Multiple Obelisks at the Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt

On June 21, 2019June 21, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Egypt5 Comments

Obelisks can be found throughout the world, many of them originally coming from Egypt. Almost always, you will find them as a single obelisk that stands out on its own. The obelisks at Karnak Temple in Luxor is an example of having multiple obelisks at the same site. There are two remaining obelisks of the four that originally existed at the site. We took many different photographs of the obelisks during our time touring the temple and the pair of obelisks provides some interesting symmetry in the pictures that we took. There were also time when they could be seen framed between different columns and doors, which was probably the intention of the ancient Egyptians when the obelisks were erected.

How Does Traveling Make You Feel?

On June 7, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge9 Comments

You will likely go through a wide range of emotions when you travel, especially when going to someplace that you’ve never been to before. It starts as you begin to plan your trip, there can be a mix of excitement and nervousness. Depending upon the distance you are traveling, during the actual travel there can be frustration over delays, lack of sleep, rude and inconsiderate other travelers, and uncomfortable conditions. Perhaps there will be jet lag and some disorientation upon your arrival, especially in places that are culturally different than your own. At this point, it is likely that the excitement will return as you start to discover the place that you’ve chosen to visit. With all of that said, as we look back at photographs of ourselves during our travels, we can see the genuine happiness in our smiles. If we had to sum up how travel makes us feel, it would definitely be happy and perhaps a sense of being complete. Despite a little depression when a trip comes to an end, it soon turns back to the enjoyment of planning something new. What emotions do you experience as you travel?

Standing on the Rim of a Volcano in Ecuador

Standing in Bran Castle (Dracula’s Castle) in Transylvania

Sitting at a Restaurant in the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain

Shoes on the Danube Bank

On May 30, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Hungary, Photo Challenge19 Comments

One of the interesting things that we saw when we were in Budapest was a memorial to honor the citizens, most of them Jewish, who were executed along the shore of Danube River. In December 1944 and January 1945, as World War II came closer to an end, the local fascist militia group called the Arrow Cross killed thousands of people along the shore of the river. It is a humbling reminder of the atrocities that were committed during the war. Making it even more tragic is the inclusion of the shoes of children as entire families were brought to the shore to be executed.

You Can Almost Imagine the People Standing Next to Their Shoes

Soldiers from the Arrow Cross would go to the Jewish Ghetto, where the majority of the Jewish citizens of Budapest were forced to live in horrid conditions, and take them to be executed along the river. The Budapest Ghetto was made up of several blocks of the Jewish Quarter that were surrounded by a high fence and stone wall that completely isolated them from the rest of the city. The reason for the shoes as the memorial is that they would be forced to remove their shoes before being executed. According to one of the people that worked at our hotel, the soldiers would tie groups of people together and then shoot the first few in line so that they would fall and then drag in everyone else to drown. Apparently it was done in an attempt to save on bullets, which were needed as the Soviet Union forces approached.

The memorial was erected in 2005 and was conceived by director Can Togay and consists of 60 pairs of shoes made out of iron that attached to the stone embankment. We visited the Shoes on the Danube Bank on a rainy day, which only added to the impression that it created. People leave flowers among the shoes to honor the memories of all of the people who lost their lives there.