Country Canals.23
Coasting.33
City Views.143
Maastricht means “Maas Crossing,” or Ford of the Meuse / Maas. All the photos in this post were taken in and around Fort Sint Pieter, built at the top of a hill to the west of the main city, getting fairly close to the Belgian border. (Locals seem to call it a mountain, but that’s all in the eye of the beholder.) Apparently invaders (usually the French) attacked Maastricht many times, and this fort was built into the top of the hill after the success of one invasion, which set up guns at the top of the hill and lobbed them over the then-current city walls. (As the city grew, new walls were built further out than the old walls which usually remained up. You’ve already seen both this fort and one gate still standing from a past incarnation of one such wall.) More recently, Maastricht is known for the Treaty on European Union (aka the Maastricht Treaty), signed here in 1992. Maybe they hoped this union thing means they’ll never have to fire up these cannons again, eh? 😊
Small Wonders.143
City Views.142
Since I really only visited cities in Myanmar, I’ve decided I can gather all the remaining photos which I have not yet posted into one big City Views post. These images are from the cities of Sittwe (in Rakhine), Lashio (in Northern Shan), Mytkina (in Kachin) and Yangon.
Urban Garden.112
Urban Garden.111
City Views.141
Herewith all the remaining photos from my visit early last month to Shwedagon Pagoda, in Yangon. There are fountains for each day of the week and many visitors use the basins to wash the statues and flowers at the fountain for the day of their birth. I’m a Thursday-born guy. One day (Wednesday, I think) has two fountains, one for morning and one for afternoon. I don’t begin to understand the complexities of this cosmology, but did find this place remarkable.
(so much world, so little time....) 