I was commenting on one of www.flickr.com/photos/eridony/ 's photos today about old motels or other facilities that have been bypassed by bigger highway projects.
Here's one on Lakeshore Road in Mississauga, just past the border with Toronto/Etobicoke. Lakeshore Road (called Lake Shore Boulevard once it crosses into Toronto) is still a major road, but the QEW/Gardiner Expressway a few kilometers to the north allows drivers to drive across the southern portions of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) without any stoplights. I was going to use the term "much quicker", but that really depends on what time of day you're driving!
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Tags: motel accommodations Mississauga GTA Greater Toronto Area Lakeshore Road lodging old phone booth The Ivy The Ivy Motel roadside motel Mom & Pop motel retro motel legacy motel Ontario winter January iPhone iPhone SE iPhone SE 2nd gen snow parking lot
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Behind this wall are several things. However, the Internet doesn't seem clear on what they are. I think there are photos or labels on Google Maps that don't necessarily correspond to this spot. If you zoom in on the notice next to the door, you can see it says something about "psychiatry/psychology". Maybe someone bought an office behind this door. Suffice to say, it's a wall...a great wall....some might say a tremendous wall. I certainly think it's tremendous, and believe me, I know tremendous when I see it. Definitely better than President Obama's wall. And we're gonna make Mexico pay for it. You might ask, "Why make Mexico pay for a wall in Poland? Especially a wall that's already built?" Well, I don't know; I mean I know a lot; definitely more than Sleepy Joe Biden, but there are a few things I don't know, but what I do know is that we'll make Mexico pay for it anyway...
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Tags: Wall stone rock door gate street Poland Kraków city urban old solid travel 2020 winter 2020 winter travel Europe 2020 pre-pandemic
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Based on Google Maps, I believe this building is part of the zoo, which extends much farther behind the building. It's a shame I didn't know that at the time, because having worked at a zoo during my 20s, I would have enjoyed exploring the zoo in Amsterdam. Oh well; another time I guess!
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Tags: Amsterdam canal building old heritage waterway water rainy raining city urban bridge streetcar winter winter travel winter 2020 pre-pandemic Entrepotdok Plantage Muidergracht Plantage Middenlaan ARTIS
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As COVID-19 was spreading across Europe, I walked down Noordzandstraat from my hotel, looking for a place to eat. Little did I know, and little did all these other people know, that soon the world would largely shut down.
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Tags: pre-pandemic winter travel winter travel 2020 Bruges Brugge Belgium Belgique city town old medieval evening dusk night people tourists locals pedestrians Europe
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After the boat tour and popping in to the church, I walked back to my hotel; the Hotel Bla Bla, where I FaceTimed with Ally for almost an hour, which was nice.
If you've never booked a hotel in Europe before, it's worth noting that what Europeans call the second floor, North Americans call the third floor. That's because in North America, the first floor is the ground floor. I had requested a room on the second floor so as to reduce the street noise a bit, but they put me on the third floor. But it's okay, because I kind of liked going up the narrow wooden staircase to my room, and I lived on the third floor back home anyway, so I was used to it. And I had a nice view out the back of the hotel.
I mentioned this on another photo earlier, but I'm mentioning it again here.
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Tags: hotel street buildings architecture Belgium Bruges Brugge city town old medieval winter travel 2020 winter
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