ROOM WITH A VIEW: Two Year Anniversary of The Intrepid Tourist

Isle of Mull (Inner Hebrides, Scotland)--view from the front door of our country hotel, Tiroran House.

Two years ago, I launched The Intrepid Tourist as an outlet for my accumulated writing and ongoing thoughts from a lifetime of travel.  I didn't know if anyone else would be interested in my posts, but, somewhat to my surprise, the blog has logged more than 28,000 views since it began in April 2011.  Thanks to all of you have been reading my posts!  For this second anniversary I would like to share a few views from my hotel rooms as I have traveled to various places.  I almost always take a photo of the view from my room, both as a document of where I've been, and a reminder that the travel experience is not just the official sights, but also the more personal view.

View of the Dubai skyline with the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, seen from our hotel near the airport.

In the old days of film cameras, the room views were a way of starting off or finishing a roll of film.  Now, with a digital camera, the view from the room just becomes part of the overall photo album.  Sometimes the view is a spectacular vista, in other cases it may be a glimpse of local life, an unusual perspective, or a momentary event.

On my recent trip to Turkey, my hotel was on a narrow residential street. Each morning as light began to dawn, I was awakened by the call to prayer at the nearby mosque. Later, as I leaned over the small balcony on my third floor street-side room I could see my neighbors, the ubiquitous cats, and the view of the harbor beyond the end of the street. 

View toward the water down Kumbaraci Street, in the Beyglu neighborhood of Istanbul

Occasionally the most interesting view is aerial, sometimes looking down onto an interior courtyard.  On a trip to Barcelona several years ago we stayed in a large, high-rise hotel.  As we looked down into the atrium the umbrellas in the bar area loomed like giant mushrooms.

Looking down onto the bar area of Hotel Rey Juan Carlos in Barcelona.

Sometimes the most interesting view is at night. When I visited Chicago a year ago and looked out of my room one evening, I was struck by the geometric shapes of the buildings framed against the misty night sky.

Night view of Chicago skyscrapers from my room at Hotel 71.

I look forward to more travel in the future and to adding to my photo collection of rooms with a view.  I will continue posting reports and hope that you will continue reading them.  My list of places to go and things to see keeps growing!