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Personal Pictures Have Moved

We're moving our personal pictures. In the future, this site will only have Dick's travel pictures. Follow these directions to get to his family pictures.

Mar 29, 2036

Photos: 3

Huldy Street Kittens

Jan 4, 2012

Photos: 14

Notre-Dame de Cunault, Loire Valley, France -- Supplemental Pictures

These pictures supplement future postings on religious buildings in the Loire Valley.

Oct 11, 2011

Photos: 36

St. Juliens Cathedral, La Mans, France -- Supplemental Photos

These photos will supplement an overview slide presentation on the churches of the Loire Valley.

Oct 11, 2011

Photos: 109

Notre Dame Des Ardilliers, Saumur -- Supplemental Album

This historic shrine has witnessed much of French history since Louis XIII.

Oct 10, 2011

Photos: 38

Fontevraud Abbey -- Supplemental Pictures

These pictures supplement the slide show on religious buildings of the Loire Valley (in progress).

Oct 10, 2011

Photos: 134

Cathedral of St. Maurice, Angers, France

These pictures will supplement our discussion of Loire Valley churches (in progress).

Oct 9, 2011

Photos: 59

The Apocalypse Tapestry of Angers, France

Perhaps the largest medieval tapestry hangs in a custom-built gallery in the Castle of Angers. Designed by a book illustrator from Bruges and woven in Paris, this powerful weaving recalls the strange scenes envisioned by John of Patmos that eventually found their way in to Bible of Western Christians – and into the public consciousness of all those who view their present world as going to the devil until it will be rescued through Divine power. The details of which, are left to the reader, the internet, the right and left wing talk shows, etc.

Oct 9, 2011

Photos: 81

Chartres Cathedral -- Supplemental Pictures

This album provides additional commentary and pictures for the overview albums on the Loire Valley which may be posted in the future.

Oct 3, 2011

Photos: 212

John Gaw Meem New Mexico Architect

This album is for serious architecture geeks and will not be publicized. Someday, I'll put together a summary of Santa Fe and reference it.

Aug 10, 2011

Photos: 159

2011 Houston Herman Park Fireworks

Jul 4, 2011

Photos: 4

Russia, St. Petersburg -- Hermitage Overflow Album

These pictures enhance our slide presentation on St. Petersburg at https://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/StPetersburgRussia?#slideshow. Please start there if you haven't already.

Jun 14, 2011

Photos: 87

HCC Sunday Jazz Ensemble -- NASA and Belmont Village Performances

Apr 2, 2011

Photos: 71

Antarctica

See it while it's hot.

Jan 18, 2011

Photos: 219

Antarctica Summary as presented onboard at slideshow

This presentation is meant for fellow passengers who remember where they've been; no text jogs their memories. Pictures with captions are coming. (Hopefully soon.)

Jan 18, 2011

Photos: 93

Namur, Belgium

A quiet town named Namur nestles below a huge and historic citadel rising high above where two rivers meet. The now quiet fortress has been assaulted by troops of Julius Caesar all the way to Germany's Third Reich. Today Namur houses parliaments that try to keep fractious Belgium together. Join us for a short visit.

Sep 1, 2010

Photos: 34

Luxembourg City, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Believe or not, there are nearly 20 countries in the world smaller than Luxembourg, but none (of any size) wealthier. It's name means "little fort" and it turned gradually into the Gibraltar of the North as successive invaders improved the fortifications they once conquered. Today instead of stopping invading soldiers, it welcomes European Union bureaucrats with open arms and lures capital with low tax rates and gentle banking laws. Please join us for a brief visit.

Sep 1, 2010

Photos: 38

Antwerp, Belgium

We finished August in our 3rd Belgian city -- Antwerp, the capital of Flanders. While even toaday a very important place, this was once the richest and second largest town city north of the Alps. Then the religious wars started and little was the same for 3 centuries. Today Antwerp's Gothic, Renaissance, and Art Nouveau buildings delight tourists from the moment they arrive at its classy train station.

