Catching Light -Mykonos, Good-bye Greek Isles

 

Linking to Nature Footstep Inspiring Photography: Catching Light .

In June I finished a tour of eight European countries, Austria to Turkey and mostly along the Dalmatian coast with a brief cruise of the Greek Islands.  Mykonos was the last island on the cruise before ending the trip in Athens, Greece.  I chose Mykonos for this "catching light" post because the day we spent on the island offered countless opportunities to photograph brilliant light--blue skies and sea, white cube-shaped houses glittering in the sun.

(Click on collages to enlarge.)

Here are some of the best sights from my tour of the harbor and town, including the lime washed cubical buildings with their blue accents and flat terrace roofs:

Mykonos has many churches, most very small.  In the past churches were built on sites to avoid paying taxes--example the small sanctuary middle left.  The large free form church is the Paraportiani and is quite unique as it is a blending of five churches each with different architecture:

 

Here are some common sights walking along the harbor:  fishing boat, the Alexandria Restaurant by the sea, an old anchor, fresh seafood (including octopus which is pounded and then hung to dry from fishing boats before preparing) and a playful dog making a pest of himself on the beach:

 

Streets are narrow and paved with flat stones that are painted white all around.  The white-washed buildings are accented with colorful doors, windows, and balconies.  Blooming bougainvillea, oleander, hibiscus, and fuchsia tumble over walls and balconies.

The windmill is a classic symbol of Mykonos.  At one time the windmills were used for grinding grain.  Now they are part of the character of the island.  Notice the Barbie pink scooter lower right!

These final shots are of the setting sun over the Aegean Sea as we walked back to our ship along the harbor:

 

 By this time I had been away from home for 21 days so was getting quite homesick.  Still, I'm glad to have these memories of sparkling white light against the blue Aegean Sea.

Mosaic Monday - Swiss Travel Dog

 

click on mosaic to enlarge

While on a somewhat blogging hiatus over the recent holidays I was trying to come up with some fresh post topics for the new year.  Here's my first effort:  Dog a Day.  Whenever I travel I miss my dog(s) that are left at home.  So, not far into the trip I'm looking for dogs to pet and photograph no matter what country I'm traveling in.  To begin this series I give you the Swiss Bernese Mountain Dog from a 2008 European trip.

Spotted this grand dog at an outdoor café in the historic center of Lucerne, Switzerland.  The Bernese is as much a symbol of Switzerland as its red cross flag (flying from buildings in top left photo), chocolate, and fine timepieces.  The Reuss River runs through the historic city center and cafes and shops line either side of the river where the Swiss enjoy the outdoors.  The flower decked wooden Chapel Bridge spans the river and provides a beautiful walkway.  This wooden bridge is one of the oldest in Europe, built in the 1330s.  The inside bridge roof is covered with very old paintings.  Middle right photo was taken from a cruise boat on Lake Lucerne and is the classic Swiss landscape of small wooden farmhouses and chalets nestled into the steep mountainside.  Lower right is a shot of the cloud-covered Alps.  I took this pic from the summit of Mount Pilatus near Lucerne.  Getting to the summit involved thrilling rides in a cable car, ski lift AND aerial gondola!  Think you'll agree that the view was worth the effort.

So, I hope you enjoyed this first Dog a Day post.  If so, come back next week.  Who knows where we'll go-Russia, Italy, France, New Zealand? 

Linking to Mosaic Monday

InSPIREd Sunday & Mosaic Monday in Moscow

click on images to enlarge

Candy cane colored onion domes of Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, Russia - sits on the famous Red Square and is one of the most recognized landmarks of Moscow.  Saint Basil's was ordered built by Ivan the Terrible in the mid-1500s to celebrate a major victory over the Mongols.  Ivan was said to have blinded the cathedral architects so that they could never repeat this design.  Most scholars agree that this is a folklore myth.  Still makes a great story. (photos taken September 2012)

I just finished reading Daniel Silva's newest spy novel, The English Girl.  It's set in Corsica, London and Moscow.  And, as I was reading, realized that I had just seen many of the places that was the scene of the Moscow action in this novel.  I love it when that happens--just makes the book so real.  Here are a few scenes from the novel:

