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Signs of the City.145

Let’s hope the above sign near the base of the Mt Dajti cable-car in lovely Tirana remains largely anachronistic :-). I’ve gone ahead and popped all Tirana photos with anything vaguely sign-like into this post. So you’re seeing several photos from inside the claustrophobic former command-bunker near the cable car base, which is now the one of two museums based inside ex-bunkers, and of Steve standing atop a bunker-like miniature golf hole at the top of Mt. Dajti. We sensed that Albania is very happy that now one can, more or less, make fun of the bunkers rather than depleting the national budget building them. I can think of quite a few things I wish the current US govt weren’t spending our tax dollars on, and several folks getting very rich indeed on the spoils of their current power and influence, in ways that feel much more like the Albania of old, than the US I grew up in.

Posted by  |  August 21, 2026 | Categories: Albania, The Balkans | Tags: | Leave a comment

Skylights.35

Last week’s solar eclipse peaked here in Amsterdam at just about 89% coverage of sun by moon, shortly before I took this photo with my phone. Note how many people you see out enjoying the unusual event. I spent most of it ensconced in my sunroom, with my eclipse glasses on, and have shared below some highly-unprofessional shots in which I either popped the glasses over the lens so you could get a bit of a sense; or tried out the manual settings on my phone.
I emerged with one strong recommendation: if an eclipse is happening near you any time soon, DO get eclipse glases in advance, and DO put them on at the time the sun starts being obscured, and keep them on. It’s a rare thing and I’ve now added eclipse chasing to my list of probable retirement pastimes. Included below are other shots once the moon had cleared and the sun continued it usual beautiful arc below the horizon.

Posted by  |  August 21, 2026 | Categories: Netherlands, North Holland & Amsterdam | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

The Source.25

Ice on ground, clouds in sky somewhere over Western Nevada or Eastern California, on my flight from ORD to SFO last December.

Posted by  |  August 20, 2026 | Categories: Airborne & Unknown Location, United States | Tags: | Leave a comment

Countryside.25

…and some last photos from various rides & walks around the Utrechtse Heuvelrug park.

Posted by  |  August 19, 2026 | Categories: Netherlands, Utrecht (Province &/or City) | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Art / Nature.25

I’ve actually got a few consciously human-made artworks in nature, but since I was already posting from my Doorn visit, I saw this photo and remembered how art-like I found this naturally-occurring image :-).

Posted by  |  August 18, 2026 | Categories: Netherlands, Utrecht (Province &/or City) | Tags: | Leave a comment

Country Canals.125

Yes, you’ll find a canal somewhere in each of these photos from my easter-weekend visit to Huis Doorn. 🙂

Posted by  |  August 17, 2026 | Categories: Netherlands, Utrecht (Province &/or City) | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Urban Canals.225

A sampling of Utrecht’s canals as taken during a lovely stroll early last week.

Posted by  |  August 17, 2026 | Categories: Netherlands, Utrecht (Province &/or City) | Tags: | Leave a comment

Urban Garden.255

Vondelpark’s rose garden has been lovely this year. The duck was from a stroll through earlier in the year, that I just never got around to posting :-).

Posted by  |  August 16, 2026 | Categories: Netherlands, North Holland & Amsterdam | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Coasting.155

Sicily’s southern coast as seem from up the hill in Licata, last month.

Posted by  |  August 16, 2026 | Categories: Italy, Sicily | Tags: | Leave a comment

Image

Village Views.135

Posted by  |  August 15, 2026 | Categories: Netherlands, Gelderland | Leave a comment

Bridges.55

Posted by  |  August 15, 2026 | Categories: Macedonia R.N., The Balkans | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Longest Beach.75

Posted by  |  August 14, 2026 | Categories: Bangladesh | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Ah, Royalty.85

Sam and I both agreed that this grand entrance to Casteel Middachten (Middachten Castle) looks rather royal indeed. As part of our Veluwe-Zoom and Central-Gelderland exploration, we spent a lovely few hours exploring its glorious gardens, without going inside the building itself.

Posted by  |  August 14, 2026 | Categories: Gelderland, Netherlands | Leave a comment

Lake Living.95

…and then, of course, there were the 10 days Steve and I spent on and around the shores of Lake Ohrid, from which a couple photos or more might still be shared…

Posted by  |  August 13, 2026 | Categories: Macedonia R.N., The Balkans | Tags: | Leave a comment

Lake Living.94

Since I do live just next to a lovely large lake, I tend to amass photos of it. Using most of those from this year in this post 🙂

Posted by  |  August 12, 2026 | Categories: Netherlands, North Holland & Amsterdam | Tags: , , | Leave a comment