Aug 31, 2010

Photos: 114

Brussels -- Overflow Album

Pictures and places that didn't make the cut in our published album at https://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/BruxellesBrussels?authkey=Gv1sRgCNX-uILZ0aqAqAE#slideshow/5589923846847626610 Please start with that presentation or these pictures won't make much senses.

Aug 30, 2010

Photos: 247

Bruxelles -- Brussels

Like New York, NY: a town so nice they named it twice. But for Brussels it's because it's one of the few places in Belgium that's officially bi-lingual. Arguably the capital of Europe and for sure the capital of NATO, Brussels heads a country that may be falling apart. If so, given its architecture and food, let's fall to pieces together.

Aug 29, 2010

Photos: 69

Ghent, Belgium

The Dutch call this place Ghent and its home to a lovely "medieval" town center and one of the icons of Western art. Come visit it with us!

Aug 28, 2010

Photos: 64

Bruges, Belgium -- Overflow Album

This site contains many pictures (and a little text) that didn't make the cut for our Bruges presentation. You may want to start with the "abridged version" first at: http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/BrugesBelgium#slideshow .We've uploaded it for those of you who like more details about these sites or are planning on your own visit to Bruges. (To provide context, we've kept many of the Bruges presentation pictures.)

Aug 26, 2010

Photos: 184

Bruges, Belgium

Lots more of our Bruges pictures are available at http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/BrugesBelgiumOverflowAlbum#slideshow .

Aug 25, 2010

Photos: 88

Sardinia Prehistory

Sardinia may not have had reading and writing in the Bronze Age and before, but they did have some of the most significant architecture in Europe for that period before Carthage and Rome came rumbling through.

May 15, 2010

Photos: 140

Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

At the bottom of the Mediterranean's second largest island, Cagliari's seven hills hold dear its Punic, Carthaginian, and Roman remains -- but makes daily use of its Piedmont-Baroque buildings. Closer to Africa than to the Italian mainland, it's been Sardinia's capital in a number of reincarnations including under the Romans, Pisans, and the Spanish crown.

May 11, 2010

Photos: 94

Chinati Foundation

The Chinati Foundation/La Fundación Chinati displays the works of a few modern artists in a space integrated with the Chihuahuam desert which surrounds it in Marfa, Texas. Because of its distant and sometimes hostile location, few will visit these intriguing exhibitions. But you can through the Nikon's lens.

Apr 1, 2010

Photos: 176

Big Bend Area -- Spring, 2010

A springtime visit to a spectacular but sparsely-visited national park -- sandwiched between visits to two unusual "museums." From river bank to the Chisos mountain tops, this park rises 6000 feet. Despite its Chihuahua desert location, this place has more bird species than any other National Park. It's 300 million years in the making -- and shows it on cliffs which climb from the nearly dry Rio Grande.

Apr 1, 2010

Photos: 113

The Chisos Mountains at Big Bend National Park

We spent a day and a half in the Chisos Mountains, a 20-mile long chain completely contained within Big Bend National Park. Several of the hiking trails are spectacular and quite different from each other. All were scarcely populated.

Mar 29, 2010

Photos: 119

Columbia Canyon Rafting -- Big Bend Ranch State Park

These sparsely documented pictures enhance the discussion of our Spring 2010 trip to the Big Bend area.

Mar 29, 2010

Photos: 47

Big Bend National Park -- Southwest Area

The west side of Big Bend National Park is accessed through the well-named Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. Volcanoes and erosion have done their best to provide this feast for the eyes. The Civilian Conservation Core has tamed the trails a bit to make them easily accessible for hikers. Those too lazy to do even that can get close to several interesting peaks without leaving their car.

Mar 28, 2010

Photos: 47

Southeast Big Bend National Park

After driving through the Chisos mountains in Big Bend National Park, we come upon the Rio Grande. Several hikes here provide great views of that placid river and the canyons that channel it southeast to the Gulf of Mexico.

