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