If you’ve been following my posts for a while you might remember the ones with the funnel I used for promoting posts I liked, posted by fellow steemians. Well, after being gone for a year, it’s time to dig out that funnel again (or rather use the one from my own kitchen) to highlight what others have posted! And, once again, it was a contest that got me to do it today rather than tomorrow. - Gotta love these contests!
This contest, created by 
Ever since my long bike trip I just completed (okay, I’ve linked it enough in my previous posts. Go visit my profile if you’re interested!) I have been super excited reading about other people’s bike journeys. Fortunately, a couple of fellow bike enthusiasts created #cyclefeed where these kind a stories abound. But even among those cool posts I find some gems that just stick out from the rest, like this one by 
This is the story of two dudes from New Zealand, who are cycling across Central Asia, writing in English and (I assume) in Mandarin, featuring beautiful photos and maps. At the moment they are in Iran, and in this post they tell us about the Caspian Sea, the citrus orchards they rode past, the generosity of the local people, and most excitingly, inspiring local Iranians to join them on their trip, if only for part of the way.
Unfortunately, they also mentioned a thieving cyclist (I never thought that this was possible), and the cold weather of the season. Yes, in the photos they posted you can see their warm jackets and quite a bit of snow. Having had only one night in sub-zero temperatures on my trip, and even that in the pleasantly dry climate of Southern California, I have a great respect for these guys! So please go ahead and visit
Some people don’t like to endure hard physical activity on their travels. Instead, they explore cultural and historical sites with their family, and take lovely photos in stunning locations. One of these types of posts is this one, by 
In this post the author describes a trip to Nehaj castle in Senj, Croatia. For me the place rang a bell immediately, since it was an important fortification in the 16th century against the advances of the Ottoman Empire, and hence also significant in Hungarian history (which I grew up learning). The name of the town, by the way, is Zengg in Hungarian.
One interesting thing the author mentions, is how the building material for the fort was collected from destroyed churches and monasteries nearby. While this may sound like tearing down one building in order to build another, what is more likely, is that those churches got destroyed during the ongoing conflict with the Ottoman Turks. In any case,
So now that I’ve fulfilled the requirements for the contest, let me close with a bonus mention of honor. It’s a post written by 
What I really liked about this post are the pictures! However, the accompanying text only has 173 words, which is 27 words short of the minimum requirement. The author could have easily gotten at least 200, by giving a bit of background to the tee-pees and the totem poles. What’s up with those in Croatia??? Okay, here’s my own interpretation:
Due to it’s interesting geographical features, the site was selected for the filming of the Winnetou movies. Who is Winnetou, you ask? Written in the early 20th century by Karl May, a German who never set foot in America, this Western trilogy, favored by adolescent boys, was turned into motion pictures in the 1970’s. The place is still visited by Winnetou fans, which explains the weird mix of tents used by indigenous peoples mainly on the great plains with totem poles (typical for the Northwest US), in a story that is supposed to be set in Arizona, all in a European national park. Nevertheless,
Okay, this much for right now. I hope you’ve enjoyed these links, and there will be more of this, now that I’m literally back OFF the saddle, at least for now.
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