MARI'S TRAVELS WITH HER CAMERA

Category: Europe – Mediterranean

Spain, Italy, P:ortugal & France

  • Life in Colour – Orange

    Linked to Life in Colour at Jude’s here

    Orange is still the colour.

    Lovely while it lasted – Grace, a favourite rose
    Orange sails on the boats on the canal built by Leonardo da Vinci, at Cesenatico in Italy

  • Life in Colour – Orange

    Linked to Life in Colour at Jude’s here

    A few more images featuring the colour Orange

    Golden fish street food in Phuket
    The real Paella as served in Pepica Restaurant along the beach in Valencia
  • Life in Colour: Orange

    Life in Colour: Orange

    Linked to Life in Colour at Jude’s here

    I’m going with the very obvious here, orange is for oranges:

    Oranges from the Med. Orange Juice stand in Sicily and Oranges in the Market in Valencia

    Moving on to Thailand and the orange-robed monks from that country. I have many Thai Buddhist friends and, when I’m there, they usually include me in any ceremonies that they are attending so I was highly honoured when I was allowed to serve the monks at one special occasion.

    Serving the monks breakfast at an hotel in Hua Hin (being careful not to touch any of them) and later when I gifted them a fan each. An assistant had to carry them on a golden platter, he handed one package at a time to me which I carefully placed in front of the monk. The last picture is of a group of very young monks who were changing their robes in a side-street in Bangkok. I think they may have just come from an ordination or been gifted the robes because it’s most unusual to see them do this in such a public place.

  • I’ll Be Back Again, Next Year

    I’ll Be Back Again, Next Year

    Linked to Six Word Saturday here

    Musician in Cordoba, Spain

    It’s been two years now and I can’t wait to return to the cities I love in Spain and Italy. Top of my list will be Seville from where it’s just a short trip by train to Cordoba. May 1922 free us from the fear of getting Covid and allow everyone to travel freely again.

  • Pull up A Seat Photo Challenge 21

    Pull up A Seat Photo Challenge 21

    PLACES WE SIT…OR MIGHT SIT…OR THINK ABOUT SITTING

    At Beziers, not far from Narbonne in France, there is an olive press with the best olives in the world and when I visit friends in the area, I buy as many of these, the Rolls-Royce of olives, the Lucques, as I can carry home. Here, among hundreds of olive trees, is a bench made from an olive tree on the farm. I’d love to own this bench – a definite “pull up a seat” situation. It helps that almost next door is the Chateau Roquette sur Mer vineyard, where the delightfully named Vins de la Clape are produced – and an onsite shop. Who would have guessed?

    Bench made from an Olive Tree at the farm where the Lucques olives are farmed.

    XingfuMama posts every Friday morning.

    Create a post with a photo of places one sits or might sit with a little background or story about the spot or a picture of the view.

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  • One Word Sunday – Bridge

    One Word Sunday – Bridge

    A selection of lesser known bridges away from the crowds in London, where life is slow, barges are still transporting goods on the river, and the peace and calm is a far cry from the hub and bustle of the Thames we are more familiar with.

    Then a hop over to Seville in Spain, where there are some spectacular bridges over the Guadalquivir River. These are just two, the first one being the modern Alamillo Bridge by the famous architect Santiago Calatrava, and the second one, built in the mid-19th century, is the equally famous Triana Bridge.

  • Life in Colour 21

    Life in Colour 21

    Link to Jude here. Jude has asked for White or Silver this month.

    First up, a couple of Spain’s White Villages, whose whiteness demands sunglasses at all times to cut the glare.

    Spain’s White Villages. The first one is Grazalema the second, maybe Arcos de la Frontera.
    Snow on the Italian Alps as I last flew over (1918)
    Isle of Wight Garlic. The IoW farm also grows and sells the rarer black garlic.
    View to the Jungfrau from Rigi in Switzerland with snow in between.

  • Italy’s Cable Car Tragedy

    Italy’s Cable Car Tragedy

    Cable-Car Map at Stresa on Lake Maggiore

    The terrible accident yesterday in Italy sent me to my photographs of the time I spent there just over two years ago. The Italian lakes are beautiful at any time but my week there was exceptional, especially in the town of Stresa with its access to so many other towns along the lakes and to so many lovely walks in the mountains and hills around.

    One of the Hiking Trails

    The Cable car ride to Mottorone above Stresa was one such and I wanted to put just a few pictures up to show why people go up there in summer. Winter, of course, can be for skiing, but summer is for walking among the trees and looking at the amazing views down to the lakes.

    Summit

    I had often though of returning to do that trip again but when an accident like this happens, one’s faith in machinery takes a bit of a knock!

    On the Summit
  • Just One Person – in Madrid

    Just One Person – in Madrid

    Linked to Just One person from around the World at Cady Luck Leedy

    I was reminded of this man and his 100-year-old leather glove-making shop when I read a recent post of Cady’s so I dug out my photographs and scanned them in. I have no dates on them, no details, but I know it was a long time ago. I still have the gloves I bought from him and I remember the shop so well because it was a very extravagant purchase: they are in very unserviceable colours but I’m a glove nut and just had to have them.

    I can’t remember the address but I could take you there if we were in Madrid. There are a few famous glove shops in this area but this one was just a few steps away from the Puerta del Sol and the 4th generation member of the family who attended to me, told me that it moved to its current location in the early 20th century from its first location in the famous Plaza itself  

    The proprietor and some of his hand-made stock

    See that shocking pink pair on the top shelf, and the blue ones on the right? Well, I bought those two pairs, plus a burnt orange pair and a navy and white pair – my entire spending money gone in one purchase! The orange, pink and blue gloves are still wrapped in tissue paper, still pristine, as they are not the sort of gloves you wear very often but the navy and white ones have seen a lot of service since that spend-up day in Madrid.

    Many hundreds of pairs of glove in drawers

    Why I bought them I’ll never know. I think it was just the excitement of seeing so much beautiful leather worked into gloves and, as I said, I love gloves – even if I never get to wear them. They are a bit like books to me, to have and to hold is reward enough. And can you imagine the smell of soft leather in that shop? It probably softened my brain a bit!

    The working part of the shop, sewing-machine on table

    My burnt-orange gloves are in the middle of the bottom shelf and they fit like a dream. Soft, pliable, luxurious leather lined with silk. I like buying gloves in Spain because they stock small sizes and as I take a size 6 I find it nearly impossible to buy them in the UK.

    This shop, where time seems to have stood still, retains the mirrors, the counter, the old cash register and the sewing machine – everything is the same as it was in the mid-20th century. Above all, the attention to detail, the understanding of the customer’s needs and the very personal service is what makes this place special.

    When this Covid thing is over and I can return to Madrid, I will seek out this shop again and get full particulars, then come back and insert the details in this Post.

  • Pull Up a Seat: Photo Challenge

    We are in Seville for both of my seats, the first one a lovely tiled seat in the Plaza de España which I’ve mentioned in another post here, a gorgeous extravagance of tiles, walkways, streams, bridges, more tiles, all within the Parque de Doña Maria Luisa.

    A very elegant tiled bench in Plaza de España, Seville.

    And still in Seville we are on our way to the Alcazar when we came across this painter, oblivious to the passersby who photographed her and walked around her as she sat on a flimsy white stool. She worked quickly and the paintings looked good, good enough for her to sell quite a few while we stood admiring the finished pictures. By her feet she had different types of frames and she offered to change the frames of any on display if needed. I liked her bicycle behind the finished pictures, it made the whole thing seem so casual and a long way from high-art.

    Near the Alcazar, Seville, Spain