R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 19

Istanbul — A Turkish Breakfast and Out on Foot in Sultanahmet

Old ruin just up the street from our hotel, Cankurtaran at Akbıyık Cd. No:8

I‘m not going to mention the name of our hotel (leave me a comment and I’ll get back to you on that) because Ursula doesn’t want me to publicly reveal this wonderful boutique establishment, lest we have trouble getting back into it. Suffice it to say that we’ve already made reservations for a return early next year. Not only was this place perfectly situated, within easy walking distance of the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofi...

Istanbul — Arrival and Shopping; Egyptian and Grand Bazaars

Istanbul’s famous Blue Mosque

Last week I finished up my series on our most recent transatlantic cruise with a look at Spain’s Valencia region. Our ship continued on to Civitavecchia, the port city for Rome. Here we disembarked, on April 19, and shared a ride to Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci–Rome Fiumicino Airport. After that it was a flight to one of our favorite cities, and one we had not revisted in many years. Welcome to Istanbul in the country of Republic of Türkiye. At the Sabiha Gökçen Inte...

Fun Photo Friday — El Castell de Guadalest and Castell de Santa Bàrbara Favorites

Guadalest Lamplight

This week’s Fun Photo Friday concludes this portion of our most recent trip. I hope you enjoyed the journey.

The Stone Wall It’s All in the Focus Budding Cactus in Sunlight Goodies for Sale AYUNTAMIENTO DE ALICANTE ALUMBRADO PUBLICO (Valencian for Alicante City Hall Public Lighting) Hard Chapel to Reach

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

Castell de Santa Bàrbara, Alicante, Spain

Castell de Santa Bàrbara (Santa Bárbara Castle)

High atop Mount Benacantil, some 545 feet/166 meters above sea level, is a massive fortress that began in the 9th century to protect this strategic port city. But Castell de Santa Bàrbara was not always its name, for it started as a Moorish stronghold. Christian forces only gained control of the castle in 1248, at which time Alfonso X of Castile (Alfonso the Wise) gave the fortress its current name.

Alicante photo op at Castell de Santa Bàrba...

El Castell de Guadalest, Spain

El Castell de Guadalest (The Castle of Guadalest)

After leaving Alicante, our next tour destination was the quaint Valencian village of El Castell de Guadalest, often referred to as just Guadalest. High atop a crag that juts upward on the northeastern side of the village sits an 11th century castle, as you can see in the photo above, and again here:

San José Castle overlooking the village of Guadalest Map of Guadalest (castle upper right)

The narrow streets of Guadalest are lined with ...

Fun Photo Friday — Alicante, Spain Favorites

What’s Behind the Green Door?

Today I present a Fun Photo Friday featuring favorites from Alicante. There are more selections than usual today, because I had a lot of fun photographing this city:

Dreams Come True Behind This Door A Nice Set of Knockers Street Lights and Wavy Lines Casa Carbonell Yes, the time actually was 12:35! Flagged at City Hall Really Wired Lighted Palms Hotel Les Monges Palace Boutique

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

Alicante, Spain — Out and About

L’Esplanada d’Espanya

After our tour of Alicante City Hall (Ajuntament d’Alacant), our tour guide took us for a stroll within a short distance of that location. By the way, now would a great time to mention our tour — Spain Day Tours — because this group is so good that we’ve used them five times now, including Cadiz, Cartagena, Ibiza, and Valencia . We wouldn’t keep going back if they didn’t meet or exceed our expectations and provide great value for the money. I can highly recommend them.

...

Alicante, Spain — Arrival and City Hall

The National Flag of Spain flies over Alicante

In April of this year Ursula and I left on an extended journey that began with a transatlantic cruise to Civitavecchia via Alicante in the Valencian Community of Spain. From there we took transporation into Rome and flew first to Istanbul, and next to Abu Dhabi. After our stay in these two locations we took a bus to Dubai. Over the next several weeks/months I’ll be showing you all these destinations starting with Alicante and a tour we took from ...

Fun Photo Friday — Java Favorites

When Green’s Your Thing

This week’s Fun Photo Friday brings to an end this long series that began with Singapore and wound up touring many of Indonesia’s major islands. I hope you enjoyed the ride. Now for today’s photo gallery/slide show:

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

Indonesia — Java; Probolinggo and Tri Dharma Sumbernaga Temple

Tri Dharma Sumbernaga Temple

Today I’m going to show you the Tri Dharma Sumbernaga Temple, and make a very weak attempt at explaining it all because there just isn’t that much published on it. From what I can determine, Tri Dharma is a blend of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism that is unique to Indonesia. Now the confusing part. This temple is over 140 years old, yet Kwee Tek Hoay is credited with establishing Tri Dharma in 1938.

Tri Dharma Sumbernaga Temple

And that pretty much sums u...