Category Archives: Photography

Taking it to the Streets – Vienna

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“Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing. And even if you don’t come up with a picture to cure world poverty you can make someone smile while they’re having a piss.”
― Banksy, Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall

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The Daily Post’s Collage challenge got me to thinking about my recent trip to Vienna and the beautiful collages I found while walking the waterways. Once again I am taking it to the streets.. one of my favorite blog themes.  Yahoo.. street art!!!

After visiting Krakow, Poland and Budapest, Hungary, I was sort of meh with Vienna, Austria.. UNTIL.. my friend convinced me to walk down towards the water and where we just happened to run into a little street fair and a ton of amazing street art.  Sometimes the road more travelled ends up being the best road to be on.  Of course there were many more examples, but these were really my favorite.  Threw a couple of musicians in just for fun.  I hope you enjoy.

 

 

 

 

Other blogs on street art and more –

Unique Walls, Street Art Istanbul, Tatts like street art, Peruvian Style Street Art, addiction, just for funStreet Art; Wide Walls; atgofion; akebild; acttwosite; David; Southhampton; 4otomo; kjmusings; mostly monochrome; notesbynatalie; Baltimore Opens Its Walls To Street Art ; Wynwood Walls ; 76 Unbelievable Street And Wall Art Illusions, insellos; 

And yet more..

 

Animal Eyes

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Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts. Paramahansa Yogananda

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We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open. Jawaharlal Nehru

More eyes –

Where’s my backpack – The eyes have it……with sunglasses! | Third Time Lucky! – Eyes Eyes – JenStewie – Geriatri’x’ Fotogallery – A Day In The Life – Übersetzen und Literatur, doch nicht nur – Ladyleemanila

Ancient, Ostentatious, Giant, Sacred, Culture, Treasure – Welcome to Egypt

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“…as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold – everywhere the glint of gold. For the moment – an eternity it must have seemed to the others standing by – I was struck dumb with amazement, and when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, ‘Can you see anything?’ it was all I could do to get out the words, ‘Yes, wonderful things.”
― Howard Carter, Tomb of Tutankhamen

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Tutankhamun – This was one of the last places I visited.  Because we were not allowed to take photos in the Tomb of Tutankhamen, or anywhere in this section of Valley of the Kings, I have borrowed some stock photos to give this place some context.

King Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered by Howard Carter on November 4 1922.  It took him over five years to find the tomb and it was discovered actually by chance and just as Mr. Carter was getting ready to pack up and move on from this area.  King Tut’s tomb has been one of the most important discoveries in the field of archaeology based on the fact that we were able to discover the diet from that era, developmental markers, how mummy’s were preserved, and the lifestyle of the elite from that era.  DNA revealed the family history.  It was a mystery for centuries and it was assumed that this young king had been murdered.  Mystery resolved and it appears, though we can never know for certain, that this young king actually died of natural causes.  It is still difficult to process and understand some of the cultural understandings, or misunderstandings.  It was a fascinating glimpse into the beliefs of just one ancient society.

The Curse of King Tut

To me the story of the discovery of the Tomb and the “curse” rumors that followed this discovery was more interesting to me than looking at the tomb itself.  Legends of a “Pharaoh’s Curse” ran rampant after the tomb was discovered.  It was said that anyone who disturbed the sleep of the ancient rulers would be cursed.  After Tut’s tomb was found, 12 members of the original discovery group died within seven years after the opening / finding of the tomb.  Lord Carnarvon, the person who financed the search, died within a year of the tomb opening.  Dozens of others, including the daughter of Carnarvon, died in mysterious ways after the opening of the tomb.  Mahdy, the man who approved the exhibit going to Japan, was killed by a car while leaving the Cairo museum.  After being associated with the tomb, or tours, or anything related to Tut, storms raged, people died, rumors escalated.  The truth is, in our modern era, most of the deaths are easily explained and many of the deaths happened decades after the discovery.  Further, Howard Carter, the man who was in charge of the search, discovery and recovery lived for a couple decades after the finding.. so much for curses.  However, it is fun to assume that all the deaths were really related to the discovery.

Denial aint just a river in Egypt.  – Mark Twain

The Nile cruise brought us from Aswan to Luxor.  We were able to visit Karim, the Unfinished Oblisk, The Valley of the Kings, Edfu Temple, Philae Temple, Al-Deir Al-Bahari Temple, Bit Rahina Museum, a variety of markets, take carriage rides, and see  and experience the enormity of ego that must have existed among the old kings, queens, and pharaohs.

Uper Egypt was chosen to build the massive temples because the belief was at that the after-death journey would be easier to take from the higher regions.  Luxor was decided to be the best place with the Nile River passing through its eastern and western banks.  Every single inch of this location seemed to have a story or legacy and you can read the story plainly on the walls, the grounds, the entire inch of land.  It was one of the biggest open museums I have ever witnessed.

I would highly encourage anyone who has the ability to do it, go and visit this amazing country.  It’s small enough to go from one end to another in 4-7 days.  The people were friendly, the stories intriguing, and the visions of extreme ostentatiousness astounding.

I hope you are enticed to visit with my little nibble of Egypt through photos.

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Egypt was big and beautiful, ostentatious, friendly, quirky, amazing, and full of history.  It would be difficult not to feel the sacredness and culture that existed in this country.  I have huge hopes that the kind and friendly folks I met in this expansive desert will find ways to move forward and regain an economy that will help to preserve the history of this place.  I am glad I went when I did because it was not crowded and we were treated great.  I hope that many more will come and study the walls, the temples and the tombs that are so freaking big you can hardly imagine.

