Two-Years Ago (02-March-2016) — India

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 57: India. Palaces and Princes Field Trip. Day 4: Agra & Taj Mahal.

Something Different from the Taj Mahal. Silhouette of a monkey traveling across the top of a building.



Individual images from the slide show can be viewed here.

Two-Years Ago (22-February-2016) — Burma (Myanmar)

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 48: Yangon, Burma (Myanmar).

Everyone had to be back on the ship by 22:00. We remained docked in Yangon and didn’t depart until the following day which was a class day. The moon was full (or nearly full) so I had the opportunity to take pictures of folks appearing to be looking at or holding the moon. I stood back some distance, and used a telephoto lens so the size of the moon would appear to be relatively large. What I wasn’t able to do was have both the person and the moon to be in focus, so the images are composites. The low light also required that I increase the ISO to 6400 for the images.



Individual images in the slide show can be viewed here.

Two-Years Ago (27-January-2016) — Japan

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 22: Hiroshima.

I am not going to say much here. We visited the Hiroshima Peace Park and Museum. I just wish we could learn from the past and not be two minutes left on the Doomsday Clock. Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock.

Little Planet View of the Display of Ground Zero at the Hiroshima Peace Museum. Composite of 19 image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 23 mm, f/1.4, 1/30 sec). (David J Mathre)
Little Planet View of the Display of Ground Zero at the Hiroshima Peace Museum. Composite of 19 image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 23 mm, f/1.4, 1/30 sec). (David J Mathre)



Individual Images from the slide show can be viewed here.

Two-Years Ago (26-January-2016) — Japan

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 21: Hiroshima.

Our local guide in Hiroshima recommended that we try “Okonomiyaki“, a traditional Japanese savory pancake for dinner. We found a restaurant/grill that had room for a dozen of us to sit on stools facing the grill. With a bit of translation, we selected the toppings for each of our creations (pork, beef, chicken, fish, shrimp, oysters, octopus, or vegetarian). The very efficient cook made the preparation of the okonomiyaki into a performance. It started with the pancake, followed by chopped cabbage, sprouts, cheese, the selected meat or tofu, noodles, another pancake with fried egg on the top. Finally, some chopped green onions. Everyone’s eyes were wide-open realizing how big a meal each one of the creations had become. When we were eating, the cook  picked up a guitar and did a Elvis serenade for the woman at the far end of the grill.



Individual images from the slide show can be viewed here.

Two-Years Ago (25-January-2016) — Japan

Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 20:  Yokohama.

It was clear, but cold when I woke up. The full moon was setting over Yokohama. What I didn’t notice the day before was Mount Fuji. I could see and take pictures of the mountain right out my cabin window. Before the sun rose, the sky above the mountain was lit up with the unique blue colors of the earth shadow, and pinks of the “Belt of Venus”.  Shortly after breakfast I was part of a  group that departed for the Hakone, Hiroshima, and Kobe Overland Field Trip. We would rejoin the ship in three days in Kobe.



Larger individual images in this slideshow can be viewed here.