Between a rock and a hard place

The photo shows a sign of the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain. When I planned to travel to Madrid, I didn't think about the day of the week and didn't know that most museums in Madrid are closed on Mondays. I arrived to Madrid on Saturday afternoon. For the rest of Saturday and the following Sunday, I looked around the city and visited so many must-sees other than museums. Then on Monday morning, I decided to visit a museum for a change, but Museo del Prado and the many others were closed because of Monday. My flight was on Tuesday. I was like caught between a rock and a hard place, but thank goodness the Museo Reina Sofia open on Mondays.

On the same page

I took this photo in Unawatuna, Sri Lanka while I was waiting for my Sri Lankan vegetable curry and rice. It was a sunny and bright day again at the end of November and I had only three days left until my flight to Bangkok, Thailand. The customers of this ocean view restaurant were absolutely the same as the day before. One of them started to talk to me about several years ago. By coincidence, we both knew how this place was like at that time, not only that, but we knew as much about what had been lost. We were definitely on the same page.

Damascus Gate

The photo shows Damascus Gate which is the main entrance gate to the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel. I went inside of the walls of Jerusalem through Damascus Gate and firstly looked around the Muslim Quarter. The Muslim Quarter is the largest quarter among the four quarters of the Old City. I took a stroll around narrow alleys between the double row of market and bought some souvenirs. One of my souvenirs was a handwoven blackish scarf looped up with gold and silver. This is still my favorite scarf.

Wat Pho

I took this photo at Wat Pho (Thai: วัดโพธิ์) in Bangkok, Thailand. Wat Pho is also called the Temple of the Reclining Buddha where you can see an image of reclining Buddha which is about 45 meters long, 15 meters high. This temple is one of the oldest and largest temples of Bangkok and is also known as the home of traditional Thai massage. I've been to Wat Pho several times and I've gotten a massage as well. By the way, it's Tuesday, January 1. Happy new year 2013 (สวัสดีปีใหม่ 2556).

I'm always a little late to the show

The photo shows my hotel room in Frankfurt, Germany. I came all the way from Prague, the Czech Republic to Frankfurt by train to join a bus tour to travel around Germany. On my itinerary I was already a little too late to the first meeting of the tour and its first dinner. So, personally I planned to have dinner somewhere nearby my hotel, but when I arrived to the hotel, the hotel's receptionist called my tour director to try to arrange my dinner without starter. Then, after a second, I was able to sit at a dinner table. Thank you and sorry for the trouble. The dinner was fabulous. I'd really appreciate it.

The best place to be is within sight of the Acropolis

I took this photo in Athens, Greece. When I visited the Temple of Olympian Zeus, I was able to enjoy viewing the Acropolis of Athens just like the photo shows. I had only four nights in Athens I mean I had kinda so little time in Athens, but I had so many things to do and so many places to see in this beautiful ancient city. The Temple of Olympian Zeus was also one of my must-sees. To be honest, before I got there, I didn't imagine that the Acropolis of Athens was visible from there, so I was in awe of it.

The Internet

I took this photo in Nice, France. I spent the day exploring beautiful French Riviera. The day started from plain and simple breakfast like Croissant, a piece of French loaf and some drink. By the way, while I was exploring Nice aimlessly, I was spoken to by an Irish girl. She asked me if I happen to knew how to say 'Internet' in French. She was looking for a cyber cafe to check her e-mails or something, but no one informed her where it was. I had an electronic dictionary and tried to find a French term of 'Internet'. The result was 'Internet'. So why no one answered?

My favorite place in Lisbon

I took this photo in Lisbon, Portugal after having gorgeous octopus dinner at a very nice restaurant in front of Rossio railway station. Everything I ate and drank in Lisbon was so nice. Plus, everything I saw in Lisbon was stunning. The photo shows a part of Rossio railway station and a building next to the station. I was impressed by the picturesque setting and used this image as a title photo of my blog for about eight month. I really love this photo. I may use this photo as a title photo again.

Pu Pad Pong Curry

The photo shows one of the most popular spicy Thai cuisine Pu Pad Pong Curry (Thai: ปูผัดผงกะหรี). Thai term Pu means crab, Pad means stir-fried, Pong means powder in English, so Pu Pad Pong Curry is kind of like a Stir-fried Crab with Curry Sauce. That's a good one. I took this photo at a famous restaurant in Bang Saen (Thai: บางแสน) in Chonburi (Thai: ชลบุรี) province, Thailand. After having a relaxing day on the Bang Saen beach, I took dinner at the restaurant and after that returned to Bangkok.

