Toronto in the Summer

One of the great things about living in Toronto is that there is so much to see and photograph. 

This summer has been no exception.

Between High Park, Colonel Samuel Smith Park, Gairlock Gardens, Muskoka and Mountsberg, I've managed to find Cherry blossoms, foxes, beavers, wolf cubs, goslings, raptors and other interesting aves.

Check them out. 

The layover

One of the great things about traveling to Europe is that most destinations have options as to what airline you pick.
And if booked with a little foresight, you can add a mini-trip to your planned trip.
In 2010 I had a vacation in Finland, but I flew Air France and scheduled a layover in Paris.
I had enough time to see the main sights, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame...
...I even had time to go out and see the Palace of Versailles.
This past June, I journeyed to Budapest.
By flying Finnair, I was able to schedule a layover in Helsinki.
As I had already been to Helsinki in 2010, I didn't feel any pressure to see all the sights, and instead had time to just enjoy being in the city.

Pictures of Helsinki have been added to the galleries.
Check them out.

It may not be UNESCO designated...but may be it should be

Memento Park is quite an interesting place.

Its a park within Budapest that has amassed a collection of the communist era statues that once were prominently featured thoughout the city.

It even has the remains of Stalin's statue (just the boots - all that is left after they tore it down during the 1956 revolution).

Check out some pics

Rotations

One great thing about working as an expat at a fly-in/fly-out rotational job is that you don't have to "fly-out" back to your home country. You can spend the rotation traveling anywhere in the world that you wish. And you don't actually have to fly-out at all. You can spend your rotation exploring the country in which you work.

I love to travel and explore the world.

And I use the UNESCO World Heritage List as a starting point when planning my travel.

My goal is to visit and photograph as many of the 962 properties as I can in my lifetime.

This past month I managed to visit three UNESCO World Heritage sites in Hungary and Austria.

I also managed to visit a few other interesting spots on the trip.

Next I plan to visit two more UNESCO sites here in Senegal.

Expect photos in the near future.

Mountsberg

Had a chance to take in a private group photo session at the Mountsberg Raptor Centre.
I absolutely loved it, and the results.

The Aves gallery has been partially updated.
I shot over a thousand pictures of the five birds, so they will be slowly dribbling onto the gallery over the next few (months) weeks.

I didn't even mind that it rained and frozen rained a bit.
Some were not as impressed with the weather.