In downtown Seoul, a 7-Eleven. Just in case you need a six-pack of Bud or something. June, 2005.
In India's airports, you can get anything you need, as long as IBM has a chance to stick an ad on top of it. June, 2005.
Just your typical Hyderabad office building, with a little shrine out front. I mean, why not? Beats some guy who wants to see your picture ID.
Hyderabad streets. I am in one of those yellow things (autorickshaw, a kind of taxi) buzzing along the road. June, 2005.
Amsterdam. There's a park in Amsterdam where they have massive numbers of iguana sculptures. Don't ask why. They're Dutch, you see?
It's all so unbelievably adorable that you cannot possibly understand why everyone doesn't have canals running through their city.
Amsterdam, June, 2005.
Amsterdam, June, 2005.
This is Pietro Antonio Locatelli's house, where he did most of his work. Or it was. I think they've changed the windows. He died in 1764.
Amsterdam, June, 2005.
Amsterdam, June, 2005.
These Amsterdam houseboats are pretty adorable as well. Semi-permanently anchored in the canals, they're 10 to 20 meters long and people live in them full time. They don't move, best as I can tell.
Amsterdam, June, 2005.
Atlas has been shrug-free for hundreds of years in Amsterdam.
Palace with Mimes. Amsterdam, June, 2005.
OK, you're not going to believe me, but this is an Amsterdam shopping mall. Really. They built it in an old post office. Now, it's not a very good mall, as malls go, but you can't be picky.
That's me, in Amsterdam, in front of some wonderfully picturesque set of bridges, canals, trees, and summer day.
The doors to Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam. The really interesting thing about this is just sitting here and watching other people stand in front of them and have their picture taken. Not that they are really very picturesque at all, but people seem to feel obligated.
Lunch time in Amsterdam. Notice the seal of the city has XXX in it. How apropos for a city with the most famous legal red light district in the world.
People seem to cruise around in little boats a lot, just for fun and to enjoy the scenery and the boating. In this case, they have a toy boat dragging behind.
City seal of Amsterdam
The main train station is under construction, but this does not keep the windvane from operating. I guess this is the kind of thing that boaters care about. 'Cause the train doesn't really.
My hotel in Amsterdam, the Atlas. I'm in that little arched window at the top floor. Nice place, but without air conditioning in the summer a bit warm.
Amsterdam, June, 2005.
Amsterdam. In some cases, the buildings come right up to the canals without an intervening street. Man, talk about the potential for a leaky basement.
Amsterdam has a statue of a man playing the accordian in Johnny Jordaan square. Until I found this, I was pretty charmed by the city. But to commemorate the accordian... it's just not right.
Pot growing in the Amsterdam Botanical Gardens.
These have to be the largest lily pads I have ever seen. They're about 1 meter across. Amsterdam Botanical Garden.
An adorable little planting. Amsterdam Botanical Garden.
Talk about your leaf mass. Amsterdam Botanical Garden.