Mount Etna ignites: 2001

August 2001: only a few days before our trip to Sicily, Mount Etna ignites.

A satellite image showing a plume emanating from Mount Etna and stretching over 600 km south-eastward across the Mediterranean Sea towards Libya.

Near the town of Nicolosi we were able to climb to the active vent of Mount Etna. The sound, the smell and the sight on the active volcano: a dream come true!

August 9: the 2001 eruption of Mount Enta enters its last phase. Tourists approach the active volcanic vent.

 

Nefertiti, the bust: 2001

Impressed by Egypt in 1996 we had to see the world famous bust of queen Nefertiti in the Egyptian Museum during our visit to Berlin.

"And the heiress, great in the palace, fair of face, adorned with the double plumes, mistress of happiness, endowed with favours, at hearing whose voice the king rejoices, the chief wife of the king, his beloved, the lady of the two lands, Nefertiti, may she live for ever and always."

Inscription on a stelae of Queen Nefertiti's husband Pharaoh Akhenaten.

Rocket launch from Kennedy Space Center: 2000

10 November 2000, 12:14 PM. Boeing Delta 2 rocket 7925 lifts off from pad 17A and roars to space. The sight, the sound: a once-in-a-lifetime experience from the pier in Jetty Park!

Alligator, the trademark of the Everglades: 2000

An alligator in Florida's Everglades National Park basking in the sun, keeping an eye open for it's next big catch .....

This photo was published in the Time To Travel Agenda 2005.

Petra, a rose-red city half as old as time: 1999

The lost city of Petra remained unknown to the western world until 1812, when it was rediscovered by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. In 1839 David Robert captured this beautiful ancient city in his sketches as Burckhardt discovered it.

The Siq

At the end of the Siq stands Al Khazneh, the Treasury, Petra's most elaborate ruin.

The Treasury

The Treasury was used as the entrance to the temple housing the Holy Grail in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

 

Amazing coloured rock

The Monastery, El Deir, Petra's largest monument.

The Monastery, sketched by David Roberts (1839).

"... a rose-red city half as old as time."

John William Burgon on Petra (1845)

Amman, urban monotony: 1999

Monotonous buildings on the 7 hills of Amman, the modern and ancient capital of Jordan.

This photo was published on the cover of Artists in Town, a brochure of the European Commision on a cultural exchange project.

Bryce Canyon, hoodoos at sunset: 1998

The hoodoos, amazing pillars of rock, in Bryce Canyon are formed as a result of erosion by ice. The view from the rim, over one of the most impressive landscapes on Earth, is breathtaking. No wonder we came back after our first visit in 1995 en probably will return here in the future!

"It's a hell of a place to lose a cow"

Ebenezer Bryce - immigrant on Bryce Canyon (1875)