It was a nice comfortable evening; the city was beautifully lit-up.

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The traffic along Chang’an Avenue was really heavy and he couldn’t park close, so  he found a section of the street two blocks away where he waited for me.  With a finger pointing to the square, he set me off on a solo walk.

I started east walking by the architecturally unique National Centre for the Performing Arts (really beautiful!), I then followed along Chang’an Ave passed the Great Hall of the People and reached the north west corner of the square.  I saw the Tiananmen Gate, the iconic entry way to the Forbidden City, with the picture of Chairman Mao on it… this is one of the most common images you see in tourists pictures.

Tiananmen Square is physically across Chang’an Ave, south from the Gate.  The plaza area is fenced  on all sides, and if you look at the pin on Google Maps, it’s right at the entry I went through.  The entry is a guard station that scans all packages and backpacks.  I was waived-through no problem.  Overseas tourist types like me, while not common, looked welcome.  I would say most of the visitors to the square were citizens of China from other parts of the country (lots of tour buses).

While at the square I briefly walked by The National Museum of China, Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, Monument to the People’s Heroes, and very popular flag pole.  I got there right at sunset and 100s of people were gathered around the flag pole as the soldiers, in a very solemn ceremony, lowered the flag, right at sunset.

When the flag was lowered, the Tiananmen Gate lights were turned on.  It looked really nice!  A couple of people from a university came up to me, in excellent English welcomed me to China, asked me where I was from and with pride shared some of China’s history with me.  Very memorable.

But it was time to go.  I didn’t want to keep my driver waiting.  I haven’t been to China in over 8 years and it was very nice to be back. I had a really nice Tiananmen Square Walk.

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So pressed for time (I wanted the lighting from sunset), I took a taxi to Chinatown.  I saw the Jimi Hendrix Shrine, and I started a nice walk through Vancouver downtown.  I walked north and west through Chinatown, into Gastown, all the way to the Waterfront, then I headed south along Granville street all the way back to my hotel.  A really very nice loop through the city center.

Along the way, I saw: some historic buildings in Chinatown: Bank of Commerce, Carnegie Centre, and the really thin Sam Kee Building.  I crossed under the Chinatown gate walked through Victory Square Cenotaph, the Sun Building, the Dominion Building and as I entered the Gastown area, I saw the famous Gastown Steam Clock.

I followed Cordova Street west toward the Waterfront Station.  From the Granville building plaza, I got a fantastic view of the Burrard Inlet harbour area.  I saw a helicopter take off from the Helijet Terminal; I saw the gigantic DP World Centerm Container terminal and the very nice looking Canada Place area jutting out into the harbor.

Walking south along Granville, I passed by the Birks Place / fka Bank of Commerce building and the Vancouver Block building with its iconic neon clock.  I walked past the Granville Mall shopping area, made my way through the theater district, and I had dinner at a nice pub, then headed back to my hotel on Howe Street.

Vancouver Downtown Walk – Chinatown, Gastown, Waterfront, and Granville at EveryTrail
EveryTrail – Find the best hikes in California and beyond

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I briefly saw the historic plaza.  I then walked back to the opera house via the famous Calle Madero pedestrian shopping street.

Along the way, I saw Torre Latinoamericana skyscraper, Banco de México, Edificio de Correos / Palacio Postal, MUNAL / Museo Nacional de Arte, El Caballito equestrian statue, Palacio de Minería, Museo del Ejército y Fuerza Aérea, Biblioteca del Congreso de la Unión, Zapaterias leon shoe store, Metropolitan Cathedral, Hotel Majestic and Gran Hotel, Palacio del Ayuntamiento, Edificio La Mexicana, Templo de San Felipe Neri, Palacio de Cultural Banamex, Edificio High Life, Templo de San Francisco, Casa de los Azulejos, and finally the Benito Juárez Memorial.

Later that evening my hotel told me that it was a protest.  I never sensed any hostility, but overall I think it was good that I only stayed briefly.

Tips:

As a general practice, the security organization at my work asks all travelers to Mexico City to only use pre-arranged cars.  My hotel was happy to help.  To get to the Centro Histórico my hotel gave me a ride; to return, they arranged for me to get a ride from the Hilton right next to the Bellas Artes.

Overall, I felt safe and was really glad I went for this walk.

