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US: Seattle, WA – Hammering Man Statue in Seattle
About a dozen Hammering Man statues can be found around the world. This is the one we found in Seattle, WA. Jonathan Borofsky designed these huge kinetic sculptures as a silhouette a man who has a motorized arm and hammer. In each city they are different sizes but always painted black; They symbolize and celebrate workers all over the world.
US: Seattle, WA – Seattle Space Needle
Here’s a moody shot of the iconic Space Needle in Seattle looking like something you could make with a giant erector set.
US: Seattle, WA – MoPop’s Space Needle
No Frank Gehry did not salute the Seattle Space Needle by building it into his architectural plans of MoPop. That’s the actual Space Needle in this tromp l’oeil shot.
US: Seattle, WA – Rippling Sheet Metal at MoPop
Architect Frank Gehry’s signature metallic swoops and swirls allow for great sculptural photographs of the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle.
US: Seattle, WA – Fantastical Museum in Seattle
When architect Frank Gehry designs a building, it’s more than a building, it’s a sculpture. Here in Seattle, the Museum of Pop Culture certainly stands out in the city.
US: Seattle, WA – Architecture of Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture
The fantastical sheet metal walls of MoPop were designed by Frank Gehry. It is often quoted as looking like a smashed electric guitar. Gehry himself had made the comparison, “We started collecting pictures of Stratocasters, bringing in guitar bodies, drawing on those shapes in developing our ideas.”
Despite some critical reviews of the structure, the building has been called “a fitting backdrop for the world’s largest collection of Jimi Hendrix memorabilia.” The outside of the building which features a fusion of textures and colors, including gold, silver, deep red, blue and a “shimmering purple haze,” has been declared “an apt representation of the American rock experience.
Liechtenstein, Vadaz: Wearing Someone’s Shoes
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Three can fit into the giant sculptured shoes in the promenade of Valduz, Liechtenstein. 
Liechtenstein, Vadaz: Walk in Someone Else’s Shoes
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Fun sculpture of high heels in Vadaz, Liechtenstein.
Canada: Quebec – Hiking + Rock Climbing
If you have had some trepidation about rock climbing, Quebec’s Via Ferrata has developed a way to do it much more easily and safely. The activity is set up on a rock face which has been set up with metal holding bars and a steel cable which allows you to hold on and climb up way more efficiently. You can explore cliffs and rock faces of 12 different destinations around Quebec
Cosmos Tour: Prague Vienna Budapest – Halushka dumplings and Cimbalon
On the Cosmos Tour to Prague, Vienna and Budapest, the first optional excursion was a typical Slavic evening in the well-known U Marčanů restaurant, and included folk music with Bohemian, Moravian and Slovakian singing and dancing, plus gypsy music and dancing. The performers were fabulous at getting the audience involved, and great fun ensued. A musical instrument called a cimbalon was played; it’s a large, trapezoidal box with metal strings stretched across, and is played by striking two hammers against the strings.
Here’s a short video of the cimbalon in action:
The 3-course meal accompanied by unlimited drinks (wine/ beer/soft drinks) started with my favorite food of the whole trip – halushka , little dumpling bits topped with cheese and fried bacon (probably called bryndza) which is one of the the Slovak national dishes. Now we know why. The main course was pork on a skewer with delicate Lyonnaise potatoes, green beans and roasted potatoes.
Everyone ate and laughed and enjoyed the evening.