Category Archives: Travel

Travel Theme: Mountains

By Vladimir Brezina

Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge this week is Mountains.

Hmmm… The water that we kayak on is usually horizontal and the waves are usually not mountainous. So I don’t have many photos of mountains.

I have visited the Alps and the Rockies. But I’ve found that I like best the smaller mountain ranges that, with perhaps no more than a thousand feet of elevation, still look and feel like real mountains. You can climb them in the morning and still be back below for supper. Yet up there, you still have those sharp peaks, precipitous slopes, and—especially when the mist rolls in—that exposed, lonely thrill. And when the mist clears, there are sunlit views far into the lowlands, even as far as the sea.

DCP_0331 croppedAs, for example, in the Cordillera Central of Puerto Rico—

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Where Is This?

By Vladimir Brezina

Once upon a time, I used to visit quite often a certain place that has lately been in the news.

Here it is in January.

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And in May.

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And in July…

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Where is it?

I’ll give you a hint:

The Telegraph: Scientists: This is Richard III

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Update February 9, 2013: This is Bosworth Field, about 15 miles west of Leicester, England.  On August 22, 1485, this happened here:

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In the Battle of Bosworth, the final battle of the Wars of the Roses, King Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of England, was killed, and Henry VII, the first king of the Tudor dynasty, came to the throne.

Richard’s skeleton has now been discovered buried under a car park in Leicester.

A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!

A Word A Week Challenge & Travel Theme: Island Shadows

By Vladimir Brezina

On A Word In Your Ear, Skinnywench’s photo challenge this week is Island. And on Where’s my backpack?, Ailsa’s is Shadows.

And the two just come together in my mind—warm turquoise waters, a strong tropical sun beating down, palm shadows…

Sort of like this—

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Glover’s Reef Atoll, Belize, 2010. More photos are here.

The World’s Toughest Endurance Challenges

By Vladimir Brezina

The World’s Toughest Endurance Challenges
Richard Hoad and Paul Moore
Bloomsbury Publishing
London, 2012

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From the description of the book on Amazon:

“The World’s Toughest Endurance Challenges” profiles 50 of the most extreme marathons, triathlons, bike rides, adventure races, climbs, open-water swims and other iconic endurance events from around the world. Breathtaking full-color photographs and insider commentary from top athletes will thrill endurance athletes, extreme sports addicts, and outdoor adventurers of all stripes.

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Gulf Coast Sunset

By Vladimir Brezina

It’s freezing in New York City this week… so why not post a few photos of a warm, tropical beach in Florida?

St. Pete Beach, Florida, December 2012.

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More photos are here.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Foreign

By Vladimir Brezina

This week’s Photo Challenge is Foreign.

Thinking about this challenge, I realized that I have an entire trove of old B&W negatives and photos, taken eons ago on my travels—foreign in both time and space.

But, looking at them, I see that the essence of some places never changes—

Where is this?

Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban

By Vladimir Brezina

This week’s Photo Challenge is Urban.

Two views down the street…

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Travel Theme: Silhouette

By Vladimir Brezina

Ailsa‘s Travel-Themed Photo Challenge for this week is Silhouette.

She says: “It fascinates me how a silhouette; a two-dimensional outline of a person or object, can suggest a story just as clearly as if you could see the scene in its entirety. Perhaps it makes our imagination work overtime, trying to fill in the details we cannot see.”

Indeed…

Belize, 2010. More photos are here.

Key Biscayne Sunrise

By Vladimir Brezina

We’ve had Sunset, and so it’s time for Sunrise. This one was in Key Biscayne, Florida, this past Sunday.

And a bonus…

More photos are here.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Growth, Take Two

By Vladimir Brezina

This week’s Photo Challenge is Growth. I’ve already posted one response to this challenge, but here’s another one:

Tropical growth in the Cordillera Central of Puerto Rico. More photos are here.

And here is yet a third take on “Growth”.