Thu 30.July.2020
California
Imagery - Greece, Slovakia (2019), Croatia (2008)
Here we are still in California, reviewing pictures from the past.
None of the pictures have appeared in these pages before, but they
are past.
Nothing says we need to spin our wheels forever in 2019.
Later in the page, I'll get out of the loop , and start to review earlier
places and times.
Did we leave off last time in Greece? Let's wrap that up now!
In the harbor on Kalymnos island.
At the St Paul Gate in the old city of Rhodes.
Dusk at Mandraki Harbor.
Medieval moat mud.
The harbor at Symi island.
Time warp back to Summer 2019 in Bratislava, Slovakia.
The old city hall.
I don't remember ever eating at a Mexican restaurant in Europe.
I suppose I should, just to see what "Mexican" food is like there.
The incongruity of such a California staple, so far from home, tickles my
funnybone.
So here they are in Bratislava old city, complete with picture menu!
Don't ask me what the Thai flag over the arch is for. Maybe they have a restaurant
in there too - or a consulate.
Later: I think I know what the Thai flag
means. See the sign in the window behind the flag? Thai Massage.
Morning glories can be almost anywhere in the season. This one is at
home here in California. I see it when I pop in for scopes, scans, pills,
friends, and all that stuff that has brought me here twice a year ever since I
retired.
This sign in Santa Cruz, Calif. is also true pretty much anywhere
Set the Wayback Machine for 2008
Shop windows: Dublin, my first retired walk abroad. This was my antidote
to an eight-hour layover at Dublin Airport - an afternoon in town!
Rijeka, Croatia - I remember nothing about the shop, but it had a
colorful window display.
It seems a shame to show only one picture from the kaleidoscope of a city
that is Split, Croatia.. This one will have to do.
Dubrovnik, Croatia
I must have been a less-experienced picture-taker back then. A week in
such a spectacular set-piece as Dubrovnik, and I have embarassingly few
images worth sharing.
That said, here we go for the rest
of the page!
From a small gate in the old city wall, it is a mesmerizing drop down toward
the main street. The stairs are steep - below the photo for the first 50 meters
or so.
The Pile Gate ("PEE-leh"): This is most visitors' entryway into
the old city. The marbled street may look familiar to TV fans. Dubrovnik played one
of the cities in Game of Thrones.
The seaward face of the walls. In Summer there is a cafe out here.
In December it was just me, some cats, and a fisherman.
December was never warm, sometimes brightly sunny. A rightly-popular
activity is a walking circuit of the old city walls.
There is an entrance above the gate at each end of the city. You can
walk the full circuit, or hair out and come down half way. If you hurry,
you could go the full circuit in about 45 min, but you'd be missing most
of the fun. The vistas, the architecture, and the history all deserve
to be savored.
I think I have more Dubrovnik pictures for next time. The is more to say
about the city and its long, proud history.