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Public Art in Prague
While I search for the artist information for this sculpture, I’ll post it here in hopes someone can help identify it. This was photographed in Prague in November, 2013. A nearby gallery may have been exhibiting work by the same artist. This embarrassing lack of detail is a great reminder to myself to take better…
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Library Visit Aborted: Not Seeing the Biblioteca Nacional de España
On our last full day in Madrid this past December, I headed to the Biblioteca Nacional de España (the National Library of Spain). My plan was to sit down with a book of poetry or a random selection from the shelves, to wander and get a sense of the place, to take a couple photos,…
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Welcome Grass Mats and Futons: Ryokan Stays in Japan
Nagano was our second stop out of Tokyo, and our first experience staying in a ryokan guest house. We found Chuokan Shimizuya Ryokan on Booking.com. With grass mats and sparse furnishings, it seemed huge in comparison to our city hotels. We took advantage of the baths, relaxed with tea in our room, used the window…
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Lean On Me
Driving through the fields behind Grand Lake, near Rockville and Cold Spring, Minnesota, we stumbled on this hamlet of twig houses. You can walk through and amongst them. “Lean on Me” houses woven of willow and ironwood, in the arboretum of St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN.
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Take a Walk in Yeats Country
We returned to Sligo, the town and the county, to recall the poetry of W.B. Yeats, to walk the area, and to take photos. By good luck and some poking around, we ended up having dinner with a local couple, Damien and Paula, who regularly host Yeats Evenings of fine food, great conversation, and the…