HAPPY NEW YEAR!

About ... Winter at Plesa village, in Bucovina, Romania

Merry Christmas!

about ... Winter

This is my WINTER. This is my Romanian Winter. You have to love it! It's magical!!!

about ... Alligators

Saved from the brink of extinction, the American alligator now thrives in its native habitat: the swamps and wetlands of the southeastern United States.

American alligators reside nearly exclusively in the freshwater rivers, lakes, swamps, and marshes of the southeastern United States, primarily Florida and Louisiana.Heavy and ungainly out of water, these reptiles are supremely well adapted swimmers. Males average 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.6 meters) in length and can weigh 1,000 pounds (453 kg). Females grow to a maximum of about 9.8 feet (3 meters.) 

One look at these menacing predators—with their armored, lizard-like bodies, muscular tails, and powerful jaws—and it is obvious they are envoys from the distant past. The species, scientists say, is more than 150 million years old, managing to avoid extinction 65 million years ago when their prehistoric contemporaries, the dinosaurs, died off.

Large male alligators are solitary territorial animals. Smaller alligators can often be found in large numbers close to each other. The largest of the species (both males and females), will defend prime territory; smaller alligators have a higher tolerance of other alligators within a similar size class.

Although alligators have a heavy body and a slow metabolism, they are capable of short bursts of speed, especially in very short lunges. Alligators' main prey are smaller animals that they can kill and eat with a single bite. Alligators may kill larger prey by grabbing it and dragging it into the water to drown. Alligators consume food that can’t be eaten in one bite by allowing it to rot, or by biting and then spinning or convulsing wildly until bite-size chunks are torn off. This is referred to as a "death roll." Critical to the alligator's ability to initiate a death roll, the tail must flex to a significant angle relative to its body. An alligator with an immobilized tail cannot perform a death roll.

Most of the muscle in an alligator's jaw evolved to bite and grip prey. The muscles that close the jaws are exceptionally powerful, but the muscles for opening their jaws are comparatively weak. As a result, an adult human can hold an alligator's jaws shut barehanded. It is common today to use several wraps of duct tape to prevent an adult alligator from opening its jaws when handled or transported.

The type of food eaten by alligators depends upon their age and size. When young, alligators eat fish, insects, snails, crustaceans, and worms. As they mature, progressively larger prey is taken, including larger fish such as gar, turtles, various mammals, particularly nutria and muskrat,[7] as well as birds, deer and other reptiles. Their stomachs also often contain gizzard stones. They will even consume carrion if they are sufficiently hungry. In some cases, larger alligators are known to ambush dogs, Florida panther and black bears, making it the apex predator throughout its distribution. In this role as a top predator, it may determine the abundance of prey species including turtles and nutria As humans encroach onto their habitat, attacks are few but not unknown. 

Alligators are generally timid towards humans and tend to walk or swim away if one approaches. This has led some people to the practice of approaching alligators and their nests in a manner that may provoke the animals into attacking. In the state of Florida, it is illegal to feed wild alligators at any time. If fed, the alligators will eventually lose their fear of humans and will learn to associate humans with food, thereby becoming a greater danger to people.

about ... Borough Market, London

No trip to London is complete without a stop at Borough Market. Borough Market is one of London's oldest wholesale fruit and vegetable markets, established by Act of Parliament in 1756 and administered by 21 trustees who have to live in the local community. It covers an area of 4.5 acres.  

The present market, located on Southwark Street and Borough High Street just south of Southwark Cathedral on the southern end of London Bridge, is a successor to one that originally adjoined the end of London Bridge . It was first mentioned in 1276, although the market itself claims to have existed since 1014 "and probably much earlier" and was subsequently moved south of St Margaret's church on the High Street. The City of London received a royal charter from Edward VI in 1550 to control all markets in Southwark, which was confirmed by Charles II in 1671. However, the market caused such traffic congestion that in 1754 it was abolished by an Act of Parliament. 

But enough about history and lets here about the food.  

