Travelin' Tuesday: Guam

The Talofofo Falls are on the Talofofo River (which flows into Talofofo Bay - I detect a pattern here), in the southeastern part of Guam.  I'd heard of them long before I ever went to Guam (probably from George Tweed's Robinson Crusoe, USN), and they were one of the first places I wanted to visit there.  A bit of a drive, as I recall, but it was well worth it.

Photo taken November or December 1988.

Travelin' Tuesday: Massachusetts

On 5 Oct 1818 the Essex Agricultural Society held a cattle show in Topsfield, Massachusetts. What grew into the Topsfield Fair has been held every year since then, except for three years during the Civil War and three years during World War II.

It's similar to most agricultural fairs in the US - county, state and otherwise - with exhibitions and competitions for animals, produce and farm crafts (such as canning, baking and quilting), and of course a midway. The All New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off has been held at the fair since 1984, when the winning entry weighed 433 pounds; the current record was set in 2012 by a 2009-lb monster.

Pictures taken 8 Oct 05 (middle) and 7 Oct 06 (top and bottom).

Travelin' Tuesday: Thailand

Pattaya, on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, is a popular tourist city. One thing that struck me was the number of German restaurants there.  (They even had a newspaper printed in German.) The blue pickups with benches in the back are songthaews; commonly known as "baht buses," they're the Thai equivalent of Filipino jeepneys.

Picture taken 24 Jul 88.

Travelin' Tuesday: Slovenia

Slovenia is the northwesternmost piece of what used to be Yugoslavia. Piran is a lovely little town (pop 4092 in 2012) at the western tip of the Slovenian coast; that's the Gulf of Trieste in the background, and Venice, on the other side of the Adriatic Sea, is somewhere over the horizon near the left edge of the picture.  Most of the wall built across the base of the peninsula in the late 15th and early 16th centuries is still there; this is the view from the top of it. Visible near the centre of the photo is Tartini Square, with its statue of violinist and composer Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770), who was born in Piran. The large building on the right side of the town is the Church of St George, completed in 1637.

Picture taken 2 Jun 03.

Travelin' Tuesday: Portugal

The Royal Monastery of Saint Mary of Bethlehem (commonly known as the Jerónimos Monastery), in Lisbon, was built in the 16th century. Originally a home for the Order of Saint Jerome, it is also the site of the tombs of various members of the Portuguese royal family, the explorer Vasco da Gama, and others. The Naval Museum is also located on its grounds.

Picture taken 12 Jun 91.

Travelin' Tuesday: Italy

Before World War I, Trieste was the fourth-largest city in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the war it, like the South Tyrol and other pieces of the former empire, was taken over by Italy in accordance with the Treaty of London. The city was part of the Free Territory of Trieste, under direct control of the United Nations, from 1947 until it was returned to Italy in 1954. Long before these events, the city - then called Tergeste - was part of the Roman Empire. The forensic basilica was built in the 2nd century CE; its ruins are located on San Giusto Hill next to the 14th-century Cathedral of San Giusto (St Justus) and San Giusto Castle.

Picture taken 19 Jun 03.

Travelin' Tuesday: Shenandoah

The Shenandoah Valley, part of the Great Appalachian Valley, runs between the Blue Ridge Mountains to its east and the Ridge-and-Valley Mountains to the west.  Stonewall Jackson, the only Confederate general to have a submarine named after him, led the Yankees a merry chase up and down the valley a couple of times in 1862; Jubal Early was much less successful two years later.  Shenandoah National Park, established in 1935 as the 18th US national park (and only the second one east of the Mississippi), is in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Here you see the view looking west across the valley from a spot near the northern end of the Park.

Picture taken 17 Aug 08.

Travelin' Tuesday: Gibraltar

The so-called Barbary ape (Macaca sylvanus) is actually a monkey - a tailless macaque.  They're the only macaque that occurs outside Asia; most live in North Africa, from Morocco to Libya, but a couple hundred live in Gibraltar - the only primates other than humans native to Europe.  Legend has it that if they disappear from Gibraltar, the British will lose control of the colony.  They therefore receive good care; the British Army's Royal Gibraltar Regiment was responsible for them until 1991, when they turned the apes over to the government of Gibraltar.

Picture taken 25 Jul 03.