 

Clockwise: Saint Basil and tourist heads(!), church walls ornately painted, closeup of onion domes, GUM Department store beside Red Square and scene of one of Silva's spy capers, Red Square where one of the book's spy operations began, soldier statue in honor of Ivan the Terrible's Mongol victory

 

Clockwise:  Cover of book The English Girl; bridge over the Moska River lit red-white-blue of Russian Federation flag which replaced the Communist hammer and sickle; Saint Basil's at night; history museum on Red Square; Russian "White House"; Red October Chocolate Factory on Moska River at night

BTW, if you like spy novels, highly recommend The English Girl.  I'm planning on traveling with Silva and his main character Israeli agent Gabriel Allon to some other locations like Venice and Amsterdam based on this book!

Linking to InSPIREd Sunday and Mosaic Monday .

InSPIREd Sunday & Mosaic Monday - Back on the Grid!

Hello Blogger Friends - this is my first posting since August 23rd!  I'm actually a bit nervous composing this post.  Almost like I've forgotten how to blog it has been so long.  After months of internet problems, I decided to get a new computer and went with an all-in-one with touchscreen and Windows 8.  I was just getting started with learning to navigate everything when things in my family fell apart.

Those of you who know me through Summit Musings and Facebook know that I--as do most of you--have primary caregiving responsibilities for older family members.  In my case, Diva Sister fell, spent time in the hospital and rehab during late August - September.  I just got her settled back in her apartment the end of September.  At the same time, my older brother in Tennessee went into the hospital where he received a devastating diagnosis of Stage 4 cancer.  He too was in and out of hospital and rehab and finally went home under hospice care the last of September.  Of course, I wanted to be with him on his final journey--while dealing with Diva Sister-- so was driving back and forth between Kentucky and Tennessee to help with his care.  Sadly, he completed his journey last Tuesday--at home where he wanted to be.

So, now I'm trying to get some normalcy back in my own life and that includes blogging!

This is the Convent of San Francesco in Tuscany, Italy.  I took these photos on a garden tour of Tuscany in 2000.  Look closely in the center of the photo and you'll see the campanile, or bell tower. The Convent is now a hotel and rehabilitation center for troubled boys and young men.  (click on the photos to enlarge)

In this mosaic you see the old stone paths and walkways around the convent.  Terra cotta urns and planters made locally from the red Tuscan clay line the paths and this single red rose climbs the convent walls.  A common "hen and chicks" grows between the stones.

Here you have a view of the side garden and notice that each window has its own planter of red roses.  A proud bronze peacock perches on the wall overlooking the well-tended garden.  The boys and young men work in the gardens and the hotel as part of their rehabilitation.  The discipline and responsibility--and hard work--was believed to help many turn their lives around.

Linking to InSPIREd Sunday and Mosaic Monday .

InSPIREd Sunday & Mosaic Monday - Tuscan Hilltowns and Countryside

This is Pienza, a small walled hilltown built in the mid-1400s in the Tuscany region of Italy. In this photo you can see the white stone belltower and spire of the Pienza Cathedral rising up above the town. Photos used in this post are from a 2000 gardening tour of Tuscany. Pienza was our base location for the tour. Click on the mosaics to enlarge for better views.

From the left: side garden of Pienza Cathedral, the cathedral altar, flowers decorating the baptismal font where we saw a baby being christened on the day we toured,and the sandstone arches of Hotel Relais which was once a monastery and our base for the tour.

Pienza is such a small town that very little car traffic is allowed on the narrow stone and cobbled streets. Everywhere you walked the walls were decorated with flowers and live greenery:

On this tour we not only visited some fabulous gardens, we also traveled many miles each day through the Italian countryside and saw scenes for which Tuscany is known. First photo is a tour bus shot of the sheep whose milk is prized for making the classic Italian pecorino cheese--nice of them to be grazing in a field of wild poppies! In the last collage clockwise: 1. skinny cypress trees accent the hillside looking down into a valley, 2. fava beans growing in some of the reddest soil you've ever seen 3. an olive grove for the famous Italian olive oil, 4. wild poppy fields as far as the eye could see.

Linking to InSPIREd Sunday and Mosaic Monday .

