Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Plazas are typical of Mexican urbanism. Here, one of Guadalajara's neighborhoods boasts a plaza whose elements fit the model almost perfectly: (1) an ornate fountain, (2) a canopy of shade, (3) a brigade of whitewashed tree trunks,(4) a residential littoral, (5) an adulatory statue, and (5) an assemblage of people setting the re-set button. [2008]

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Don't we all need to gaze into our future right now? What does the rest of the year hold? Doesn't 2021 just have to be better? You can be sure that Royal Street does not look like this at the moment. Alas, we may never go back to the "good old days," which we always imagine were better than they really were anyway. [2018]

Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Looking at water is so cooling. Listening to water is so calming. Feeling a watery mist is so refreshing. Fountain Square offers all three, all summer, to all who gather. [2019]

New York, New York, USA

If it was good enough for Sema-Tawy-Tafnakht in the 7th century B.C., it should be good enough for Horace Greeley: being memorialized while seated, that is. What do these two men have in common? They were both scribes. [2018]

Bursa, Turkey

There is a mystery here, or at least a case of cognitive dissonance. Atatürk (candidate for the 'best-dressed' award) despised the Ottomans and worked to build a modern, secular, West-leaning Turkey. Yet, the flag of the Republic of Turkey is a virtual replica of the last flag used by the Ottoman Empire. Why? [2007]

Hopkinton, New Hampshire, USA

The Congregational Church is one of the foundation stones of New England. It was perfectly suited to the North American frontier because it insisted on the complete autonomy of local congregations. Compare that with the clerical hierarchy that governed the Church of England. The Congregational Church helped make New England new. [2018]

Riga, Latvia

Here's a monument that just exudes the Communist era. Although it is a reminder of Latvia's Soviet past, it is also a reminder of the heroism of the Latvian riflemen who stood up to an advancing German army in 1915 and then became part of Russian forces to fight the Germans in World War I. [2003]

Lisbon, Portugal

Rossio Square has served as a commons for the people of Lisbon since the Middle Ages. It has invigilated Portugal's rise to power and has become the capital's equivalent of Madrid's Plaza Mayor. But, while Spain has chosen an absolute monarch to dominate its signature plaza, Portugal has chosen a modernist king, Dom Pedro IV. There he is atop the column. [2009]

Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

These two better be careful. That lion's jaws are awfully close. He may be asleep now, but what is going to happen when he wakes up? And, why does he have that smile on his face? Come to think of it, why are lions allowed in Edinburgh's public parks anyway? [2017]

Guilford, Connecticut, USA

"Tis the season for the Town Forester to inspect all the trees on the village green. It's easier in the winter when you don't have all that foliage blocking your view. A light trim, if not a full pruning, is likely to be in order. [2008]

Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

If the Edinburgh Fringe doesn't appeal to you, the city also hosts the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh International Book Festival at the same time. The book festival takes over Charlotte Square, with pavilions sheltering book stores, displays, and signings on all sides. Who's the grand marshal on the plinth? Prince Albert. [2017]

Haghpat, Armenia

So much for socialization! Four people: each gazing in a different direction, almost as if they don't know each other. Yet, they must. Haghpat is little more than a village, and this is the village square. [2015]

Auckland, New Zealand

Gloria Jean's Coffees may have been founded in the United States (no, not in Seattle!), but it soon pioneered the coffee-house concept in Australia, which is now its biggest market. (Afterthought: New Zealand, too.) [2011]

Las Vegas, New Mexico, USA

As morning gives way to noon, a group of students prepares to have lunch in the gazebo. Three others, behaving like regulars, have been enjoying the plaza for a while now. It may be the middle of summer, but altitude makes the mercury perfect for outdoor engagements. Las Vegas is well over a mile above sea level. [2017]

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

In the foreground: King Father Norodom Sihanouk's Memorial, completed 2013. In the background: the Independence Monument, completed in 1958. Farther away: the skyline of the new Phnom Penh, still under construction. [2016]

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

The games are played inside Philadelphia's Municipal Services Building, but the game pieces are outside on the plaza. Here, Parcheesi takes center stage, but you might also recognize checkers and chess. Somebody better tell her that it's her move. [2017]

Suffield, Connecticut, USA

Church parking lots should be full today, whether they're on a village green or in the sprawling suburbs. It's Resurrection Day, the day that makes Christians Christians. Protestant churches (including the Congregational Church here) represent the third great sub-division of Christianity. [2009]

Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Dutch people head to the polls today. The country has always been solidly undergirded by shared bonds of nationhood and a commitment to liberal democracy. Now, issues of minority rights and the role of the European Union could potentially send it reeling. At least they have a king as head of state, and this is where he lives when he comes to Amsterdam. [2015]

Havana, Cuba

Havana's historico centro has four main plazas and lots of of small ones. This one is dominated by a group of harlequins whose job it is to add some merriment to the scene. Look! It worked! [2017]

San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Evergreen trees symbolize Jesus' promise of life eternal: "whosover believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." True, the Christmas tree had its roots in the pagan rituals of northern Europe, but it is also a perfect aide memoire for John 3:16, Christianity's foundational verse. [2016]