Italy: Walking around Florence

Spent most of our first day in Italy wearing out shoes and seeing much of the old city in Firenze. Here are just a few of the photos from our day.

The level of detail on the facade of the Duomo is incredible.

The Piazza at the Archeological Museum.

Devera and a pair of tourists enjoy the gold doors at the bishops' rectory at San Giovanni.

The other famous Florence landmark: Palazzo Vecchio.

Lodging for two nights at the Hotel Bernini Palace near the Galleria di Uffizi.

Just after the rain at the Piazza di San Croce.

Our walkabout took us to this sidestreet near a quiet little park.

Can only describe this as the leather coat bazaar; unbrellas were the hot seller on this day.

We stopped for a duppio (double) espresso to wait out the rain at this cafe.

Devera appreciates the architecture at one of Italy's most famous landmarks, the Duomo in Florence, also known as San Maria Del Fiore.

Always a busy place, the Piazza di Repubblica is crowded even through a mid-day shower.

Italy: Afternoon in Siena

Towering over the piazza in Siena

Once a year, the Piazza del Campo is the site of famous Pailo horse race; today it's just touristcos.

We stopped for an espresso at a cafe on the piazza; Devera looks relaxed, doesn't she?

Siena's cathedral, the Duomo, features the horizontal stripe theme found on several buildings around town.

Attentive horses in Richland County

On a tour of the company's operations in Montana, I was warmly greeted by a pair of locals.

Fall colors near Eldora

A trailhead north of the Eldora ski area near Nederland, CO, as summer slips away.

A Champion

Early 1950s Studebaker Champion, looking mint, on display at the Larimer Street car show in Denver last weekend.

Park residents

Watching over his herd, a bull elk seems ok with just hanging at Rocky Mountain National Park over Labor Day weekend.

Sea level plus 2.3 miles

A marker near the Chapin Pass visitors center at the top of Rocky Mountain National Park. This was taken yesterday on a tour I was hosting for out of town friends.

Library in Lewistown

One of the more than 1,600 public libraries across the US built with money from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, the Lewistown, MT, library was built in 1905 and added to in 1960 and 1990.

Rocky Mountain water

In the lobby of the Hotel Boulderado you can drink right from the glacier. They should bottle it.

Mountain kids

While we were touring the summit at Mt. Evans, a family of mountain goats strolled up looking for a snack. Four adult goats and these two kids held the interest of all.

Short video of our trip to Mt. Evans to celebrate two famly birthdays.

Grilleworks

Amongst the entrants at a Classic Car Show in Nederland on July 4th was this 1939 Chevy, gleaming in the mid-day sun.

Friday at the chewing gum building

Before boarding the boat for our river tour of Chicago architecture, I snapped this of the Wrigley Building on Michigan Avenue.

Stay off the Off-Airport sign

Mid-afternoon at Denver International Airport waiting for the shuttle bus.

Church spire in downtown Denver

The church steeple is dwarfed by the Wells Fargo Center, also known around Denver as the Cash Register Building. See the previous post for a clue.

Avenue Grill sunset

One of my favorite restaurants in Denver is on East 17th Ave.

Fountain at US Capitol

The fountain at the Capitol Reflecting Pool just before it began to rain.

Glass cactus

Went for a tour of Chihuly: The Nature of Glass" at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix a few weeks ago.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Scottsdale, AZ, complex

At Wright's Taliesin West, recognized among the world's great masterpieces of architecture. This was taken by Devera on a tour while I was golfing.

One lap of the Rockies

The story was posted to the motorcycle group website a couple weeks ago. That's Old Faithful erupting on cue. The trip was a blast.

One lap of the Rockies

We came, we saw, we uplinked

Outside the new White Sox - Dodgers spring training complex in Glendale, AZ

Ducks on Sloans Lake, revised

A trimmed version of the previous but rendered in higher quality.

Sherman Street noon

Out for a lunchtime walk around downtown Denver this week. Looking north on Sherman Street near 17th Avenue.

Boarding from Loveland Pass

On a bright afternoon this week, a pair of boarders rest on the Loveland Pass marker before beginning the trip down towards the highway.

Gull on a wall

One more from the Christmas trip to California. This was taken at Scripps Park in La Jolla.

My regular dashboard

A mileage milestone, just past.

Horse on a chair in Denver

Outside the Denver Public Library, the horse standing on a chair has a great view of the Capitol.

An afternoon at the library

The plaza on the west side of the Denver Public Library offers visitors an outsize sense of scale.

Antique tractors at Western Stock Show Parade

This McCormick-Deering Orchard model tractor is a late 1930s or 1940s vintage. Near the end of the annual parade on the third day of the Stock Show in Denver, the antique tractors follow the cattle, horses and beauty queens, but ride before the street sweeper.

Further down Hollywood Blvd.

This Hollywood tourist was soon led off to a detention cell on the Death Star. No word on his fate. This photo was taken on Dec. 23 in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater.

La Jolla Cove sea lions

The tide was coming in, but the young sea lions were not.

Hollywood landmark

Haven't taken a stroll down Hollywood Blvd. in years. At the corner of Highland, the old First National Bank Building was built in 1927 and until 1932, was the tallest building in town.

Restaurant sign in La Jolla

The mural outside this restaurant on Prospect Street

in La Jolla caught my eye. The restaurant website is here.

Seminary at Northwestern University

If I'm reading the map correctly, that's the Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary building near the lagoon on the NU Campus.

Lake Michigan is a dangerous body of water

That's what the sign at the left says, although on this day it looked pretty non-threatening.

Outdoor art at Northwestern

The letter N inscribed into a sculpture on the Evanston campus.

Evanston's stately old hotel

"Luxury doesn't get any better than this," or so says
the hotel's website. It's a North Shore landmark since 1923.

Thanksgiving in Chicago, hazy skyline

Caught this while on a walk along the lakefront in Evanston;
the Chicago skyline is visible through the haze.

Birds of Prey Monument

Near the entrance to the Beaver Creek Resort, this bird of prey honors downhill racers past and present. This year, the only World Cup event in the US will take place the first week in December at Golden Peak, in Vail, CO. More here.

Late afternoon in Calgary

From my downtown hotel, I'm looking northwest toward Bankers Hall.

Retired California Zephyr

This powerful engine rests at the Colorado Train Museum in Golden. It's last run was Sept. 1984.

Elk sighting at Steamboat

On a warm July evening, an elk near the window announces its presence.

Mid-morning in Billings

Built over the intersection of 2nd & Broadway in Montana's largest city, the tent-like Skypoint can move to provide sunshine or shade.