Love, love, love this place. Smells good, looks good... It just feels good being at the Borough Market. 
If you like food, you'll like it here. I could just wander from stall to stall all day but it is obviously quite a popular spot so be prepared to walk among the crowds. If you hate giant crowds, then this might not be the place for you.  

This is a foodie paradise. The stalls are a mix of fresh produce, cheeses and street food to go, with traditional British offerings rubbing shoulders with offerings from around the world. Whatever you need, from fruits and veggies, olive oils, ciders, sandwiches, paella, full meals, light bites, cheese, you can find it here. 

Because Borough Market is so big and diverse, there is plenty of vegetarian choices.

Operating in the early hours of the morning, the streets used to be quiet and empty during the day, but not anymore. The capital relied on Borough Market for its essential supplies. It is now being reborn as a retail center of excellence in addition to the trade activities.  

about ... Glacier Bay National Park Alaska

And so I arrived in Glacier Bay Park, a paradise for photographers,a land reborn, a world returning to life, an inspiration place. 

Glacier Bay National Park is a highlight of Alaska's Inside Passage and part of a 25-million acre World Heritage Site-one of the world’s largest international protected areas and is covering 3.3 million acres of rugged mountains, dynamic glaciers, temperate rain forest, wild coastlines, and deep sheltered fjords. Glacier Bay became part of  UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, was inscribed as a Biosphere Reserve in 1986 and in 1994 undertook an obligation to work with Hoonah and Tlingit Native American organizations in the management of the protected area.

Sailing through Glacier Bay today, you travel along shorelines and among islands that were completely covered by ice just over 200 years ago. A massive river of ice occupied the entire bay. In 1794 what we now call Glacier Bay was described as just a small five-mile indent in a gigantic glacier that stretched off to the horizon. That massive glacier was more than 4,000 feet thick in places, up to 20 miles wide, and extended more than 100 miles to the St. Elias mountain range.By 1879, the ice had retreated more than 30 miles forming an actual bay. By 1916, the Grand Pacific Glacier – the main glacier credited with carving the bay – had melted back 60 miles to the head of what is now Tarr Inlet. Today, fewer than a dozen smaller tidewater glaciers remain. 

A journey through Glacier Bay is a journey through time, from ice age to modern age. You pass through hundreds of bold changes and subtle transitions where plants and animals pioneer new ground and surprise even the most seasoned observers of nature. 

As its name implies, much of Glacier Bay National Park is water. Most of the land within the park is mountainous, covered with dense rain forest or alder thickets, and without roads or trails. While a few hardy travelers hike, raft, or climb the mountains, the vast majority of visitors travel by salt water. Glacier Bay is a natural waterway from Alaska's Inside Passage to the tidewater glaciers that are the park's main attraction. Its numerous branches, inlets, lagoons, islands, and passages offer virtually limitless opportunities for exploration.

No roads lead to the park and it is most easily reached by air travel. During some summers there are ferries to the small community of Gustavus or directly to the marina at Bartlett Cove. Despite the lack of roads, there are over 400,000 visitors each year most of whom arrive via cruise ship, but the number of ships that may arrive each day is limited by regulation. Other travelers come on white-water rafting trips.

Glaciers fed by heavy snow extend to the sea and calve icebergs from their face. Sediments may accumulate at the face of tidewater glacier, providing a protective shoal from the seawater, allowing the ice to advance into deeper water.

If a glacier loses its shoal, retreat begins. If conditions become favorable, the cycle may begin again with the advance of glaciers.

about ... Cartagena's Balconies

Cartagena, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the Venice of Colombia and the country's most romantic city, with one of the most impressive old towns in the Western Hemisphere.  

Cartagena, especially the inner walled Old Town, offers a wealth of colonial architectural gems and churches. There are also several excellent museums and 400-year-old plazas that can't be missed. In fact, if it weren't for the motorcycles and taxis that whiz through the historic center, you'd think you were in a fantasy 16th-century Spanish town. 

about ... Butterflies

Alex

about ... Bucovina