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Travel Photography

This sensual yearning for knowledge, this insatiable wanderlust, this long desire.
My travels through Asia, Europe, Australia, the Americas and other destinations around the world.

Dennis David

Hawaii

Hawaii has a great allure for many Americans, but I think for those living on the West Coast, and for our family in particular, it may not seem foreign enough.

  • Hawaii

I’ve never had a bad time in Hawaii, having traveled there by ship and by plane. The beaches are some of the most beautiful in the world.

Hawaii

Holland

I used to visit Holland on every trip to Europe, landing at Schiphol but as the years roll by there is less to hold me at my country of birth. I do miss it though.

Amsterdam
Troppenmuseum
Amsterdam

Amsterdam’s history begins in the 12th century. Back then it was little more than a swampy area on the edge of the old Zuider Zee and the Amstel River. Nearby peoples considered it an unhealthy place and the people who settled what solid land there was developed a strongly independent character. Amsterdam grew around a dam in the Amstel River. The old name of ‘Amstelledamme’ is first mentioned in 1275, when Count Floris V allowed the inhabitants to transport goods free of tolls on Holland’s waterways. Around 1300, Amsterdam was granted a town charter. In the course of the 14th and 15th centuries, the town developed into an important trading center, mainly due to trade between the North and Baltic seas and southern Europe. The city gradually developed into a market town where products from different countries were stored, sold and shipped. As money flowed in, class struggle intensified. The Reformation grew out of a fight for power between the emerging merchants and the Catholic-sanctioned aristocrats.

The Reformation and the early years of the Eighty Years War (1568-1648) led to economic, religious and social unrest in the country and the city. The Catholic town council remained loyal to Philips II, the king of Spain. Many other major towns however joined the Prince of Orange’s cause. The Calvinists took on the imperial power of Spain's Catholic Philip II, and in 1578 they captured Amsterdam from him. The following year Amsterdam and seven northern provinces declared themselves an independent republic - Holland - led by William of Orange, the forefather of today's royal family. Amsterdam’s Golden Age started when trading rival Antwerpen was taken by the Spanish and access to the sea was restricted. By 1600, Amsterdam 's ships dominated seaborne trade and fishing in Europe, extending their horizons through the 17th century as Dutch overseas interests were established. Wealthy businessmen provided the funds for the exploration of the seas. This eventually led to the foundation of the East India Company (VOC) in 1602 and the West India Company (WIC) in 1621.

Hungary

Budapest, a city on the Danube, is the capital of Hungary. The first town, built by Celts, occupied about 30 hectares along the slopes of Gellert Hill (first century BC). It was called Ak Ink (meaning 'spring rich in water'). In the early fifth century the Roman defense lines were swept away by the Goths and other peoples fleeing westwards from the Huns. During the flourishing period of the Hun empire (after AD 430), this crossing point over the Danube retained its significance.

Budapest
Budapest

The Hungarian appeared around the end of the ninth century, establishing the seat of their prince near the crossing of the Danube. They quickly recognized the geo-strategic significance of the place. Obuda, the territory of the civilian city of Aquincum, became the first center of Hungary. (The name of Buda derives from a Hungarian given name.) When Obuda, Buda and Pest were united, the Hungarian capital was a medium-sized city of 300,000 inhabitants, the seventeenth largest European city.

Budapest
Budapest

In 1870 the municipality set up the Council of Public Works, which elaborated a grand master plan, and the city had the power to realize it. Everything that marked the standards of the age could be found in the master plan: there was a system of ring roads and boulevards, and a network of urban public transport: the height of the buildings was set, green spaces were included, and so forth. Though a major part of the city was built within the space of twenty years, the result was not monotony but a harmonious uniform style. Bridges were built over the Danube, and the first underground railway of the European continent was opened here in 1896. In 1873 electric lighting was brought to the streets.

In 1887 trams appeared, followed in 1888 by the first suburban trains; in 1885 the first urban telephone exchange was installed; in 1896 the Post Office usedbattery-driven vans for delivering parcels; and in 1900 the Royal Hungarian Automobile Club was founded. With the dissolution of socialismin 1989, the city has entered the post-industrial age with the leading role of blue-collar industry being replaced by services and a white-collar workforce. Budapest is once again becoming a Central European capital.

Indonesia

Indonesia is where both of my parents and sister were born and in 2007 I finally had a chance to go there. It would have been nice to meet some relatives but we missed the opportunity. Landing first on the island of Java we ended our journey in Bali.

Pangandaran National Park
Landmarks

Pangandaran National Park

17 May 2015 5

The park covers 530 hectares with a mix of secondary rainforest, towering teak trees and grasslands for grazing. The reserve has diverse fauna, commonly sighted are Sunda Sambar deer and long-tailed macaques (monkeys).