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I started at Bourbon and Canal Street.  I walked Southeast along Canal Street to the Riverwalk Marketplace.  I circled back up Canal and branched onto N Peters Street, which merged into Decatur St.  I stopped at Jackson Square, then worked my way up St Peters Street, turned left onto Royal Street.  I passed by many shops, restaurants and street performers and ended up back on Canal.

The sun was setting on my New Orleans French Quarter Walk, the light was really nice and I took some good pictures.  Noteworthy:  Canal Streetcars, United States Custom House, Harrah’s New Orleans Hotel and Casino, Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, Paddlewheeler Creole Queen, Bienville  NOLA Founder statue, Saint Louis Cathedral, Cabildo, Charles de Gaulle Fountain, Major General Andrew Jackson statue, Court of Appeal building and Pat O’Brien’s.

I really liked the New Orleans French Quarter architecture.  The Creole Townhouses with their unique balconies are really nice looking, and I like how they are each decorated and painted differently.  Very nice character.  Also informative, the French Quarter has signs that remind you that this was also a Spanish Colonial city.

Just so you know, Jackson Square closes at 7pm sharp. I was lucky to get in and get a couple of pictures.  Also, some of the key St Louis Cathedral pictures were taken facing into the sun; I decided I was coming back the next morning.

The next morning I headed back to Jackson Square and took a few more photos, but with sunrise, instead of sunset, lighting.  My focus was to get St Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo, and the Andrew Jackson equestrian statue all with better morning lighting.

My morning walk was from Canal street, following Chartres Street straight to St Louis Cathedral.  I then walked around Jackson Square, then headed back on Decatur Street finishing on Canal.

Tips:

As you might expect, at 6am in New Orleans, there are still some people out the prior night.  Indeed there were a couple of bars open, or at least they looked open.  But also, I stumbled upon a side walk spraying crew; they had a small truck with a big heavy plastic container filled with soapy, sudsy water.  I viewed this as a good thing.

French Quarter / Vieux Carré walk — Canal, Riverwalk, Decatur, St Peters, Royal at EveryTrail

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Before this day of activities, I went for an early morning walk through the center of campus.  My meetings started at 10am, and I timed my walk with the rise of the early morning Sun over the tree tops — making for some very nice lighting on the buildings.

I started my Purdue Campus Walk at the Purdue Memorial Union, walked West along State Street, cross through Memorial Mall, crossed by the Armory to University Street, then headed back through the Engineering Mall, then cut through the Chemistry Buildings back to the Union.

Along the way, I saw:  Purdue Memorial Union, St. Thomas Aquinas, University Hall, Spirit Arch, Purdue Bell Tower, Elliott Hall of Music, Memorial Gym, Math Sciences Building, Lawson Computer Science Building, Hovde Hall, Engineering Fountain, Potter Building, and the Wetherill Laboratory of Chemistry.

This is a favorite campus walk for me.  Nice familiar place, with lots of good memories.  This morning was very nice morning for a Purdue Campus Walk.

Tips:

If you can, get a room at the Union Club Hotel.  This is the only hotel on campus.  Since the campus doesn’t permit cars, it is very hard to find a parking place.

Purdue Campus Walk – Union, University Hall, Bell Tower, Engineering Mall at EveryTrail

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Our hotel is located in Tel Aviv, right on the Mediterranean.  From our hotel we can faintly see the clock tower from St. Peter’s Church and the Minaret of Al-Bahr Mosque / Sea Mosque.  Even though our hotel and Jaffa are both on the Tel Aviv Promenade, a stretch of boulevard full of people out for the evening, we decided to save time and took a taxi to Jaffa.

Our taxicab driver took us to the Abrasha Park at the top of the hill named Tel Yafo in Old Jaffa.  We walked around and saw some interesting sites:  a small park area with a sculpture named “The Gates of Faith,” “Tel Yafo Excavation” — an archaeological dig of an egyptian fortress, the “Wishing Bridge,” St Peter’s Church.

We started walking down the Jaffa Hill, following the Mifrats Shlomo Promenade, the walk way closest to the water.  We saw the Minaret of Al-Bahr Mosque / Sea Mosque, a beautiful view of the Tel Aviv night-time cityscape, Arab Hebrew Theatre of Jaffa.

When we got to the bottom of the hill we wandered among small food market along Yefet Street near the HaPishpeshim Market area.  We walked to the North East entrance of Old Jaffa and saw the Jaffa clock tower then took a taxi back to our hotel.

