tumon bay guam draft

day 1.. view from hotel room balcony.. the hotel casts its long shadow in the morning providing shade to early swimmers in the waters of the philippine sea

view from the room balcony on the other side.. shops and restaurants on pale san vitores road

taking a walk on the on pale san vitores road.. heavy clouds hang over tumon bay

the hotel.. a shopping center beside the hotel called the plaza

the bus stop beside the duty free shop building.. getting ready to get on board the shuttle going to two lovers point

inside the shuttle

entrance to the two lovers point.. which is a famous tourist destination in tumon bay.. according to a chamorro or local legend it is the place where two lovers jumped to their deaths to be together in eternity if not in physical life

looking down at sharp rocks hundreds of feet below

a tourist taking a picture of the rocks directly below her

a japanese couple taking turns taking pictures of each other

the platform of the famous tourist spot

back in the hotel room.. hotels along the beach.. from left hotel nikko.. westin hotel.. guam reef hotel

torches provide the tiki atmosphere near the pool area of the hotel

day 2.. warning sign

while waiting for lunch a lizard jumped to a nearby branch allowing itself to be photographed

a local fare being served at the hotel owned restaurant by the beach.. includes red rice made red by achote seeds.. grilled chicken.. grilled fish.. shrimp cake.. chicken kelaguen.. cucumber.. and a container of sauce called finadene.. except for the chicken i find all the items on the plate similar to filipino cooking

watching fiery sunset before the dinner

barcelona, spain draft

the highway from the french riviera leading to barcelona spain traverses provencal region of france.. where many fields of lavender herbs olives and vineyards are found

plaza catalunya.. this plaza is a short walk to the hotel.. by this time our suitcase count had doubled because of some items bought along the way.. and the hotel porter service refused to bring the suitcases in excess to our headcount to our rooms.. so we had to drag them up ourselves

drinking fountain

an early morning shot of the pedestrian area in the middle of ramblas street.. it is usually a busy place for tourists

dont even attempt doing it

sagrada familia.. the construction of this catholic church started in 1880s.. it is still under construction.. it is expected to be completed in 2040

a corridor in guell park

a beach on olympic port.. not very far from here is the olympic village which hosted the athletes during the 1992 summer olympics

montserrat monastery

this monastery up in the mountain town outside barcelona looks unreal.. until you see it with your own eyes

back in ramblas street in barcelona.. a jamon store at the saint joseph public market.. this market is similar to any public wet market in manila.. but some notches more tutyal

a building designed by gaudi.. gaudi is an barcelona architect whose design concept is original and only his own

a fountain in plaza catalunya

nice, france draft

the afternoon drive from pisa italy to the french riviera.. the coach had to go in and out of the highway tunnels many times making it difficult to the eyes of the driver.. french riviera or cote d'azur to the french is made up of several cities or towns.. the popular ones are saint tropez.. cannes for the film festival.. antibes.. monaco where monte carlo is.. nice.. we stayed in nice.. it is named after nike the greek goddess of victory whose statue stands somewhere in the seafront

the 20minute drive from nice to monaco.. the road provides a panorama of french rivieras most beautiful bay

yachts

the royal palace of monaco.. the residence of the grimaldis

and more yachts.. the place is just extravagantly extravagant

a monaco plate

back in nice.. girls on their way home after a day at the beach

a shop along selling everything olive

the beach that stretches 6 and a half km.. on a very hot summer day the beach is full of people.. you have to tiptoe your way from the boardwalk to the waters of mediterranean sea

parang roxas boulevard

a famous nice landmark.. hotel negresco

french restaurant menu board

up next barcelona spain

florence, italy draft

the il ponte vecchio.. a medieval bridge over arno river.. the dome on the right side is the top of santa maria del fiore

a street performer doing some acoustic numbers for some loose change

statue of perseus

the door on the left is the entrance to the uffizi gallery.. it houses artworks of many masters.. like michelangelo.. davinci.. its current exhibition are paintings of caravaggio.. we attempted to see all the artwork but they are so many it is impossible to finish it within our selfimposed 2hour limit

photography is not allowed inside the museum.. heres one of few ive taken

a drinking fountain near the exit of uffizi

graffitis.. billboards.. and a couple near the exit of uffizi gallery

dinner at il latini.. hams dry curing

hams.. or prosciutto and bottles of red wine

prosciutto.. must be paired with melon.. or wrapped around it

florentinian steak.. to quote ushers song oh my oh my omg

thats quite a dinner at il latini.. the food served was excessively excessive.. i lost count how many appetizers were served before the main course.. by the time the florentine steak was presented we were nearly full

girls out for some fresh air..

.. or for some smoke

an afternoon drive in tuscany region.. i imagine someone in the kitchen of the house cooking pasta or seafood meal.. reaching in the cupboards stocked with olive oil.. wine.. herbs

in tuscan town of san gemignano.. according to our guide this town became wealthy in the middle ages because pilgrims from spain france and england passed through its hills on their way to rome and traded with the locals.. the well in the middle of the triangular square in the picture used to be a cistern.. in the old times when there were no internal plumbing in the buildings.. rainwater flowed down the pipes and collected to the ground below.. to be scooped out from the well

the church.. old locals or retirees hang out in the streets just to sit and watch the people go by

tuscan landscape

so many chairs under the shade.. the lady chose to sit on the one exposed to the sun.. thats olive tree on the foreground

deli store display

back in florence.. a lady singing an aria to passers by for some money.. no mic and speaker used but her voice filled the square

the rape of sabine women

statue of david

the tower of the palace of the medici family of the 1500s.. the second in the series of crests near the top is fleur de lis.. it is symbol of florence.. florence once used to be the most populous city in all of europe until the black plague wiped half of the population

female nude models where scarce during the old times

dusk in the banks of arno river

the moon hung over florence and tuscan landscape

exterior of uffizi gallery

pisa italy:

the leaning tower of pisa was intended to be upright when it was built.. of course.. but it began leaning immediately after completion due to bad foundation.. fortunately for pisans it became a tourist attraction

some work was done about 10years ago to correct it.. but not completely.. or else it would loose its touristic appeal.. the leaning tower leans 4mm further every year

an early afternoon espresso despite the warm weather

next.. nice france