Monthly Archives: June 2014

Travel Theme: World Cups

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Ailsa’s Travel Theme this week is World Cups, so as one might expect, this Brazilian football fan immediately associated it with one of the greatest sports events in the world: FIFA’s World Cup. The tournament, which happens every four years in June/July, is being hosted by Brazil this time around, and I am here enjoying the excitement and agony of the thirty-two participating national teams and their adoring fans. As the tournament reaches its half point, sixteen teams have been eliminated and the remaining sixteen are going through the knockout phase, with nail-biting matches happening every day. The excitement is only beginning! So, what else could my take on the “World Cups” theme be?

And it is a rather biased one, I’m afraid!

http://wheresmybackpack.com/2014/06/27/world-cups/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Contrasts

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This week’s photo challenge is Contrasts. “Light and dark, tall and short, happy and sad — this week, share a shot that captures a contrast.”

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Contrasting buildings, New York City, NY.

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Contrasting attitudes, colors. Dogs in Siena, Italy.

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Contrasting lights. Muscle man, Venice Beach, Los Angeles, CA.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Between

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Siena, Tuscany. Italy, 2014.

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“Love locks” in Venice bridge. Italy, 2014.

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Dog in Venice, Italy.

For this week’s photo challenge, Between, we are asked to “capture something in the middle of two things. It can be a literal interpretation of something between other things, or a more figurative approach.” Well, I guess I’m taking a literal approach.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Extra, Extra

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This week’s photo challenge asks us to “share a photo that has a little something extra: an unexpected visitor, or a tranquil landscape with a splash of color.”

While photographing the Venice Beach Pier reflection on the wet sand, I caught a lone surfer on the background.

While photographing the Venice Beach Pier reflection on the wet sand, I caught a lone surfer on the background.

A woman holding red balloons walks right into the frame of my shot of "Urban Lights" at LACMA, LA.

A woman holding red balloons walks right into the frame of my shot of “Urban Lights” at LACMA, LA.

Sailboats peak through the thick fog covering the Santa Monica Bay, CA.

Sailboats peak through the thick fog covering the Santa Monica Bay, CA.

 

Travel Theme: Unexpected

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The unexpected can be unpleasant. But it can also be amusing, beautiful, funny, fun, odd…

Suspended piano and candelabra. Hollywood, CA.
Mounted police on a beach in Brazil
Beautiful lamps ornate a large tree in Venice, California.
Levitating man? Rome, Italy.
Where did this balloon come from?!

Visit Ailsa’s blog for more Unexpected.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Room

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“Share your take on the idea of Room— it could be an actual room in your house, a favorite gallery in your local museum, a cubicle at work. You could also take this challenge in a more abstract direction, and show us where you feel like you have room — or lack it.”

Small gathering room at the Fenice Opera House in Venice, Italy.
A room with an ocean view in a Frank Gehry house. Venice Beach, Los Angeles, CA.
One of the beautiful lounging areas at the Biltmore Four Seasons Resort in Santa Barbara, California.
Tea Room at the Japanese Garden. Huntington Gardens, Los Angeles, CA.
Underground room used for cheese stocking. Greve in Chianti, Italy.