Seasonal Paradise

Cyprus Vicki and Irena

Malta Speed Boat Racing

 

Canyon Hiking in Crete

Imbros Canyon with Justin.

Delphi

Touring Delphi in Greece was a real treat. It was the heart of Greek politics and culture 2500 years ago. The inspiration for the Olympic games was born in these hills. The Pythian Games. And the most important Oracle was based here in the remains of this temple in our pic below. It was a gloriously spectacular site back then with statues, temples, a theater and stadium.

Desserts at La Pergola

Wafer thin mints?

St Pauls Cathedral In Rome

St Peters Cathedral

Valentines visit to St Peters and The Vatican.

Malta Skyline

After an afternoon coffee at Cioconat, this bridge at Tigne Point has great views.

Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain is a must-see in Rome. Perfect for a bottle of champagne just before lunch. (we didn't do that this time, but will, next time).  

Wake Up! We're Going To Rome

At 7:10am Irena woke me up. "Get your clothes on, the taxi is here,
we're going...but I'm not telling you where." I jumped in the taxi 10
minutes later. It wasn't until we got to the airport that I realized
we were going off-island. To Rome. A little birthday trip.

The first stop was the amazing Colosseum. Did you know, 700k people
died there in 450 years. No wonder 2/3 of the outer walls were
removed to build St Peters. This was hardly a place to be
particularly celebrated by the Catholic church in the 1500's. Far
better to hack some of it away for a better cause. Still, its an
amazing site.

1885 Years Old And Intact - Rome's Panthenon

Simply the most magnificent building we've ever laid our eyes on.  We dined in the Panthenon square at dusk and enjoyed good food, a nice bottle of red wine, and the best service we've ever had.  We'll be back one day.  

 

Paris Tour Guide @ The Louvre

This characterful tour guide was just a hoot.  What a great character.

 

Paris iDate, View from Concorde Hotel

It was a dream to go to Paris with Irena, and see Notre Dame, and the
Eiffel Tower and take a tour of The Louvre. We went to the top of the
Concorde Hotel, the venue for iDate Paris, and the IDEA mixer, and met
with some friends after the conference. The view is the best in
Paris.

Stockholm Boat For Sale

In early August I paid OculusAI a visit in Stockholm. I took a rainy walk around Stockholm, and discovered a lineup of old classic boats, many of which were 80-100 years old. Some were for sale. The little sign on this poor little boat indicated it was for sale. I think we could afford this one. What do you think Irena?

Kon-Tiki Museum

I remember reading and being inspired by the Kon-Tiki story, as a kid. So it was a real thrill to visit the Kon-Tiki museum in Oslo in early August. In 1947, Thor Heyerdahl and his international crew set off from Peru, and landed in the Polynesian Islands 101 days and 4300 miles later. Thor wanted to prove that Polynesia was settled by South Americans using simple balsa-log boats.

Our New Apartment in Malta

We found a wonderful place on the water in Sliema.

Human Art At Mdina

 

In Mdina

Irena is NOT pregnant, btw. :-) 

 

Joachim and Sabina in Mdina

Our friends Joachim and Sabina in the wonderful city of Mdina.  

 

Seaplane Take-Off From Vancouver

We visited Markus and Annie in Vancouver for the day.

  

Peacock At Beacon Hill Park

 

Clearwater Beach

Irena, Sabina and sister Monika

Sent from my iPhone

The Burj Birdmen

The best way to get perspective of how tall the incredible Burj Khalifa is, to jump off it. Fast forward to 4:15 for the jump.

My father lived in Abu Dhabi for 25+ years.  We considered moving to Dubai, but decided against it when we learned that many internet dating sites are blocked there.  That's not cool.  Its certainly not good for business.  We'll take a vacation there some time, and visit the Burj.  Our favorite tall building is still the Jinmao Tower. Our stay on the 76th floor in 2007 was just breathtaking.

Mi Familia At Charles Bridge, Prague

Lifelines: The things you own end up owning you

Blind people have more sensitive hearing. 

When you close your eyes and drink wine, you can taste more. 

It would seem that our senses attenuate each other.

How about our sensitivity in relationships?  I had a moment of realization a few weeks back.  I realised that the feeling of owning goods attenuated my sense of relationship, to some small extent.  I've known for a while that I feel better, owning less.  But now that we're in Prague for a couple of months, with the bare minimum of 'stuff,'  I think Irena and I are ever so slightly more sensitive to each other because we're not bothered about 'stuff.'   We're renting a very nice two bedroom furnished apartment, with a great view of the Autumn woods, just a few minutes tram ride from beautiful Prague.  We have our laptops, two suitcases of clothes, and that's it.  IT FEELS GREAT!  All we have to care about, is each other. 

Here's the view from our window, showing the first snowfall of the season.  It was just cold enough for snow, but not cold enough to settle at all.

Studies on happiness around the world agree that the people in countries like Nigeria, El Salvador and Colombia are happier than people in the USA and UK.  Why?  I'd surmise, partly because they don't have so much 'stuff'' and they focus more on their family and community.  They can generally rely less on their governments and personal financial wealth to support them, so they focus more on the family, partly as a matter of survival.  Their very existences depend on having a close support network in many cases and as a (very significant) side benefit of them spending more time with family and friends, and less time pawing over their stuff, they're happier. 

Just a thought. - Mark :-)

Mirrored Lake At Kildermorie In Scotland

Fishing In Scotland

Married In Prague

The End of Our Pre-Honeymoon

We went to Venice as our 'pre-honeymoon' before going to Prague to get married. Here we're in the water taxi, headed back to the Venice airport just after dawn.

Venice Water Taxi

On A Venice Water Bus

Sasha's First Gondola Ride

Venice Gondolas

Ferraris in Prague

This was taken the day Obama was in Prague. Ferraris in Prague, on cobblestones, doesn't quite compute.

Czech Calligraphy

What on earth does this say? I had to stop to check it out....and relax by the rivers edge for a whlie. The Vltava was a mirror at 7am.