weekly photo challenge: from above

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Greece, Jebel Akhdar, Jordan, Nepal, Oman, weekly photo challenge

Saturday, May 4: This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is From Above: Change your perspective on something. Share a photo of a subject which you shot from directly above.

From above at the Monastery of St. Barbara, Meteora, Greece

Looking down at Kalambaka from the Monastery of St. Stephen at Meteora, Greece

from above: Nepalese Vegetarian food: basmati rice, black lentils, vegetable curry, spinach green curry, pickle, papad (some kind of mushroom curry?), salad and curd.

the view from above at the Hotel View Point in Nagarkot, Nepal

From above: flowers at Pokhara, Nepal

the view from above at the ancient Crusader castle at Karak, Jordan

from above: the curving staircase at Eikan-do, Kyoto, Japan

From above in a hot air balloon over Cappadocia, Turkey

From above: the “fjords of Arabia” in Musandam, Oman

Omani children at Jebel Akhdar, from above

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travel theme: mountains

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Greece, Nepal, Oman, travel theme

Saturday, February 16: Ailsa’s Travel Theme for this week is Mountains:  She writes: It’s hard to beat the soaring majesty of mountains. It’s also apparently hard to define exactly what a mountain is. Countries around the globe use factors such as height, elevation, relief and volume in a vain attempt to define them. The Oxford English Dictionary settles for something suitably vague: “a natural elevation of the earth surface rising more or less abruptly from the surrounding level and attaining an altitude which, relatively to the adjacent elevation, is impressive or notable.” Merriam-Webster doesn’t do any better: “a landmass that projects conspicuously above its surroundings and is higher than a hill.” Look up ‘hill’ in the same dictionary and you will find that it is described, helpfully, as “lower than a mountain.”

Some of the world’s tallest mountains are the Himalayas in Nepal.  Here is a view of the Annapurna Range taken from Pokhara.

the Annapurna Range seen from Pokhara, Nepal

Machhapuchhre, or “Fish-Tailed” at sunrise

Here are mountains, with monasteries built on top, in Meteora, Greece.

Meteora, Greece

And finally, in Oman, where I have never seen snow-cover, are the mountains of Jebel Akhdar.

the view of Al Ayn and the gorge on top of Jebel Akhdar

For more takes on the theme, see Where’s My Backpack? Travel theme: Mountains.

To see more of my trip to Nepal: catbird in south asia

To see more of my trip to Greece: greek wanderings

weekly photo challenge: green

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postaweek2012, Travel, weekly photo challenge

Friday, November 16: The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is Green. For some of you, in the northern hemisphere, you may not be seeing green for a while. Let’s celebrate all things green!

For a full-sized slide show, click on any image in the gallery below.

green island near Geoje-do, South Korea

green pomegranate at Wekan, Oman

flowers in Wekan, Oman

a green niche at the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan Mosque in Abu Dhabi, UAE

the green lawn at the Taj Mahal, Agra, India

gardens near Geoje-do, South Korea

Misfat Al Abriyyen, Oman

Misfat Al Abriyyen, Oman

green bananas at Misfat al Abriyyen, Oman

a green garden at one of the Meteora monasteries in Greece

a green door in Misfat Al Abriyyen, Oman

Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania, USA

a privately owned island covered in gardens near Geoje-do, South Korea

topiary at Geoje-do, South Korea

limes at BidBid, Oman

near Geoje-do, South Korea

more greenery near Geoje-do, South Korea

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I love the Meteora monasteries in Greece!

greek wanderings

Tuesday, September 11:  Today, we visit the Meteora monasteries.  The tour is sadly very limited, and today is the day I most regret being on a tour. If I had driven on my own, I would have visited more of the monasteries and stopped for many more photos.  However, being stuck on a bus and limited by a timetable, I feel like I only see a small sliver of what there is to see in Meteora.

Though the tour is two days long, we spent all day yesterday driving to Delphi, visiting the archeological site briefly, then driving to Meteora.  This morning, we get an early start after a decent buffet breakfast, but we head straightaway to an icon factory, where we are given a demonstration on how icons are made, and then we’re left to browse in the large icon and souvenir shop.  Though I admittedly…

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