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: Our first day in Tokyo, we visited a cat cafe. I think Wade really missed Jade & Grem. A less floofy resident of the cafe
: Pingxi, Taiwan - Wade decorating our “sky lantern” The finished drawing Preparing to launch Up it goes!
: Taipei 101 - the tallest building in the world …for a few years, until the Burj Khalifa was completed. The view from the top The tuned mass damper …
: We went to a six-story-high electronics market in Taipei, with all kinds of gadgets. Wade looked at various drawing tablets, including at this Wacom …
: There are a lot of motorcycles here. Everywhere we’ve been since leaving Europe, actually. At a random market stall near the Chatuchak Market. I have …
: We stopped by the last couple hours of an Engineering Expo at the (very new) Bangkok convention center. Open to the public, and free, you just had to …
: We were just walking along in this public park, in Bangkok, when we saw this ~3-4 ft long Water Monitor Lizard wandering past. Aaaand then we saw this …
: Bangkok, Thailand - Wade and I both really enjoy the aesthetic of tumbledown building along the river side.
: That’s all the photos I’m gonna post of India because I’m mad at it. 😂
: At the Taj Mahal, on Wade’s 17th birthday. The craziest, most impressive thing about the Taj is the intricate inlay work in the marble … which we …
: Agrasen Ki Baoli, in Delhi - a stepwell built in the 10th century to provide people with access to water during dry periods
: youtube.com/shorts/H-… The finale to our safari was coming across this herd of 40+ elephants, of all ages, by and later in the Tara river, in …
: An African Wolf, according to the Internet; a Golden Jackal according to our guide. A Black-Backed Jackal Thompson’s Gazelle. These guys are …
: Cape Buffalo We saw a couple of hyenas, but I didn’t get any pictures. I did get this one, though, of a hyena’s footprint, left overnight, right …
: Cheetah! A shrike. They apparently make a habit of impaling prey on plant spikes, both as food storage and to impress mates. (Look it up!) Rock Agama. …
: A mature male lion, taking a break from his mating duties (his lady was chilling nearby). Many hippos. Generally, our guide told us, they spend all …
: Pumba Camo Donkeys Kori Bustsrd Ground Hornbill. What a dinosaur-looking bird.
: Vervet Monkey Impala Bizarre long-necked megafauna Topi
: Hippos! Egyptian Goose with goslings Mongoose (No relation) Hyrax. Jus a lil’ guy.
: After a couple of days of rest, we started our safari in Serengeti. One of the first animals we saw was one of the ones Wade was most looking forward …
: With our eight-man team, on the way back down. These guys are amazing.
: We made it! It was, overall, just as hard as I remembered from 30 years ago, when I climbed it with my dad; there’s only 50% as much oxygen as at sea …
: The first 6+ hours of the final ascent are done in darkness, setting out from Kibo a bit before midnight, so I don’t have any photos of that (very, …
: Day 4 took us up into alpine desert Wade loves the sea of clouds below us most of the time, up here Kibo Hut. We’re at about 15,480 ft. Rest here for …
: Day 3, for us, is a planned acclimatization day; we did a short hike up to the “saddle”, then came back to Horombo Hut, and will sleep here again …
: Day two of our climb The day started in rainforest, but quickly rose above the tree line, and eventually up into semi-desert scrub land The lower peak …
: At the entry gate, about to start our attempt to climb Kilimanjaro The rainforest at the base of Kilimanjaro is incredibly lush. I love the whole …
: I love the massive columns of the Hypostyle Hall in Karnak Temple. Here Wade is talking with our guide for two days, Muhammad. More columns. …
: Karnak Temple, on Luxor’s East bank The criosphinxes lining the avenue before the gate to Karnak Temple
: All the other balloons out this morning
: Preparing to board our sunrise hot air balloon ride over Luxor Beautiful morning for the ride The sunrise
: Medinet Habu, aka the mortuary temple of Ramesses III, was really interesting and impressive, but sadly I didn’t take many pictures of the art inside. …
: Valley of the Kings, in Luxor. I really liked these mysterious triangles, though the guide was not aware of them having any great significance. Also …
: Did a sunset cruise on the Nile in a felucca (traditional sailboat.) Wade got to take a turn piloting
: Went to Saqqara, and really enjoyed all the depictions of everyday life (circa 4500 years ago!), like this scene of fishing with nets Amazing color …
: The art at Saqqara is both beautiful and beautifully preserved. Here’s a painting of granite for the tombs being transported by a sail barge: …
: The tomb of Mehu, at the Saqqara complex. If interested, here’s a video by an Egyptologist that breaks down what it says: youtu.be/Fx3B3Jp7G…
: Quad-biking near the pyramids
: The view from our (cheap!) hotel in Giza.
: This fried Feta with sesame & honey is one of the best things I’ve eaten on this trip. Sooooo good.