Thanks for stopping by.

Other interesting posts can be found on these links:  Ostentatious, Giant, Ancient, Sacred, Treasure, Culture, Chiseled, Leaders, Adjective, Ouch, yellow night, showing off, being human, specters, pyramid street, Ancient, Fab 50, abacus, size matters, princess, prompt row, fog, personal space, poignant, scared, land, tombs, good father

Smiles

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A new challenge by Sally this month was to choose our own theme.  I chose smiles because that is my favorite thing to do and to see.  In every country that I have been blessed enough to visit I have found favorite smiles.  I sort of collect them.  When I feel down or angry, I can look back on some of my favorite smiles.  If you look past through my posts, you can see all of my favorite smiles so far.  Smiles from family.  Smiles from old friends.  Smiles from new friends.  I have found people who just look angry and annoyed and yet when I smile at them, they almost always smile back.  Sure there are those that do not.  But in my experience, for the most part they usually do.  I hope you enjoy my most recent collection of smiles from Egypt.

Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts. Paramahansa Yogananda

 

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From my last post. One of my favorite most recent smiles. My driver to the airport who got a call during the ride letting him know that his wife just had a baby boy. They had been waiting 5 years for this news.

Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love. Mother Teresa

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On a visit to the Egyptian Museum, these adorable young kids visiting the museum asked if they could take their picture with me.  I in turn asked if i could take my picture with them.  I LOVE this picture and love that they wanted to take their picture with me.  How fun is this.

Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come. Henri Nouwen

A person is just a person.  A job is just a job.  We do not know why someone looks angry (Resting bitch face?  Maybe?) or sad (Really actually sad and alone?).  We will never know why unless we engage.  Maybe you will get a positive response or possibly just an angry grunt.  You will never know unless you engage.  Every single sad or angry looking face I encountered above eventually smiled.  Maybe I just wore them down, I don’t know.  But engagement brought life to the face.  To theirs and mine as well.

A smile is happiness you’ll find right under your nose. Tom Wilson

The tour we went on introduced me to a bunch of new smiles that still make me happy to look back on and remember.  What a great trip. Still smiling from the fun.

View other entries for this week’s challenge :

challenge-all-ears;  2016/11/28/-for-sally-ds-mobile-photo-challenge; the-tea-house-goddess; netdancer.com/2016/11/28; challengers-choice-landscape; chihulys-basket-series;  challenge-challengers-choice; 2016/11/30/the-fernery-2; challengers-choice-nature-of-flowers; zimmerbitch

The Dark side of Egypt – Gobble..gobble

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What to do for Thanksgiving?  Hmm… Family is far away, no one is visiting me, feeling a little sorry for myself and BOOOOOM.. a very good friend of my and a great travel companion tells me she is going to Egypt to visit some friends for Thanksgiving.  I do a little groveling, sobbing, and not so subtle hinting that I have NOTHING TO DO FOR THANKSGIVING!!!  Lo and behold.. she takes the hint and I’m packing for Egypt.  Yahoo..

It was an amazing 7 day trip, packed full of trips and tours, amazing people and amazing food.   I would so encourage people to attempt this journey at some point in their life.  We used a company called Memphis Tours but there were so many to choose from and all the people on all of the tours seemed to be having a good time.  Right now is the time to go as well.  The travel warning has been lifted, the people are friendly and super easy to please and the sights are beyond amazing.

So for my first installment, I present to you, the dark side of egypt – –

Luxor Temple at night

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Luxor Temple was built around 1400 BC.  It is an ancient temple complex that is on the east  bank of the Nile River.  This temple was beautiful and super inspiring.  It was where one of the most important religious festivals in Egypt where (statues or Gods..still a little confused on this point) traveled from Karnak to Luxor.  There was a lot more info about cults, shrines, royal Ka’s, symbolism and Kings that I sort of missed.. but you can google that if you are interested.

Then there was the Nile cruise on the Minerva (boat) from Aswan to Luxor and stops along the way.  The cabin crew were phenomenal.  Every single time we came back to our room, there was a new animal either hanging from the ceiling or resting on our bed.  It is true that we did not have a single towel in our bathroom the entire cruise.. but they were easily accessible in their natural habitat on our beds.  Amazing service and such a fun time.  Not to mention the beautiful scenery along the way.  Think of it as a bus tour by boat.  Even had massages available on the top deck.  I would highly encourage people to book their trips now!!!

 

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Having a nice cabin with beautiful views from hot spot to hot spot was so much nicer than busing it.

A night market – horse cart through a market only wide enough to walk through.  Also a few dark pyramids that we got to crawl through.

A hot air balloon ride that started in the dark and flew over Valley of the Kings..

and … and… finally… Gobble Gobble doesn’t always mean turkey around a candle lit table.. though sometimes it does.

Last but not least, and possibly my favorite photo.

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It was 445 in the morning, this is a picture of a wonderful Egyptian man who was tasked with driving me from the hotel to the airport on my last day in Egypt.  As we were driving to the airport, his phone rang.  He answered it and then started wiping his eyes.  He looked at me through the rear view mirror and with tears streaming down his face said, “My wife just had a baby boy.  We have been waiting for many years and God has finally been willing.”  I asked him why he was driving me to the airport when his wife was having a baby and he simply said, “We have to work.”

As he dropped me off, he asked if he could take his photo with me because i was the first person who received this news… well of course.  It was super touching.  Great way to end this trip.  Happy Thanksgiving all.

Other Dark Posts inspired by Ailsa’s Travel Theme Dark