JAFD
More of the cherry blossoms of Branch Brook Park!
On The Road – JAFD – Cherry Blossoms of Newark, part 2Post + Comments (16)
by WaterGirl| 16 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging
More of the cherry blossoms of Branch Brook Park!
On The Road – JAFD – Cherry Blossoms of Newark, part 2Post + Comments (16)
by WaterGirl| 13 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging
The cherry blossoms here reached peak on Easter Saturday and Sunday. Then we were hit by a three-day nor’easter. Was afraid might knock them down, but the flowers stayed up well.
01 Taken in ’21, at the entrance to the new Essex County Courthouse.
If you would like to join Ms. Rosa Parks for our bus ride …
On The Road – JAFD – Cherry Blossoms of Newark, part 1Post + Comments (13)
by WaterGirl| 39 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging
In 2017, the long-running BBC television show “Doctor Who” featured an episode called “Smile,” set on a newly-colonized but strangely deserted planet. The mystery to be solved by the Doctor and his companion, Bill Potts, was simple but sinister: what happened to the colonists? For me, though, the mystery was: where did they film that gorgeous architecture?
The answer turned out to be the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (the City of Arts and Sciences), in Valencia, Spain. Since then, I’d been jones’ing for a chance to see it in person – and this year, I took myself there for my birthday. Here are a few photos from that visit.
The first of the City buildings to be completed, in 1998, L’Hemisfèric houses an IMAX theatre/planetarium and a huge lobby area that can be used for meetings and special events. It’s also really pretty at night.
On The Road – Christopher Mathews – The Doctor and the CityPost + Comments (39)
by WaterGirl| 16 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging
Happy Monday!
(click for a larger, non-blurry schedule for the week)
The quickening of migration in March hints at the flood of migrants to come, and this time of year is eagerly anticipated by birders and other nature lovers. So let’s spend some time on migrants, both those who are arriving and those who are emigrating further north for the summer.
Ducks are a great way to get into birding, since they are large, easily found in the right habitats, and gorgeous in their spring finery. This male American Wigeon (Mareca americana) is a great example. Those rusty sides, white belly, and flashy white underwing patches make this species easy to identify from a distance, and easy to appreciate up close. Click here for larger image.
On The Road – Albatrossity – Spring in the Heartland – 1Post + Comments (16)
by WaterGirl| 14 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging, Saudi Arabia
The final set of Saudi pictures are from Yanbu.
There are actually three cities comprising Yanbu. Yanbu Al-Bahr is the main city on the Red Sea coast where the ship docked. The other one we visited is Yanbu Al-Nakhal, a group of villages about an hour’s drive from the coast that used to be one of the hubs on the spice and incense route between Egypt and Yemen.
Yes, this is Saudi Arabia. I took this picture through the bus window on the drive to Yanbu Al-Nakhal. We passed plenty of desert, and herds of camels grazing along the side of the road, but I was not expecting those mountains, or the greens from the recent rains.
On The Road – arrieve – Saudi Arabia, part 4Post + Comments (14)
by WaterGirl| 20 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging, Saudi Arabia
More pictures from the walking tour in Al Balad, the old town in Jeddah.
This set is mostly street scenes in Al Balad. This is one of main shopping streets.
On The Road – arrieve – Saudi Arabia, part 3Post + Comments (20)
by WaterGirl| 17 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging, Saudi Arabia
The second day in Jeddah I took a walking tour of Al Balad, the old town of Jeddah. It became a thriving port in the 7th century, and because it is less than 50 miles from Mecca, Al Balad was, and Jeddah is, a gateway city for pilgrims. The 650 buildings in the district—now a UNESCO World Heritage site—mostly date from the 19th century; many were built from blocks of coral carved out of the nearby Red Sea, with distinctive wooden balconies called rawasheen.
The tour was a little haphazard but this was so much more interesting than all the jewelry stores and construction sites on the previous day.
Many of the buildings are dilapidated and some are in danger of collapsing, as the steep cost of upkeep led to many of the families leaving for the newer, more modern living options in Jeddah’s suburbs. The Ministry of Culture has now financed a full restoration project, and the streets were full of construction crews when we were there.
Many of the architectural details in Al Balad are this bright blue, or a slightly more subdued green.
On The Road – arrieve – Saudi Arabia, part 2Post + Comments (17)