Travel theme: History

Travel theme: History

To me, maybe China and the Great Wall stands out when I think of History. Not only is it very old, but there is so much history behind the building of the wall, so many lost lives and such a fascinating idea from the start.

So, I keep returning to it…

Why This Garden is My Home!

Cee’s B&W Photo Challenge: Trees

For Cee’s challenge in black and white, she has chosen Trees. Trees are my favourites on this earth…and my pick is a piece of the forest I walk in every day. Autumn is the feeling.

 

Thursday Thoughts – A Yellow Anatomy

Yes, why yellow walls? Driving through the north of Spain, I recognized this almost saffron colour on a great many walls in the cities and villages.

Personally, I love this colour. Its warmth and connection to Africa and to the desert.

In Pamplona I found this enormous Lion on such a yellow wall – Impressive painting, and so in harmony with all that yellow. On a closer look, I found the painting even more impressive.

I still do not know why those walls are painted saffron yellow, but at least I have figured out what the colour is hiding…

…the anatomy of what once was.

Gernika -The Assembly and The Tree

In the header, the replica in Gernika of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica –  reminding us all of the 1937 bombings. His masterpiece is hanging in the Reina Sofia museum, Madrid.

The Assembly House (built 1826) and the Tree of Gernika are the living symbols of the Basque People’s history.

The two of them became a meeting point of all the territories of the Basque Country – bringing together cultural and ethnographic traditions.

In this room are held all the plenary meetings of the General Assembly. It was conceived as a Church-Parliament that could bring together political and religious functions at the same time. The portrait gallery shows different dates when the Oaths were taken for The Old Law ( based on usage and custom) in a ceremony.

The Tree og Gernika is the best known symbol of the Basque People.

For centuries, under its shade the meetings of the General Assembly were held. This is the old trunk of the oldest remaining of the Assembly Oaks, planted around 1700. A new oak tree (a direct successor of the old one) is planted when the old venerable tree is gone.

Everywhere is the symbolic tree represented, in embroideries as well as wood carvings.

This is the Room of The Stained Glass Window. The space was originally designed as an open air patio, and is now currently employed for institutional uses.

The gigantic stained glass window – or in fact ceiling –  completed in 1985, has a special significance. It was crafted completely by hand by a company from Bilbao, Vidrieras de Arte S.A. It is a graphic representation of the Tree as a meeting point for the districts of Bizkaia.