Mar 27, 2010

Photos: 90

Rock Art of the Lower Pecos River (Texas)

These pictures supplement the overview of our Big Bend Trip and describe four caves containing prehistoric pictographs painted about 5000 years ago. Once this area where the Devil and Pecos rivers flow into the Rio Grande teemed with large herd animals hunted by stone-age peoples. The climate changed to the arid desert we now see -- and the population adapted with them. To bind the population, their shamans conducted drug-induced trances in caves with red symbolic art. Today many of these caves are underwater, thanks to the huge Amistad Reservoir project. We visited the red art that is fast fading on the walls of four of these caves.

Mar 26, 2010

Photos: 59

Houston Snowfall

Dec 4, 2009

Photos: 6

Pula, Croatia

At the Southern tip of Dalmatia's Istria Peninsula, Pula rises from a bay that has sheltered navies from the galleys of Byzantium to the dreadnoughts of the Austro-Hungary Empire. Today it sports impressive Roman ruins including perhaps Europe's best-preserved forum and the 6th largest surviving amphitheater. In letters home, James Joyce called it a "naval Siberia" while writing "Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man" from its sidewalk cafes. Join us on our visit: While our prose is not up to Joyce's standards, our pictures are better.

Oct 23, 2009

Photos: 38

Split, Croatia

Split started life as a retirement villa for a retired Roman Emperor -- and ended up as the Dalmatian coast's largest city as well as its economic and cultural hub. The important Roman town was four miles away with all the comforts of a provincial capital -- and because of that, a target for the invading Slavs. When that capital fell, some of its inhabitants moved inside the palace's protective walls. Sons of these squatters are still here -- and Dalmatia's greatest city grew outward under Venice and a huge succession of other rulers. Indirectly this palace also influenced the architecture of America's founding fathers.

Oct 20, 2009

Photos: 70

Hvar, Croatia

Hvar claims to be the sunniest spot in Europe and has been a tourist destination since 1886. Over 5,000 years ago, this was the site of the Hvar Culture. UNESCO calls the still-used fields a world heritage site for Greek agriculture. Over thirty other empires have tried to run this thin limestone island that was once the southern Dinaric Alps mountain chain --before the Adriatic flooded its valleys.

Oct 19, 2009

Photos: 82

Trsteno Arboretum

These pictures of the Trsteno Arboretum supplement our Dubrovnik slide show at: http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/DubrovnikCroatia?authkey=Gv1sRgCOzimefG9ZzgWA#slideshow/5412507898749873634 and it's better to start there.

Oct 17, 2009

Photos: 66

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Called the "Pearl of the Adriatic" because of its masterful town planning in the late 12th century, Dubrovnik skillfully manipulated hostile neighbors to maintain its independence during its golden age. Then came the earthquake that leveled it. Rebuilt in the Baroque period, this UNESCO World Heritage Site has again repaired itself after the 1991 war and is now the third most popular destination in the Mediterranean for cruise ships.

Oct 16, 2009

Photos: 89

The Defensive Walls of Dubrovnik, Croatia

This page supplements our Dubrovnik pictures at: It's best to visit there first. These walls gird Dubrovnik in a stone belt over a mile long. Like a few walled European cities, Dubrovnik was impregnable during the middle ages. Like none other, these walls held even during the months-long siege by the Yugoslav army and navy in 1991-92.

Oct 16, 2009

Photos: 49

Rector's Palace, Dubrovnik, Croatia -- Supplemental Pictures

These pictures supplement our presentation on Dubrovnik at:http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/DubrovnikCroatia?authkey=Gv1sRgCOzimefG9ZzgWA#slideshow/5412507898749873634 It's best to start there.

Oct 16, 2009

Photos: 45

Religious Buildings of Dubrovnik, Croatia -- Supplemental Slides

These slides supplement our discussion of Dubrovnik. It's best to start with our overview at http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/DubrovnikCroatia?authkey=Gv1sRgCOzimefG9ZzgWA#slideshow/5416624998045016882 .

Oct 16, 2009

Photos: 114

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

We spent a crisp fall day touring Plitvice Lakes National Park -- one of Croatia's most popular tourist destinations (for those who go beyond its beaches).

