In late December I, my husband and our daughter traveled to Cuba and over the next several days I'll hope to provide some descriptions and photographs from the journey. We started to plan back in June before the policy toward Cuba was changed. We bought our flights to Miami and then to Havana and set off a few days after Christmas.
We categorized ourselves as a people-to-people mission, because it was true: My husband is a lawyer and we wanted to learn about the legal system, I am a photographer and wanted to take photographs and as soon as I can get them processed and reviewed hope to have several to show, and our daughter speaks fluent Spanish and frequently translated for us. We did ultimately make arrangements with a tour agency, Cuba Cultural Travel, to handle the details of the various requirements for our visit to Cuba. They did an excellent job of finding a good guide, a safe and good driver, a variety of experiences to enjoy. It is certainly much easier to travel with the help of a tour agency when you are not familiar with the country and need assistance with some of the paperwork and other requirements.
[We lucked out with our first Casa Particular, a 15th floor penthouse apartment with a delightful host. And wonderful views of the Atlantic abutting the northern shore of Havana, Cuba.]
Another colorful image in the calendar now for sale at Artisan Gallery 218.
Another black and white image of a sight in Des Moines. There are some fascinating buildings by well-known architects in Des Moines. This is just one.
More information: Des Moines Art Center Architecture
We visited Milan a few months ago and wandered the Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle - this is an image of the ceiling vault and it's a favorite of mine, as it's almost a 3D image. Is the center popping out toward you, or going away?
This is one of the images in a 2018 Calendar for sale at Artisan Gallery 218. It's an image of some tiny model boats which were on display in Montreal during the Tall Ships festival earlier this year.
An outside image in black and white, the trees at Gray's Lake.
Another of the black and white images from the Des Moines project.
I had an interesting request from some customers at the gallery, Artisan Gallery 218. They were looking for black and white images of iconic scenes in Des Moines. Thinking about it a bit, I assured them I could locate a few. I did so, they selected several and then I thought I'd share a few here. I enjoyed the project and while I personally love color, some black and white images are special as well.
I wanted to go to Chicago for a long weekend, to attend OpenHouseChicago, which is another story. After pricing airfares [$350+] and asking our daughter about Megabus [$90; she warned me I might not like the bathroom], I researched taking the train.
To take Amtrak from central Iowa to Chicago you have to go to Osceola [an hour south of Des Moines] and get on the California Zephyr. It is the cross-country train between Chicago and Emeryville, California which for the whole route takes a little over two days. The route from Iowa to /from Chicago is about 6 hours, although it can be a little more time coming from the West. That’s because Amtrak travels on freight rails and has to give way to freight train traffic.
But, it cost me $100 to ride round-trip, leaving about 9:30am and arriving about 4:30pm, and returning from 2:00pm to 8:30 pm. That’s $10 more than Megabus, but you have more room, the lounge car is available [as is the dining car], and I’d rather take the train.
Those who complain about the train ‘always’ being late generalize unfairly. After all, even though the flight takes a little over an hour, you have to be there an hour ahead and wait for baggage awhile on arrival and pay three times as much. There certainly are good reasons to fly to Chicago or elsewhere, but if you want to relax, read a book, work on your computer, sleep or play video games, the train beats a plane any day.
I also discovered something new [to me] in Chicago. I arrived at Union Station to leave about 4 hours later. Amtrak has created a Legacy Club for its passengers for $20 for a day pass. That can be money well spent - free wifi, comfortable seating, free coffee and snacks, Clue and other board games, a happy hour twice a day and a place of relevant quiet [it has TVs running which I don’t care for, but that certainly is fine for most people and I can hide in a corner and ignore them].
So, if you have time and want to maximize it and enjoy it, taking the train makes a lot of sense.
We recently returned from a short trip to Montreal and Quebec City - perfect weather, we walked around both cities, but the following shot is just for fun, the Tall Ships were visiting Quebec City just before we arrived and in the basin some small boats were hung near a bridge - a joyous addition to the waterfront.
I just received word that one of my images, Abstract Lily Pads, was accepted as one of the 17 finalists in Ames's Water Plant Art Contest. The City just completed a new Water Plant and as part of the project opened a contest to artists. Selected 2-D pieces will be displayed during the Ribbon-cutting and Open House on August 26th and for two months afterward.
I love this image, very abstract and yet very commonplace. Napkins stacked in a wooden box in a Paris restaurant.
I decided to take some of my images and print them to metal. There are others, but I'm going to post some now on display at the Gallery:
but caught it, Day + 1, was it left the sky. Still pretty neat
