I was driving around the South Side of the city the other day looking for anything to shoot. After rounding a corner I was confronted with Slovakian and Czech flags, countries we visited in April. Turns out they were flying over something called the American-Czech Educational Center, new to me. I may return to that but the circus opens tonight and we're taking the kid. They let you take all the pictures you want.
I've read about hip-hop's purported origin, spontaneously at a block party in the South Bronx. (I went to high school in the Mid Bronx. We didn't know about this stuff.) No criticism, but the style, the culture, the sound is alien to me. I'm an old white guy who went to his first symphony concert at 11 and got hooked (you can see me with the glasses off Lenny's left shoulder - https://tinyurl.com/mt52k9jx.) Generations pass.
Walls Off Washington has a central nave, the alley between the painted buildings. It is usually shrouded in shadow but light filters down from above. The place can feel like a secular cathedral, which, of course, needs appropriate windows.
The alley between the buildings of Walls Off Washington is narrow. It is hard to get a good perspective,even with digital editing. This tropical image, a bit reminiscent of both Gaugin and STL's summer climate, is called I Dance, Too, by Rowan Bathurst. I don't, though.
A corner at Walls Off Washington, where a six-limbed dinosaur threatens a human with a torch. The beast seems to radiate like Godzilla. The St. Louis Big Top is in the right background, home of our own Circus Flora. The season is about to start and we're taking the grandkid on Saturday.
The monumental statue of Saint Louis atop Art Hill, looking out over clouds and blue sky. There is even a rainbow towards the bottom.
The collection of CDP skygazers is at https://citydailyphoto.org/2026/05/25/june-theme-sky/
This image is a zoom into one of the sections in Walls Off Washington. The plaque underneath says it is called My Sky Sings Joy by Shinique Smith. It may be hard to see on a screen, particularly a phone, but individual elements are amazingly detailed. Look, for example, at the green paisley-like area. This took a lot of planning.
That's what it looks like to me, late Matisse, his birds painted or made with paper cut-outs. I don't know it that was the artist's intention for this section of Walls Off Washington but it is carried off well. It does seem, though, to have a bit of irony, peaceful symbols covering all those volts.
A small connecting building between the larger ones in The Walls Off Washington. All the other surfaces have designs, figurative or abstract (or a mix). This part makes for a good transition.
Why haven't I ever gotten through here? Walls Off Washington has been around for a few years, another project supported by the Kranzberg Arts Foundation. Kranzberg is a major sponsor of the St. Lou Fringe Festival, which, as long-time readers know, is a big interest of mine. Most of the wall art is along an alley between buildings mostly devoted to arts organizations. You can't see much from the street. More to come.
Almost curtain time at Opera Theatre. This is the lobby of the Loretto Hilton Theater on the campus of Webster University, a smaller local school less than 10 minutes from our home. (No one remembers why it's called that.) It is just under a thousand seats if all the back and side bays are open, with an unusual thrust stage. The opera shares the venue with the St. Louis Repertory Theatre. The acoustics are excellent.
Apologies to Manet. Lots of people bring picnic dinners or order catered meals to have on the lawn outside the theater before our opera performances. There are many tables under the tent. We always go early to get a place there out of the sun or rain, but the tables extend much beyond the view in this photo. It makes for the start of a very civilized evening.
One of the nice, unusual things about our Opera Theatre is that it takes place on the leafy campus of a small university. There are broad lawns and gardens. Many people come early and have dinner al fresco. The crowd can be interesting. These two look like a mismatch. She was looking for attention. What you can't see here is that she was wearing just-under-the-knee black leather boots with three inch chunky heels. She made her point.
Yesterday was opening night of the 51st season of Opera Theatre of St. Louis. We've been subscribers for somewhere in the mid-upper 40s. They do four productions in rotating repertory in May and June, all in English with super titles. This year kicked off with a wacky and hilarious production of Pirates of Penzance. The man who played Major General Stanley may hold the record for the fastest comprehensible speeech in the English language.
When my son and granddaughter were in town recently, the mandatory first stop for the kid was the ride to the top of the Arch. It is triangular in cross section, with one apex pointing inward. The little slit windows point out and down. The Illinois side in the background is very flat, less so in Missouri.
It's opening night of our opera season later today, a big deal for us. I'm sure to get a few snaps.
This modified freight container sits in the rides and amusements section of St. Louis Union Station. We sometimes refer to our town as The Lou. However, I'd wager that most people who pass by here don't get the British-ism. There are the usual symbols on the doors to the right, which solves the problem. It's clever, but does it communicate well?
Would that it were so simple.