Pangandaran National Park

Jakarta
Towns & Villages

Jakarta

17 May 2015 5

Jakarta, Indonesia's massive capital, sits on the northwest coast of the island of Java. A historic mix of cultures – Javanese, Malay, Chinese, Arab, Indian and European – has influenced its architecture, language and cuisine. The old town, Kota Tua, is home to Dutch colonial buildings, Glodok (Jakarta’s Chinatown) and the old port of Sunda Kelapa, where traditional wooden schooners dock. In 2019 a plan was proposed to create a new Indonesian capital.

Jakarta

Ubud
Towns & Villages

Ubud

8 Apr 2015 13

The town of Ubud, in the uplands of Bali, Indonesia, is known as a center for traditional crafts and dance. The surrounding Ubud District’s rainforest and terraced rice paddies, dotted with Hindu temples and shrines, are among Bali’s most famous landscapes.

Ubud

Segara Anakan Lagoon
Landmarks

Segara Anakan Lagoon

8 Apr 2015 13

Segara Anakan is a large lagoon located along the southern coast of Java, Cilacap district, Indonesia, fringed by the only large estuarine-mangrove forest left on the island. The lagoon is of high ecological and economic value because of its richness and diversity in living natural resources, comprising commercially important fish, crabs, and mangrove species.

Segara Anakan Lagoon

Italy

A man who has not been in Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority, from his not having seen what it is expected a man should see.

Samuel Johnson, writer and poet.
Florence
Towns & Villages

Florence

17 May 2015 5

Cradle of the Renaissance, romantic, enchanting and utterly irresistible, Florence (Firenze) is a place to feast on world-class art and cuisine. Michelangelo’s “David”, Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” and da Vinci’s “Annunciation” are just a few of the works on display.

Florence

Lombardy
Towns & Villages

Lombardy

17 May 2015 5

One of Italy’s largest regions, Lombardy lies in the north of the country, sharing a border with Switzerland. Stretching from the Alps to the lowlands of the Po Valley, it is home to a wide range of landscapes, including the breathtaking mountain chain that boasts the Valchiavenna, Valtellina and the Camonica Valley.

Lombardy

Scrovegni Chapel
Churches & Cathedrals

Scrovegni Chapel

17 May 2015 5

The Scrovegni Chapel, dedicated to St. Mary of the Charity, frescoed between 1303 and 1305 by Giotto, upon the commission of Enrico degli Scrovegni, is one of the most important masterpieces of Western art. The frescoes, which narrate events in the lives of the Virgin Mary and Christ. On the wall opposite the altar is the grandiose Universal Judgement, which concludes the story of human salvation.

Scrovegni Chapel

Treviso
Towns & Villages

Treviso

17 May 2015 5

The Province of Treviso is still called by its ancient name “Marca,” a Medieval term used to indicate the borderlands. The area is marked by the waters of the Piave, Sile and Livenza Rivers, with charming landscapes dotted with elegant and stately homes.

Treviso

Tuscany
Towns & Villages

Tuscany

8 Apr 2015 13

With its wine-soaked villages, art-rich cities, swathes of olive groves and truffle fields Tuscany epitomizes la vera Italia. But this central region’s most relevant role will always be as the birthplace to the Renaissance.

Tuscany

Prosecco Road
Landmarks

Prosecco Road

8 Apr 2015 13

Prosecco Road “Strada del Prosecco” lies between the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, and is the road that accommodates the finest vines and wineries where the highest quality Proseccos (sparkling wines) are produced.

Prosecco Road

Venice
Towns & Villages

Venice

8 Apr 2015 13

Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is situated across a group of 117 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by bridges. These are located in the shallow Venetian Lagoon. The lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site. Venice is one of the most important tourist destinations in the world for its celebrated art and architecture.

Venice

Mille Miglia Museum
Museums

Mille Miglia Museum

17 May 2015 5

"Winning the Mille Miglia was a more difficult challenge than the Le Mans 24 Hours. The stress on the car was far higher, you were racing on public roads… it’s a much more intense 10 hours than anywhere else.""

Stirling Moss

Mille Miglia Museum

Laos

Luscious languid Laos, it’s almost as if the words are inseparable from the image one has after visiting this country. The people, the landscape forces one to slow down their frenetic pace. None of the hustle and bustle that you find in its neighbor, Vietnam has overtaken Laos.

  • Laotian Village

Laotian Village

Malaysia

Malaysia is a fascinating country where Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures mix in a cacophonous blend of sights, sounds, and smells.

