Friday, June 28, 2013

Wrap-up of the Wrap-up

Dear All, 

 Looking back on the wrap-up, I found few pictures of the beginning of our trip. So I am adding ones from the beginning. I couldn't stop there so there are some additional photos from the end 
of the trip! 

Imperial Palace gardens, Kyoto, Japan
The fruit trees are showing their first blooms of the year and the Japanese are delighted. It's a celebration with cell phone photos being emailed to the world!



Imperial Palace, Kyoto
The Japanese have great reverence for old things (and old people)




Imperial Palace, Kyoto



Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto





Rokkakudo Temple, Kyoto


Daibutsu-den (Great Buddha Hall), Nara, Japan



Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto, Japan


Ginkaku-Ji (The Silver Pavillion), Kyoto Japan




Bullet Train (Shinkansen) Bento box.
It was delicious!


Osaka Castle, Osaka, Japan


Airport--Bangkok, Thailand, 


Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand
This little area was tucked away behind the market stalls


Prow of Royal Barge
The Royal Barges Museum is tucked away just inside a canal across the river from the Grand Palace. It is one of the hardest places to find from land, as, naturally, royalty (and smart tourists) arrive by water. 


Blue Elephant Cooking School, Bangkok


The Great Palace of Bangkok


Ayutthaya, Thailand
Founded around 1350, Ayutthaya became the second capital of Siam.
An amazing place with gigantic ruins. The dots on the ground at the far left are people


Ayutthaya

Vat Xieng Thong
Luang Prabang, Laos


Kuang Si Falls, outside of Luang Prabang, Laos


The Pak Ou caves overlook the Mekong River, north of Luang Prabang, Laos. The caves are noted for their miniature Buddha sculptures.  This is the upper cave, Tham Theung


Vientaine, Laos



Ho Chi Ming City (Saigon), Vietnam
Crossing the street is a crazy dance of weaving in and out


Royal Palace, Phnom Penh, Cambodia


Cambodian delicacy--deep fried tarantula


Beautiful Cambodian girl


İstiklal Caddessi or Istiklal Street is one of the most famous avenues in Istanbul, visited by nearly 3 million people in a single day over the course of weekends.

On May 31, 2013 Istanbul erupted in violence after protests against razing of Gezi Park across from Taksim Square. 

Police chased demonstrators down nearby Istiklal Street, Istanbul’s famous and bustling pedestrian thoroughfare, past cafés and brand-name shops as storekeepers close their windows to keep out the tear gas.What started as a small sit-in to save a beloved local park has seen thousands of people take the streets in a broader protest against Prime Minister Erdogan.

We stayed at the Richman Istanbul Hotel on Istiklal Street on April 1, 2013 about two months before violence broke out in Turkey.


Istanbul


Wild cats in Turkey enjoy a special relationship with most Turks, who leave food and water for the felines. This is a market stall


Akdamar Island  is the second by size of four islands in Lake Van, Eastern Anatolia Region, Turkey
It is home to a tenth century Armenian Cathedral church, known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross (915-921), and was the seat of an Armenian Catholics from 1116 to 1895.



Van, Turkey


Erzurum, Turkey



Cappadocia is a region in Central Anatolia, in Turkey


Samandag, near the ancient city of Antioch


St Alexander Nevski Monumental Cathedral, Sofia, Bulgaria


Kilronan harbor, Inishmore, Ireland


 
Isle of Skye, Scotland
Rosie checks out the edge of the sheep path, lined with wool


The Parliament, Edinburg, Scotland.
I think these are whisky bottles, but they present the people represented by the parliament



Tallin, Estonia



The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia


Pavlovsk Palace, Pushkin, Russia


Helsinki, Finland


Lubeck, Germany


Skansen, Stockholm
Skansen is the first open air museum and zoo in Sweden and is located in Stockholm


View on the Arnarstapi-Hellnar trail, Iceland