Oct 15, 2009

Photos: 18

Zagreb, Croatia

Join us as we visit this developing democracy as it emerges from the chaos of Europe's latest war.

Oct 13, 2009

Photos: 116

Zagreb Churches -- Supplemental Pictures

Pictures that didn't make the cut for the Zagreb Overview. Includes the Cathedral (Roman Catholic), Cathedral (Orthodox), St. Mary's, St. Catherines, and St. Marks. It's best to start with the explanations on the Zagreb pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/ZagrebCroatia?authkey=Gv1sRgCOCvyZTMteKZMw#

Oct 13, 2009

Photos: 125

The Market in Aix-en-Provence

Gratuitous shots taken at the street marked in Aix-en-Provence. Use as a screen saver (in slideshow mode). No captions to speak of.

Oct 11, 2009

Photos: 25

Aix-en-Provence

WARNING: THIS IS A ROBOALBUM: Pictures are sparsely annotated as we need to share them before we get around to writing up this town with the attention it deserves. Someday, perhaps, we will remedy this.

Oct 11, 2009

Photos: 110

Avignon

Up a busy river, Avignon has seen many invasions since its days as a Phoenician trading post. While these include the Romans and the Moors, the most famous "guests" were popes who lived here during much of the tumultuous 14th century. While Avignon survived the popes, the papacy almost did not survive Avignon as it resulted in the Western Schism with three simultaneous popes. Too much of a good thing.

Oct 3, 2009

Photos: 126

2009 Schmitt Father-Son Bonding trip -- day 4

Annual Schmitt Brothers and sons bonding trip with aerial photos of the Whistler area.

Sep 12, 2009

Photos: 52

Wing over Whistler, BC, Canada -- Supplemental Slides

These pictures augment the Whistler pictures and are sparsely commented.

Sep 12, 2009

Photos: 98

Whistler's Flowers

Flower pictures taken at the annual Schmitt Brothers and sons bonding trip. Very little captions here; just hit the play button and use as a screensaver.

Sep 9, 2009

Photos: 54

Burghaus Castle, Bavaria, Germany

These picture complement our Southern Bavaria pictures published at http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/DickAndJaneDoTheBavarianAlps2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCNaRgrWTmMKjkAE#slideshow/5411076745188023954 and it's best to start there.

Sep 7, 2009

Photos: 47

Hidden Lake Gardens

A bunch of gratuitous flower shots (mostly) from the botanical gardens in the Irish Hills.

Aug 19, 2009

Photos: 65

Schloss Linderhof

Tucked into the Bavarian Alps near the passion-play town of Oberammergau and the medieval Abbey at Ettal, the palace called Schloss Linderhof raises its Rococo head amid some of the best Italianate gardens in Europe. These pictures complement our slide show at: http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/DickAndJaneDoTheBavarianAlps2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCNaRgrWTmMKjkAE#slideshow/5411076745188023954 and it's best to start there.

Jul 24, 2009

Photos: 72

Ettal Abbey, Bavaria, Germany

This medieval Benedictine Abbey got a massive baroque face lift -- both inside and out -- in the 1700s. It then drew pilgrims as it draws tourists today to see the rococo masterpiece.

Jul 24, 2009

Photos: 62

Partnachklamm Canyon Walk -- Bavaria, Germany

Partnachklamm (in English "Partnach Gorge" reminds us Americans of some of the spectacular canyons of Utah. It's near the German town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. These pictures complement our slide show at d here: http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/SchlossLinderhof#slideshow and it's best to start there.

Jul 23, 2009

Photos: 33

Zugspitze

These pictures complement our slide show at http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/DickAndJaneDoTheBavarianAlps2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCNaRgrWTmMKjkAE#slideshow/5411076745188023954 and it's best to start there.

Jul 22, 2009

Photos: 28

Dick and Jane do the Bavarian Alps -- 2009

Our summer European trip focused upon the spectacular scenery and architecture of Southern Germany. We started in Salzburg, Austria, and then wandered through the Bavarian Alps.