Kuala Lumpur
Towns & Villages

Kuala Lumpur

17 May 2015 5

Kuala Lumpur is the capital city of Malaysia, boasting gleaming skyscrapers, colonial architecture, charming locals, and a myriad of natural attractions.

Kuala Lumpur

Penang
Towns & Villages

Straits Settlements

8 Apr 2015 13

The Straits Settlements was a former British crown colony on the Strait of Malacca, comprising four trade centers, Penang, Singapore, Malacca, and Labuan, established or taken over by the British East India Company. In 1867 they came under direct British control as a Crown colony.

We had the opportunity of visiting Penang and Malacca while I was working in Singapore.

Straits Settlements

Mexico

Mexico to me represents the beginning of California and a country that I have visited often if only through its resorts. It's our future next door.

Guadalajara
Towns & Villages

Guadalajara

17 May 2015 5

In the western state of Jalisco, Guadalajara is the second largest city in the country, known as the land of tequila and mariachi and for its rich history and traditions.

Guadalajara

Puerto Vallarta
Towns & Villages

Puerto Vallarta

8 Apr 2015 13

Located on Mexico's Pacific coast in the northwest corner of the state of Jalisco, Puerto Vallarta rings Mexico's largest natural bay, the Bahia de Banderas (Bay of Flags).

Puerto Vallarta

Singapore

In Singapore, you are either eating, shopping or sleeping. I’ve always said that the Asian city-state represents the Chinese idea of perfection, so efficient is its government.

Festival of Thaipusam
Events

Festival of Thaipusam

17 May 2015 5

Thaipusam is an important festival observed by the Hindus of southern India during the full moon of the Tamil month of Thai (Jan-Feb). Outside of India, it is celebrated mainly by the Tamil-speaking community in Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka with a body piercing using hooks, skewers, and small lances called vel.

Festival of Thaipusam

Singapore
Towns & Villages

Singapore City State

8 Apr 2015 13

A truly modern metropolis, the city state of Singapore is unlike anywhere else in Southeast Asia. Founded as a trading post for the British Empire, its rapid development and western style are a counterpoint to the more visceral Asian cities of Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Singapore has the largest port in Southeast Asia and one of the busiest in the world.

Singapore City State

Czech Republic

I had originally planned to get married in the Czech Republic instead of Austria but the logistics at the time proved too difficult so the republic had to recede in my consciousness never to fully leave. In 2019 the opportunity finally arrived and after flying to Munich we left from there on a wonderful three-week road trip through Bohemia and Moravia.

Karlovy Vary
Towns & Villages

Bohemia

17 May 2015 5

Bohemia is a historical country of central Europe that was a kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire and subsequently a province in the Habsburgs’ Austrian Empire. Bohemia was bounded on the south by Austria, on the west by Bavaria, on the north by Saxony and Lusatia, on the northeast by Silesia, and on the east by Moravia.

Bohemia’s name comes from a Celtic people known as the Boii, though the Slavic Czechs were firmly established in the region by the 5th or 6th century.

Bohemia

Český Krumlov
Towns & Villages

Český Krumlov

17 May 2015 5

The southwestern city of Cesky Krumlov is one of the Czech Republic’s finest medieval sites. Its Old Town a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site, a maze of twisting alleys built around the extensive Cesky Krumlov castle.

Český Krumlov

National Technical Museum
Towns & Villages

National Technical Museum

17 May 2015 5

National Technical Museum in Prague was established in 1908. For over a hundred years extensive collections have been assembled here documenting the development of many technical fields, of the natural and exact sciences, and of industry in the territory of today’s Czech Republic.

National Technical Museum

Broumov & Adršpach
Towns & Villages

Broumov & Adršpach

8 Apr 2015 13

A natural center of the Broumov area is the town of Broumov which features the Benedictine Broumov Monastery whose current high Baroque design is the work of the architect Kilián Ignác Dintzenhofer. Nearby Adrspach-Teplice Rocks is made of huge rock formations that take the shape of pillars, columns, walls, and labyrinths.

Broumov & Adršpach

Moravia
Towns & Villages

Moravia

8 Apr 2015 13

Moravia, traditional region in central Europe that served as the centre of a major medieval kingdom, known as Great Moravia, before it was incorporated into the kingdom of Bohemia in the 11th century. In the 20th century Moravia became part of the modern state of Czechoslovakia and subsequently of the Czech Republic.

Moravia

Prague
Towns & Villages

Prague

8 Apr 2015 13

Lying at the heart of Europe, Prague is one of the continent’s finest cities and the major Czech economic and cultural centre. The city has a rich architectural heritage that reflects both the uncertain currents of history in Bohemia and an urban life extending back more than 1,000 years.

Prague

  • Singapore

City State

  • Singapore

Festival of Thaipusam