Friday, July 26, 2013
Friday, July 20, 2012
Korea 2012
Yi-Kyong and I stayed several weeks in Jeju-do and Seoul in May and June of 2012. Here are some pictures from Seoul.
Paris
In March of 2012 Yi-Kyong and I flew to Paris and stayed there for a few days. Here are some pictures.
Unknown buildings in Paris
Trees in the Jardin des Plantes, a botanical garden
Another view of the Jardin des Plantes
The Seine
Locks on a bridge
Another building in Paris
The Eiffel Tower
Pyramid at the Louvre
A picture inside the Louvre
Another view of the Louvre
I think this is an entrance to the Louvre
A view from our hotel balcony
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Business as usual
"When an opposition gets into office and the king trusts him with the exercise of his power, the farce is at an end, and after a few awkward apologies, and a few ineffectual votes with old connections by way of consistency, the business of government is expected to be taken up and carried on in the usual way ..."
(from
http://www.infobritain.co.uk/Gordon_Brown.htm)
This was said by William Knox in 1789 but it applies to present-day British prime ministers and describes the Obama presidency to a T. What difference is there between George W. Bush and Barack Obama other than their rhetoric?
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Edinburgh Castle
Yi-Kyong and I visited Edinburgh Castle today, which sits on top of volcanic rock near the center of the city. The camera magically fixed itself, so we took some photographs of the castle and other things in the city.
An old building in the castle.
A view of the city from the castle. In the lower left is the castle's dog cemetery.
A human being posing as a statue near the castle entrance.
A rainbow over the Firth of Forth seen from our room window.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Scotland
Alas, since we don't have a home yet, it's difficult to appreciate Edinburgh. We've been to several neighborhoods, looking at various "flats," but I've still seen only a fraction of the city. Also, I broke our camera while packing it, so this will be a text-only blog for a while.
My impression at this point is that Edinburgh is a city of stone, with few exceptions. Most of the buildings have blackish stains on them - I guess from smoke or engine exhaust or both. The castle and crags seem to dominate the city, although we've visited neither.
There are people from many countries here; we've heard people speak French, Spanish, German, and Chinese, to name a few. Come to think of it, they could all be Scotish, but I think that's unlikely. On the other hand, there is a huge number of visitors here for the annual August festival, so this may be unusual. I'm curious to see what the city will be like when it's over.
There's a nautical feel to the place too, especially since the seagulls are very noisy around our room, and we have a view of the sea - I think it's called the Firth of Forth. I'm still not sure what's what here. There is plenty more to learn and see and do. I'll try to post more here in the coming days.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Mt. Halla and Beyond
We started climbing Mt. Halla at about 6:45 am today. We got to the top 4-5 hours later and didn't reach the bottom until around 5:00 pm. The way up was easy enough, but we took a different path on the way down and it was very painful. Still, there were spectacular views on the way down. Yi-Kyong, her sister, my brother-in-law and myself made the climb.
The crater at the summit of Mt. Halla
The way down 1 (Jeju City is in the background)
The way down 2
The way down 3
The way down 4