For some of you, this story will confirm my nerdiness.  I'm ok with that.  My trip to San Miguel de Allende is almost over - we're flying home on Saturday.  I have hundreds of door photos to sort through, and I will post some in the coming weeks.  But there was one pair of doors that I had not been able to photograph properly - the doors of La Parroquia, the beautiful church on the south side of el Jardin, which is the garden at the heart of San Miguel.  I have visited the church MANY times during my stay, at all times of the day and night, hoping to find the doors closed.  I've asked several people what time the doors open in the morning, but so far, no luck.  I couldn't go home without photographing the doors of the unofficial symbol of SMA, right?

When I began planning a trip to San Miguel de Allende, I had no idea that the city was known for its beautiful doors...there's even a book about them!  I have a lot more door photos to post (and even an egress problem!), but for now, here's a sneak peek...

This morning I went over to the Grand Canal Shoppes before the stores opened, to get photos of the unusual door pulls.  I'm pretty sure Security was tracking my every move, but apparently they decided I was harmless.

As always when I travel, I've been on the lookout for interesting doors during my trip to Las Vegas.  I saw these last night at dinner.  They're beautiful (and huge!) carved wood panels, hung on center pivots which are offset from the edge.  When the doors are closed (see below), there is a gap at the hinge edge.

I'm back in the snowy north, hunkered down while the snow piles up.  This is my last post from my trip to Tampa.  For next week I'm working on another post about glass (yes, there's more!), as well as a post about school security - particularly the "creative" and often non-code-compliant methods I've seen a lot of lately.  If you've run into any interesting security modifications for schools, send them along!  Have a great weekend all!

The Tampa Bay Hotel (although no longer a hotel) is an amazing building, especially once you hear about its history.  If you've got 15 minutes, check out this video:

This is a travel week for me - I'm in Tampa, Florida for the winter meeting of the Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association (BHMA - check out their new website!).  I have more posts in the works on school security and wired glass, but while I'm on the road, you know that I like to share the cool doors that I see with all of you.  I'll get back to the code-related posts next week.

During a break in today's BHMA meetings I took a drive south to see the Mission San Xavier Del Bac.  The mission was founded in 1692, and the current church was built between 1783 and 1797.  It is located in the center of a Papagon Indian settlement.  The mission has been constantly maintained and periodically restored, so it's in beautiful shape.  You can read more about the history of this gorgeous building here.

I know what you're thinking..."Another day, another kasbah."  :-)  I sincerely appreciate the chance to enjoy my vacation while still keeping up with my blog, email, etc., so thanks for bearing with me!

I hope you're not getting tired of posts about beautiful Moroccan doors because I know I'm not tired of seeing them.  There are amazing doors EVERYWHERE in Morocco - adorned bronze, carved wood, hand-painted...absolutely gorgeous.  Yesterday I dragged the family to Bahia Palace in the 100-degree heat.  They were good sports about it and I think they actually like roaming around old architectural marvels with me.  Once we finally find them in the depths of the medina, that is.  It's not easy to get around in the old city, or the ville nouvelle for that matter.

Here are some photos of the beautiful sliding bronze doors at the tomb of King Mohammed V.  It was built in 1971, adjacent to La Tour (Tower) Hassan.  The minaret stands amidst support columns which were once part of a huge mosque destroyed in an earthquake.

As many of you know, I am in Morocco for some vacation time combined with some work, and also working on some family issues with my mother-in-law's estate.  We have made the most of each day, and I have seen (and photographed) lots of amazing doors.  I hope you don't get sick of seeing them..."Darn!  Not another beautiful door!!"  I have also had requests for non-door photos so I will show you some of this beautiful country too.

Last week I was a panelist for the BOMA Every Building Conference and Expo in Seattle.  It was a pretty busy couple of days but I was able to sneak out each day to see a little of the city, or visit the guy who was LockedInAHouse.  I LOVED the Pike Place Market...I was there early in the morning as the vendors were bringing in their flowers, seafood, vegetables, etc. for the day, and it was a sensory feast!  I wish I could start each day that way.