There is a restaurant at St. Louis Union Station simply called The Soda Fountain. It serves kid-pleasing, bad nutrition food, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, mac and cheese, curly fries, etc. The big draw is outrageous, huge ice cream concoctions. The one my son ordered for the table, called The King, was too much for the four of us. No one felt quarrelsome when we left.
In the entry hall of the St. Louis Aquarium. The watery projections constantly change but the circle in the center is a window into the world of real fishies. Son Andy and granddaughter Josie stare into the depths.
Of course, this is in our once-grand railway station, hence the arch with the indication To Trains. The corridor leads to a mock train car, whose windows take you on a spectacular VR ride through and over the city, and down into the Mississippi.
Because it is, as Ben Stein used to say, your moment of zen. The St. Louis Aquarium, in addition to the usual wet things, has hourly mini-shows with a variety of dry things to amuse the kids. This little armadillo kept pushing around a plastic toy as if it was its purpose in life. Maybe it was.
A kid tour of St. Louis includes the Aquarium at Union Station. It's not Seattle or Chicago, but it's not bad. I always get pictures of the jellyfish, sub-phylum Medusozoa, named to the mythological Medusa, who has snakes for hair. They are unperturbed by our presence.
We look Andy and Josie out to dinner at a local restaurant famous for its flaming desserts, particularly cherries jubilee. Josie's big sister, Audrey, talked it up big after she experienced it. I don't know the whole recipe, but after cherry sauce caramelized sugar, the server pours in brandy, tips the edge of the pan towards the burner and foooom! It's quite a show. Tastes great, too.
A day out with son Andy and granddaughter Josie. First stop was the mandatory ride to the top of the Arch. Back underneath, there was a VR experience, wandering around the bustling Mississippi riverfront in 1850. Josie must have been interested enough that she didn't notice that her hoodie was falling off.
Son Andy and granddaughter Josie, 7, are flying in early this morning for the weekend. They will take our light rail downtown from the airport, meeting us for breakfast at a locally famous hash and chili parlor. Then it's up to the top of the Arch for all of us. The afternoon plan is the zoo, and we have an exceptional one.
New stuff, in two ways. Time for some fresh material, and there is a lot of good outdoor sculpture around. (Although someday I'll do a series about the public artwork at St. Louis University, which has the worst collection of sculpture I've ever seen.) Also, while we were in Europe, the shutter crapped out on my main camera, a Fujifilm X-T5. (After only 47,000 actuations! Harrumph!) So I wanted a quality, very small camera to take anywhere, and settled on a Sony RX100 VII. I took it out for a test drive yesterday.
This is a Tom Otterness piece simply called Mouse, on Manchester Avenue at the entrance to the district known as The Grove. Its head seems to be quizzically tilted, as if wondering who is coming through.
More Route 66 neon. It would not occur to me to travel anywhere with an overnight stay without booking a hotel online in advance. It didn't used to be so. I remember a family road trip in my early teens up through New Hampshire to Quebec City. My father, who was, um, a bit of a character, drove up to the door of the Chateau Frontenac, expecting to put us up in style. Je suis désolé, monsieur, mais nous n'avons pas de chambres disponibles. Then we drove around for what seemed like a long time before ending up at Helen's Motel (sic., in English), which I recall being a bit of a dump but the kids loved it because they had a big trampoline. Vacancy.
Possibly signs that appeared along old US Route 66, or maybe just neon from a bye-gone era. Now the displays are all LEDs and Route 66 has been replaced by sections on the Interstate Highway system. More from the Missouri History Museum.
The classic cars I've been showing for the last few days were part of a program at the Missouri History Museum. It's a pretty interesting place but more about our local area than the whole state. A sign in the central hallway sets the theme. The graphic is a section of the city's flag, representing the meeting of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, as well as the fleur-de-lys of our French origin.
The cockpit of a 1929 La Salle. I thought that its age and monochrome interior made a B&W rendering appropriate. Strange controls. The spiky thing in the center is for the headlights. There is another dial to advance or retard the spark (who can remember that?). And not a lot of us Americans know how to drive a manual transmission any more.
Another entry at the Missouri History Museum's classic car show. The cafe au lait brown color is unusual. Note the top center, with the 50s-early 60s fuzzy dice hanging from the mirror. Since I am a Frank Zappa fan, the meme reminds me of one of my favorite Mothers of Invention tracks.
This is the rear of the automobile seen in yesterday's post, identified as a Packard by a friend. The antique car license plate indicates 1949. Just what Ultramatic means was left to the imagination of the buyer. Marketing hooey has old roots.
