Prague Castle in the spring. 

Traveler on the Charles Bridge, Prague. 

I forget the name of this river in Prague - ah, it's the Vltava River.

The candles of the faithful, left to burn for days -
sometimes weeks and months (you can buy different
sizes; some are several feet tall and bigger than an
arm's width.) 

The entrance to the Shrine is at the end of the road
on the right. The building on the left is where priests
hear confessions in different languages. 

Our Lady in the snow. 

A view of the ramp, from below (and from below zero). 

One of the saints standing guard on the
ramp leading to the basilica. 

Our Lady watching over everything, even in the dark
of night. 

I did say FACES AND PLACES. This is the Basilica in the
Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, taken in January
last year, the dead of winter. Yes I went to the baths -
the water cold at first touch but then one got used to
it very quickly. 

Manila. Plastic bag vendor. 

Young mother on a boat crossing the Bosphorus in
Istanbul. This baby has his head showing. Some mothers
swaddle their babies so tight they look like the rice cakes
we call ibus in Iloilo, tightly wrapped in
palm leaves. 

Care for pork rinds, salted eggs, anyone? 

Enjoying a midday meal in hot and crowded Manila. 

Sidewalk vendor reading her prayer book. 

Back to Manila this past July. Some street
kids near Manila's Chinatown, playing
a game of cards. Glue-sniffing is probably
part of the picture for these guys. 

In the Philippines we have an inimitable concoction
of shaved ice with milk, a sweet syrup, jello,
sweet beans, tapioca, purple yam, and what
have you, topped with a scoop of ice cream.
We call it halo halo (literally: mix mix). This
halo halo vendor is getting ready to shave another
batch of ice using a wooden slab with spikes.
No blenders necessary.
 

I struggle about taking and posting pictures like this. A
striking picture to me is plain, grinding poverty to some of
the people I take picures of. Here it is anyway: corn vendor. 

Also taken at the Jaro fiesta. Two girls playing
withsome little birds that they just got,
in the cage. I think there's some religious
significance to the little birds but I can't remember
what it is exactly right now. 

We go to Iloilo now, my home city. This guy was taking
a much-needed break - probably because he was up
all night working. Taken one February just outside
the compound of the Jaro cathedral - the day of the
Jaro fiesta, Feb. 2. It is the feast of the Presentation
of Our Lord in the liturgical calendar, and somehow also
the feast of Our Lady of the Candles (Nuestra Senora
de Candelaria). Our Lady is the patron saint of Jaro. 

These guys were also happy to oblige. They
were cooking fish for a small carinderia
in Ermita. A carinderia - also called turo-turo
sometimes, is an eating place: small, sometimes
just a hole in the wall - where the food is laid out
in trays that sit on a counter (sometimes glassed
in, sometimes not). You look at the food that's available
and you point (ot TURO) at what you would like to eat.
One of the people working there would then put a
portion on a plate, with rice, and you eat at one of
the tables there - usually formica, usually rickety,
and enjoy your meal!

I love taking pictures of people. It is so nice when they are
willing and happy subjects, like this lady who was cleaning
the street in Manila when I was there last July. She was so
happy to have her picture taken - and I was happy to take it.