The photographs are from our trip to Europe in August 2019, presented in reverse order to maximize the separation between my favorite’s placement first on the cover and then for the month of December. All photos were shot with a Fuji X100F with its 23mm (35mm equivalent) lens or a Fuji X-Pro2 with a Fuji XF90mm (135mm equivalent) lens and then later tweaked in Lightroom. I did not include any shots of Canada (brief layovers in Montreal) or Montenegro (some kind of ship traffic mix-up prevented us from going ashore). Pisa didn't make the cut, but you'll see that I did find a leaning tower in Florence.
January - This staircase in Dubrovnik, Croatia, was representative of the architecture that surrounded us during our relatively uncrowded morning visit. The thunder echoing off the stone walls only enhanced the medieval feeling of this ancient city.
February - This cryptic conglomeration of lines and letters was on the side of a boat in Corfu, Greece. I don’t have a clue about what it means.
March - These three closely spaced marble (I think) pillars were part of a former palace in Venice, Italy. They were near one of the few places you could sit down without being harassed by the don’t-sit-down police.
April - Venice and no canals? Immediately below this doorway - you’ll just have to imagine it.
May - I realize that this store window display could be anywhere, but it was part of my attempt to bring back photos of Venice that didn’t look like everyone else’s photos of Venice. Not sure if I succeeded. That’s me on the left.
June - This door in Florence is a replica of what Michelangelo called the “Gate of Paradise”. Imagine what the original must look like (currently in a museum).
July - I couldn’t help myself from doing one of these diagonal photos (Big Ben in London, Tower Bridge in Sacramento, and the courthouse in Ukiah got the same treatment). This cathedral tower in Florence was one of the more impressive buildings we saw on a trip full of impressive buildings.
August - Florence had lots of street vendors, selling what were probably mostly fake Florentine products (especially leather goods). These, however, were genuine, real, authentic, actual postcards.
September - Another view of the cathedral in Florence. Way, way up above this photo, on top of the world’s largest self-supporting masonry dome, is an orb designed by a young Leonardo da Vinci.
October - This is the ceiling of the hallway leading to the Sistine Chapel. Really? - a hallway? I’d show you the Sistine Chapel except that Sony owns the copyright to the images (another “Really?”).
November - The ceiling of St. Peter’s Basilica (no Sony here).
December - Also St. Pete’s, this of the main dome. I had envisioned black & white, but then I stumbled over the Selenium preset in Lightroom which gives it a cold, seemingly (to me) industrial look. (I used the same setting for the Dubrovnik stairs.)
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