2014 Daily Photos

Daily Post 1172 - 169/365 6/29/2014 -

Daily Post 1172 - 169/365 6/29/2014 - Alphabet Challenge - X This was a colorful mural that I saw while walking in NYC a couple of months ago..I knew I would need the X one day so here it is. Loved the bold black against the colors! Well, I've been MIA for about 9 days I see. Last post was 6/20…I don't know what happened to me, but I just got out of the loop..oh well, no time like the present to get back on track. I have lots of photos from our Baltic Trip to work on, another Mavericks concert with many images to edit and some from a family portrait session. X marks the spot of my beginning to get back on track! I hope you have all been staying out of trouble while I was 'off' line…

Daily Post 1171 - 168/365 6/20/2014

Daily Post 1171 - 168/365 6/20/2014 Dill…A wonderful herb that I am determined to use more. Loved the freshness we tasted in so many dishes we tasted while in Latvia. Also notice the price.. that .50 Euro cost is about 75cents USD… I wonder how much a bunch of that size costs in our markets…I'll be checking that out soon. Thank you for the comments on yesterday's photo of the window display! Fun to see things from your eyes that I didn't see myself. God's Child commented on the light fixtures and I hadn't even noticed how charming they were! Thank you!

Daily Post 1170 - 167/365 6/19/2014 -Riga, Latvia..another window.

Daily Post 1170 - 167/365 6/19/2014 -Riga, Latvia..another window. Well, I missed posting yesterday. I finally 'hit a wall'…I was exhausted when I got home after work..fell asleep in a chair from 6:30 until 9, got up for some cereal was back in bed by 10 and slept through the night.. I was so tired I hurt. Now I feel more like myself. Anyway, here is another Riga shop window. I found the window displays so very pretty and cheerful. It was quite interesting to see how popular it is for women to wear dresses and long skirts..much more than what I see here. And again, while I was expecting to see lots of blacks and somber neutrals in the clothing it was anything but!!! Travel is so wonderful.. great to see the world with your own eyes to really know what is going on. Thank you so much for your comments on the last post! Yes, that American flag T-shirt was a huge surprise. Would never have been seen while under Russian occupation.

Daily Post 1169 - 166/365 6/17/2014 -Riga, Latvia… a window display that surprised me! We traveled to Eastern Europe in 1987 before the end of Russian domination and saw cities that were really quite drab and without any commercialism or color.. I remember dusty old gray window displays. This sight on the first afternoon in Riga, Latvia surprised me quite a lot….for many reasons. This would never have been displayed in those days!!! Posting early having posted yesterday's daily quite late.. I must get to work, but know I can't keep up the late hours I've had so thought I would get this out now! Have a wonderful day and thank you again for all your comments and sharing these experiences with us! Your many comments really enhanced our travel experience! ~ Hillary

Daily Post 1168 - 165/365 6/16/2014 - Isn't this the cutest little guy? We met him and his dad on the first afternoon we were in Riga. I do have Dad's email address and will send him a few shots. Loved this on in B/W.. Yes, you can expect that much like what I did with Cuba will now happen as I start to work through the cough, cough..many photos from our Baltic States trip. Oh, we will see The Mavericks on Sunday so there will probably be some performance shots coming up soon, too… at least I hope so! It's late so must head to sleep.. almost forgot to post tonight. Hard to get back into the work and real life routine! Thank you all for your kind comments while we were on our trip. It was fun to share with you!

Daily Post 1167 - 164/365 6/14/2014 - Aeroflot Airline Flight Attendant. The women who wore these orange uniforms looked crisp and stunning throughout the 10. hour flight. I snuck a quick iPhone shot as we slowly were herded to our seats yesterday. Very long day yesterday, but home safely. Too tired to post this last night.

Daily Post 1166 - 163/365 6/13/2014 - Pärnu, Estonia. Just a pretty snap of what I saw. Loved the color tones. Up early again tomorrow and flying yo Moscow, then New York. Thanks for following along to share out holiday!

