R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 21

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...

Indonesia — Java; Probolinggo and Tenggeran Batik

Welcom to Probolinggo, Java, Indonesia

This series started way back in January with Singapore, and continued into Indonesia with that series beginning on 18 March. Well, the end is in sight. This week I cover our last destination on this trip with a look at Probolinggo, Java. First up on the tour Ursula had planned for us was a very special ride:

Our rickshaw “taxis” awaited the entire group

I must admit that this was a rather unique experience.

Rickshaw touring

You can certainly te...

Fun Photo Friday — Bali Favorites 5

Framing Pura Tanah Lot

Today is our last look at Bali before moving on to our next, and final, Indonesia destination. Next week I’ll show you Probolinggo, Java. Until then:

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

Indonesia — Bali; Tanah Lot back to Benoa

Tanah Lot (right) and Sunset Beach (black sand)

On Monday I promised some closer views of the small, rocky island of Tanah Lot and the temple that sits atop that island. Visit to Tanah Lot is prohibited, but if you get to the nearby black sand beach at low tide you can wade pretty close to it. Or, if you have a good zoom, you can keep your tennies dry and still get some great shots:

Tanah Lot Tanah Lot

There’s some nice foliage in the area as well:

Bali color

Time to head back to ...

Indonesia — Bali; Pura Batu Bolong and Tanah Lot

Balinese Rice Field

Along the southeast coast of Bali reside two Hindu temples about 1,000 feet/300 meters apart. One is built on an outcropping that juts out into the Indian Ocean. The other sits atop the small island of Tanah Lot less than 100 feet/30 meters from shore. These temples are known as Pura Batu Bolong and Pura Tanah Lot. As you approach the area between the two you’ll find it easy to determine which is which:

Pura Batu Bolong to the left and… … Pura Tanah Lot to the left...