(Blogger trubble! Kind first commenters, TexWisGirl and Eileen, have given me the heads up that the text is not showing up in this post without highlighting it (??) I am getting the text as well as photos so don't know what the deal is EXCEPT that Blogger has been giving me trouble--freezing up, etc.--for this entire post. Sorry for the glitch--just enjoy the photos! Faye)

InSPIREd Sunday - in a Tuscan Village

Campanile (church belltower) in a small village near Villa Massei in Tuscany, Italy (2000)

click on collage to enlarge

I just finished reading Chris Bohjalian's The Light in the Ruins about a Tuscan noble family who becomes entangled with the conflict between the Germans and the Italian partisans in 1943 WW II that continued for ten years after with devastating results.  In 2000, I went on a garden tour of Tuscany and was able to stay in or visit many of the places in this novel--Florence, Pienza, several hilltowns, villas and farms.  One villa in particular--La Foce--served as the inspiration for Bohjalian's book.  La Foce was bought by Irish-American writer Iris Origo and her husband Marchese Antonio in 1924.  They farmed with help from the villagers and then during the German occupation La Foce was turned into a children's hospital and orphanage.  Origo's diary, War in Val D'Orcia, where she chronicles the war years and their efforts to help their village, provided the inspiration for the fictional The Light in the Ruins.

Come back tomorrow for Mosaic Monday where I'll be sharing photos of La Foce and the Tuscan countryside--if this brief tale has piqued your interest!

Linking to InSPIREd Sunday .

InSPIREd Sunday - Riquewihr, France

Photos from 2002 - this is the small medieval town of Riquewihr in the Alsace region of  France.  Like many other medieval towns and villages in Europe, Riquewihr is surrounded by walls.  Then all around the town vineyards stretch for miles and miles through the valley between the Rhine River and the Voges Mountains.  Famed for its Riesling wine, it's an important stop on the "Route des Vins", a small road though the famous vineyards of Alsace.  There are two churches in Riquewihr, a Catholic and one referred to as the Old Protestant.  You can just see the spires in the above photos.

Here are some other scenes of  our tour of Riquewihr (click on collage to enlarge):

 Clockwise:  wonderful blue-stuccoed outdoor cafe, the Zimmer wine cellar where we got to taste some local wines, looking down on Riquewihr, evening in nearby Hochfelden where our boat was moored, and vineyards completely surrounding the town.

Linking to InSPIREd Sunday , a new meme celebrating places of worship and their unique architecture and history.  Thanks to Sally and Beth for hosting.

 

June 17 - decided to link to Mosaic Monday as well for those who love all things French.

Irish Fences and Gates

Butter yellow gate connects the "rooms" of the Ballymaloe Cookery School herb gardens in County Cork.

Village fences in County Mayo:

Linking to Friday Fences at Life According to Jan and Jer .

Irish Garden Week - Lakemount in County Cork

~ click on collage to enlarge ~

Irish Garden Week - in celebration of St. Paddy's Day this week, when we all claim to be a bit Irish, thought I would share some photos from a 1998 garden tour of Ireland.  This is Lakemount in County Cork.  Brian Cross (in wellies) is the garden designer/artist, assisted by "Violet".  Highlights:  fantastic mixed shrub borders, clipped beech hedges with a view, simply stunning arrangement of containers and plants, and a green velvet lawn.

Here are a few more closeups of the garden, including the assistant gardener :-) :

Check back in periodically for the rest of the week and I'll share some different gardens, traveling southwest from Dublin.  Slainte!

Mosaic & Macro Monday - Hiking to Norway's Briksdal Glacier

~ click on photos and collages to enlarge ~

August 2011 - view of lake and mountains on the Nordfjord from Hotel Alexandra in Loen, Norway.  On the way to the Briksdal Glacier we had fjordland views of Lake Loen (the chalky blue-green color caused by glacial rock runoff into the waters), waterfalls, boulder-strewn streams, and farm communities on the banks of the Nordfjord:

Once we got near the Briksdal Glacier, a cogwheel train took us to a dropoff point and then we hiked the last mile to the foot of the glacier.  This arrangement worked out perfectly because the cool rainy weather made for some great closeup shots of lichen and moss covered rocks, wildflowers, plants and trees:

Linking to: Macro Monday and Mosaic Monday

Friday Fences - Russian Village

September 2012 - these photos of  village fences were taken through a tour bus window as we traveled through the northern Russian countryside to the town of Kirillov to visit the 14th century Monastery of St. Cyril.  This part of Russia is known for its traditional woodworking.  That skill is reflected in the decorative designs on very simple village houses and fences, with this blue-green being a favorite paint color:

Sometimes in the poorer villages only the fronts of homes would be painted with rest of the house left to weather naturally.  This is the back part of  a village as seen from the White Lake:

Linking to Friday Fences at Life According to Jan and Jer .

What to do in Paris, the City of Love, on Valentine's Day

This photo was taken  in 2002 on a visit to Paris and before I had a digital camera.  Appropriately for this Valentine's Day post you can see that "luv" themed graffiti decorated the construction walls around the Eiffel Tower.  I was back in Paris in 2008 with a better camera, so decided to share some possibilities for spending the day with your sweetheart in this most romantic of cities. (Click on the collages to enlarge.)

Morning

Row 1 L-R:  view the River Seine and city from the top observation deck of the Eiffel Tower; watch school children dressed in traditional French smocks playing in the park; take a city tour by bus.

Row 2 L-R: shop on the very fashionable Champs Elysees; view the city from the Eiffel Tower; have lunch in a cafe.

Row 3 L-R:  walk through the park near Eiffel Tower; driver in Paris traffic; check out the cafe menu for a coffee and croissant break.  

Late Afternoon and Evening

Row 1 L-R:  men get a Parisian haircut; check out the sidewalk scene, including these gendarmes; take a cruise on the River Seine in a glass-topped boat.

Row 2 L-R:  buy your sweetheart some flowers; enjoy the beautiful architecture; drive by the Eiffel Tower at night.

Row 3 L-R:  buy some fancy French chocolates, browse the book stalls along the Seine; and, finally, end your day in the City of Love with an authentic cabaret show at La Nouvelle Eve (see the cancan and be prepared to be just a bit shocked!). 

Hope you've enjoyed this little fantasy tour and that you have a great Valentine's Day where ever you are.

Macro and Mosaic Monday - Russian Birch Trees

Photos from a 2012 river cruise of northern Russian.  The birch trees were spectacular in groves, along the river's edge, or closeup, especially the silvery bark.  Birch bark was used by local craftspeople to make everything from boats to slippers to decorative arts.  (Click to enlarge.) 

Linking to: Macro Monday and Mosaic Monday

Russian Waters - Sunrise & Sunset on the Sheksna River & Millstones at St. Cyril's Monastery

Earlier this week I posted some sunrise and sunset views of the Sheksna River as we cruised into the port of Goritsy (see below) in northern Russia.  From there we drove through the countryside to the village of Kirillov to tour the 14th century St. Cyril Monastery of the White Lake.  As we walked through the monastery grounds I spotted several ancient millstones (apparently the monks did appreciate their daily bread!).  Also, in the top mosaic, lower right corner, is an old drawbridge that is still in use today.

For more watery scenes be sure to check out Watery Wednesday II .

Early morning views of the Sheksna River in the most northern part of Russia, the Vologda Region.  In 2012, I took a small riverboat cruise of the rivers and lakes of Russia from St. Petersburg to Moscow.  This day we were cuising toward the village of Goritsy where we disembarked and spent the day touring the Russian countryside.

It was an overcast morning as you can see from the grey waters in the large photo of the Sheksna.  The Vologda Region is quite commercial, with many industries such as fishing and woodworking from the forests and waters.  That old ruin just on the water's edge was more than likely a flooded church.  During the Stalin era he aggressively flooded small towns and villages to create commercial waterways to transport timber and ferrous metal out of the Vologda Region with little concern for the people or their churches.

And then by the end of the day, the skies had cleared so that this was the sunset over the waters as we left Goritsy headed toward the Volga River and eventually Moscow.

If you enjoy water photography be sure to check out Nature FootstepWaters for Sunday to see entries from all over. Or, even better, link to your own water photos.