Daily Post 1165 - 162/365 6/12/2014 - The Yarn Store Loved the colors! Makes me want to knit !! It's late, so off to sleep. We leave early to drive back to Riga, Latvia in the morning. Saturday we start the trip home!

Daily Post 1164 - 161/365 6/11/2014 - Local gentle reminders. We have seen a number of these types of sugns around town to gently remind people of respects and courtesy to their fellow citizens. I thought they worthy of mentioning and sharing an example. Thank you for your kind comments. We've appreciated that many have shared this trip with us. Only 2 more nights till we start the long journey home.

Daily Post 1163- 160/365 6/10/2014 - Yarn isn't just for sweaters any more. Loved the way this shop decorated their bike and the railing it was attached to. Quite fun, don't you agree? Made me want to take up knitting again...for about 3 minutes! This was taken in Pärnu, Estonia. We are quite enchanted by this lovely town. We actually decided to stay here a total of 4 nights. It is full of the most amazing parks, cute shops and restaurants and situated on a gorgeous beach. The tourists are mostly from Finland and Germany here. Not much English spoken at all. People are quite surprised to hear we are from the US because it is so far away. Even more surprised we are here on our own and not on a tour. That made us feel pretty proud! Thank you for your comments on yesterday's hot dog photo. I thought you might enjoy seeing those.

Daily Post 1162- 159/365 6/9/2014 - Hot Diggity Dog! Lunch at the beach front in Pärnu, Estonia. We had observed many people eating hot dogs like this over our travels here. Today we had our chance to try them! Tasty and easy to eat all wrapped up in their little bun! We are loving this new town. Beautiful beach side community. Population of 44,000 and the main summer beach destination for Estonia! Most guests here other than Estonians are people from Finland. We lucked out finding a very nice hotel right on the beach and reasonably priced. Of course eating at seaside kiosks or mall restaurants also helps the travel budget!

Daily Post 1161- 158/365 6/8/2014 - Fooled us! From a distance you know what we were thinking! Always read the small print! This was in the Old Town Square of Talinn, Estonia. Very, very pretty, but huge and way too many tourists for us after all the small towns we've been visiting. We are cutting our time here and off to explore new places instead tomorrow! Thanks for the nice comments on Steve's jumping shot yesterday. he is having a good time as am I!!! PS-I just realized its Sunday. I'll have to catch up on the alphabet challenge when I get home.

Daily Post 1160- 157/365 6/7/2014 - Have I ever mentioned how much my husband enjoys foreign travel? This is a particularly fun, fascinating and exciting trip. Photo taken in Kalaste, Estonia. We had a fascinating time taking a day trip to Kalaste, Estonia. The population in the town is 90% Russian and it is home a sect of religious conservatives called The Old Believers. They practice a strict form of Russian Orthodoxy. Their group escaped Russian persecution in the late 17th century by fleeing to Eastern Estonia and settling along the shores if Lake Peipsi.

Daily Post 1159- 156/365 6/6/2014 we met this very interesting fellow from Bremen, Germany today. Fascinating conversation with him about the effect of Monsanto killing birds around the world with the awful chemicals injected into seeds and plants. He is an ornithologist. Studies bird populations all around the world. Thank you to Jeanne (BrickRoadPhoto) for the following regarding the wall mural I posted yesterday. We had no info on it and she recognized it! Thank you Jeanne! A wonderful find! I have seen this in Street Art News! The artist is MTO and the painting is entitled "MsReet". As quoted in Street Art News "Although we normally identify murals with hometown heroes, culture and beautiful art they've also been known to send a message. In Tartu, Estonia muralist MTO has painted this piece entitled "Ms Reet". Here is a quote from the artist: "Ms Reet owns this tiny trinket store for 16 years and Tartu's investor would like to move her out of the location to construct new supermarkets .... -- MTO" An amazing work of art that let's everyone know we aren't going down without a fight.

