The Narrow Houses of Amsterdam

On October 9, 2020October 9, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Netherlands, Photo Challenge3 Comments

The architecture of the buildings that line the canals of Amsterdam is quite fascinating for many reasons. From the way that they lean towards the canal to allow pullies to bring the furniture to the upper floors to the very narrow buildings themselves, it is very interesting to see the different buildings along the water. Some of these homes are so small that you can touch both walls at the same time as they measure only 2 meters (about 6 feet) in width. The reason for these narrow buildings had to do with the way that the homes were taxed in the past where it was based on the number of windows and the size of the façade that faces the canal. Here are few examples, including the very narrow red home that is one of the three smallest homes in Amsterdam.

One of the Three Smallest Homes on the Canal

Pullies to Get Furniture to the Top Floors

Framing the View of Your World

On October 2, 2020October 2, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge8 Comments

Whenever we travel, there are often times where you see something through a window or a door and you want to capture what you see in a photograph. In many of those cases, the window or door become part of the photograph and it can add to the story the image is trying to tell. Even if it isn’t an actual window or door other things can frame the image that you are looking at. Here are just a few examples that we have found interesting.

Looking out from the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain

Barred Window Inside of the Cave Where St. Thomas Hid in Chennai, India

Looking Out from a Felucca in Cairo, Egypt

Bell Window at the Top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Shape of Africa in Reverse from Within the Cave of Hercules in Morocco

Columns in the Roman Agora of Athens, Greece

A View from inside a Fortress Church in Romania

Inside of a House in the DakshinaChitra Cultural Living Museum in Southern India

Looking Out From Bran Castle (Dracula Castle) in Transylvania

Walking Our Neighborhood in Frankfurt, Germany

On August 28, 2020August 28, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Germany4 Comments

One of the things that we did just before moving back to Colorado from Frankfurt was to take our normal walk through the neighborhood and take photographs. For the most part, we took them so that we would have them to remember our time there and the places that we visited frequently. They obviously aren’t the typical tourist type of pictures, but it might give you a sense of what it is like there. Our apartment was located between the university and the old opera house and we walked these streets every day as we didn’t have a car and used public transportation to get around. We got used to going to different stores with apartments above them for dry goods, meat, produce, bread, and of course the pharmacy. So, join us as we walk from our apartment building towards Altstadt in Frankfurt.