Big, elaborate hood ornaments used to be a thing. I remember that my family's first car, a 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air (we lived in NYC and didn't use it every day), had one that looked like a chrome jet plane with twin vertical tails. I'm sorry that I didn't note what this car was, but you can imagine how it could eviscerate a pedestrian in an accident. Now the marques are all flat.
Some time back I posted a picture of a dove that had built a nest in the crook of a downspout from our porch. It sat there for so long that I wondered if the eggs were still viable. Fortunately, I was wrong. Two healthy chicks have now set up residence on top of a hanging swing chair on the other side of the porch. I assume that's mom supervising. Dad was on the porch rail just below keeping watch. They seem to feel safe here,
I don't have any special skill in photographing automobiles. but it seems to me that sometimes you can get more interesting images from the details rather than the whole. If you squint, you might see me in the red jacket reflected in the letter I.
There are lots more images from our Central European expedition to edit, and I'll probably put more on Facebook, but it's time to be home. This weekend is the 100th anniversary of the official designation of Route 66, sometimes referred to as America's Mother Road. It starts in Chicago, passes through St. Louis (quite close to our home), and then gradually southwest to Los Angeles. Readers may know the song, with popular covers by St. Louisan Chuck Berry or the Rolling Stones.
There was a weekend festival to mark the occasion at the Missouri History Museum. One feature was a line-up of classic cars that may have plied the road. This is a 1939 Cadillac La Salle ambulance. Make way.
Another Central Europe memory, although there are some local things to shoot this weekend if my spine holds out. This is a cold, drizzly day at a cafe in Cesky Krumlov, with no one out for coffee and treats. The old town in southern Czechia, https://www.amazingczechia.com/destinations/cesky-krumlov/ , is the second most visited in the country after Prague.
From the Covered Market in Budapest. The prices are in Hungarian forints per kilogram. The names of the products, with one exception, are indecipherable.
No surprise, but I took a whole lot of pictures during our trip. The quality and variety was limited by my need of a cane and wobbly balance, but some good ones came through. This is Prague, in the palace gardens of Albrect von Wallenstein, the leading general on the Catholic side during the devastating Thirty Years War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_von_Wallenstein. The garden has rare white peacocks, something entirely new to me.
Got home last night. Flew British Airways from Budapest to Heathrow, then BA's new non-stop service to St. Louis. Big convenience! The flight arrived early although the food was remarkably bad and the little international arrivals area in STL wasn't a good introduction to our town. But we're happy to be here after a fascinating if tiring trip. Now to get our body clocks reset seven hours.
Our river cruise went back out on the Danube after sunset on our last night onboard. Many of the magnificent riverfront buildings are illuminated. This huge confection is the Hungarian parliament building.
Budapest is much larger, more beautiful and interesting than I imagined. Unfortunately, I had a lot of trouble walking on this trip. If I can get my spine fixed I'd love to come back with more time. Home today, Tuesday. Just one stop at Heathrow, since BA just started non-stop service to St. Louis. Maybe I'll get more pictures edited on the plane.
There is a big, multi-level food hall in central Budapest known as the Covered Market. It is geared toward tourists as much as locals. We have no idea why we would buy a jar of paprika. We use it only occasionally in cooking and buy it at the supermarket. Lots of visitors wanted some, though.
These posts are going up on different days. It's Monday here but will be seen Sunday in North America. We are taking a half-day trip out of the city today, home tomorrow.
That's a new idea to me. The people onboard seemed to be having a noisy good time. Another exhausting day in another very interesting city. I've got a lot more pictures to edit. We're spending today and tomorrow here. Home Tuesday.
A new country for us, Slovakia. Only six million people, with the capital, Bratislava, at about a half million. The country punches above its weight, with a huge auto industry exporting cars all over Europe.
The old town of Bratislava is charming. A favorite spot is the contemporary sculpture of Cumil, the friendly sewer worker (https://www.nomads-travel-guide.com/places/cumil-statue/) who pops up to say hello to the world. Lots better than the monuments to monarchs and wars.
Stock im Eisen-Platz, Vienna, outside St. Stephen's Cathedral. We have only one brief day in this interesting, vibrant city. We'd love to come back with more time, but we wonder if age and spines will rule out future trips like this.
I usually limit myself to one photo. However, yesterday we went to Melk Abbey, situated on a hill over the Danube in Austria and I was pretty impressed. I can't begin to explain its history and architecture here, so if you want to learn about this Baroque blockbuster, I suggest you go here: https://www.stiftmelk.at/en/ .
My Catholic elementary school made us learn Roman numerals. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the year over the gate is 1718. Corrections welcome.
Vienna today.
