My 7 Super Shots

This post took me three weeks to finish! Three weeks! Why? Because I had to select 7 pictures to play this fun game. Only 7 pictures out of I don’t know how many we have already….
Yes, I am taking part in Hostelbookers 7 Super Shots! Heather from GlobeTrotting Mama tagged me and although it was difficult to choose I am proud to show you my 7 Super Shots! Here goes:

A photo that…takes my breath away

Just look at this shot. I was standing in the middle of this ancient kasbah (type of medina or fortress). Some kasbahs were built on a hilltop so they could be easily defended. But anyway, this is the world famous kasbah of Ait Benhaddou in Morocco. Red clay with some green leaves, beautiful image. But look at the stork’s nest on top of one of the towers. And this traditional guy looking at me, watching people approaching the city and guarding his collection of stone jars. This is a breathtaking place, honestly.

A photo that…makes me smile

I don’t usually make fun of elderly people, and certainly not this beautiful elderly woman in the Mekong delta in Vietnam. But she did make me smile! The way she approached me and watched me through these HUGH glasses just made me laugh. Even now, after all these years. Who was she? I don’t know. Her personal story was kept hidden behind our inability to speak a common language. What’s the Vietnamese word for ‘adorable’?

A photo that…makes me dream

This picture could fill an evening of me telling our travel stories from our time in Belo Horizonte in Brazil back in 2006. We attended the beatification of my father’s uncle, Father Eustaquio. My father’s uncle went to Brazil as a missionary priest and it is believed he had the ability to cure people. Believe it or not, but still today (he died in 1943) he is a hero to many people in that area of Brazil. For them his story means hope.
70,000 (!) people attended the official beatification ceremony and we were in the middle of that gigantic soccer stadium. I dream of returning someday, for example on the day they will declare him a Saint.

A photo that…makes me think

It happened already more than 10 years ago: 9/11. When we traveled to New York City in 2011 and strolled through the area of Ground Zero we constantly had this thought in our minds: “It actually happened right here.”
Still the terror of that day is hard to describe and it certainly was a turning point in history. Close to the new Freedom Tower (1 WTC) we found this memorial for all the fire fighters who died on that day. A pair of fire fighter boots, a bottle of whiskey, a flag, cigar, flowers, and pictures showing people with eyes gazing in the far distance….

A photo that…makes my mouth water

Need I say more? Pizza anyone? This is a picture of real pizza in Rome, Italy….

A picture that…tells a story

This picture screams for a story! I once called it ‘Mad Max meets the Beach’. The people on this picture have one thing in common: they live as hippies on the island of Ibiza. It was taken on a Sunday evening on the beach of Benirrás. Here everybody celebrates the sunset, every Sunday afternoon and evening. There is a lot of drinking beer, smoking weed, playing music and having fun. After all that, one sometimes needs to cool down in the sea. The people I caught together in this frame all probably have different stories about why they turned to a hippie life on Ibiza don’t you think?

A photo that…I am most proud of (AKA My worthy of National Geographic shot)

Bali, Indonesia. These are small offering baskets that Balinese people fill with rice, cookies, flowers and more. These baskets are offered to ancestors and gods three times a day. Here at Tirta Empul temple (Temple of the Holy Water) people bathe in the holy water, leaving a colorful pile of baskets! You see the hand of a woman gently placing another basket on top. Pure dedication…