Travelin' Tuesday: France

This mural is on the outside of a building on the Rue Chevalier-Paul, in Toulon; the building's front faces straight down Place Gambetta.  The current picture in Google Maps street view, dated July 2012, shows that what was the Bar Le San Francisco is now La Balagne, but the mural is still there.  (It's continued down on the ground floor, by the way, beneath the - um - lady in the blue dress.)

Picture taken 4 Aug 98.

Travelin' Tuesday: Bahrain

I found these boats moored near the Bahrain National Museum, in Manama, the capital of Bahrain - I can't identify the exact spot on the map, but there's been plenty of time for new construction in the area.

Picture taken April 1998.

Travelin' Tuesday: Dubai

The Ruler's Court is located on the left bank of Dubai Creek, in the Al Bastakiya historic area in Bur Dubai.  The Grand Mosque and Al Fahidi Fort, the oldest existing building in Dubai, are also located in Al Bastakiya, which is one of the oldest residential areas in Dubai.

Picture taken July 1998.

Travelin' Tuesday: Hawaii

Marine Corps Base Hawaii is located near Kāneʻohe and Kailua, on the windward side of Oʻahu. In 1941 it was Naval Air Station Kaneohe; Chief Aviation Ordnanceman John Finn was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions there during the Japanese attack.

Picture taken 17 May 87.

Travelin' Tuesday: Crete

Khania (or Chania), on the north shore near the western end of Crete, is the second-largest city on the island.  It was ruled by Venice from 1252 to 1645 (less a couple of decades in the 16th century when it was under Genovese control), and there are several Venetian buildings still standing.  The lighthouse was built by the Venetians at the end of the 16th century, and took its final form in the 1830s.

Picture taken 28 Jun 03.

Travelin' Tuesday: St Croix

The US Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1916, with the formal transfer taking place the following year. Christiansted National Historic Site, located in Christiansted, on the north shore of St Croix, includes several 18th- and 19th-century buildings, including Fort Christiansvaern, built in the 1740s. The fort was named after Christian VI, king of Denmark and Norway from 1730 to 1746.

Picture taken 4 Dec 84.

Travelin' Tuesday: Philippines

Jeepneys are a popular form of public transportation in the Philippines.  This lot are in Olongapo, near Subic Bay; ornate as the one closest to the camera appears, it's actually quite sedate compared to some that I saw.  In Olongapo, at least, they were colour-coded according to the route they followed.  (You can see a red one in the background, next to the third yellow one; there were also blue ones.)

Picture taken 10 Jul 88.

Travelin' Tuesday: Italy

Capo d'Orso, in northern Sardinia near La Maddalena, gets its name from a rock formation that looks like a giant bear.  It was used as a landmark by ancient sailors, and was mentioned as such by the 2nd-century geographer Ptolemy. A popular tourist destination, la Roccia dell’Orso (Bear Rock) can be reached by heading east down the road from Palau* - not a long walk - and then climbing a path up the hillside.

Picture taken 18 May 03.


* Not to be confused with Palau.

Travelin' Tuesday: Norway

Austråttborgen (Austrått Manor) is located some 30 miles to the northwest of Trondheim, overlooking Trondheimsfjord. The manor as laid out today was completed around 1656; it burned in November of 1916, but restoration was completed in 1961. Since 1919 it has been property of the state, and it is open for tours during the summer.

Picture taken Mar 1992.

Travelin' Tuesday: Japan

The Great Buddha of Kamakura, on the grounds of Kōtoku-in, was probably completed in 1252 - that is, a statue of the Buddha was completed there, then, but it's unclear if the extant statue is the same one. Made of bronze, it is almost 44 feet high and weighs over 133 tons. To me, the startling bit was that it is hollow, and even has windows....

Pictures taken 8 Dec 86.

Travelin' Tuesday: Spain

Cartagena (2011 population 218,210) is a city in Murcia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. "Cartagena" derives from Carthago Nova (New Carthage), its Roman name; the city was founded around 227 BCE by Hasdrubal the Fair, brother-in-law of the great Carthaginian general Hannibal. The city is now the site of an important Spanish navy base. The Gran Hotel, shown here, was built 1907-17; only the facade remains of the original hotel, alas, as the interior was demolished to make an office building.

Picture taken 2 Jun 01.

Travelin' Tuesday: Scotland

Loch Eck, 24 metres above sea level, is located in the Cowal Peninsula, to the north of Dunoon and the Holy Loch. This boat and its mooring buoy were located a bit north of the Coylet Inn, on the east side of the loch near its southern end.

Picture taken 29 Dec 91.