Happy holidays

I took this photo in Pattaya, Thailand. There was a huge holiday tree in front of Royal Garden Plaza. Royal Garden Plaza is Pattaya's one of the most popular shopping plazas and is situated on the beach road. A lot of people were taking photos of the tree, so I did the same thing just in case. This huge holiday tree was floodlit green at night and had a huge golden star on the top. I've published the night vie photo on December the 24th, 2010. Royal Garden Plaza itself was decorated in golden light and it looked so gorgeous.

I would have found out sooner or later

I took this photo from the coach window while I was heading to Lucerne, Switzerland from Vaduz, Liechtenstein. I was over-zealous in taking photos of the snowy Swiss Alps and I missed the announcement saying that the coach cross the border between Liechtenstein and Switzerland. It was a small thing. I would have found out sooner or later anyway. I think bus trip is so much deferent from air trip. Bus trip may take a long time than air trip, but I can enjoy looking out the window in a bus as the scenery goes by.

A leopard can't change its spots

I took this photo in Lucerne, Switzerland. Luxurious Benz taxis were fanned out and waiting for customers at the foot of the Chapel Bridge (German: Kapellbrücke). What a view! I didn't take a taxi to look around Lucerne, but thinking back now, I should have experienced to take a Benz taxi to get to the Lion Monument or somewhere else. However, I have a tendency to be practical about money, and also I love walking, so I went everywhere on foot. At that moment, I was exactly in this luxury location, but a leopard can't change its spots.

When driving along Süd Autobahn to Viennna

I took this photo from the coach window while I was heading to Vienna, Austria from Venice, Italy. I viewed lots and lots of such post-card pretty sceneries during the drive and took photos of them without knowing where exactly I was. This morning, I Google mapped for a while and managed to got out whereabouts I took this photo. According to the map, there's a route called Süd Autobahn A2 which runs toward Vienna, Austria from the border of Italy. The motorway runs along an alpine lake named the Wörthersee, so I was probably be there. It was such a picturesque place just like the photo shows.

Egyptian hieroglyphs

I took this photo in Memphis, Egypt. I found such interesting Egyptian hieroglyphs that were etched on this gigantic ancient stone. I have no idea what it says, but it looks pretty in a way. Come to think of it, I've sent a postcard from Egypt by myself. The postcard showed a crash course in how to read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. Now, I think a crash course is not enough to read this kind of ancient letters, but when I chose the postcard in Cairo, Egypt, it seemed like the best souvenir to learn Egyptian hieroglyphs without any difficulty.

It's sometimes necessary to stretch the truth

I took this photo at Edinburgh castle in Scotland, the UK while I was standing right in the middle of the courtyard. The weather wasn't exactly nice, but later on one of my Scottish acquaintances told me that Scotland had about 300 days with rain a year. So, that's why. I guess he just stretched the truth on this, but it's not that far off in a way. Other than Edinburgh, I've been to Carter Bar, Jedburgh, St. Andrews, Inverness, Scottish Highlands, Isle of Skye, Glasgow in Scotland and I needed to hold my folding umbrella off and on.

Duck into the lounge bar

The photo shows a lovely lounge bar of a hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark. I've had buffet-style breakfast there. I sat on a bar stool at a  bar beside the windows and while I was having breakfast, I was gazing out from the widows. I spent seven days in Copenhagen, Denmark and took a lot of photos of this beautiful city. On my last night in Copenhagen, I took this photo for one of my lasting memories. I don't know why, but I don't have any photos of my last day in Copenhagen, Denmark, so this was the last one.

The Himalayas and Dal Bhat Tarkari

I took this photo in Pokhara, Nepal while I was walking around the area so-called "Lake Side" early in the morning. I could see the Himalayas from there. Nepal was my third overseas travel destination. Someone asked me that how come I chose Nepal. I said that was because I wanted to see the Himalayas with my own eyes, also I wanted to have authentic Nepali cuisine everyday. I love curry. Even my very first dinner in Nepal is still a fresh memory. I had very nice Dal Bhat Tarkari. Dal means lentil soup, Bhat means boiled rice, and Tarkari means like spicy vegetable curry in English term.