Daily Post 1158- 155/365 6/5/2014 - This was a powerful mural we passed today here in Tartu, Estonia. I have no knowledge of the background story, but somehow it conveys to me a message of the repression felt by Estonians when bound by the ties of Soviet rule. This is a fascinating part of the world and we are learning so much through our travels here. Thank you all for your wonderful comments. It is very gratifying to share our travels this way and get such nice responses.

Daily Post 1157- 154/365 6/4/2014 - we drove from 11am this morning from Vilnius, Lithuania until about 9:30 this evening to Voru, Estonia. This is a quick shot with my iPhone of a typical local wood house we have seen so far. It's quite exciting to be here! So much is so different from our everyday life.

Daily Post 1156 - 153/365 6/3/2014 - Another example of gorgeous church architecture in Vilnius, Lithuania. Sorry, but I don't know the name and history on this one. Almost 1:30 in the morning so that's it for tonight! Thank you for your lovely comments on sharing our trip through photos! iPhone 5s Photo

Daily Post 1155 - 152/365 6/2/2014 - St. Anne and Bernadine Church ensemble. At. Anne's Church was built at the turn of the 15th-16th c. and is one of the most fascinating and prominent Gothic buildings in Lithuania. This church was built from 33 types of simple Clay bricks. Bernadine Church was built at the end of the 15th c. and is one of the largest sacred Gothic buildings in the country. (Above description from our little tourist map) It is very rainy this evening. We got caught in a little period of showers, but fortunate to get back before we really got soaked. Vilna is an elegant preservation of buildings dating back to the 15th century. We only got here late afternoon, but so far every turn of a street corner opens a view to new architectural magnificence.

Daily Post 1154- 151/365 6/1/2014 Alphabet challenge. "T" Taken in the middle of Latvia. Almost forgot it was Sunday and Challenge time! Have a good week. Not sure I can post again too soon..,

Daily Post 1184- 150/365 5/31/2014 - Riga, Latvia (edited on the iPad with Snapseed) Men playing timed chess matches in the park. So intense! I wanted to take more photos than I did, but I didn't want to disturb anyone's concentration. Tomorrow we head south toward Lithuania. The driving from city to city, though not terribly far, is very slow and tedious...my husband is quite a trooper driving though. Very tough without the language. Not many people speak much English. Thank you for your comments and good wishes for safety with our trip! Every comment appreciated. Not sure if I will continue to have Internet. I'll post when I can! Could be twice in one day, like today will be!

Daily Post 1183- 149/365 5/30/2014 - a beautiful plaza in Riga, Latvia Just wanted to check in and let you know we arrived safely. In eventful 10 hour flight from JFK airport to Moscow, then short layover and flight to Riga. We napped 5 hours then hit the streets for hours. All good. I hope I'll have interesting photos to share when we return home. Just after midnight here, so off to sleep now! Not sure when I'll next post a daily, but will if I can! Thank you for so many good wishes to us for this trip. All 4 of my grandparents emigrated from Latvia (3 from Riga) in the very early 1900s to escape the Czarist Russia and conscription into the army which was certainly a death sentence in those days. I'm surprised at the intensity of emotion I felt today walking these streets. So glad we are able to make this trip.

Daily Post 1182- 148/365 5/28/2014 - As of tomorrow…. "Gone Fishing".. That's what my dad used to post on his store's door when we went out of town. We will be away for over 2 weeks, but I'm very proud that I have posted every day without a miss so far this year..almost 6 months. Not sure of our Internet access. We will be in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia..so I will post if and when I can! Thank you all for your consistent and kind comments.. Enjoy your next few weeks.. Until then!

>Daily Post 1181- 147/365 5/27/2014 - The Mavericks….the end of a great performance! This was taken at the end of their show at The Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA 5/16/14 I have edited just about all that I can from that show. The lighting was beyond challenging, but the band was wonderful. We love their concerts and I am very honored that they welcome me to photograph them at the shows.. I look forward to our next show June 22nd in Morristown, NJ..I know the light is better there so be prepared..there will be more!!! Thank you for all your wonderfullly kind comments! I read and appreciate every post written! Thank you!