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My mother always used to tell me when I would travel that I should always stop to smell the roses.  I've always followed her advice and, I think her metaphor would also include stopping to photograph the truly unusual.  That's exactly what I did on one of my California visits when I spotted this car covered with.....

....computer keyboard keys!

It doesn't get much more unusual than this.  By the way, that's my friend Dave also stopping to observe and photograph.

Is that a Ninja?

You never know what you might find in Southern California!

Shopping - Sedona Style

Back in December, I posted photos from the beautiful red-rock country of Sedona Arizona.  I love the beauty of this part of our state but when I visit Sedona, I also like to stop at this wonderful shopping village among the Sycamore trees called Tlaquepaque.

This center dedicated to art was built to mirror a Mexican village and was named for one particular village, San Pedro Tlaquepaque located on the outskirts of Guadalajara in the Mexican state of Jalisco.

The name "Tlaquepaque" means "best of everything" in the Nahuatl Native language, the ancient language of the Aztecs.

I love just walking around this area even more than the unique shopping experience that it affords.  However, I do admit that browsing the gorgeous art works is also a pleasure I enjoy and sometimes I come away with a new treasure.

The shops at this place are all artisan inspired.  They sell every form of artistry you can think of from jewelry, to paintings, to sculptures, to fine rugs and so much more.

There are many places in the village where I can just sit down and watch the people come and go and listen to the birds singing in the tall trees that surround the place.

Sculptures and other art works are scattered around the place for all to enjoy.  

There is even a village chapel where holiday ceremonies take place and of course, the occasional wedding.

It's a beautiful place to visit even if you don't make a purchase, you will walk away with the feeling that you've visited a very special place.

The Beauty of Santa Fe

I want to feature the unique beauty of the city of Santa Fe New Mexico.  It's a city with a distinctive look that is unmatched anywhere else.  I start with a photo of the Inn at Loretto, a hotel built in perfect pueblo style.

You can look down any street and see that prominent adobe-style stucco everywhere you look.  You might even catch some perfect puffy clouds in the sky.  The city is very walkable so it's easy to take it all in.

This church has picked up the Santa Fe style and adopted beautifully.

In the spring you will find lilacs blooming and they look great against a lovely stucco background.



The Loretto Chapel has been in the city a very, very long time and has wonderfully rich history.

The buildings on Museum Hill carry on the true Santa Fe beauty.  This is a place you could spend all day.

The lobby of the Hotel St. Francis is befitting of its name. It gives one a reverent feeling.

Pasqual's Cafe serves the best Mexican food in the city.  Its popularity means reservations are recommended.  

The look of Santa Fe fits me perfectly.  I could move into any one of these buildings.

30 Years Apart

Back in the mid-80's I visited the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose California along with my parents.  We were on a little California road trip at the time.  I recently found some of the photos from that trip and since I visited this museum by myself back in 2014, I compared the photos and found that I had some similar photos.  I decided to do a little update and compare the look of the place some 30 years later.  Above is the scanned version of the older photo of the front of the museum.

Here is the front of the museum 30 years later.  I love the color combination here better than the colors in the older shot.

Here is one of the statues on the grounds back in the 80's.

And, here he is standing tall in that same spot in 2014.

This building was designed to look like the Temple of Amon in Karnak.

Here is what it looks like these days.  The only difference I see is that relief at the very top of the building.  Personally, I'm partial to the "Ankh".  

This is the door to the auditorium at the museum.  You can tell from that blue sky that this is the scanned photo from the mid 80's.

Here is an image of it from my 2014 visit.  

While most museums undergo progressive changes, I notice only minor changes between the 30 year old photos and the newer ones.  Like the truly ancient namesakes, they are standing the test of time.

Looking through these photos has made me want to go back for another visit.  It's and easy flight from here.  I might have to look into that.

If you want to see more photos from this fascinating place, take a look at my earlier posts here, here, and here.  

Besh Ba Gowah

Just outside of the city of Globe Arizona (approximately 90 miles east of Phoenix) there is an archeological site called Besh Ba Gowah Archeological Park.  It consists of the ruins of an ancient pueblo abandoned by its former occupants nearly six hundred years ago.  The name of the site was given by archeologist Irene Vickery and roughly translated means "place of metal."

The site has been partially restored so that it can provide a glimpse at the lifestyle of the people who occupied this region over two centuries before Columbus discovered the "New World."

At the peak of its occupancy, the pueblo contained 146 ground-floor rooms and 61 second-story rooms.

It appears to have been built in phases from around 1225 to 1400.

The walls are made of stone laid in adobe motor.  Most of the interior walls were plastered with adobe.  This area was first surveyed and mapped in 1883 as part of an archeological survey of the Southwest.  Archeologists began to excavate the area in the 1920's.

There is also evidence of even older residents of the area below the pueblo indicating that the site might have been inhabited as early as AD 750.

It is one of those hidden treasures in Arizona; places that are not famous and don't get a lot of attention.  I like to study the Arizona map section by section to find these interesting and somewhat obscure places.

Reminder of a Dark History

When I hear the name Casa Rosada I can't help but think of the Musical "Evita".  However, I recently watched the Netflix movie "The Two Popes" and part of the back story in that movie was about an even more turbulent time in Argentina.

In March of 1976, a military junta took over the government in a military coup.  It is believed that up to 30,000 people were killed or 'disappeared' by the military regime between 1976 and 1983.

Casa Rosada is the official home of the President and the government.  In front of Casa Rosada is Plaza de Mayo, the square where Mothers march every Thursday demanding justice for the "los desaparecidos" or the disappeared.  The women wear white bandanas many of them embroidered with the names of their missing loved ones.

Today the square is marked with tiles painted with the bandanas in the spot where mothers still march once a week over 40 years later.

Villa Cipressi....in the Rain

Back in May when I had arrived in the town of Varenna on Lake Como, the first two days there were rainy and chilly.  But, that didn't stop our group from touring the sights.  One of those sights was Villa Cipressi with its terraced garden.  The villa itself was not open because of the weather so, we toured the gardens, umbrellas in hand.

The beauty of the garden was a bit muted in this dull weather but, it was worth the effort to see it anyway.

The views from the terrace at lake level were beautiful, even with the low clouds hugging the mountains.



The gardens are beautifully terraced on the hillside and dotted with grand staircases and wonderful statues.

Even in the rain, it is easy to see that this garden is a beautiful place to stroll and enjoy the views.

There I am finding a dry spot to take it all in.

Later that day, our little group headed out for dinner, each of us holding an umbrella to stay dry.  We thought it made an amusing scene so Dave posed us by the lake and took the shot.

When you are traveling, sometimes you have to deal with inclement weather and still enjoy the experience.