Yerevan, Armenia

Yerevan's covered market was an anchor of the old city, but it couldn't compete with modern chains and mass-produced products. For a while, it looked like the whole structure would be demolished. Since then, the exterior has been restored and 'big business' has turned it into one of the city's supermarkets. Tree: entirely artificial! [2015]

Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Today, we have a multiple choice question. You get to pick two from the above display. Recommended (especially for Sagittarians named Lucas): (1) Dream-It-Plan-It-Do-It, (2) No-Pain-No-Gain. [2016]

Sofia, Bulgaria

Twenty-nine years ago, you had to go to Berlin to see the Berlin Wall. Today, you can see a remnant or two in cities around the world, including Sofia. For Bulgarians, it provides an inspiration to remain free: free from foreign domination and free from domestic absolutism. This is how history remains a part of our everyday lives. [2010]

Riga, Latvia

It is nothing more than a movie being filmed on the streets of Riga, but it does remind you of the unenviable fate of a small state trying to survive between two aggressors: Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. What's amazing is that all three Baltic States held out for so long, and are once again sovereign in their own right. [2003]

Rancho Mirage, California, USA

Rancho Mirage devotes an entire acre to cancer survivors. The centerpiece of the park is a series of four windows symbolizing treatment. People of all ages are shown approaching, passing through and emerging from the gauntlet. Today, my birthday, I estimate I am passing through the second window. [2016]

Sturgis, Michigan, USA

E.T. was one of the most popular movies of the late 20th century, and its impact on popular culture has continued. Here, Elliot and E.T. have re-appeared on main street. Can't you just see them circled by the moon as they pedal across the night sky? Did E.T. win the Best Picture Oscar in 1983, however? Of course not. [2018]

Concord, New Hampshire, USA

"Ring around the rosy; pocket full of posies; ashes, ashes; we all fall down." How many cultures around the world celebrate by dancing around in circles and chanting rhymes? But, the origins of this particular folk practice could be darker. Here on the statehouse lawn, though, it seems to offer a lot of harmless family fun. [2018]