10 Second Vacations

Balmaha, on the banks of Loch Lomond, makes for a surprisingly lovely beach site. Assuming you actually get a sunny day, that is, which I didn’t for most of July!

Breaking from the travel movies for a local one from my birthday. This is Olivia Chaney singing La Jardinera.  She’s wonderful, and you should all go see her if she’s playing near you.

West Palm Beach looks nothing like what I imagined.

The piney swamps of northern Georgia, as seen from a moving train.

Sunrise through the trees of South Carolina’s swamps.

Emerging from the Lehigh Tunnel into the light and air of Pennsylvania.

Philadelphia’s skyline, reflected in the mirrored glass of the Amtrak station.

The “newsfeed building” I spotted reflected off a neighbour in Philadelphia.

Sunset over Miami’s skyline, taken from the cruise ship.

Clouds over Miami Beach.

View across the harbour in Miami.

First movement of the cruise ship out of Miami.

St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, where the crowds are as established as the architecture. 

This cow and I share more descriptors than I care to discuss, but at least I chew with my mouth closed.

How do you play pool on the rolling seas? On a gyroscopic pool table, of course. American excess on display on the Brilliance of the Seas.

My B&B in Civitavecchia was beside a large paddock housing a very friendly (often amorous) donkey and a total jerk of a horse. Here's a rare instance of them getting along, and the horse not trying to bite me.

A wet day in Paris at the Marché d'Aligre weekly market.