Jul 22, 2009

Photos: 62

Schloss Herrenchiemsee, Bavaria, Germany

A lovely lake serves as a moat for the reclusive King Ludwig II's Versailles-like palace. These pictures complement our slide show at http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/DickAndJaneDoTheBavarianAlps2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCNaRgrWTmMKjkAE#slideshow/5411076745188023954 and it's best to start there.

Jul 21, 2009

Photos: 41

Amsterdam

We started our first major trip to Germany by entering and exiting through Amsterdam -- and decided to stay a few days.

Jul 15, 2009

Photos: 78

Begijhof Overflow Album

These sparsely-captioned pictures supplement the Amsterdam presentation at: http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/Amsterdam#slideshow (Please start there.)

Jul 15, 2009

Photos: 30

Sanctuary of our Lady of Victory, Málaga, Spain (overflow slides)

These extend our discussion of this unique sanctuary given in our overall Málaga presentation at http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/MalagaSpain .

May 24, 2009

Photos: 39

Spring 2009 Miscellaneous Giants Pictures

A few pics without Matthew or Mitchell

May 9, 2009

Photos: 35

Amsterdam -- Nieuwe Kerk Supplemental Slides

These slides augment this presentation: http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/Amsterdam#slideshow Please start there.

Mar 10, 2009

Photos: 33

Oude Kerk, Amsterdam -- Supplemental Slides

These pictures complement our Amsterdam slide show. Please start there at: http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/Amsterdam#slideshow

Mar 10, 2009

Photos: 41

Jerez de la Frontera, Spain

Here's a staid and quiet sleeper town that is, in fact, Andalusia's fifth largest city -- and a center for Sherry and dancing (by both humans and horses). We came for a night and stayed four.

Oct 29, 2008

Photos: 85

Toledo, Spain

Oct 22, 2008

Photos: 84

Jaen, Spain

A delightful provincial capital with a dynamite cathedral, the largest Moorish baths in Spain, and a restored and expanded alcazar -- in a geologically spectacular setting.

Oct 20, 2008

Photos: 68

Baeza, Jaén, Spain Cathedral -- Supplemental Pictures

Oct 20, 2008

Photos: 88

Baeza, Jaén, Spain

Another great spot where Andalusia found the High Renaissance!

Oct 20, 2008

Photos: 53

Baeza, Spain -- Palacio de Jabalquinto Supplemental Pictures

These pictures augment those of the Palace presented in the Baeza overview

Oct 20, 2008

Photos: 19

Jaen Cathedral

Overflow page with more pictures of the cathedral.

Oct 19, 2008

Photos: 77

Ubeda

Úbeda and its sister town, nearby Baeza, are by far the two most Renaissance of towns in Andalusia. For Úbeda, this happened when a deep-pocketed noble named Francisco de los Cobos accompanied his Emperor to Italy -- and brought back the High Renaissance. He hired the best architect of his day -- but ended up with the man’s apprentice, a young stone mason named Andréa Vandelvira who would go on to make Úbeda a town much copied in Spain and the New World. Úbeda has had some tough times before and since: including 250 years as a battleground between Moors and Christians. During that time, a 1368 war over the Spanish succession all but leveled the town. Since then the 1755 Lisbon earthquake (a Richter scale 9!) and the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s have further increased the havoc and destruction. Yet what’s left is a stone feast for the eyes; over 48 buildings are still classified today as monuments and UNESCO made the town a World Heritage site in 2003.

Oct 19, 2008

Photos: 108

Córdoba Mezquita -- Cathedral

Cordoba’s Mosque and Granada’s Alhambra are the unrivalled icons of Moorish architecture in Western Europe. Today the mosque is still a functioning worship space, as it has been since at least the 5th century. In that time, it’s been the world’s second largest mosque and one of many pretty good cathedrals in Spain. Here you walk from the Islamic world to the Christian – and back without going outside.

