When was the last time you took a walk just to see what you could see? What discoveries did you make? Sometimes seeing the world comes down to a stroll around the corner.

French photographer Robert Doisneau wrote, “The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.”

Footfall and Snowfall

Here we are in Malta on a sunny Mediterranean spring day. As we wander the narrow, baroque streets of Valletta, we turn a corner onto St. Paul’s Street and . . . What’s this? A snowstorm?

Why, the entire street is covered in—oh I see: confetti! Everyone has come out to play.

We wade in up to our knees. A marching band plays, crowds cheer and sing, children lark about, and confetti cascades from balconies. A young man graciously explains what the heck is going on.

This is the grand finale to the Festival of St. Paul—a street-centric celebration. Beyond this street, all is business as usual, so most visitors to Valletta never notice this happy hoopla.

Perhaps you’d prefer to walk somewhere quiet? I know just the place: the Bath.

Animal Tracks

Now then, how do you feel about cats? Wherever we wander, we’ll see many a feline local.

It’s a Mystery

In beautiful Budapest, we walk from the Jewish Quarter and then cross the River Danube to Margaret Island. Along the way, we admire Art Nouveau architecture and statues of famous poets and politicians. Then, we turn a corner and see…

Sure enough, a life-size bronze statue of actor Peter Falk stands before us, complete with rumpled trench coat and cigar. Columbo’s basset hound, “Dog,” is here, too.

But our best clue turns out to be a red herring. Yes, the street is also named after a Falk. But that Falk was a 19th-century Hungarian author, and no evidence exists that he and Peter Falk are related.

Nevertheless, in 2014 a statue of Falk as Columbo was unveiled to great fuss and fanfare. We question a local witness, who proudly informs us that the canine model for the basset hound attended this event “in person.”

Hmm…Maybe the Columbo and Dog statues should set out for the Big TV in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The Weird . . .

. . . And the Whimsical

Scene in the Streets

Tell me, what streets are your favorites for seeing the world on foot? What discoveries have you made?

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

$\"A$

Street art is big in Glasgow, Scotland.
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n

