2013 in 50 Photographs

Kris and I visited 13 foreign countries in 2013. In order: Spain, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Canada, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Japan, back to Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, and Hungary.

Our travels within the US included trips to Napa, California and Hawaii, both new to us as well.

Here are 50 photos I made along the way. They're in no particular order. I hope you like them.

[1] Budapest, Hungary

The Mattias Church. The wild stenciling and abstract frescoes are unlike anything I've ever seen before.

[2] Prague, Czech Republic

The Christmas Market in the Old Town Square. The lighting just adds to the festivities. We hadn't gone out with the intention of shooting any photos, so I didn't have my big camera. This is taken with my little Canon S110.

[3] Prague, Czech Republic

We were in Prague for a week, and had a total of about two hours of sunshine. I was lucky enough to capture the strong rays coming through a window of St. Vitus Church.

[4] Berlin, Germany

Of all the artifacts of the Soviet occupation of East Germany, this is the one that struck me the most. A huge memorial to the Soviet soldiers who were killed in the final assault on Berlin in April-May 1945. About 7000 of the 80,000 Soviets killed in that battle are buried here.

[5] Barcelona, Spain

When I first saw the Sagrada Familia in 1975 it had no roof or windows. It's come a long way since then. I had to stand in line for more than an hour to get into the church in November. It was worth it.

[6] Mount Fuji, Japan

Fuji is a reluctant friend. While we were there for three days, he only showed himself for a few hours total. This was our first glimpse, the morning after the first snowfall of the year.

[7] Mount Fuji, Japan

Another shot of the mountain from the other side of the lake. The clouds closed in about five minutes after taking this shot and the view of the mountain was lost for the day.

[8] Sugadaira, Japan

We took an unplanned detour to an off season ski lodge when we couldn't find a hotel anywhere else in Japan during a holiday weekend. We ended up being invited to share in a family birthday party. It was the grandfather's birthday, but, as usual, the youngest got to blow out the candle.

[9] Hiraizumi, Japan

Many of the temples of Hiraizumi were destroyed in long ago wars, but a few are still in use. I caught this image of a monk who joined the ceremony late and simply knelt at the edge of the mat and quietly joined in the chanting.

[10] Kyoto, Japan

The most famous temple of Japan. We were lucky to catch it on a calm day the allowed maximum clarity of its reflection in the pond.

[11] Hiroshima, Japan

It was near dusk when we arrived by train in Hiroshima, but we immediately took the tram to the epicenter of the atomic blast. This is the so-called Atomic Dome, a earthquake-reinforced building that was 160 meters from the epicenter. The skeleton of the building was left as a memorial.

[12] Nagasaki, Japan

The memorial of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki consists of columns of translucent material that form a colonnade that points to the epicenter, a few hundred meters away. At the end of the memorial room is a list of the 160,000 people killed by the attack.

[13] Shirakowa-go, Japan

Sunset over the mountains at the World Heritage Site that made the end of a lovely day.

[14] Tokyo, Japan

The first day of the national Sumo tournament in Tokyo.

[15] Sligo, Ireland

One of W.B. Yeats' most famous poems is The Lake Isle of Innisfree. Innisfree is a tiny island in Loch Gill on the outskirts of Sligo-town. We hiked a ways off the road on a rainy day to get this view of it.

[16] Drumcliffe, Ireland

Yeats wanted to be buried within sight of Ben Bulben, the famous mountain in west Ireland. The lines on the tombstone are from his own eulogy poem, “Under Ben Bulben.”

[17] Sligo, Ireland

We drove around Ben Bulben and got several angles on it's unique shape. This is the head-on view.

[18] Coventry, England

The Coventry Cathedral was mostly destroyed by German bombers in 1940. The ruins of the cathedral have been turned into a park used by city residents for casual strolls and an afternoon read.

[19] Stonehenge, England

We walked around Stonehenge for more than an hour and finally got this shot with some interesting clouds and just a few tourists.

[20] Wells, England

The entrance to the chapter house at Wells Cathedral. The geometry of the intersecting stairways just looked better in black and white.

[21] Exeter, England

The ceiling, the organ, the majesty of a wonderful medieval cathedral.

[22] London, England

Walking around London on another dreary English day. The sun poked through over the Thames just long enough to get this shot from a bridge.

[23] El Cedral, Mexico

Everyone, down to the babies, dressed up for the El Cedral village festival on Cozumel.

