Welcome to David VanderVelde's Home Page

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Grand Canal, Venice, June 2007

You can read about my professional life, as director of the NMR Laboratory at the University of Kansas, here.

One of my favorite things to do is travel. I travel often, I get inordinate enjoyment out of travelling cheap; someday, I hope I can say I travel light. (Maybe I just need more practice.) If I forget something, I'd rather it was my belt than my camera. The pictures I've scanned for this site (3,254 to date) are clickable to get either a bigger view or more information. I've linked to places where there are more pictures and information, some sites commercial, some not. This site's not, so the places I mention are getting a purely personal endorsement.

When I'm home, I often read travel books. One of my favorites is The New Roadside America. This book dispenses with minutiae like driving directions, telephone numbers, hours, admission prices--hey, if you want to get there bad enough, you'll figure those things out. Excerpt, from the preface: "Will your precious days of leisure end in another excursion to the dull wastelands of Six Flags, Busch Gardens, and Disney? Or has the restless spirit of true tourism gotten into you? Let The New Roadside America show you the way. We're in your head. We know what you're thinking. You'll never get us out." And from the afterword: "When you vist Max, or Jim Bishop, or the Nut Lady, or any of those welcoming purveyors of amazement and wonder, you vote "Yes" to the continuing lure of the road." (See the road, all 3,304 miles of it from New York to San Francisco, through Matt Frondorf's "American Mile Markers.") You can also see quite a few of my favorite places rendered in watercolor postcards instead of photographs on George Wittenberg's Postcard Art website. Going from the sublime to the ridiculous, if you want to see photographs of many of these same places with a can of refried beans in the foreground, check out Beans Around the World.

Travel advice: "You must approach what is before you as a free spirit or quickly learn how to become one." (Edmund Keeley, Inventing Paradise: The Greek Journey)

After a trip through Italy and Spain in summer 2007, I have seven new photo galleries with almost all new pictures: Erice and Segesta/Selinunte in Sicily; Asciano and Pisa in Italy; Tarragona/Barcelona, Gaudi architecture, and Montserrat in Spain. The text for these pages is a work in progress. There are some new pictures and updated text on my pages on Venice, Siena, Siena at night, Siena museums, and Florence.
Visiting the applications labs at Bruker or Varian without a car, and enjoying it.

C A L I F O R N I A

B I G S U R	P A C I F I C G R O V E	M U I R W O O D S & P O I N T R E Y E S	P O I N T L O B O S	M I S S I O N C H U R C H E S
G O L D E N G A T E	S A N F R A N C I S C O ' S P A R K S I D E	V E N T U R A & O J A I	P I N N A C L E S & S O L E D A D	L A J O L L A

F R A N C E, S P A I N & T H E U. K.

P A R I S : H O M E	M U S E U M S	C H U R C H E S	M É D I C I F O U N T A I N
M O N T P A R N A S S E	C I T Y W A L K S	T H E L A T IN Q U A R T E R	S T R A S B O U R G C A T H E D R A L
L O N D O N	M O N T S E R R A T	G A U D I ' S B A R C E L O N A	R O M A N T A R R A G O N A

I T A L Y

F L O R E N C E	F L O R E N C E ' S D U O M O	F L O R E N C E ' S M U S E U M S	F L O R E N C E B Y N I G H T	VE N I C E
O R V I E T O	M A R C H E	A S C I A N O & M O N T E O L I V E T O M A G G I O R E	P I S A	S A N G I M I G N A N O
S I E N A	S I E N A 'S D U O M O	S I E N A B Y N I G H T	P I C C O L O M I N I L I B R A R Y	S I E N A 'S M U S E U M S
A S S I S I	V E R O N A	S P O L E T O	G U B B I O & P E R U G I A	L U C C A & B A R G A
R O M E	P I A Z Z A DE L P O P O L O / V I L L A B O R G H E S E	S E G E S T A & S E L I N U N T E	E R I C E	T U R I N & T H E P I E D M O N T

N A T I O N A L P A R K S

G R A N D T E T O N S	Y O S E M I T E I N S P R I N G	Y O S E M I T E I N W I N T E R	G R E A T S M O K Y M O U N T A I N S
B L A C K C A N Y O N & D I N O S A U R	G R A N D C A N Y O N	Y E L L O W S T O N E	Z I O N & B R Y C E

C O L O R A D O , W Y O M I N G & N E W M E X I C O

C E N T R A L C O L O R A D O	C R I P P L E C R E E K & T H E F L A T I R O N	H A N G I NG L A K E, G L E N W O O D C A N Y O N , C O	C O L L E G I A T E P E A K S W I L D E R N E S S
B L U E R I V E R B I K E W A Y/ T E N M I L E C A N Y O N T R A I L	B R E C K E N R I D G E I N S U M M E R	A P P R O A C H I N G T H E T E T O N S	T A O S , S A N T A F E & P E C O S N A T' L M O N.

T H E M I D W E S T

M I C H I G A N	S I L V E R L A K E, M I	L U D I N G T O N, M I	R A I L S T O T R A I L S
A T H O M E I N K A N S A S	K. U.	A L L E R T O N P A R K, M O N T I C E L L O, I L	P O W E L L G A R D E N S

E T C E T E R A

C A N O E I N G I N JUNIPER SPRINGS, F L O R I D A	R A N D O M P L A C E S	B O C A S D E L T O R O , P A N A M A	P O R T R A I T S & S E L F - P O R T R A I T S	S A V A N N A H & T Y B E E I S L A N D, G E O R G I A
W I L D F L O W E R S	S U N S E T S	F R O M T H E A I R	P A N O R A M A S	P A N A M A C I T Y

L A S T M O D I F I E D S E P T E M B E R 2 2, 2 0 0 7 §