To pause, hover cursor over photo.
Walter mimics the "Thinker" at the Musee Rodin in Paris, France. Cast in 1904, this bronze sculpture of a nude man of robust size in deep thought is one of the most famous creations of French artist Auguste Rodin.
Virgin Mary's house located near Ephesus, Turkey is a stone structure built over the original lay out of the house constructed by St. John for Mother Mary after the resurrection of her son Jesus. The house has 3 rooms and is approximately 300+ square feet.
The toboggan run was once the primary means of downhill transportation in Funchal, capital of Madeira, Portugal. Two chauffeurs wearing straw hats use special rubber-soled shoes to steer and brake this wicker basket attached to two wooden runners that glide on greased up rags.
On the path leading to the River Main, towards the train and boat stations used by emigrants leaving the town, stands a memorial to all those who left Grossheubach, Germany.
Perched atop jagged boulders an hour away from Barcelona, Spain sprawls the Benedictine Monastery of Montserrat which shelters the Black Madonna, an ancient wooden statue of the Virgin and Child believed carved by St. Luke.
Ephesus in Turkey is an ancient port city with well-preserved ruins such as the library pictured behind me. Biblical documentations refer to Ephesus as the site of early Christian evangelism for St. John and St. Paul.
Marvel at the genius of Michelangelo in Florence, Italy. The veins of the hands, the crease of the skin and the perfectly captured muscle tone of the body chiselled in marble. You watch in awe waiting for David to breathe.
Anton Gaudi is to Barcelona, Spain what Hugh Comstock is to Carmel, California. Two geniuses who defined these two beautiful cities that are unique and playful in architecture. The Sagrada Familia Cathedral was designed by Gaudi and started construction in the 1850s. This masterpiece is scheduled for completion in 2025.
The Eiffel Tower is the iconic symbol of Paris, France. Constructed around 1887-1889 to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Fall of Bastille / French Revolution, it is 986 feet tall with 1.710 steps to the top. The tower grows and shrinks by as much as six inches in the sun. Every 7 years, it is coated in 60 tons of paint in 3 different shades of "Eiffel Brown" that gets lighter as it gets higher.
Joyride on a water buffalo / carabao drawn carriage in Laguna, Philippines.. This bovine is a draught animal used mostly by farmers with limited resources. It is the largest terrestrial mammal native to the Philippines.
The Parthenon is a marble structure that sits atop a compound of temples in the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Built as a temple for the goddess Athena, it is the largest and most lavish temple in mainland Greece and one of the most recognized buildings in the world.
Entrance to the Cave of the Apocalypse in Patmos where, in 95 AD, St. John heard the voice of God as recorded in the Book of Revelation. During anti-Christian persecution, St. John was banished to this Greek island after being plunged in boiling oil in Rome but did not suffer. He made the cave his home during his 18 month exile.
A 98 foot concrete bust of disgraced President Ferdinand Marcos in Benguet, Philippines. Its construction displaced indigenous residents who were forced to sell their land at very low prices. The monument was destroyed in December 2002 by the New People's Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
The island of Corsica France, birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, is where the biggest Napoleon's monument can be found posed in his famed stance which apparently was due to a family affliction with stomach cancer. Corsica is also the motherland of Pasquali Paoli, a patriot and philosopher whose thoughts on creating a just society (Enlightened Age) greatly influenced the Sons of Liberty and the American Constitution.
At Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany, two windows of the town hall building open every hour to show two men in a duel. In the olden days, the town of 5000 people was attacked by an army of 20000 soldiers. As the town folks hid, women and children were sent to beg for mercy. The leader of the attackers (left window) promised to spare the town if he was beaten in a continuous beer drinking duel. The mayor (right window) accepted the challenge, won the bet and the town was spared.
A memorial established in Kleinheubach, Germany honoring the 11 Jews from the town who were sent to concentration camps in 1942 by the Nazi.
The bocksbeutel is the uniquely shaped ellipsoid bottle exclusively used for wines in the Franconia region of Germany. Since 1989, it has been patented in the EU and can only be used for Franken wines.