[24] Cozumel, Mexico

A little contest in Cozumel's Money Bar over who was going to pay for the next round.

[25] San Sebastian, Spain

A walk around the harbor area of San Sebastian and a look at its fishing fleet.

[26] El Escorial, Spain

Photography was prohibited in most of the El Escorial complex. Again, thanks to the tiny Canon S110, I surreptitiously got this one in the library.

[27] Nara, Japan

Two women in traditional dress taking each other's picture at the Nara temple complex.

[28] Shirakowa-go, Japan

The centuries-old village of Shirakowa-go is undergoing extensive renovation by skilled Japanese craftsmen. This fellow couldn't understand why I wanted to take his picture, but he graciously acceded to letting me shoot a few.

[29] Nagano, Japan

The abbess of the Zenkoji temple returns home after her service. I got this shot just before her guard told me to stop shooting.

[30] Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland

The legend of the Giant's Causeway is that it was created during a fight between Scottish and Irish giants. That's probably a more interesting explanation than the heating and cooling of lava flows, no?

[31] Derry, Northern Ireland

Several buildings in the Bogside neighborhood of Derry are painted with scenes from the “troubles” of the recent past.

[32] Near Haydon Bridge, England

We went to Northern England with every intention of walking the length of Hadrian's Wall. The very cold and rainy June weather changed our minds, so we bounced along the wall route for a few days in our car and stopped for pictures at significant wall sites, like this old Roman fort at Housestead's.

[33] York, England

For me, churches are all about the windows. And the chapter houses of English cathedrals usually put a lot of good ones in one spot.

[34] Tulum, Mexico

Beautiful white beach, which hasn't yet been discovered by the tourists. We only saw Mexicans here, and few of them.

[35] Tikal, Guatemala

Stayed at the Tikal lodge within the park just so we could get up at 4 a.m. and hike for an hour to get this shot.

[36] Tikal, Guatemala

This guy and his family kept waking us up all night with their howls. But he made up for it by posing for this picture in the morning.

[37] Antigua, Guatemala

The Church of Hermano Pedro was nothing special, until you got to the side rooms where all the people who had been helped by prayer left their tributes to the Saint.

[38] Toronto, Canada

The Royal Fairmont is the hotel the Queen stays in when she comes to Toronto. It's just this lovely wherever you look.

[39] Lamanai, Belize

We took a two hour river cruise to get to the Mayan ruins at Lamanai, and stopped at my request to take a closer look at this guy.

[40] Kabah, Mexico

Kabah has some of the best carvings among the several Mayan sites in the Yucatan.

[41] Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii

Tall volcanoes provide some of the most interesting lunar-like landscapes, especially when you're above the cloud line.

[42] Garron Point, Northern Ireland

I stopped to shoot these guys, and had about two minutes to take a couple shots before they gave up. Not biting, I guess.

[43] Toronto, Canada

I don't usually take pictures of elevators, but I made an exception at the Gladstone Hotel.

[44] San Francisco, California

The iconic Golden Gate, with a cooperative ship passing underneath to make the shot.

[45] Sonoma Valley, California

The writer Jack London was an early advocate of sustainable farming. The Jack London State Park is his old ranch.

[46] San Sebastian, Spain

We spent most of our time in San Sebastian eating pintxos, but forced ourselves to walk them off afterwards. On the walkway around the point at dusk, we watched the waves crash into the rocks.

[47] Atotonilco, Mexico

I was just struck by this roofline of the main church here. It's a World Heritage site mostly due to the painting of the inside chapels, but the outside is also beautiful.

[48] Teotihuacán, Mexico

Again I was up at dawn to shoot a Mayan site, but was thwarted by the entry crew who showed up late. But, the vistas down the thousand-year-old streets to the pyramid were still stunning. I especially like how the pyramid mirrors the mountain behind.

[49] Mexico City, Mexico

The organ and the ceiling of the Mexico City cathedral provided a bit of a challenge to shoot in low light, so I wedged myself into a corner, held my breath, and got a steady shot even without a tripod.

[50] Council Bluffs, Iowa

The unofficial mascot of my hometown is the black squirrel. A few years ago, the city put in a new fountain in Bayliss Park and surrounded it with sculptures of playful squirrels.

We've done a year-end photo post since we started Travel Past 50 in 2013. Here are links to all the annual photo posts: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019.

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