: What kind of physics expression is this even supposed to be? Confusing country.
: CNC (we figure) marble-cutting saw on site for restoration work at the Acropolis.
: At the Acropolis. It was insanely crowded.
: At the Acropolis Museum. Wade: “Ho boy, we’re back in ancient terracotta hell!”
: Insalata Parma. (I was informed food photos are mandatory when travel blogging from Italy.)
: Via Appia Antica - the road that stretched all the way from Rome to Brindisi, in the days of the Republic & then Empire
: At Rome’s one-and-only combined feral-cat sanctuary and site of the assassination of Julius Caesar! (Curia di Pompeo)
: In the underground part of the Colosseum Upper colosseum selfie
: We went to Vatican City, did the museum, and saw the Sistine Chapel. You aren’t allowed to take photos in there, though. So instead, here’s a cat. …
: The “traffic” in Venice gets pretty wild sometimes
: In Venice even the ambulances are boats Gondola ferry across the Grand Canal
: Eisriesenwelt, near Salzburg, a huge ice cave. Wade was super excited that going into the ice cave they handed out actual carbide lamps. I confess I …
: Salzburg’s eponymous salt mine. Wade is an enjoyer of this road-header cutting head (carver of mine walls).
: Also, the Swiss surf in the river. They tie a long bungee to a bridge, grab a hold of it, use the strong current to pull it taught, and then … use it …
: The river Aare. It’s so incredibly blue because it’s basically glacier melt (?). So it’s also quite cold. But the Swiss love to swim in it, and I …
: Last day of our hike in the Alps, descending to Gimmelwald
: Looking down at our home for two nights, Rotstockhütte, during our second day’s hike - an out-and-back climbing to an elevation of 7,668 ft before …
: Setting off from Mürren (near Interlaken) for three days of hiking in the Swiss Alps
: Zech Zollverein - the huge coal cleaning & coke-making plant central to the emergence of the Industrial Revolution in Germany’s Ruhr Valley. Some of …
: The Netherlands’ “Delta Works”! Behind us, here, you can see the “Oosterscheldekering” component of the storm surge barrier system. The …
: Rented bikes and rode from central Amsterdam out to Sloten to visit the (still operational!) old wooden windmill there. This is Wade inside the upper, …
: On the far side of the Salzach river is Austria; on the near side, below us, the town of Burghausen, which is celebrating the 1000th anniversary of …
: The Rammelsberg mine. Actively mined for over 1000 years, they say.
: Ferropolis, in Gräfenhainichen, Germany - The Bagger 197 bucket-chain excavator. If you zoom way in you can see Wade. The treads alone are taller than …
: The VW “Transparent Factory” in Dresden. Very cool place, but no photos allowed once we were in the production area …even though the whole point of it …
: The “Lokschuppen” (Engine Shop, roughly?) at the Dresden Neustadt train station.
: Berlin, Germany - We found a working paternoster! It’s in the old “NeuesDeutschland” building on the East side of town.
: Paris, France. No caption necessary. Except that yes, this is out of order.
: Dresden, Germany - Please no one disabuse me of the notion that this means “Berserk School”
: Parisians lost their minds when Paris Saint Germaine (aka PSG) won the European Championship, a few days ago. Two people died in the rioting, and …
: A public garden just across from the main train station in Nantes, and there’s a flock of chickens just running around! 😄
: The Augustine Fresnel, a buoy handling and lighthouse maintenance vessel that happened to be entering the harbor in Saint-Nazaire as we walked past
: Saint-Nazaire, France. When I was 16, AirBnB didn’t exist. We’re staying in one here, and I love the flavor of just being in a residential …
: Les Machines De L’ile’s Giant Robot Elephant!!
: We spent the afternoon on the HMS Belfast. This was in the onboard machine shop. “It’s a pantograph mill!” he exclaimed when he first saw this. …
: London - the view from our cheap Travelodge hotel room. Wade looked out last night and said something like “I love how three-dimensional cities are” …
: Tree. What doing. Do you even know how to tree? Why make so many smol on big?
: “The Cobbler” (aka Beinn Artair) seen from near Rowchoish
: Setting out on the West Highland Way at Balmaha One day’s hiking, to Sallochy The day’s journal entry Loch Lomond in the morning light
: En route to our three-day hike by Loch Lomond
: One rule of global backpacking adventures is that if you experience a minor catastrophe, you simply declare it a win. I packed a canister of Quaker …
: As a Philadelphian … and as a person who has eaten both sushi and burritos … I have no idea how to even process what this could be.
: Day one of a ninety day trip, and I found my boot lace had frayed. 😄
: On the ground in Scotland! In lieu of any kind of arrival picture you’d expect, I offer you this crazy little machine that caught Wade’s eye as we …
: Departure from State College Stopover at Dulles. Something I love about traveling (anywhere) with Wade is his eye for infrastructure. Left: “Mobile …