Dome About Town

Austin is known for bats, live music, the University of Texas, and the Capitol.

Justin's grandparents are in town so we went down to the State Capitol.

Standing underneath the dome, built in the style of Renaissance Revival, reminded us of other places we'd visited on our honeymoon.

Hong Kong didn't have too many domes, but it did have a church, and many other churches have domes, so...

While the wats in Thailand were mostly pointy, the stupas behind them were kind of dome-shaped.

In India, we started to see more domes. While most of India is Hindu, there are many Islamic buildings like the Taj Mahal.

In Egypt, many of the mosques had domes, like this mosque in the Citadel in Cairo.

Now Greece was full of domes. And not all blue, like this one in Santorini.

We didn't get inside any big domes until Italy. Something about the Catholics, they love to put up big domes that make you feel incredibly small. Like this one at St. Peter's Basilica.

The Duomo in Florence is one of the more iconic domes in Italy, and one of the most stunning.

While the insides of some domes had patterns, others, like this one in Valencia, Spain, had intricate paintings depicting different stories from the Bible.

The dome of Basilique du Sacré Coeur looks over all of Paris.

The Panthéon in Paris is a dome that most resembles the capitol buildings you see in the United States. And guess what, it was originally a church.

Hair today, gone tomorrow!

For those of you waiting for the sequel to the beard, here it is:

In Case You Missed It

Well, we are back in Austin. Don't worry, there are still more honeymoon photos to come, but here's a little of what we've been up to since we've been back.



This is an artistic interpretation of what you feel like after traveling for 24 hours straight to get back to Austin. Or a looooong exposure time while driving on I-35. I like to think that they're not mutually exclusive.



What is it? A squirrel? A gopher? Well, whatever it is, it sure is cute.



A home-made salad bar. With some amazing six-month anniversary roses that could not have opened up any better.



Went for a little glow putt-putt with Justin's mom. It adds a new element to the game. Like not being able to see any hills or dips in the course.



The same night, there was golf ball-size hail falling from the sky and tornadoes left and right. Fun inside and out!



We went to a Round Rock Express game later that week. Again there was the threat of bad weather. Fortunately, the game turned out to be one of the fastest ever, lasting only two and a half hours.



To keep everyone's interest in the game, we played a little baseball bingo. A great way to keep everyone interested in the game. Here was Jessica with her first place prize, but no one left empty handed.



Justin's brother, Christopher, was in town for a couple days. Here he is showing off his moves on his long board skateboard.



We also made it out to Lake Travis for sunset.



While in college, Jessica worked on a variety of projects. One of those projects was bringing the first female statue to the University of Texas campus. Check out here for more info (hint: fourth from the bottom left).



This spring, while we were traveling, that dream finally came to fruition with the unveiling of the Barbara Jordan statue. So, this week, we went down to the UT campus to see how it had turned out.



The final product is rather remarkable, befitting a remarkable woman. A U.S. Congresswoman and UT professor who transcended many boundaries, she's definitely someone worth knowing a little more about.

We Won!

We won, we won, we won! Here is the link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31432233/ns/travel-travel_photos

You can also see it for the next couple days on the travel homepage.



There it is again. We'll probably wait a little while before making another submission to MSNBC, but if anyone finds any other photo contests, let us know!

Still need votes!

We're very close, but we still need your votes! You can vote once per computer, so go to your local library and vote from every computer! Again, this is the website:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31271423

Vote for our Picture!

We submitted a photo to MSNBC's travel photo contest and it was selected. Here's the photo:



So go here and vote for the photo!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31271423

Tell your friends to vote too! We get lots of money if we win! (Not really.)

Photos from the Far Side

Here are a few shots from the trip that probably won't win any photo contests, but were worth taking.



Welcome to your moon habitat. Also known as the Bangkok airport.



Four miniature poodles in Thailand who all shop at Baby Gap.



This Bangkok mannequin really is all legs.



At St. Katherine's Monastery, they're not taking any chances with the burning bush.



You don't want to get stuck in an Italian elevator without change, otherwise you won't be going anywhere. It cost five cents to ride this one.



At St. Peter's Square, even with so many statues, it was easy to find the patron saint of seagulls.



In Spain they love their ham. No, they REALLY love it. Not a pig friendly country.



This is Justin trying to sign his name using the full moon as a light source with a long exposure.



This tree, in the garden at El Alambra in Granada, is supposedly a man who had his heart broken and then turned into a tree. Notice the two legs, the body, the head (which is the white circle) and the two arms.



Churches have some exciting sculptures. Like this one at Notre Dame.

People Being People

A few fun photos of people doing what they do.

"Where did all the water go? It was here when I fell asleep and now it's gone. I guess you never can turn your back on the sea."

"I smush the sun between my fingers. Smush, smush!"

"I see you!"

"I command thee to RISE! Fly little birdies, fly!"

"Look, I found a little kitty cat. Can I keep him, please?"

"Now just step back just a little bit more..."

"Wow, a sea horse!"

"Why is that man pregnant, and what happened to sculpture that was on that pedestal?"

"Look, impersonating a Roman gladiator is stressful. Just leave me alone."

"Captain, the wings are out and we're ready for take off."

"Just like picking apples."

I saw the sign!

When we stay in the same places we see the same signs over and over. It's not until you see a sign for the first time in another place that you take notice. Here are a few that caught our eye.



This was in the Mumbai harbor. Rather ironic, wouldn't you agree?



It's nice to know that somewhere in the world, Pushkar in this case, they focus only on the good.



Don't worry, in India STD relates to making phone calls...



For some reason they wanted Justin's attention in Athens. Not sure why they referred to him by his middle name, nor why they wanted him at attention.



It would appear that Obama's success has inspired others to take up his call...



...and his logo.



That's right, they have them in Italy as well. Hooray!



Okay Spain, which is it?



Maybe more people in the U.S. would mail letters if they got to put the letters in the mouth of a lion like they do in Spain.