Tower of the Winds in the Roman Agora

On March 12, 2021March 12, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Greece, Photo Challenge1 Comment

One of the ancient sites in the city of Athens in Greece is the Roman Agora. An agora is simply a public space for people to gather, but they also often contained monuments to the gods and other important features. The main feature at the Roman Agora is the Tower of the Winds, which is considered by some people to be an early version of a weather station. There was a weather vane on the top of the tower that indicated the wind direction that would have been visible from throughout the city. What we found most interesting about the Tower of the Winds was the water clock that was housed within the tower. In a way, it is an ancient version of the clock towers that have become common throughout the world.

The Floor of the Tower with the Hole in the Center

The Large Well-Like Hole on the Side of the Tower

The water clock works very much in the same way that a sand timer works in that the flow of water is controlled and as a vessel is filled at a specific time measurement. Today, in the center of the tower floor is a hole with channels coming from what looks similar to a well on the side of the tower. We aren’t sure what the inside of the tower would have looked like when it was in use, but we certainly enjoyed seeing it in its current form. The ingenuity of the ancient Greeks is certainly something fascinating to see in these modern days. All around the top of the tower are carvings of the eight wind deities that were worshiped in ancient times.

Hole in the Side of the Tower Wall to Allow Water to Enter the Tower

View of the Tower of the Winds and the Roman Agora

The Breckenridge Troll – Whimsical Artwork

On February 26, 2021February 26, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Colorado, Photo Challenge5 Comments

We have seen many different pieces of artwork made from wood throughout our travels, but the Breckenridge Troll was certainly one of the most interesting. Although it is a troll, it is not a scary troll, but rather a more whimsical character. One could almost imagine him getting up and walking away when no one was looking. Instead of a typical carving where the artist creates the image by carving into a large piece of wood, it is actually made up of many small planks of wood that are put together to create the statue. The hair is made up of twigs, which almost gives the quality of motion to the statue. It is quite common to find wooden statues in Colorado and if you drive through the mountain towns you will likely see many different stores selling wooden bears carved from tree stumps and logs. Breckenridge in Colorado seems to really like whimsical or mythical creatures as there is a large sasquatch or big foot statue in the center of town that has also been carved from wood.

Hiding on the Shores of an Amazonian Tributary

On February 12, 2021February 12, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge, South America5 Comments

When we stayed at the ecolodge in the Amazon Jungle while we were in Ecuador, we canoed on a tributary of the Amazon river every day. The plants that line the water are very dense with a variety of reeds, branches, and hanging vines. The entire time we were in the jungle, including while in our canoes, we had to constantly scan the foliage around us as you never knew when you would see some of the many different animals that live there. The animals are very adept at camouflaging themselves amongst the leaves and branches, so mostly you spent your time looking for any kind of movement and then the guide would stop the canoe and we would use binoculars or zooming in on the camera to find what animals were hiding in the trees. We had to look up into the trees as well as the edges of the water because in addition to the birds, monkeys, and sloths that were in the trees, there were anaconda snakes, large black caiman, and river otters that love to hide in the reeds along the shore. Here are a few of the photographs that we took as we canoed to and from our ecolodge in Ecuador.