Baptismal fount of Walter's mother Maria and her siblings at the St. Petri Stuhlfeier in Grossheubach, Germany.
Christ of Havana is a 66 foot high marble sculpture of Jesus on a hilltop overlooking the Bay of Havana, Cuba.
Although Mt. Etna is an active volcano and last erupted in 2021, adventurers can safely explore in and around the inactive Silvestri Craters which were formed by a massive eruption of Mt. Etna in 1892.
The Ear of Dionysius is a limestone quarry and the source of stones used to build the ancient city at Neapolis in Siracusa, Sicily, Italy. Legend has it that the Siracusa tyrant Dionysius imprisoned enemies in the cavern and eavesdropped on their conversations made possible by a strong echo and a small crack where he placed his ears.
Walter, a tree-hugger wannabe, embraced Grandfather Tree at the Avenue of the Giants in Piercy, California. The tree is 265 feet tall, and 24 feet in diameter. It is estimated to be 1,800 years old.
The Southernmost Point in Key West, Florida is a cement buoy that marks the southernmost point in the continental United States. Here you will find US Route 1 Mile 0, Truman's Little White House and places where Ernest Hemingway lived and hung out.
Aside from the distinct architecture of the French Quarters, festive celebrations like the Mardi Gras, vibrant nightlife on Bourbon Street and all that jazz, New Orleans, Louisiana boasts the National World War2 Museum, an extensive exhibition on the war that changed the world.
Every third Monday of April, Boston, Massachusetts celebrates Patriot Day and the first battles of the American Revolutionary War with the re-enactment of Paul Revere's ride and the Boston Marathon. Enjoy parades and exhibits at the colonial towns of Lexington and Concord, view Nathaniel Hawthorne's house of the seven gables and a witch trial at Salem and visit the first pilgrim colony at Plymouth Village.
Seista Keys sands is made of 99% quartz instead of pulverized corals. Legend has it that quartz originating from the Appalachian Mountains, smoothened and moved over time by rivers flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, were deposited by waves throughout Florida giving Gulf Coast beaches their unique quality. Somehow, Seista Keys benefited the most from this geologic phenomenon.
Philadelphia Alley - Large stones used as ballast to stabilize colonial-era trade ships were re-purposed to pave the streets of Charleston, South Carolina giving the city its old world charm. Ride the ferry and be awed by the daring escape to freedom of Robert Smalls, an illiterate slave who seized and navigated a confederate vessel to the island of Fort Sumter where the first shot that ignited the American Civil War was fired.
All aboard! The Madaket in Eureka, California is the oldest passenger carrying vessel in continuing service in the United States and boasts the smallest licensed bar in California.
The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City became the symbol of liberty after it collapsed from a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. 2996 lives perished when two planes intentionally crashed into these 110 story buildings.
The seals came to Fisherman's Wharf soon after the 1989 Loma Prieto earthquake and never left. An unexplained but delightful curiosity of nature providing free melodic concert at the pier. Yes, your heart can never leave San Francisco, California.
From up the Rocky Mountain flows the Colorado River; cutting through arid land for millions of years to form the Grand Canyon, Arizona. This 277-mile natural wonder is 6,000 feet at its deepest and 18 miles at its widest. Native Americans of the Supai Village live inside the Grand Canyon in the most remote community in the continental U.S. and the only place where mail is delivered by mule.
One fifth of all fresh water in the world comes from 4 Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron and Eerie) which flow 3,160 tons of water every second over the Niagara Falls located in between Ontario, Canada and New York, USA ; emptying into the 5th of the Great Lakes, Ontario.
A vintage stagecoach reminiscent of life in Columbia, California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Columbia is the oldest town in the Gold Country and was once the second most populous town in California (pre-statehood), next only to San Francisco.
The Golden Gate Bridge was the longest bridge span in the world at the time. it opened on May 27, 1937. This bright orange structure is known to be the most popular suicide spot in the world with more than 1,500 known suicides during its 75 year existence.
Plimouth Patuxet Museum is a recreation of the 17th century Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, complete with timber-framed houses furnished with reproductions of the types of objects that the Pilgrims owned, aromatic kitchen gardens, and heritage breeds livestock.