*Equestrian Statue of Gyula Andrassy in Front of Hungarian Parliament Building. February 2022.*

Budapest, Magyarország (Hungary)

February 18, 2022

*Spotlights on the Parliament Building. February 2022.*

Spent the evening walking along the banks of the Danube River in Budapest two nights ago. I wanted to try out some handheld night photography with the new Tamron f/2.8 28-75mm G2 lens. The riverside monuments are beautifully lit at night, making for some really neat shots. Also had fun trying different adjustments in the RAW files. Let me know if you have any questions or comments, and which is your favorite!

*Moon above Szent István Bazilika. February 2022.*

*Buda Castle and Europa Boat. February 2022.*

Definitely one of my favorite cities. More to come from Buda and Pest!

*Hungarian Parliament Building, the Danube River, and Buda Castle. February 2022.*

Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho

January 25, 2022

A road trip across southern and central Idaho took me to many beautiful places, including Craters of the Moon National Monument (and Preserve!). You know how Idaho potatoes are famous? Well you can thank the volcanic soil and the fine water from the massive aquifers that lie beneath Craters of the Moon. By the way, the name is perfect for this park. There are expansive plains of exposed lava rock that make it feel exactly like the surface of the moon. Or rather, how I imagine the surface of the moon would feel. I’ve never actually been to the moon.

Anywho, I actually drove through the park at sunset because my campground was a few miles further (farther?) down the road outside of Arco, Idaho. Speaking of which, that is a fantastic place to camp. The lights from Arco are mostly off at night, and anyway it’s a small town. This means that the night skies are absolutely incredible. And I would be completely remiss if I didn’t mention Pickle’s Place in Arco. Great burgers, cheap beer, and open much later than I ever would’ve expected given the remote location. So yeah, go to Pickle’s Place.

*Lava Lake, Craters of the Moon, Idaho. June 2018.*

Many more pictures from CotM to come, I have wayyyy more to go through.

Recap and Recommendations:

Craters of the Moon National Monument - Hikes, caves, and climbing the giant cinder cone. There’s a nice long driving loop too, if you are feeling lazy and out-of-touch with nature.
Craters of the Moon / Arco KOA - A solid campground close to Pickle’s Place
Pickle’s Place - I don’t know if there are other restaurant bars within a hundred miles of Arco, but it doesn’t matter because you should just go here.

Questions? Comments? Favorite menu items at Pickle’s Place? Friends with Pickle himself? Let me know below…

Utrecht, Nederland at Night

January 18, 2022

Went wandering around town on a cloudy night with my tripod in tow to try out some night shots with the new Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 G2 lens. It did not disappoint!

*Utrecht, Nederland. Tivoli Vredenburg and Hoog Catharijne at Night. January 2022.*

*Utrecht Centraal Train and Bus Station. January 2022.*

Stadhuis Utrecht, January 2022. — *Stadhuis and Domtoren. Utrecht, January 2022.*

There’s no denying that Utrecht is easily one of the most beautiful cities in the Netherlands. And the Sony A7C/Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 G2 is a very solid combination for night photography. Feel free to leave any questions or suggestions about which Dutch Destinations I should visit next in the comments below!

*Oudegracht in Black and White. January 2022.*

Firenze, Italia

November 28, 2021

How to sum up one of my favorite cities in the world? Firenze was one of the first European cities I ever visited, taking the train up from Rome way back in June of 2017. I was on a solo backpack tour for two weeks, and fresh off of a few days of jet lag adjustment after flying from Los Angeles to Reykjavik to Dusseldorf to Rome. After spending hours and hours wandering around Roman streets, it was time for a change of scenery. I booked a train to Firenze and a low-key apartment a few blocks from Santa Maria del Fiore.

The train ride was a relatively short and incredibly beautiful ride through the Tuscan countryside. A quick 15 minute walk from Firenze Santa Maria Novella brought me to the small (but cheap!) room I was to stay in for the next two nights. Then it was time to see the city!

The Basilica Santa Maria del Fiore is one of the most iconic buildings in the world, and with good reason. To this day it (and its neighboring tower and baptistry) is probably the most impressive and beautiful building I have ever seen.

Duomo

Campanile de Giotto

The Basilica Santa Maria del Fiore, known more simply as the Duomo, is a great place to hang out. It is right in the center of the city and is surrounded by pizzerias, gelatterias, and even an Irish pub! Many of the places have outdoor seating so you can sit outside and admire the amazing pink and green marble while enjoying some of the most amazing food in the whole world! Also Peroni!

With a full belly and a nice buzz, it was time to wander around Firenze!

*Statua equestre di Cosimo I de' Medici facing the Duomo. June 2017.*

Vespa

Santa Maria Novella

Column in Piazza Santa Maria Novella

Stupid Tower

Concert in Piazza della Signoria

David in front of the Palazzo Vecchio

Ahh, the Palazzo Vecchio. Built by the wealthy Medici family, for some reason they couldn’t figure out how to center a tower on top of a building. So it is probably my least favorite building in the world. See how ridiculous it looks? Grrrr….

Moving on! to one of the more famous bridges in the world, the Ponte Vecchio. At Sunset! (see also the first image in this post above). For reference, “ponte” means “bridge” in Italian. and the bridges in Firenze span the River Arno.

