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| From 2026 01 02 Salamanca, Spain |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Salamanca, Spain. The photo shows the heart of the Old City. It's medieval. It's beautiful. It's walkable. It's been walkable for a thousand years. The historic Via de la Plata, a branch of the Camino de Santiago, passes through Salamanca. For centuries, it's carried Christian pilgrims for hundreds of kilometers from Seville to Santiago de Compostela.
Bonus photo after the jump.
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| From 2026 01 02 Salamanca, Spain |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from Salamanca, Spain. Our river cruise ship docked on the border between Portugal and Spain where we transferred to coaches for a day trip to Salamanca. Settlement in Salamanca dates to the Iron Age. The ancient Romans founded a city there. The Christian Kingdom of Leon took hold in the 11th century. So, yeah, Salamanca is old. It's also beautiful and off the beaten track.
Bonus photo after the jump.
Source: City of Richardson
On October 12, 2026, the Richardson City Council discussed three public engagement strategies and the venue for its annual State of the City presentation. I've already covered one of the outreach proposals, coordinating town hall meetings, in "Council Recap: City to Coordinate Town Halls". Today, I'll cover two other proposals (monthly video updates on Council meetings and Facebook livestreaming of meetings) as well as the decision to move the State of the City presentation to a larger venue. All told, the Council reached agreement on four public outreach improvements, though some members raised doubts along the way. That's four wins for public outreach in one Council meeting. I call that a good night's work.
Source: City of Richardson
On October 12, 2026, the Richardson City Council agreed to have the City coordinate scheduling for a series of town hall meetings at which council members would answer questions from the public.
Mayor Amir Omar initiated quarterly town halls, rotating among four areas of the City. He has held six such town halls in total. The format is straightforward: members of the public submit questions; all attendees vote for questions they are most interested in; the Mayor answers the questions that receive the most votes. In the first six such town halls, he managed to answer *every* question. A ChatGPT-generated summary of the Q&A from the Mayor's most recent town hall held on August 5, 2026 can be found here: Mayor Amir Omar Town Hall Reference Book.
From First Person Singular, by Haruki Murakami:
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AppleTV+
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| From 2025 12 31 Porto, Lamego, Castelo Rodrigo |
Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Almirante Sarmento Rodrigues Bridge, which spans the Douro River in the village of Barca d'Alva, Portugal, about half a mile from the border with Spain.
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| From 2025 12 31 Porto, Lamego, Castelo Rodrigo |
Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Castle of Castelo Rodrigo in Portugal. According to Wikipedia, "It is believed that the castle was founded in the 6th century based on legends. After the village was conquered by Alfonso IX of León in the late 11th/early 12th century, he ordered to build the castle and reinforce the defensive line. The name of the village, as well as the castle comes from the name of the Count Rodrigo Gonzalez de Girón who was responsible for the defense of the castle. The Castelo Rodrigo was incorporated into the Kingdom of Portugal in 1297 with the Treaty of Alcañices between King Denis of Portugal and King Fernando IV of Castile."
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Netflix
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Netflix
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