THOSE TILES! Samarkand, Uzbekistan

The blue tiling on the mosques and madrasahs throughout Samarkand are incredible.

The dark and teal blue mosaic pieces create intricate details on walls, entrances, and domes.

The amazing turquoise domes on the Tilya Kori Madrasah within the Registan:

Arabic calligraphy with the decorative tiling:

Belgium -- churches

The church/buildings shown in the photo above were really interesting to walk by. Mom and Dad read about it in their book earlier in the day and told me the story behind these storefronts built against the entire side of the church. -- Apparently, the people that gave money to help build the church were then able to have a shop here... and they still exist today. (I think that's pretty much how it goes...) I've never seen a church like this before - and almost missed it walking right by! Very cool.

Our last morning in Brussels, I took a walk with Mom and Dad through a different part of the city. I enjoyed it. We went by this great church... I really like the reading statue shown two photos below... :P

Beautiful stained glass inside the church!

Then a nice guy took some photos of the three of us  : )

Pompeii's mosaics [heart!]

I love love love the mosaic floors throughout Pompeii. The colors, designs, and beauty are still gorgeous today.

The first photo below shows the word 'HAVE' on the ground outside the front of a home. This was an impressive private home called The House of Faun. The mosaic 'HAVE' refers to meeting and parting in Latin... I really like that at the door of the home.

And flooring designs, which I would love to have in my own home someday!!

Pompeii's dogs

I read a sign on our way into Pompeii, warning visitors of the dogs within Pompeii.

Sure enough, we saw doggies around all day. I loved it! For the most part, the dogs were calm and kept to themselves... soaking up the day's sunshine.

My brother, Sean, read about the Italian government supporting these stray dogs... putting chips in them to be able to track them and trying to make sure that they have enough food and are safe. I really like that idea and the care shown for these animals. I found an article from NY Times about Pompeii's dogs... back from 2010, but interesting nonetheless. Click here to read this article.

These dogs were some of the more energetic that we saw during the day.

(...Even allowing visitors to pet them.)

The House of the Tragic Poet - doorway mosaic dog: