Welcome to World Photos Online

See the world through a different set of eyes...

Featured Galleries

Petra : The order of these pictures starts with the road to the Siq, the Siq, and through Petra to the Monastery (the farthest point I traveled). Petra was the capital of the Nabataens which built a trading empire around 200 BCE. At its peak, Petra was the home to about 30,000 people until 363 CE when an earthquake leveled most of the freestanding structures and the city slowly faded into obscurity. The Nabataens were known as superb hydraulic engineers and had many channels and cisterns to store the infrequent rain, important for living in such an arid region. The best known entrance to the city is the Siq; a 200 m deep passage that winds through the over 1 km of rose red sandstone that surrounds Petra. The Siq was a ceremonial entrance and the trade caravans came up the other Wadi (river beds) to enter the city. The iconic image of the “Treasury” is the first sight you see as you exit the winding Siq; immortalized in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” as the resting place of the Holy Grail. Actually it is a tomb of a Nabataen King and has only a few shallow rooms off the entrance. Turn right and as you walk along the “Street of Facades” you pass at least 40 other tombs carved into the stone walls. Many are easy to explore. Then you come to a colonnade with the “great temple” on one side and several Byzantine churches on the other. The purpose of the “great temple” is still a mystery. Inside it had a theater for 600, as well as a large pool with steps, perhaps for swimming. Whether it was a temple, civic building or something else only future excavations (currently underway) will tell. Across from the “great temple” is the Petra church which has amazing Byzantine floor and wall mosaics on display, it is well worth the climb. Just past the colonnade is the Qasr Al-Bilt, temple (dedicated to the Nabataen god, Dushara) one of the last free standing structures in Petra. Despite it being heavily damaged in the 363 CE and 551 CE earthquakes, most of the temples 23 meter walls remained standing due to the wood built into the stone walls for earthquake bracing. Across from Qasr Al-Bilt are a crusader castle and a bar/restaurant with a pretty good buffet. After wandering 8 km through this stone city you will want a drink, so ride the donkeys to different sites when you can. Up to 1985 (when UNESCO declared Petra a World heritage site) Bedouins made these tombs into houses and refused leave until the Jordanian King personally asked them to. They are still allowed to sell trinkets and jewelry in Petra. All speak some English and are polite and friendly to tourists.

Petra

The order of these pictures starts with the road to the Siq, the Siq, ...

Updated: Jul 04, 2008 9:16am PST

Dale Chihuly at DeYoung Museum - 2008 : These photos are from the Chihuly at the de Young exhibit, June 14 to Sept 28, 2008 in San Francisco, California. It is an exploration of the groundbreaking glass artwork of Dale Chihuly. From the Glass Forest to the Reeds to the Mille Fiori (a 56-foot garden of glass) and finally the Saffron Tower (a 30-foot neon sculpture), this exhibition challenges convention with a feast of bold color, dramatic forms and extraordinary composition of Dale Chihuly. More on Dale can be found at www.chihuly.com which includes links to his touring exibits as well as past and current work.

Dale Chihuly at DeYoung Museum - 2008

These photos are from the Chihuly at the de Young exhibit, June 14 to ...

Updated: Sep 06, 2008 10:37am PST

Brugge :

Brugge

Updated: May 16, 2009 11:37am PST

Zuid-Holland, Utrecht, & Eastern Netherlands :

Zuid-Holland, Utrecht, & Eastern Netherlands

Updated: May 10, 2009 6:12pm PST

Gallery Categories

Austria

6 galleries with 118 photos

Updated: Jan 12, 2008 1:17pm PST

Belgium

4 galleries with 89 photos

Updated: May 16, 2009 10:13am PST

Cambodia

11 galleries with 140 photos

Updated: Jan 12, 2008 1:16pm PST

Canada

7 galleries with 138 photos

Updated: Sep 17, 2007 8:02pm PST

China

22 galleries with 227 photos

Updated: Sep 29, 2007 10:31am PST

Egypt

13 galleries with 319 photos

Updated: May 17, 2008 10:08am PST

England

2 galleries with 24 photos

Updated: Jan 16, 2008 10:54pm PST

France

20 galleries with 177 photos

Updated: Jan 16, 2008 10:55pm PST

French Polynesia

2 galleries with 25 photos

Updated: May 17, 2009 6:49pm PST

Greece

11 galleries with 117 photos

Updated: Mar 04, 2008 9:56pm PST

Ireland

3 galleries with 28 photos

Updated: Mar 07, 2008 9:48pm PST

Italy

17 galleries with 201 photos

Updated: Mar 07, 2008 9:49pm PST

Jordan

4 galleries with 66 photos

Updated: Jun 30, 2008 4:39am PST

Malaysia

1 gallery with 39 photos

Updated: Mar 09, 2008 11:17pm PST

Malta

4 galleries with 25 photos

Updated: Mar 16, 2008 9:13am PST

Monaco

1 gallery with 26 photos

Updated: Mar 09, 2008 11:18pm PST

Netherlands

4 galleries with 57 photos

Updated: May 10, 2009 6:23pm PST

New Zealand

9 galleries with 74 photos

Updated: Mar 16, 2008 9:16am PST

Norway

4 galleries with 47 photos

Updated: Jun 23, 2007 10:55am PST

Portugal

4 galleries with 90 photos

Updated: Mar 04, 2008 9:20pm PST

Russia

1 gallery with 31 photos

Updated: Mar 07, 2008 9:59pm PST

Spain

7 galleries with 267 photos

Updated: Sep 07, 2007 3:27pm PST

Switzerland

1 gallery with 19 photos

Updated: Mar 07, 2008 10:00pm PST

Tunisia

3 galleries with 37 photos

Updated: Jun 23, 2007 11:06am PST

United States of America

13 galleries with 252 photos

Updated: Sep 06, 2008 3:14pm PST

SilverSeas

2 galleries with 25 photos

Updated: Sep 29, 2007 10:25am PST

Photography

1 gallery with 11 photos

Updated: Sep 06, 2008 3:18pm PST

Friends

2 galleries with 17 photos

Updated: Aug 04, 2007 2:56pm PST

Password protected

Family

3 galleries with 28 photos

Updated: Aug 04, 2007 3:07pm PST

Your Bio

Most recent updates are to Netherlands for Pixs. I have also started to add a narrative to the other galleries but the going is slow.

Just got back from Eastern Europe, French Polynesia and the Netherlands and will add those pixs in the next month or two.

This site contains photos from my travels around the world, and includes France, Austria, Spain, Italy, Greece, Malta, Norway, Switzerland, England, Ireland, Tunisia, Russia, China, Cambodia, Malaysia, Canada, Portugal, New Zealand, Jordan, Egypt, and the United States of America.

I have been taking travel photos since Dec 1974 when I traveled to what was then the USSR and Switzerland for a high school trip. Since then I have continued to take photos when I travel as it is the journey, not the destination that is important.

Jim