*A Boat Ride in Front of Ponte Santa Trinta and Ponte Vecchio. June 2017.*

*Chiesa di San Frediano in Cestello, across the River Arno. June 2017.*

That’ll do it for the throwback to my first time in Florence. Many many more posts to come, because I just love going back! Ciao!

Luleå, Sverige (Sweden)

August 13, 2021

My first time in Sweden outside of the Stockholm Arlanda Airport…

*Downtown Luleå from the Banks of the Lule River. August 2021.*

*A Yellow Sunset on the Lule River. August 2021.*

Walking Path Along the Lule, August 2021.

*Stone Fishing Pier on the River Lule. August 2021.*

Enjoy the long sunsets. More Sweden to come!

*Sunset Backlighting The Skellig Islands. Kerry Cliffs, Co. Kerry, Ireland. September 2020.*

Contae Chiarraí, Éire (Ireland)

March 24, 2021

Lockdown in Ireland was strict. Wet Bars have been closed since March, and I’m just arriving in early September. There is a mandatory two week quarantine in place. So I pick up my rental car in Cork and drive directly east to a cabin on the outskirts of a small town to make camp. The truth is, you couldn’t pick a better place to quarantine. Co. Kerry is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.

*Tip of the Ring of Kerry. Kerry Cliffs, Ireland. September 2020.*

I made my home in Cahersiveen, a small town that is about as far southwest as you can possibly go in Ireland, and set up in a faux-wood-paneled cabin on the outskirts of town. Something I learned very quickly about this remote area of the island: It gets dark. Very, vey dark. In fact, the Kerry Dark Sky preserve has a gold rating from the Dark Sky Initiative. Throw in the constant rolling fog banks and you get an intense feeling of isolation walking around after dusk. Those first few nights sitting alone by the fire on a 70’s-earth-toned couch just inches from the utter blackness outside brought back every single witch/werewolf/ghost story I had ever heard. After a few nights it really grew on me though. Everywhere I walked I could smell burning peat logs, a scent that will undoubtedly remind me of the experience from that point forward.

*Cnoc na dTobar (Knocknadobar in English if that’s any easier for you). Cahersiveen. September 2020.*

And that is the view from the yard in front of my quarantine cabin. Not too shabby.

Framing

Knocknadobar

Cuas Crom Beach

*Heavy Clouds over Portmagee Channel. September 2020.*

Since I have a bike at my disposal, I decided to go on several exploratory missions. The first roughly followed a route I found on the local bike rental shop’s website. It was pre built in Google Maps so all I had to do was download and hit the road. But the most breathtaking site I visited were the Kerry Cliffs. At sunset. I opened this post with a picture I took that evening, so I guess I’ll close with a few more.

Top

Inlet

Danger

*The Blue Hour, Skellig Michael, and Little Skellig. County Kerry, Ireland. September 2020.*

Austin, Minnesota

March 23, 2021

Welcome to Austin, Minnesota, home of the world famous SPAM museum and the fifth-ranked “Affordable Small Towns You Actually Want to Live In” according to a 2015 article on Realtor.com (written by Yuqing Pan no less).

Back in 2018 I was making my way from California to North Carolina, stopping to visit some of the most beautiful places in the United States. Yosemite, The Badlands, Craters of the Moon, and pretty much everywhere in Montana. Then I found myself in Minnesota for the first time ever. During a conversation with my dad where I was updating him on my cross-country progress, he asked if I was stopping to visit the SPAM museum. Amazingly, I had never even heard of it. So I punched Austin, Minnesota into the GPS and the rest is history. Thanks Dad.

Austin, MN

SPAM Interior

SPAMscots

Rainbow SPAM

So is it worth it? Depends on your travel preferences. Do you like stopping at weird tourist trap places like “The World’s Most Adjectivey Noun” (“The World’s Largest Spur” in Abilene, Kansas where I stopped with my brothers on a different cross-country trip comes to mind.) Then YES! You should most definitely add Austin, Minnesota to your trip itinerary. After all, SPAM is classic Americana. Just ask this Sir-Can-A-Lot (He eats ham and jam and SPAM-a-lot):

*Sir-Can-A-Lot Statue, SPAM Museum. July, 2018.*

Dover, United Kingdom

March 22, 2021

I didn’t even realize Dover had a castle. I was only heading there for the cliffs. Imagine my surprise when I rounded a turn into the town and glanced up to see a castle atop the next rise. Since my exploring policy mandates stopping for tall and/or shiny objects, I obviously needed to find a good vantage point for pictures of the castle. As it turns out, you can turn around and see it from the cliffs themselves.

Sunset in Dover

Dover Castle

Port of Dover

There are several paths from the upper parking area along the White Cliffs of Dover. It seems I picked the skinniest of them all. With a sheer drop a few inches to my right and a steep cliff on my left, I made my way along the path to an outcropping in the failing light. The view was breath taking, so I snapped a few pictures and took in the view before making my way down to a flatter, more stable, area to set up the tripod I actually remembered to bring along on this trip.

On the way back I picked a different path that was much more inviting and provided a little more forgiveness for missteps. Because by the time I was hiking back it was dark. And because this time I forgot my flashlight.

Oh and there were donkeys. Silent, assassin donkeys that you don’t notice in the dark until an inadvertent sideways glace finds a donkey face two feet away from your own.