The chrome framework of stackable chairs creates an interesting composition.

An abandoned home sits at the end of a lane on Rathlin Island off the coast of Northern Ireland. This peaceful scene belies the bloody history of the island where 600 residents were massacred on July 26, 1575 by troops under the command of Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Norreys after surrendering.

The early morning sun casts an interesting shadow across one of the historic buildings in Green Cove Springs, FL.

One of many great egrets at the Alligator Farm rookery displays its mating plumage.

St. Magnus Cathedral took about 300 years to build, with the foundations starting in 1137. The worshipping community over the centuries has been part of the Roman Catholic Church, the Norwegian Church, the Scottish Episcopal Church, and the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian). Today worshippers come from a whole host of denominational backgrounds.

St. Magnus is an impressive place and one of the few cathedrals that I recall being constructed from sandstone. The multiple stone carvings were very interesting and the animals and people that adorn many of the wooden structures in the cathedral are beautifully crafted.

Lerwick is the only official town in the Shetland Islands. Founded in the early 1600’s as a place to fish for herring and to trade with the Dutch, Lerwick was deemed to be so immoral and illegal that the courts ordered it to be destroyed in 1615 and again in 1625.

The village of West Burra in the Shetland Islands is still home to a small number of fishermen.

The dearth of trees and the necessity of clearing fields to make them tillable produced an abundance of stones, which the residents of Papa Westray in the Orkney Islands used to build their homes and farm buildings. This island is home to about 90 residents and the Knap of Howar, a primitive home site dating back to 3700 B.C.

Effigies of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll lie beneath a window at Iona Abbey and Nunnery on Iona. Iona is a holy isle and has been described as the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland. St Columba and 12 companions came here from Ireland in AD 563. The monastery they founded was one of the most important and influential in the British Isles. It sent missionaries to northern Britain to convert people to Christianity.

Flags, helmets, and swords adorn part of the interior of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland.

Now a museum, Kilmainham Gaol is the site where many Irish revolutionaries were imprisoned, including 6 leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, who were executed in the prison courtyard.

Nearly every corner and alley in Dublin’s Temple Bar district offers surprises. This alley was painted red and the reflections come courtesy of a rain that had just stopped moments before I arrived.

Merchants Arch in Dublin, Ireland has a great atmosphere highlighted by a spiral staircase filled with historical photos.

The Convention Centre Dublin casts its reflections across the River Liffey.

The beautifully crafted staircase and handrail at Dublin City Hall are just two of the standout features of this historic building.

The Long Room in the old library at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland offers a reminder of what searching for information used to be like.

The color scheme of this abandoned gas station in Gainesville, FL matches that of the hometown team, the Florida Gators.