University of Toronto

Here's my random travel picture for the day. This was taken on a cold autumn day on the campus of the University of Toronto. Sorry, I don't know the name of the building. My cousin who was a grad student at the time, met me and she gave me a little tour of the campus. There was a small exhibit of Picasso ceramics in one of the galleries so we were fortunate enough to get to see it.

November 2004, Toronto, Canada

Matsumoto Castle

This castle sits in the middle of Matsumoto, a small city that lies in the shadows of the mountains of Nagano. Surrounded by a moat, the castle was also used as a defense against hostile invaders. I believe it was built sometime in the 1500s.

Here's the Wiki entry for Matsumoto Castle.

When entering the castle, we were given plastic bags in which to put our shoes since they were not allowed inside. Much of the interior flooring were made of wood so my guess is that we had to remove our shoes so we don't damage the floors.

August 5, 2004, Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

Travel picture of the day...06/12/07

Hagia Sophia Interior

This was our first stop on our first full day in Istanbul. This building just smells of history going back more than 1400 years when it was a Byzantine church, later becoming a Catholic cathedral, then a mosque before Turkey's father of the modern republic, Ataturk, transformed this building into a museum.

I first learned about the Hagia Sophia in art history class and stepping into this building was like being transported back into several periods in our humanity's ancient past.

Photo taken in November 2005.