Bath, Maine

The bridge between Bath and Woolwich

Right now Bath is in the middle of a blizzard, so I'm going to post pictures of a more pleasant time.

I'm not sure what this building is, but it looks very serious.

Cute little cafe

I keep meaning to go in, but I always seem to pass by on Sundays, when it's closed.

This style of architecture is pretty rare in Maine

Downtown area

Centre St.

Washington St.

Patten Free Library

During the fall

Cat sitting by the marsh

Fog on Route 1

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First Snow 2010

Not very pretty, but apparently it was much heavier in other parts of the state. I'm pleased it wasn't worse here.

It does make the decorations look more Christmas-y.

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Knox, Maine

Central Maine Auction Hall

A few years I was going to the Common Ground Fair. Traffic was so slow that I was able to take a few photographs on the way. These were taken on Route 220.

Farmhouse

Gate

Tree

Farm

Silo

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Stonington, Maine

Stonington Harbor

I lived in Stonington during the summers when I was in college. It's a small town on Deer Isle, about an hour and half from Bangor. At least the way I drive it is, I heard some fishermen claiming they could make it in 30 minutes. I went back for the first time in years this summer. I didn't take too many pictures, unfortunately.

Looking down towards the harbor

The main street runs along the harbor. It's a fairly small town, just over a thousand people. It's not close to anything, but it really is beautiful. A lot of people who live there are fishermen or lobstermen. There are also several art galleries for tourists. There is a little conflict between the two groups. There used to be a lot of granite quarries (hence the name) but most of them have been shut down now.

You can actually see a tiny part of the house I lived in, I think. It's on the far right.

I took this photo years ago, when I still lived there. I didn't mind the fog, but I didn't like the fog horns. They could be startlingly loud. I did get used to it.

Caterpillar Hill

This was taken in Sedgwick, on the trip back from Stonington. You can see the bridge to Little Deer Isle from this spot, but it's not visible in the picture. This was taken facing west, towards Camden.

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Peggy's Cove

I went to Nova Scotia in September, I'm not sure why it took me so long to post these pictures. Peggy's Cove is near Halifax. It's a major tourist attraction, but it wasn't that crowded the day I went. The light was incredibly strange the day I went. It's hard to tell that from the photos, but I think it makes the photos seem a little unreal.

This was taken in the town next to Peggy's Cove. Indian Harbor, I think.

Peggy's Cove

This looks like it's a toy village, I think.

Not a great shot but you can see more of the town.

Taken from the same place, looking towards the ocean.

The lighthouse

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Book Vending Machine - Singil

This is the most interesting vending machine I've seen. I saw it at Singil station in Seoul. I have no idea what the books are about. They were 2000 won, or about $2 (at the time - I don't know what the exchange rate is now).

It opened up the books periodically so that people could see a random page, which I thought was pretty useful.

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More Bongeunsa Photos

Cherry blossoms

Bongeunsa is a Buddhist temple in Gangnam. It was built in 794, but few of the original building remain.

Skyscrapers

It's hard to completely leave the city behind, but it's still peaceful and quiet, particularly if you just came from the COEX building.

Flowers

It's worth visiting in the spring, to see all the flowers. They also grow grapes, so if you go in the right season, you can pick them yourself. Unless I imagined that. I definitely had grapes once when I was there, but I'm not completely certain they grew them there. I find Korean grapes to be a bit too grape-y flavored. That probably says more about the quality of grapes in the US though. I've had some fantastic strawberries though. 

Buddha

The state of Buddha is actually much larger than it looks in this picture, but I don't really like the other photos I took, so you'll just have to imagine it.

Temple Buildings

It took awhile to get used to all the reverse swastikas. You see it a lot on maps, it's a symbol for a Buddhist temple. It means the same thing in Japan, but I think it's more common to see it painted on the temple itself in South Korea.

Lanterns

I believe these lanterns are for Buddha's birthday. They put out lanterns for a lot of the festivals. I've seen lotus-shaped ones and all-white ones. I posted more photos of them here: Lanterns in South Korea

Man reading a newspaper

Not everyone was there to pray or sight-see. I think some people were locals trying to stay out of the heat. There are a lot of volunteers and monks walking around too. Quite a few people spoke English and were willing to talk about Buddhism - they have day programs where you can follow the monks around. Everyone I talked to were super-calm and peaceful. It's very different from the rest of Seoul. I imagine most temples are like that.

Side of temple building

To get there: Take Line 2 to Samseong. Take exit 6 and walk north (away from the big intersection). Take a left at the next intersection, and look for the trees (it's on the other side of the road, so cross over). I think you could also take Line 7 and get off at Cheongdam, but it's a longer walk. It's been a few years since I've been there, so it's probably a good idea to double-check before you go.

Bongeunsa Official Website

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