Månad: juli 2024

Lens-Artists Challenge #309 – Balconies

/ Leya / 33 kommentarer

PR of Flights of the Soul is our next lovely guest host, and she is inviting us to find Balconies – please visit her beautiful site for interesting facts and more inspiration!

PR talks about the many ways of using a balcony, and – some cities seem to have no balconies at all, while others have them in every building. In many countries I have seen a dog sitting or walking on the balcony of a house. Hopefully the door in is not closed!

So, we are looking for balconies… A good advise is going to Georgia (not in the US…) and Old Town Tblisi. In the header though, is a Bhutanese balcony for monks only.

For well kept, beautiful architecture and balconies, an impressive place to visit is Prague. This balcony is surely not intended only for a quiet, nice cup of coffee.

The second gallery is from around Europe – we do have some interesting balconies too!

These are from Denmark, Madrid, Barcelona, Bulgaria and Sweden. The ants at Wanås Castle is a work by Colombian Rafael Gómezbarros. And, of course you will recognise Gaudi’s spectacular architecture. PR, the last one is for you – an inside view of the largest balcony of Casa Battló.

Do you have a balcony of your own or are you thinking of some that impressed you? Do remember to use the Lens-Artists tag, and connect to PR’s original post.

Last week, we saw great responses to the challenge Perfect Pairs – a joy! Next week the Lens-Artists team will be back, with Patti starting off the challenge on her Pilotfish blog. Until then- stay nice, enjoy your vacation if you have one, travels if you do and above all – Life. A big Thank You to PR and all guest hosts!

Thursday Thoughts – Romantic Scotney Castle

/ Leya / 28 kommentarer

A week in England now and then, is a thing for everyone, according to me. The beauty of the English countryside, with its lush gardens and many castles make for a relaxing holiday and reloaded batteries.

Please come along and enjoy some of my memories!

Scotney old castle was built in the 14th century, and from the opener you can see it seems taken right out of a fairy tale. The new house, in the above image, was built when the old castle became too run down. The last owners, the Hussey family, bequethed the property to the National Trust in 1970. Today there was exhibitions inside, and the surroundings lovely kept.

The collections in the new house are largely from the 19th and 20th century. Of course a bit of English humour is a must…

The old castle, the quarry and the walled garden made this visit a joy, despite the rain. In fact, this was our first day in England, and this was the only rain we got for a week! Incredible. On one of our travels to Good Ol’ England we had rain for three weeks, and I caught the worst cold ever from it. (Fortunately only when we came back home again!)

Lastly, if you scroll back to the beautiful lady in the painting, she is sitting on the balcony, overlooking this dreamy place – Scotney Castle.

Lens-Artists Challenge #308 – Perfect Pairs

/ Leya / 38 kommentarer

This week Elizabeth of Albatz Travels is our guest host – and she has got an exciting task for us! Please visit her site for excellent guiding to diptychs:

A diptych is two images placed in proximity to one another, forming a pair. To make a successful pairing there should be several things in common, and something very different, contrasting.

How about using mirrors?

My natural(!) choice is flowers and trees. And flowers from English gardens this time.

And throughout the paths of flowery fireworks, there were Castles interspersed…

So, we will move over to totally manmade art, where wonderful wallpapers in the castles created indoor gardens as well, and a different dimension through mirrors.

Artworks are interesting, for pairings too. In Japan our visit to the teamLabs exhibition with mirroring ”eggs” was fascinating.

And finally, people. The Golden Week in Japan gives you endless opportunities to enjoy beautiful people and clothes. This lovely young couple is not the same as the couple in the carriage – but their outfits go so well together. In my eyes, they make the perfect pair – and pairs.

Thank you, Elizabeth for a great learning challenge!

Last week, Leanne lead us through wonderful and different “Tourist Attractions”, capturing the essence of a place.  Next week, PR will explore “Balconies,” so be sure to visit Flights of the Soul next Saturday.