Photo of the Week--6/14/10

Although it was nice and sunny, Madrid in February is still a bit chilly. Perhaps that explains why neither Boy nor the pigeons were moving too fast ... because it couldn't be that Boy was tiring of performing his pigeon pursuits for posterity, could it? On the other hand, winter sun in Madrid still feels like sun, which is probably why there were so many pigeons there in the first place.

Photo of the Week--5/24/10

During our last year living in Europe, Boy was starting to get tired of traveling. (He still avows a loathing of monuments and museums today, almost ten years later.) He didn't want to walk around. He didn't want to stop and take a photo. He most certainly didn't want to chase pigeons for a photo. However, during our October 2001 trip to Budapest, Hungary, he was extremely cooperative, and that was due to one reason: food. In Budapest we indulged in goulash, paprika-roasted chicken, crepes stuffed with meat and covered with paprikash sauce, and (even better) crepes stuffed with cream and covered with chocolate sauce. It led Boy to say, for the first and only time, "Could we live here next?" We couldn't, but as consolation we chased some pigeons around so they couldn't be at home either.

Photo of the Week--5/17/10

We'd been taking photos of Boy chasing pigeons all over Europe and realized that we didn't have one taken closer to home, which at the time was London. Trafalgar Square had what seemed like the largest pigeon population per square foot in all of Europe (at least before the ban on feeding them was enacted in 2003, after we moved back home). It was a scandal that we didn't have a photo of Boy terrorizing the extremely fat and lazy Trafalgar birds. So on one of our frequent trips to the city, we made sure to bring along our camera. You can see there was scarcely room for him to chase pigeons, and they didn't really care to run anyway. But at least he gave it a try, and we got the shot.

Photo of the Week--5/3/10

Ignore the vaguely (!) suggestive statue* and look in the shadows. There you will find the scourge of pigeondom, Boy, working his magic against the fat and lazy pigeons of Helsinki. Okay, maybe Helsinki pigeons aren't that fat or lazy, as they probably work hard to acquire fat and then burn it off during the long, dark Finnish winters. But this was summer, and we had to make sure that any rest breaks those pigeons were taking didn't become a habit.

*It's the Three Smiths statue, and although the three smiths are naked, they are wielding hammers against that anvil. I just chose an unfortunate angle for this photograph.

Photo of the Week--4/26/10

As you might be able to tell from the giant sign reading "Tivoli," this photo was taken in Copenhagen, Denmark. And no, that's not a giant pigeon depicted in the fountain, it's a dragon fighting a bull. The pigeons were all in front of the fountain, located in City Hall Square, and you can see TSU helping Boy chase them. Either there were too many for Boy to take care of, or by this point he was started to tire of all the pigeon chasing. It did seem to be a Sisyphean task; no matter what city we visited it seemed there were fat pigeons needing exercise.

Photo of the Week--4/12/10

Another day in Spain, another pigeon to be chased! It's a little hard to pick it out in this picture, but there's a white pigeon that has taken flight because of Boy's persistent efforts to bring fitness to Europe's pigeon population. If you look to the right of the big blue box, you'll see someone who looks like they're wearing a white hat; look half an inch above the hat, and you can just make out the wings in motion. This one was in Seville, and even though it was February, you can see the trees in bloom and the bright sun reflected off the windows. I'm glad spring has come here, or I'd be tempted to jump on a plane to the Mediterranean right now.

Photo of the Week--4/5/10

The Alhambra in Granada, Spain, is widely considered one of the world's most beautiful architectural sites, and so we thought we shouldn't let any pigeons, nay, not even one single white one, mar the nearby streets with its presence. Along comes Boy, to rid this UNESCO World Heritage Site of unsightly skyrats! Okay, maybe the one in this photo looks more like a white dove, but it's still a pigeon. It still needs to be terrorized, and we obliged.

Photo of the Week--3/29/10

In this installment of "Boy Terrorizes the Pigeons of Europe" ... Córdoba, Spain! It was January, 2001, and my parents and grandmother joined us again for a week-long tour of southern Europe. This time it was Spain. Imagine the six of us in a minivan—a rarity for any country in Europe—driving around some of the twisty, tiny roads of the Andalusian countryside. In Córdoba we spent time seeing the Mezquita, or great mosque, with its hundreds of columns, as well as the Roman bridge leading into the city. But we also spent time just enjoying the Mediterranean weather and torturing these pigeons, who look like they expected to be fed, not chased.

Photo of the Week--2/22/10

Proof once again that you can build your ramparts, walls, and castles, and you still can't keep out the pigeons. This was a stop during our Greek cruise at Rhodes, home of one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. There was no evidence of the Colossus, though, just these lovely towers of the Palace of the Grand Master in the medieval Old Town. It was a lovely fall day, and pigeons needed to be terrorized, so Boy obliged.

