French battlefields

Verdun (1916 February 21 to 1916 December 18) was the largest battle between the French and Germans in WWI: about 350,000 casualties on each side. Several small villages around Verdun were completely obliterated by shelling, including Fleury, shown here. My picture shows the post-war chapel in the center, and ground on the left and right with the telltale wavy shape of ground that’s been obliterated by shelling.

To alleviate German pressure on Verdun, the British attacked in the Somme Valley from 1916 July 1 to 1916 November 18. The carnage was even worse than Verdun: about 420K British casualties, 200K French, and 465K German, with 60K British casualties on just July 1. My picture shows a British trench at Newfoundland Memorial Park, where Newfoundlanders suffered 90% casualties trying to cross no man’s land on July 1.

Allied forces landed in Normandy on 1944 June 6 to begin the liberation of Nazi-occupied France. American, British, and Canadian forces landed on five beaches, with the Americans landing at Omaha and Utah beaches. This picture is Omaha Beach.

Utah Beach.

View from a German bunker at Pointe Du Hoc, between Omaha and Utah beaches.

Brussels

The town hall in Brussels' central square. Construction started in 1402 and the tower was added in 1455. The town hall was a main target when Louis XIV bombarded Brussels in 1695 -- the interior was gutted by the resulting fire but the exterior survived.

The building exterior has hundreds of sculptures, which date from the 1840's onward. The arch over the town hall entrance shows the archangel Michael, the patron saint of Brussels, killing a devil.

Amsterdam

The Koninklijk Paleis (Royal Palace) was built in 1648-1655 as Amsterdam's town hall. King Louis I of Holland, Napoleon's brother, adopted it as the palace in 1806. The palace is on Dam Square, the site of the original Amstel River dam that Amsterdam is named for.

The Oude Kerk (Old Church) is from 1306. Holland and the Oude Kerk switched from Catholic to Calvinist in 1578. The floor is made up of metal burial slabs, some decorative like this one.

The Oude Kerk's stained glass window celebrating the Treaty of Munster, from 1655.

The medieval center of Amsterdam, including the Koninklijk Paleis and the Oude Kerk, is surrounded by a ring of three canals, dug during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century.

Canal houses were taxed by the width of the house, so they are narrow, tall, and deep. Eyewitness Travel says of this house that Russian tsar Peter the Great "...sailed up Keizergracht to No. 317, the home of his friend Christoffel Brants. Legend says the tsar got drunk and kept the mayor waiting while at a civic reception."

Pittsburgh

Madison

Yosemite

Yosemite Falls and a closer shot of Lower Yosemite Falls.

Half Dome.

Pinnacles National Monument

These shots were taken from the High Peaks Trail.

Mission Santa Clara

The Mission Santa Clara is another Spanish mission established by Junipero Serra. The mission was founded in 1777 but the current building was built in 1928.

The Yucatan peninsula

The Castillo at Tulum, a Maya trading center on the Caribbean coast. Tulum was occupied around 1200 A.D. and was still inhabited when the Spanish arrived in 1518, but was abandoned by 1600.

The Castillo and Caracol at Chichen Itza. The Caracol was a "proto-observatory" with lines of sight to astronomical events. Chichen Itza was founded between 750-800 A.D. and dominated the Yucatan from about 850-1100 A.D.

Montejo's House on Merida's town square, 1540 A.D. The facade depicts the Spanish conquering the Maya, who are in "pain or terror." The Montejos conquered the western Yucatan in 1542, and founded Merida and Campeche.

The Governer's Palace in Uxmal is "the finest example of Puuc architecture" (9th-10th centuries). From there you can also see the top of the Magician's Pyramid (35 meters high, 6th-10th centuries) above the tree tops.

The Building of the Five Levels at Edzna. Edzna was inhabited in 400 B.C. and abandoned around 1500 A.D., and is famous for its canal system, used for irrigation, drainage, and defense.

The draw bridge in the Spanish fort of San Miguel (1771 A.D.) in Campeche, which overlooks the Gulf of Mexico.

New York

Federal Hall was the first U.S. capitol building and George Washington was inaugurated there in 1789. But, the current building is a customs house built in 1842. The site is near the stock exchange.

Alexander Hamilton's grave is in Trinity Church's churchyard, also near the stock exchange.

U.S. Grant's tomb is near Columbia University.

The Registry Room on Ellis Island, where immigrants were processed from 1900 to 1924.

The Dakota apartment building, John Lennon's home.

Cairo

The Mosque of Muhammad Ali (1830-48 AD) dominates the Cairo Citadel (1176-83 AD). Saladin built the Citadel to protect Cairo from the Crusaders and it was Egypt's seat of government for 700 years.

The Madrasa (school) of Sultan Hassan (1356-63 AD) is next to the Citadel. It was built using confiscated estates of victims of the Black Death.

Top: The al-Ghuri Complex (1505 AD) includes twin buildings on each side of al-Mu'iz Li-din Allah Street, the avenue through Cairo's medieval walled area and the Khan al-Khalili market. Bottom: The mosque in the al-Ghuri Complex.

The al-Azhar Mosque (970 AD).

Upper Egypt

Luxor Temple (1400 BC) in Luxor was dedicated to the Theban triad of gods, Amun, Mut, and Chons.

The mortuary temple of Hatshepsut (1498-83 BC) is on the Nile's west bank, across from Luxor. Hatshepsut ruled during the New Kingdom but built her temple next to the much earlier mortuary temple of Middle Kingdom founder Mentuhotep II.

The mortuary temple of Ramses II, the Ramesseum (13th century BC), is also on the west bank.

A relief in the Temple of Seti I (ruled 1294-79 BC) in Abydos, 135 kilometers north of Luxor. Abydos was the cult center of the god of the dead Osiris, but the temple has shrines for seven gods. The temple is famous for the Abydos King List, which gives the cartouches for the pharaohs through Seti, and is a "Rosetta stone" of Egyptian history.

The sanctuary of the Temple of Edfu (237-57 BC), which was dedicated to the falcon god Horus. Edfu is 115 kilometers south of Luxor.

The santuary of the Temple of Philae, which was dedicated to Isis, the goddess of life, magic, and motherhood. The temple is near Aswan, 180 kilometers south of Luxor.