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Eric Criswell Travel Photographer

  • The majority of people have heard about Amsterdam’s Red Light District well before their visit. Leaving nothing to the imagination, some stereotypes about this area are true...the red lights generally signify a legal prostitute works at that location. It is much like window shopping for your favorite new thing. Amsterdam has taken the thought of legalizing it to keep the workers safe and provide a means for making profit. It is interesting the thought behind this city decision.
    Netherlands
  • Now that's a Path!
    United States
  • This morning I woke up, wide awake, at 12:00 AM. I stayed up until 4:45 AM when I realized that the rain had stopped for the moment, after constant rain for several days. I was so excited that I checked to see if there was a way to Cinque Terra that time of day. A train was scheduled to leave La Spezia at 5:15 AM. I decided I would take a chance at going and hoped to catch a break in the rain. Well, after a broken train, an Italian man who spoke no English helping me out, and about an hour and a half standing on top of the cliff in the drizzle, I got a few shots. I had to constantly wipe the lens and try to protect it from rain and wind between shots. The fog and waves made for an amazing couple of hours on top of the cliff overlooking Manarola! I'm grateful for this perfect opportunity, as I thought my trip to Cinque Terre was going to be a weather bust!
    Italy
  • Iseltwald is first mentioned in 1146 as Iseltwalt. During the Middle Ages, a castle was built on the peninsula near the village for the Lords of Matten. In 1146, King Conrad III gave Interlaken Abbey one quarter of the village. Over the following years, the Abbey attempted to expand their power in the village. After the Swiss Confederation gained de facto independence from the House of Habsburg, the Abbey remained a strong supporter of the Austrian dynasty. The Abbey launched several raids into Unterwalden to support Habsburg ambitions. In response, in 1342, troops from Unterwalden attacked and burned Iseltwald. A few years later, in 1348-49, the village unsuccessfully rebelled against the Abbey. In 1528, the city of Bern adopted the new faith of the Protestant Reformation and began imposing it on the Bernese Oberland. Iseltwald joined many other villages and the Abbey in an unsuccessful rebellion against the new faith. After Bern imposed its will on the Oberland, they secularized the Abbey and annexed all the Abbey lands. Since 1948 it has been part of the large parish of Gsteig bei Interlaken in Gsteigwiler. The traditional local economy relied on fish from Lake Brienz, farming in the valleys and seasonal alpine herding and farming in the alpine meadows. A glass blowing factory opened between 1680 and 1696 and operated until 1715. Beginning in 1871, tourists began coming across the lake on steam ships. However, there was only one large road into the village until 1988. Today the local economy is based on tourism, agriculture, fishing and timber harvesting.
    Switzerland
  • Veslaska Promenada
    Slovenia
  • Astronomical Clock Tower
    Czech Republic
  • Frauenkirche from New Town Hall
    Germany
  • The stunning view of Sagrada Familia from Park Guell in magnificent Barcelona, Spain
    Spain