Photo of the Week--2/15/10

Next up in our continuing series, "Boy Terrorizes the Pigeons of Europe": The Parthenon in Athens! It's amazing, we walked all the way up that hill to visit the Parthenon, and Boy still had enough energy to pursue what is obviously a very lazy pigeon. Or maybe it's just accustomed to very tired visitors who make it up that hill, and had never encountered someone who bothered to chase it. It didn't account for six-year-old Boy, who either sucked energy from his parents, vampire-like, or (most likely) rode part of the way up the hill on Dad's shoulders. In any case, we got that lazy pigeon off its lazy pigeon butt and flapping its wings.

Photo of the Week--1/18/10

Did the pigeons notice it when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989? After all, many city pigeons are too fat and lazy to fly, unless you chase them. Were there East Berlin pigeons dying to come over to the West, but were afraid of being used as target practice by the Wall guards? When we visited Berlin, in 2000, it was still a novelty for us adults, who grew up with a divided Germany. Boy, of course, didn't find a visit to Berlin unusual at all: the pigeons are still fat, they're still lazy, and they still need to be chased, even across long plazas like this one.

Photo of the Week--1/11/10

I'm thinking we took this picture of Boy chasing pigeons in front of the Cologne Cathedral before we ascended its 509 steps, rather than after. At one point (from 1880-1884) the cathedral was the tallest structure in the world, until the Washington Monument was finished. The tower climb is almost 100 meters high and takes quite a long time, especially if you're accompanied by a 6 year old, so I'm pretty sure this photo was pre- and not post-climb. As I recall, it was a pretty warm day (close to 90F), which explains why neither Boy nor the pigeons are making a real effort. Still, I'm sure they were terrified.

Photo of the Week--12/14/09

You can't see the pigeons here on the Charles Bridge in Prague, but believe me, they were there, even on a cold day in January. This was one of those last-minute trips; Boy had a long weekend off from school, so we looked for some place with a lot of indoor attractions that would suit a brief trip. Prague fit the bill, and we had a wonderful visit. Because we were there in low season, the tourist sites were uncrowded, and we were astonished how far the city had become a tourist haven in just over a decade since the Velvet Revolution overthrew Communist rule. (It seemed like every third building was now a money exchange or tourist shop.) Of course, the city's attractions were fascinating, and when we spotted some pigeons on this very famous bridge, Boy took off in pursuit, gargoyles and bystanders notwithstanding.

Photo of the Week--11/30/09

... aaaand the latest in our series, "Boy chases the pigeons of Europe," features a really BIG pigeon. Actually, it's a chicken. We took a short weekend trip (made shorter by the cancellation of our flight on Friday night, making the prop-plane flight the next morning a little nerve-inducing) to Jersey, one of the Channel Islands between England and France. It's a very interesting place, as it has a lot of French influences (it's closer physically to the mainland) but a very British culture and history. It was actually occupied by the Germans during WWII, and it was interesting to see the traces left by that part of history.

Jersey is a pretty small island, though, so we had plenty of time to explore more pastoral places. This working farm attraction had plenty to observe in the fall harvest season (including a really big horse-drawn cider press), and Boy was fascinated with the chickens. Because they were big enough to fight back, we didn't let him chase them, so we had a peaceful scene to photograph this time.

Photo of the Week--11/9/09

Ah, summer in Portugal: warm weather, blue skies, and lots and lots of pigeons to chase. We found these in Lisbon's Praça do Comércio (Commerce Plaza), a large plaza near the Tagus River waterfront that housed the Royal Palace until it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1755. Talking about that earthquake was a highlight for Boy, who at the time loved anything to do with disasters. We also visited the ruins of a church destroyed that day. It must have put him in such a good mood that he was ready and eager to chase those fat Praça pigeons.

Photo of the Week--10/26/09

And here's the next in the continuing series, "Boy Terrorizes the Pigeons of Europe," taken during a 1999 weekend trip to Paris. It was spring, the weather was nice, and there were plenty of flowers at the Tuileries Gardens. It was there we found more fat, sassy pigeons in need of exercise. If you look closely at the far left of the photo, you'll see one forced to move by the prospect of Boy approaching.

Photo of the Week--9/28/09

Pigeons in Vatican City? Sacrilege! So during this visit in winter 1999, we had Boy chase them around St. Peter's Square. You can see they're fat and lazy, and probably used to having people moving about. I guess that's why you don't see any of them flying away, even with an almost-five-year-old Boy barrelling down among them. Pigeons are so blasé; one more reason to despise the little sky rats.

Photo of the Week--9/21/09

Here we have the first in our ongoing series, "Boy Terrorizes the Pigeons of Europe." This was our first major trip, a week in Italy with my parents and my paternal grandmother. (Her first trip to Europe, taken at age 79!) The six of us flew into Florence, where this photo was taken, and then after a few days took the train to Rome. Boy was pretty portable then; we could get a couple of quiet hours in a museum by promising a trip to the gelateria (ice cream store) afterwards, and by pointing out all the naked people in the pictures. When you're almost five years old, that's a sure giggle. And this photo, taken in front of Florence's Palazzo Vecchio, includes a copy of Michaelangelo's "Naked David," as we liked to refer to it. Bonus! So Boy was in a pretty good mood and cooperated for this shot, where he's giving those fat pigeons some exercise.