Jaffa is a port city that dates back 1440BC, with archaeological evidence suggesting its origins go back to 7500BC.  This is a nice small place to visit.

Tips:

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Our guide met three of us in the lobby of our hotel.  We drove to Jerusalem. For our first stop he took us to Mount Scopus.  It’s on the northeast side of Jerusalem, looking down on the Old City.  From there, he pointed out the sights we will soon be walking by, most notably, the Dome of the Rock, on the Temple Mount / Haram esh-Sharif religious site.

We drove to the southwestern corner of the Old City of Jerusalem and parked outside the walls at the Zion Gate, just outside of the Armenian Quarter on Mount Zion.  Nearby we saw the Dormition Abbey, Room of the Last Supper (Franciscan Church of the Coenaculum) and the Tomb of King David.

Jewish Quarter. We entered the Jewish Quarter from the Zion Gate, walked North along the narrow Habad Street to the Cardo, the Roman market place excavated in the 1970s.  We then made our way over to the Hurva Synagogue and the Wohl Archaeological Museum.  And from there, we made it to one of the major destinations:  The Western Wall (aka Wailing Wall, or Kotel).  From here we are right next to the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock which we first saw on Mount Scopus.

Muslim Quarter. We then started walking North along El Wad street in the Muslim Quarter. This then connected with the Via Dolorosa, where the first stations of the cross are marked.  We followed Dolorosa, turned down Beit HaBad street, then made our way to Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian Quarter.

Christian Quarter. The church is built on the Hill of Calvary the place where Jesus was crucified and buried.  After we toured the historic church, we continued our tour, walking by the Church of the Redeemer, Omar Mosque and then settled in for shopping and lunch on the Muristan market street.

Armenian Quarter. We then walked West to the The Citadel, Tower of David medieval fortress, near the Jaffa Gate in the Armenian Quarter.  We walked South along Armenian Patriarchate Street, visited the Cathedral of St James, then headed South back to the Zion Gate and to our car.

Our tour guide did an excellent job explaining the history, the different religious view points, and made it all exciting and fun.  By the time I was done, it became a big blur of one historic site blending into another.  Seeing things 3000 years old next to other things that were 1000 years old, next to things that were built 100 years ago was really cool!!

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Church of the Nativity.  We entered through the Door of Humility, we walked through the main part of the church up to the Main Alter and the Alter of Circumcision. Our tour guide then took us down the steps to Grotto of the Nativity   We saw the Nativity Manger, the 14 point Star of Nativity (place of Jesus’s birth).  Along the way, our tour guide told us about the history, reminding us that the Muslim, Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Roman Catholic religions each had a different places to worship in and near this church.

This church dates back to the times of Constantine (380 AD).  The building we toured was constructed in the 6th century and has been updated, restored and remodeled many times over the years.  Our tour guide gave us an excellent overview of many parts of the structure including the interesting role of the Crusaders.

Church of St Catherine. We left the church, moved our way over to the Cloister of St Jerome, then the Church of St Catherine.  This is the Church from which we see mass on TV Christmas Eve from the Holy Land.  There are many beautiful statues, reliefs and other pieces of art.  While this church’s current form and design are from  the 1800s, with recent remodeling in the 1940s, the church dates back to the 15th century.  St Catherine shares a wall with the Church of the Nativity.

After our tour, our driver and tour guide took us to a gift store, then drove us back to the Gilo 300 Checkpoint.  While nowhere near as big as Jerusalem, Bethlehem was a very good place to visit.

Tips:
Gilo 300. Just so you know, the process of going through the Gilo-Bethlehem check point at the separation wall, was not that bad.  It was a little unnerving just being dropped off and trusting that someone would be on the other side waiting for you, but there was, and we had no problems.  Further, the Bethlehem tour guide and driver were both very, very nice.

Tour Guide “shopping” process. Another point for you to know, there’s an unwritten expectation that you will patronize the gift shop.  They sell very nice wood carvings, jewelry  statuettes, books and post cards.  I bought a couple of really nice tour books.  I’d budget spending $30.  I’d been through this with other tours in other countries; this is how our tour guide makes money; if you like your tour guide, buy something nice; if you don’t, just buy a little trinket.  Our guide was learned, respectful, and made an extra effort to tailor his presentation to each member of the group.

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