Storming the Grand Turk’s Castle

Quietly, I waited without a move.  The next attack on the castle walls was imminent, but I didn’t know exactly when it would be.  Locked and loaded, I aimed and was ready to fire.

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Blair Castle

Suppose you were on a scavenger hunt. And suppose they challenged you to find, in the same room, a knight in shining armor and a polar bear.  Where would you go?

Of Monsters and Battlefields

Yes, there is a monster hidden in this post somewhere.  But first, the battlefield.

The Bonny Banks o’ Loch Lomond

O ye’ll tak’ the high road, and I’ll tak’ the low road,
And I’ll be in Scotland a’fore ye,
But me and my true love will never meet again,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks o’ Loch Lomond.

There’s a good chance you’ve heard this chorus before, and perhaps have even sung it.  And there’s a fair chance you thought it a sweet, wistful song about some poor Scottish lad breaking up with his sweetheart and rueing the occasion. But the backstory isn’t quite so sweet.

Derry or Londonderry?

There is a town in Northern Ireland that has an identity crisis. It doesn’t know whether to call itself Derry or Londonderry.  But why?

Crystal Vikings

At first cut, the idea of combining fine leaded glass crystal and Vikings doesn’t make a lot of sense.  What good is a Viking with a glass jaw?

Two Eyes, Tulips, One Camera

In my last post, I riffed on variations of a single picture of tulips using “Virtual Paint“.  In this post, we’ll explore how many different varieties of tulips can be found in one special place.

And if that’s too boring, just enjoy all the bright colors.

Machu Picchu

The feeling was surreal.

Crop Circles, Fortresses, and Inca Warriors

Ollantaytambo Ruins

Manco Inca Yupanqui, king of the Inca people and general of the armies, looked down the steep terraces on Ollantaytambo at the oncoming Spanish army. “Fire!”, he said to his archers. But the Spanish kept coming. It was January 1537.

Peruvian Food And Textiles

In our welcome meeting, our guide promised that they wouldn’t spring any mystery foods on us, then tell us after what we’d eaten.

He lied.