did that in 1297). Because Monaco was - and still is - such a small country, the royal family didn't have any other official residences, like, say, the royal family of England does. There was no more room for palaces, not even small ones (and why would a royal family want a small palace in the first place, right?), so the Grimaldis lived in the same palace for 700 years. Quite unusual, isn't it?