There have been many different times during our travels where we either had to travel by water to reach our destination or we chose to take a tour on the water. Generally speaking, travel by water is not our first choice, but looking back it is amazing how often we end up in a boat. In fact, at least recently, almost every trip we’ve taken has ended up with some sort of water excursion. Here are a few of the different water adventures that we’ve enjoyed, but it is certainly just a sampling. Do you enjoy traveling by boat or taking cruises?
You Can’t Go to Amsterdam Without Taking a River CruiseTaking a Ride on a Pirate Ship in Puerto Vallarta, MexicoTaking a Cruise Ship Down the Nile River in EgyptTaking a Boat from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean Through the Panama CanalDoing an Overnight Cruise in Halong Bay in VietnamCanoeing the Tributaries of the Amazon River in EcuadorWhitewater Rafting in ColoradoRowing with Their Feet in Vietnam
Especially in dense cities, it is not uncommon to have certain buildings painted with bright colors in order to stand out. Whether it is the entire building front or just the doors and windows, it is a way to make a unique statement in an otherwise homogeneous landscape. A lot of the time it is a business that is trying to draw your attention, but a lot of the time is a residential home where the owners simply expressing their uniqueness. We enjoy seeing these buildings during our travels and often take photographs of them even though they aren’t of any historical significance. Here are just a few of the colorful buildings that we have seen during our travels.
Colorful Doors and Windows in an Irish Seaside VillageColorful Building with Canal ViewsInteresting Color Patterns in La Paz, BoliviaColorful Architecture in BratislavaColorful Buildings of ReykjavikColorful Doors in Old Town Alexandria, VirginiaOne of the Many Colorful Buildings in New Orleans
It is not uncommon to find extremely ornate doors on churches, cathedrals, museums, and castles throughout the world, but we found that in India it was common to see them on homes of everyday people. They are often carved with Hindu figures and with meaningful stories. We had visited the home of a friend while were in Chennai and their door had intricate carvings of Ganesh, the Hindu god with the head of an elephant. We didn’t take any pictures of their door out of respect for them. We do think that it was great to see that the people of India made sure to reuse doors when older buildings were being taken door to make way for new buildings.
Ornate Doors on the Baptistry in Florence, ItalyFascinating Detail above this Door in IndiaChurch Door in Bolivia
During our time in Chennai several years ago, we had come across a store that sold unique antiques. One of the most unusual items that we came across were tables that had been made out of some of the antique doors. We came extremely close to purchasing this particular table seen below and, in hind sight, we regret not making the purchase. The thought of having to pay for shipping ended up discouraging us from making this unique piece of furniture part of our home décor. Lesson learned, in the future we’re not going to let the logistics and costs of shipping keep us from purchasing something that we truly wanted to purchase.
The Table We Wish We’d Bought
Cathedral Door in PragueOrnate Doorway in a Mosque in Cairo, Egypt