Seeing the World One Step at a Time<\/strong><\/h2>\n
When was the last time you took a walk just to see what you could see? What discoveries did you make? Sometimes seeing the world comes down to a stroll around the corner.<\/p>\n
French photographer Robert Doisneau wrote, \u201cThe marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, put on your favorite walking shoes. Let\u2019s meander from street to street.<\/p>\n
Footfall and Snowfall<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Here we are in Malta on a sunny Mediterranean spring day. As we wander the narrow, baroque streets of Valletta, we turn a corner onto St. Paul\u2019s Street and . . . What\u2019s this? A snowstorm?<\/em><\/p>\n
Why, the entire street is covered in\u2014oh I see:<\/strong> confetti!<\/em> \u00a0Everyone has come out to play.<\/p>\n
$\"A$
Confetti\u2014and time\u2014fly in St. Paul Street, Valletta, Malta.
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n
We wade in up to our knees. A marching band plays, crowds cheer and sing, children lark about, and confetti cascades from balconies. A young man graciously explains what the heck is going on.<\/p>\n
This is the grand finale to the Festival of St. Paul\u2014a street-centric celebration. Beyond this street, all is business as usual, so most visitors to Valletta never notice this happy hoopla.<\/p>\n
Oh, I see:<\/strong> Wandering leads to wonders.<\/p>\n
Perhaps you\u2019d prefer to walk somewhere quiet? I know just the place: the Bath.<\/p>\n
Bath, England, that is.<\/p>\n
$\"A$
Oddly enough, Quiet St has a\u00a0sound map<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> the creation of 19 artists.\u00a0
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n
Animal Tracks<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Now then, how do you feel about cats? \u00a0Wherever we wander, we’ll see many a feline local.<\/p>\n
$\"Street$
Turkish cats rest on roofs and walls. Greek cats catnap on cars and motorbikes.
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
$\"An$
Irish cats can be very inquisitive.
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n
Look out for lions\u2014they’re the “pride” of many major cities.<\/p>\n
$\"Statues$
Lions in Vienna (left), Chicago (center top), Bodrum (center bottom), and Athens (right).
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n
And on some streets \u201chere be dragons\u201d!<\/p>\n
$\"Dragon$
(Left to right) Dragons are fired up in Aarhus, Denmark and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n
It’s a Mystery<\/b><\/h4>\n
In beautiful Budapest, we walk from the Jewish Quarter and then cross the River Danube to Margaret Island. Along the way, we admire Art Nouveau architecture and statues of famous poets and politicians. Then, we turn a corner and see\u2026<\/p>\n
American TV detective Columbo.<\/p>\n
Wait, whaaat? \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
$\"A$
What’s TV detective Columbo doing in Budapest, Hungary?
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n
Sure enough, a life-size bronze statue of actor Peter Falk stands before us, complete with rumpled trench coat and cigar. Columbo\u2019s basset hound, \u201cDog,\u201d is here, too.<\/p>\n
Suddenly we\u2019re on the case, Columbo-like, with \u201cjust one more question.\u201d<\/p>\n
But our best clue turns out to be a red herring. Yes, the street is also named after a Falk. But that<\/em> Falk was a 19th-century Hungarian author, and no evidence exists that he and Peter Falk are related.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, in 2014 a statue of Falk as Columbo was unveiled to great fuss and fanfare. We question a local witness, who proudly informs us that the canine model for the basset hound attended this event \u201cin person.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Peter Falk? Alas, he was a no-show, having passed away in 2011.<\/p>\n
Hmm\u2026Maybe the Columbo and Dog statues should set out for the Big TV in Santa Fe, New Mexico.<\/p>\n
$\"A$
David Rudolph\u2019s \u201cBig Picture TV\u201d sculpture invites creative interaction.\u00a0
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n
The Weird . . .<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Some statuary we\u2019ve seen is surprisingly animated:<\/p>\n
$\"Statues$
(Clockwise) Mannequins “rule” in Budapest; a diver demurs in Oslo; a character climbs in Greece.\u00a0
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n
\u00a0. . . \u00a0And the Whimsical<\/h4>\n
And don\u2019t forget these lively knights in Vienna.<\/p>\n
$\"A$
Things are looking up in Vienna, Austria.\u00a0
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n
Scene in the Streets<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Who knows what sights we\u2019ll see as our wandering continues?<\/p>\n
Ancient streets and modern streets.<\/p>\n
$\"Street$
(Left) Aghia Ekaterini Square, Athens, Greece. (Right) The Samuel Beckett Bridge in Dublin, Ireland.\u00a0
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n
Busy streets and quiet streets.<\/p>\n
$\"Street$
(Left to right) Friday night in Istanbul, Turkey; Sunday morning in Bruges, Belgium.\u00a0
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n
Sunny streets and snowy streets.<\/p>\n
$\"Street$
(Left to right) Sunmery street art in Santa Monica, California; a snow-covered street in Evanston, Illinois.
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n
Streets by night and streets by day.<\/p>\n
$\"Street$
(Left) Millennium Park, Chicago. (Right) Telthusbakken Street, Oslo, Norway.\u00a0
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n
And always the promise of fascinating street scenes just around the corner.<\/p>\n
$\"A$
An evening stroll in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
\u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n
Tell me, what streets are your favorites for seeing the world on foot? What discoveries have you made?<\/p>\n
Comment<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":30343,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,109,222,227],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-travel","category-discoveries-creative","category-hiking-travel","category-worldwide-mappoints"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30324"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30359,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30324\/revisions\/30359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Seeing the World One Step at a Time

Footfall and Snowfall

Animal Tracks

It’s a Mystery

The Weird . . .

. . . And the Whimsical

Scene in the Streets

Animal Tracks<\/strong><\/h4>\nNow then, how do you feel about cats? \u00a0Wherever we wander, we’ll see many a feline local.<\/p>\nTurkish cats rest on roofs and walls. Greek cats catnap on cars and motorbikes. \u00a9 Joyce McGreevy<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n