Category Archives: Weekly Photo Challenges

The unexpected views from a street in Delhi

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Last May I had the honor of traveling to India for the second time within a three year time span and was delighted by the unexpected views from the street. Anyone who has ever been to India knows what I am saying when I attest there is no place quite like it on earth. A massive sea of humanity lies within its many cities and streets for those who are willing to unravel it and take it all in, of course using the third eye.

I find India to be one of the most fascinating places on earth and hope to someday go back and see the countryside, villages and of course the mountains. There is something purely magical about India which takes you by surprise. Here are a few of my favorite unexpected views from the streets of Delhi, all taken last May during my social good blogging trip to India with Mom Bloggers for Social Good.

Open your heart. Open your mind. Open your soul and breathe in the unexpectedness of what you will find as everyday life across the streets of Delhi.

Delhi Street Photography

Women living on the streets outside the US Embassy

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Layers of Ice: Argentina’s Perito Moreno Glacier

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Perhaps one of the most spectacular marvels of Mother Nature I’ve ever witnessed is the majestic Perito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia, Argentina. Spanning an area of 250 square kilometers/97 square miles and 30 km/19 miles in length, the sheer magnitude of this massive piece of layered ice is incomprehensible.

Ice trekking on the Perito Moreno Glacier was one of my highlights to a trip to Southern Patagonia in 2009. Take a peak for yourself and see the immense beauty and power of Argentina’s premier glacier.

“The question is not what you look at, but what you see”. – Henry David Thoreau

This post was inspired by the Weekly Photo Challenge: Layers. To view more entries click here.

Related posts:

Scotch on the 400-year-old Rocks

My Top Five Wild Hikes

The Surroundings of a Patagonian Outpost

Hike to Mount Fitz Roy (Freshly Pressed)

Orange around the world

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In honor of our fading fall colors and Halloween, I thought I’d put together a post honoring all the beautiful orange colors I’ve seen around the world. Often I’m tempted to take pictures of blue and green hues as I love capturing landscapes. But what about orange? Orange can be quite a lovely, warm color and can also be sometimes found in the most unexpected places.

Here is a look at some of the fabulous orange hues I’ve seen through my travels. If you feel inspired by orange, feel free to share a post of your favorites as well and link back here. I will also tweet them out with the hashtag #orangearoundtheworld.

An Arizona sunset.

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Breakfast in Paris

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My favorite time of the day is morning and there is no better way to start your day at one of the many outdoor cafés in lovely Paris. Cafe culture has been an essential part of Parisian life for centuries and I can see why. What could be better than sitting outside sipping a dark, strong cafe au lait, munching a buttery, hot fresh croissant and watching the world go by? Not much in my book.

During a late April trip to France, I enjoyed my breakfast in Paris even if the weather was a tad bit cold. It brought me back to over twenty years before when I lived in Paris as a student at the Sorbonne and embraced the cafe culture with all my heart. Now, I’m lucky if I get a real french coffee and normally just enjoy my regular cup of joe.

Ah, c’était ça la vie!

A votre service!

No I didn’t have this for breakfast but they were making fresh tiramisu that morning! I was very tempted to eat it for breakfast!

This post was inspired by the weekly photo challenge: Good Morning! To see more entries, click here.

Minnesota’s Spectrum of Color

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Fall has always been my absolute favorite time of year. As the days and nights grow shorter and the sun shines her glorious luminous light, the leaves ever so slowly begin to change. This year, fall has been coming at a snail’s pace given our Indian Summer. Yet during the last few days the leaves have begun to turn into their magical tapestry of colors. Hues from pumpkin oranges, to scarlet reds and golden yellows delight the eyes. It is nature’s way of rewarding us with beauty and preparing us for the long, colorless winter ahead.

“One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats”.  – Iris Murdoch


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A Look Inside Minneapolis: The Lake Harriet Rose Garden

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One of my favorite places to savor the change of the seasons in my hometown is the Lake Harriet Rose Garden. Located just a short block off my favorite urban lake, The Lake Harriet Rose Garden always inspires no matter what time of year.

My two favorite seasons to capture the color inside the Rose Garden are Spring and Fall. Different perennials pop up each month and it is always exciting to see what I will find. After a hot couple of weeks, today finally felt a bit more like fall. The brilliant blue September sky cast its luminous glow across Minneapolis and I knew I’d have to go take some photos of the beautiful fall flowers at the Lake Harriet Rose Garden. Here is a peak at what I found. Enjoy!

