Category: Experience

 

Find content I have written about by a specific experience topic.

The Stars at Night Are Bright in Texas – Big Bend Dark Skies, The Best Place to See the Milky Way

“The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas”

I knew that when my 3 1/2  year old son came home from preschool singing these lyrics from the song “Deep In the Heart of Texas” that he had acclimated to our move to Houston. Six months after we moved to the Lone Star State, we took a trip into the heart of Texas and discovered the truth behind the Texas dark skies in Big Bend National Park. The Big Bend dark skies were the best place to see the milky way in the lower 48 states.

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PhotoPOSTcard: Seeing to Infinity and Beyond in Big Bend

Big Bend National Park is not just a beautifully scenic park in the traditional sense with the Rio Grande cutting grand canyons through the desert landscape. The area is also designated an International Dark Sky Park with one of the best, biggest and darkest night skies in the lower 48 states of the US. On a cloudless night during my recent visit, I was able to clearly see the milky way arc from horizon to horizon. Such an amazing sight for someone who lives on the East Coast of the US where I can barely see the big dipper.

Thanks for visiting

Rose

Please note that my visit to the Big Bend area was hosted by Visit Big Bend but all content is my own.

 

PhotoPOSTcard: A Perfect Big Bend Sunset Windows View

One of the easiest and most rewarding trails in Big Bend National Park is the 0.3 mile Windows View Nature trail.  The best and most popular time to walk this easy trail is at sunset – and you can see why. Benches along the paved walkway let you sit and enjoy mother nature’s show.  In this photo, I’ve included a silhouetted of one of the many desert plants in the park, a common sotol with its  mound of spiky leaves and its tall flower stalk.

Thanks for visiting.

Rose

Please note that my visit to the Big Bend area was hosted by Visit Big Bend but all content is my own.

 

PhotoPOSTcard: Olomouc’s Holy Trinity Column

Olomouc’s Holy Trinity Column in the Lower Town Square is one of the many UNESCO listed heritage sites in the Czech Republic.The highly ornate baroque design was built between 1716 to 1754 as an expression of gratitude at the ending of the plague that had infected the region between 1713 and 1715. The column was as much an expression of patriotism as it was of faith. All the sculptured saints decorating the column have a connection to the town and the craftsman that produced the column were also all locals. Inside, there is actually a little chapel.

Thanks for visiting.

Rose

PhotoPOSTcard: Climbing to New Heights in Ostrava’s Bolt Tower

The Bolt Tower in Ostrava, Czech Republic is a unique glass cafe and observation tower that was built on top of what was once an ironworks blast furnace. The wrap-around glass walkway is meant to look like the fire that once burned for real in the metal producing furnace below. At 250 feet high the Bolt Tower is the highest point in Ostrava and provides the best views of the city, especially at sunset. Would you have the nerve to stroll this glass walkway?

Thanks for visiting.

Rose

PhotoPOSTcard: A Salty Last Supper

Opened in the 13th century, the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow, Poland was one of the oldest operating salt mines in the world until it ceased production in 2007. But what put this mine on the original UNESCO list was the chapels and and intricate statues carved out of salt or carved directly into salt walls of the mine. In the largest and most elaborate St. Kinga’s Chapel, one of the wall reliefs is a salt carved version of Leonardo DaVinci’s Last Supper.

Thanks for visiting.

Rose

PhotoPOSTcard: Colorful Street Art in Krakow

Most of the old protective wall that once encircled Krakow’s Old Town is now gone, but a small section still remains on either side of the Florian Gate. Here, the old wall acts as an outdoor gallery for local artists displaying their colorful canvases. Each morning the artists use ladders to hang their creations, filling all the available vertical and horizontal wall space. An ever changing collage of street art in Krakow.

Thanks for visiting.

Rose

 

Discover the Famous Zanzibar Doors – Finding Craftsmanship Among the Kitsch

“Please. Come into my shop. Let me show you what I have. I will make you a good deal”.  This was the constant litany that accosted us as we wandered the narrow lanes in historic Stone Town. But I wasn’t interested just in shopping. What I was really on the hunt for was to see the famous carved Zanzibar doors.

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This is Africa Beyond the Big 5 – The African Safari Animals in Kenya and Tanzania

An African safari should be more than just seeing the BIG 5. The extent of the animal diversity in this part of the planet was amazing. This photo essay shares the great 55 African safari animals that I saw in the many parks I visited on my first Kenya and Tanzania safari adventure.

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PhotoPOSTcard: A Baobab Sunset

We were treated to a spectacular sunset on our last evening on safari in Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park. One of the things that made this park unique from the others we had visited was not the animal life, but rather, the plant life – the baobab trees to be specific. The distinctly wide and bulbous shaped tree trunk stores water for the tree so that it can survive drought conditions, thereby its other name “Tree of Life”.

Thanks for visiting.

Rose