Do You Need Color to See the World?

We love seeing different locations around the world and their images are definitely framed in our minds. However, as we were growing up, we used to see images of famous locations and not all of them were taken in color. Does seeing a landmark like the Eiffel Tower in black and white take away from the beauty or sense of awe? We have shared some of our favorite landmark photographs previously, but here we take the same images and are sharing them in both color as well as black and white. When you look through the images, does your opinion change of the landmark based on whether it is in color or not?

Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore in Black and White
Big Ben
Big Ben in Black and White
The Great Sphynx
The Great Sphynx in Black and White
Washington Monument
Washington Monument in Black and White
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Leaning Tower of Pisa in Black and White
Eiffel Tower in Autumn
Eiffel Tower in Black and White

Travel in an Uncertain World – Part III

When the world first shut down in March, it definitely created a lot of anxiety and uncertainty. First and foremost, we’ve stayed healthy and followed all of the appropriate guidance. At the time we had just gotten back from a quick trip to Acapulco, Mexico the month earlier and had finalized our trip to Turkey for April. We were hoping that things would calm down quickly and our travel plans could resume.

Mount Vernon in Virginia

Obviously we were wrong and then in June we started to think about the possibility of some sort of travel, even if within the United States. We took a road trip to Telluride, Colorado and have considered some other road trips. We discovered that even getting on the road was difficult as many of the places where we would have stopped to use the restroom were closed to the public. Facemasks have also become a routine way of life. At the time we rescheduled our trip to Turkey to October, but that is definitely still only a hope and not a plan.

Reenactment in the Jamestown Settlement

We have gotten so desperate for some sort of travel that we are starting to look at possibilities for November/December and hoping to perhaps get to do the safari that we had planned for our 30th wedding anniversary, which took place in April. Since we can’t get to anyplace new, we are going through some of our photographs from many years ago and scanning them into our computer. We will be talking about some of those trips in the coming weeks, but clearly those places might look a lot different today than they did decades ago.

Building in Williamsburg, Virginia

We look forward to being able to share something recent and exciting as soon as it is safe to do so. We really miss the feeling that travel provides and getting to know people from other cultures and learning about their lives and country.

Ship in the Jamestown Harbor
Presidential Box in Ford Theater in Old Town Alexandria

Seeing Street Art When Traveling

We have seen some truly interesting and beautiful art on the sides of buildings during our travels. Obviously not all of it is good and there is still plenty of graffiti to be found, but the work done by true artists can be quite wonderful. Art is something that unites all of us and the feelings that the images generate are not limited to the culture in which they were created. With that said, the culture also comes through in the art in the representations of the people, the colors, and at times the political message represented. More and more, as we travel we actively seek out street art in order to capture images of them to be part of our record of our visit. We are sharing just a sampling of that art and we don’t have a particular favorite. Do you capture images of street art and, if you do, do you have one that speaks to you more than others?

Tigers Getting Colorful Stripes in Carlsbad, California
A Woman Looking Like She is Peeking Through the Trees in Budapest
Building in Quito, Ecuador
Restaurant Wall in Prague
Fish Mosaic Wall in Vietnam
Chinatown Mural in San Francisco
Artwork in Cochabamba, Bolivia
Painted Building in Reykjavik, Iceland
Street Art in Panama City, Panama
Side of a Building in Denver, Colorado
Sandhill Cranes Painted on Wall in Southern Colorado
Surfing Mario at the Beach in California