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A Unique Visit to Delhi’s Lotus Temple

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Any trip to Delhi requires a stop at the spectacular Lotus Temple. Built in 1986 of pure white marble from the Penteli mountain in Greece, the Lotus Temple is a Bahá’í House of Worship where people of any religions can come to pray.  What makes this temple so incredibly unique and awe-inspiring is its shape and form.

Inspired by India’s sacred lotus flower, the temple is composed of 27 free-standing marble “petals” arranged in groups of three to form nine sides forming a lotus flower. It is fitting that the temple is designed to look like India’s treasured lotus flower as the lotus symbolizes many important things in Indian culture: Long life, honor, and good forturne. Images of lotus flowers can be seen throughout India as engravings on temples, buildings and in art.

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A Sea of Ice: Iceland’s Myrdalsjökull Glacier

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“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Sir Winston Churchill

Perhaps one of my most memorable adventure travel experiences thus far has been my hike across a real live sea of ice. There is nothing quite like strapping on a pair of crampons and moving at a snail’s pace straight into unimaginable winds and icy cold rain across one of the world’s most beautiful and magical glaciers. Sure I’ve done plenty of amazing hikes around the world ranging to such far off places as Peru, Patagonia, The French Alps and Nepal. Yet nothing was quite like walking across a wide, moving sea of ice.

First steps onto the massive Myrdalsjökull Glacier. Unfortunately there was no way possible to show the enormity of it all. This is just the beginning.

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Chicago’s Millenium Park: A Masterpiece of Urban Architecture

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There is no city in the Midwest like Chicago. Chicago shines with her hearty down-to-earth values while dazzles as one of the premier urban cities in America. Home to over 9.5 million souls in the metropolitan area, Chicago has an electric vibe like no other Midwestern city in what some refer to as “flyover land“, and is always on the cutting edge of architectural innovation and beauty.

During a long weekend in Chicago, I was able to rediscover her soul as well as foresee her future, all at Chicago’s ultramodern masterpiece Millennium Park. Built to celebrate the millennium, the park was opened in July of 2004 as an urban oasis in the heart of the city. Squeezed into a piece of land between Lake Michigan and Chicago’s business district known as “The Loop“, Millennium Park truly personifies what Chicago is all about:   Modern, gorgeous, innovative and fun.

A stroll through this fabulous park will prove how far Chicago has come to being a world-class, international city. Come take a stroll with me through some of my favorite views.

The centerpiece of Millennium Park is the Jay Pritzker Pavilion

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Marseille’s Marché aux Poissons

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Anyone who has even been to Marseille knows about its beloved Marché aux Poissons (fish market). The oldest and second largest city in France, Marseille was founded in 600 BC by the Greeks and became one of the most important port towns along the Mediterranean Sea. Given its prime location and wonderful harbor came a long-held tradition of fishing. The Marché aux Poissons has been around for centuries and is the best place around for fish lovers to buy the freshest seafood in France.

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The Companionship of Children around the World

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Throughout my travels, I’ve always marveled at the beauty, innocence and hopeful smiles of children. I believe strongly that children are our future. What has amazed me so much is how similar children are despite their unimaginable differences in culture, economic resources and lifestyles. At the end of the day, all children want is to be loved. All children want to have enough food on the table, a roof over their head and books to read. All children want to be respected, cared for and offered the same opportunities in life.

Here are some of the world’s children and their friends who have captured my heart and have filled me with hope.

Here are the smiling faces of some of the girls I volunteered with in La Ceiba, Honduras.

The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do, and the more genuine may be one’s appreciation of fundamental things like home, and love, and understanding companionship. – Amelia Earhart 
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Room with a view: Marseille’s Magnificent Vieux Port

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At the end of April, we traveled via TGV south from Paris to the Mediterranean town,  Marseille. The second largest and oldest city in France, Marseille has experienced a dramatic rebirth from a rather banal port city to a vibrant, cultural mecca in line with any of Europe’s major cosmopolitan cities.

Room with a view of Vieux Port and Notre Dame de la Garde

I was curious to see Marseille again as it had been a very long time. Twenty years ago I wanted to faire un stage thus spent the summer as an intern at a French business after graduating from university. I honestly do not have many fond memories of my time there. I loved the region of Provence surrounding Marseille yet found the city to be dirty, uninspiring and relatively bland. After hearing so much fanfare about Marseille and what a magnificent city it has become, I decided to give it another whirl and I was not the slightest bit disappointed in what I found.

In Marseille, I found a pell mell of culture and electricity that other cities would die to have just a sliver of. In a nutshell, Marseille had come to life with a pizzazz and heartbeat that pulsates the city like a radiant shower of gold.

The lovely sailboats of the Vieux Port.

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