Oct 17, 2008

Photos: 75

Córdoba

Tourists come here to see the Great Mosque, and that alone is worth the trip. However, to get there, they walk through what was unarguably Europe's greatest city in 1000 CE. This town preserved and expanded Western thought through its great libraries and its steady production of some of the greatest Roman, Muslim, and Jewish intellectuals. We would be a different world without this town.

Oct 17, 2008

Photos: 124

Córdoba Mezquita -- Supplemental Pictures

These are pictures that did not make the cut (and some that did) for our Mosque Albulm with extensive captions. It's best to start with that album for the overall context. Copy and paste this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/CordobaMezquitaCathedral#slideshow

Oct 17, 2008

Photos: 209

Church of Santa Maria Carmona, Spain -- Overflow Pictures

These pictures augment those of the church published (with commentary) at http://picasaweb.google.com/schmitt.dick/CarmonaSpain#slideshow and it's best to start there.

Oct 16, 2008

Photos: 24

Carmona, Spain

Between the blockbuster towns of Seville and Cordoba rises this historic Andalusian town of Carmona.

Oct 16, 2008

Photos: 41

Arcos de la Frontera

Oct 11, 2008

Photos: 44

Cádiz, Spain

Oct 10, 2008

Photos: 76

Gibraltar

The icon of the eastern Mediterranean

Oct 8, 2008

Photos: 39

Osuna, Spain

High on a hill in the Seville region rises the elegant Andalusian town -- and former dukedom -- of Osuna.

Oct 7, 2008

Photos: 36

Parque Natura de El Torcal

Some of Spain's most unusual scenery locked into 3000 acres of wind and water-shaped limestone.

Oct 4, 2008

Photos: 10

Málaga, Spain

Everyone’s heard of Seville, but what of Andalusia’s second biggest town, Málaga and its half million Malagueños? This gateway to Spain’s Costa del Sol has a little of everything that’s good about Andalusia including Mediterranean beaches, rugged mountains, Phoenician/Greek/Roman/Moorish history, massive Holy Week processions and floats, beautiful strip parks, and a huge cathedral. (If you'd rather view this show as traditional web pages, try this link: http://www.fmschmitt.com/travels/spain/malaga_province/malaga/MalagaOverview.htm .)

Oct 3, 2008

Photos: 117

Nerja, Spain

A world class cave and a darling square on the eastern edge of Spain's Costa del Sol.

Oct 2, 2008

Photos: 31

Mijas, Spain

Join us for a visit in this most whitest of Analucian white villages.

Oct 1, 2008

Photos: 57

Antequera

Another Andalusian white hill town -- but this one’s unique. Here the Christians started their last holy war -- removing the Moors from their remaining Iberian holdout -- the Granada Empire. This makes the battle for Antequera the beginning of the end for the Moors. Today lovely Antequera retains its 16-18th century church buildings while sitting atop its strangely beautiful landscape.

Sep 29, 2008

Photos: 77

Northwest Morocco

An overnight tour of Tangier and its surroundings.

Sep 27, 2008

Photos: 65

Ronda, Spain

Another great Andalusian town hugging the mountains overlooking the Mediterranean. For its size, Ronda teems with attractions millennia in the making.

Sep 26, 2008

Photos: 54

The Alhambra and Generalife -- Granada

We ventured overnight to revisit the Alhambra -- the greatest example of Islamic Art in the Western world.

Sep 23, 2008

Photos: 77

Marbella, Spain

Sep 22, 2008

Photos: 23

Torremolinos Festivals of San Miguel

Torremolinos, Spain, celebrates the annual festival of San Miguel (Saint Michael), its patron saint. Pictures here are from the raucous parade opening the festival and 8 days later for the more formal procession.

Sep 21, 2008

Photos: 71

Malaga -- Overflow Album for the Real Hermandad de Nuestro Padre Jesús del Santo Sepulcro...

Andalusia religious festivals feature many floats carried by hundreds of men who populate today's "brotherhoods." None feature these groups and their floats as well as Malaga does. Here's several shots taken at their most accessible set of floats at the Real Hermandad de Nuestro Padre Jesús del Santo Sepulcro y Nuestra Señora de la Soledad,