Rivers are compelling — whether they’re slow and meandering or fast and furious. With a dual personality, rivers represent both nature and civilization. Regardless, they take you on a journey that metaphorical and literal. The above photo is the Amo River running through Florence, Italy.

The Danube River is particularly beautiful. In Visegrád, Hungary, its “S” curve is almost always in view.

The Danube, Budapest, Hungary.

The Dnieper, Kiev, Ukraine.

The Rhine, Cologne (Köln) Germany.

Leiden, the Netherlands. Unfortunately I don’t know the name of this scenic waterway.

The Seine, Paris, France. My friend Debbie adopting the “C’est la Vie” philosophy.

The Yarra, Melbourne, Australia.

The Torrens, Adelaide, Australia.

The Todd River, Alice Springs, Australia. We visited Alice during a rare flood. Because the Todd riverbed is so shallow and normally dry, it doesn’t take much rain to raise the levels to flood stage. A local saying maintains if you’ve seen the Todd River run three separate times, essentially you are a local. Sadly, this flooding displaced people who were living along the banks or underneath the bridges.

The Todd, Alice Springs, Australia.

Ubud, Bali. This is another beautiful waterway that I haven’t properly identified.

St. Charles River, Boston, USA.

The Arkansas, Colorado, USA. This river runs through my hometown. At this particular point, a slalom kayaking course was set up. It’s still during the winter, but promises challenge for boaters in the spring and summer.

The Arkansas, Colorado, USA.

The Arkansas, Colorado, USA.