Tagged With: architecture
Lille
Lille is one of those places you go to because you're going somewhere else. For me, it was Paris-Roubaix. I somehow managed to get a few photos that make it look uncharacteristically pretty and French.
Antwerp
There’s a statue of artist Peter Paul Rubens and plenty of shops, restaurants, and pigeons in Groenplaats, Antwerp’s main square. Fun fact: this spot was the city’s main cemetery until the 18th century. The Cathedral of our Lady sits in the main square. It took about seventeen decades to build this gothic church and … Continue reading
Gent
Together, the cobble stone streets and the towering Gothic architecture make sleepy Gent a treasure of a town. The celebrated Gent Altarpiece is housed within St. Baafskathedraal. The church interior features a vaulted ceiling about five storeys tall. Also known as The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Jan Van Eyck and his brother … Continue reading
Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb
The Sydney Harbour Bridge took eight years, required two thousand employees, and cost sixteen lives to complete in 1932. In 1989 businessman Paul Cove began pushing the government to let customers walk along the bridge’s arch. Nearly a decade passed before Cove won the government’s approval and in the past twenty plus years, more … Continue reading
Sydney Opera House
One of the world’s most famous buildings was almost never built. When the Australian government called for architects to design a performing arts center, over two hundred entries poured in from around the world. It was only when one of the judges, who had arrived late, insisted on reviewing all of the proposals that Jørn … Continue reading
Vientiane, Laos
Some friends recently moved to Vientiane, so I spent a week visiting them and their awesome kids and watching select scenes of Kung Fu Panda 2. Vientiane was far calmer and quieter than I had expected. I thought it would be like chaotic Bangkok, but I was happily wrong. I would definitely like to … Continue reading
Tokyo
It’s pretty crazy one Saturday I was hiking in Rwanda, marveling at glamorous Kigali and the next Saturday I’m visiting a high school friend in downtown Tokyo! We spent a day visiting a popular temple. Rieko took me out for a traditional Japanese dish. I can’t remember what it’s called, but I have … Continue reading
Goodbye, Kigali
Arriving back in Kigali after spending the past week in rural Rwanda, the city seemed so big and cosmopolitan. We were too late to get to the genocide museum, which may have been for the best anyway. We’d had such a great trip that it was nice to not end it contemplating genocide. We … Continue reading
Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village
Our next stop was to see Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village. It’s set up so tourists, both foreign and domestic, can see what life used to be like in Rwanda. But first, a few photos from the road. Posh, David, and I were dressed up as the king’s mother, the king, and the queen, respectively. … Continue reading
Stone Town, Zanzibar
Our flight from Moshi to the island of Zanzibar, formerly an important trading post bridging Africa and the Middle East, was just over an hour long. We spent a couple of quiet days on the beach, still recuperating from the Kilimanjaro climb. Since I was the only one of us who wasn’t going back to … Continue reading