He promised them a rose garden

Where: Near Benešov, Czech Republic
When: June 2014

In this photo of the main rose garden at the Konopiště chateau you see a true rarity: animals that are actually alive. Those are two beautiful (but loud) peacocks enjoying the summer weather and thanking their lucky stars that the chateau's most famous resident, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, isn't around to kill them. Ferdinand claimed to have killed more than 300,000 animals, many of which are trophies hanging on the walls of the chateau's rooms and hallways. You may notice the "100" arranged in the well-kept circle -- that's because the chateau is marking the anniversary of the archduke's assassination, which happened 100 years ago to the day of this post. One chateau tour gives you the opportunity to view the bullet that killed him and kicked off World War I.

Dancing the night away

Where: Prague, Czech Republic

When: October 2013

What happens when you give a world-renowned architect a street corner and an unlimited budget? You get the Nationale-Nederlanden building, aka the Dancing House, aka Fred and Ginger, aka A Building Thankfully Approved By Vaclav Havel Or Else It May Not Have Seen The Light Of Day. Located along the Vltava riverfront, the building was completed in 1996, about four years after it was designed by Frank Gehry. The buildings are supported by 99 panels, all of which are a different shape. It's not normally lit up like this; in September the city hosted a festival of lights in which many of Prague's landmarks were illuminated. 

More than a bridge

Where: Florence, Italy
When: June 2011

This is Ponte Vecchio, the only bridge in Florence not destroyed during World War II. The bridge is unusual in that there are houses (now used as shops) built on it, and even more unusual in that there's a passage on top of the houses that leads from the town hall to the Pitti Palace. It's the oldest bridge in Florence, dating to 1345, and its low three-arched design is said to be better suited for handling flooding of the Arno River.

The composer's stone

Where: Vienna, Austria
When: February 2012

Admittedly, I was inspired to post this one today because my youngest niece will be performing in an opera today (not a Mozart one, but I don't have any photos of Brahms). This Mozart statue is located in the Royal Imperial Garden of Hofburg Palace, the extravagant seat of the Hapsburgs back when they were important. The flower bed at the site is shaped like a musical clef, but given that this was in winter, a romantic snowfall was a more-than-welcome alternative.

Upon further reflection ...

Where: Červená Lhota, Czech Republic
When: April 2012

This chateau, located in a southern Bohemian town that translates to "Red Village," has been in existence since the middle of the 14th century. It was originally white (the chateau, not the village). A thorough history on this page states that the chateau became a "theatre of squabbles, arguments and personal assaults" when it was owned by two brothers, and then a "godless castle lady" died and left a blood stain on the white walls, and thus red paint was used to cover it. I have no idea if the story is true, but if it isn't, it's probably more interesting than the truth, and if nothing else "Godless Castle Lady" would probably make a good name for a band.

Life, Lady Liberty, and the pursuit of the knockout round

Where: Nuremberg, Germany
When: June 2006

This is hours before I attended my first World Cup match on foreign soil (and second overall). We played Ghana in the third and final contest of the group stage and, erm, I forgot what happened after that. I do remember marching through Old Town with hundreds and hundreds of chanting and singing U.S. fans to the train station, and nearly suffocating on said train, and also waiting for the train back to Munich with a very ornery and pissed off fan in an Elvis costume who kept telling anyone within earshot that we weren't taking the loss hard enough. Hey, don't be cruel ...

Night Lights

Where: Osaka, Japan
When: July 2010

Here in all its neon splendor is Dotonbori, the always-hopping center of Osaka and the home of Glico Man, a drumming clown, a massive crab, and a KFC statue that has cursed the local baseball team (thanks to being thrown into the river in 1985). There's more to the place than Glico Man, seen here running on a blue track as he has since 1935, but this is the part of the strip that gets photographed the most and, OK, call me a sucker.

Wall in good fun

Where: Prague, Czech Republic
When: June 2014

In 1630, the treacherous and rather successful military leader Albrecht von Wallenstein built a palace that was supposed to (but doesn't) rival Prague Castle. Having traveled through Italy beforehand, von Wallenstein commissioned architects and artists from that country to construct the garden with courtyards, a small pond, statues that have since been taken by the Swedes and replaced with replicas, and a dripstone wall with artificial stalactites. In a bit of architectural mayhem, the wall includes the shapes of animals and grotesque (the plaque's word, not mine) faces. Look carefully and you'll find at least two here. On a side note, the Czech Senate officially convenes in the palace, ensuring that the wall isn't the only place on the property that you'll be able to find snakes.

Alas, not an airport

Where: Prague, Czech Republic
When: October 2013

Now here's a rather large sight that's out of place in Prague. Also, there are two elephants in the foreground. They're just having a good ol' time in Střížkov, eating hay and waiting to perform in the circus later in the afternoon. In the background you see the Střížkov metro station, which despite its modern, classy look is a source of consternation among the most practical of Czechs (which happens to be about 97 percent of them). The station, designed by Patrik Kotas, cost about 600 million crowns to construct. That's about six times more than the cost of the Kolbenova station, which is often compared to Střížkov because of their similar functions -- i.e., an extension of a Metro line to a rather unfashionable part of town. The joke, according to the Special Assistant to the Blogger, goes something like this: Kotas wanted to design an airport, but all they gave him was a Metro station.

Living in Moravia

Where: Lednice, Czech Republic
When: April 2014

I'll say this about the House of Liechtenstein in the late 13th century: They weren't poor. The family owned all of Lednice, located in the southeast corner of the Czech Republic near the Austria border, as well as nearby Mikulov and, in due time, the entire Lednice-Valtice area that has since become a UNESCO site. The centerpiece of this area is Lednice Castle, whose grounds include a sizeable lake in the back, a massive greenhouse, hedges, flowers, and a fountain, a closeup of which you see here. The grounds are in the style of an English garden, which means they have since added a full-size goal that's perfect for missing penalties.

Always At Home

Where: Daegu, South Korea
When: April 2011

Believe it or not, the dog you see in this picture -- he's mine, by the way, and his name is Baldy -- was the third-largest dog in the my neighborhood in Daegu, which meant people reacted one of two ways, with very little in between: abject fear or unbridled curiosity. Thankfully, Seo Young (pictured) and her mom Mi Jin, who owned my favorite coffee shop in the city, fell into the latter category. Quick thing about the coffee culture in Daegu: There are tons of coffee shops but (unless things have changed) they don't open until 10 or 11 a.m.; those in need of an energy boost before a typical 75-hour Korean workday settle for coffee in a can. As for me, with a work schedule that didn't begin until mid-afternoon, I would somehow crawl out bed for my first walk with Baldy around 10:30, after which we'd stop at Mi Jin's shop, At Home, for my normal breakfast: bagel with cream cheese, cafe mocha and two complimentary bags of mini pretzels -- one for me, one for Baldy. OK, so make that our normal breakfast.

The cool way down

Where: Maurach, Austria

When: July 2012

In Maurach, a small Austrian town at Achensee, there's a cable car that takes you up to countless hiking paths in the Rofan mountains, part of the Brandenberg Alps in Tyrol. Or you can just be like this paraglider and take the more interesting way back down.