Art

Thursday Thoughts – Leeds Castle

/ Leya / 22 kommentarer

The first historical record of a building is listed in the Domesday Survey of 1086, where the ‘Manor of Esledes’ was owned by Odo the Bishop of Bayeux, who was also the half-brother of William the Conqueror.

Leeds Castle has a long history of noblemen, kings and queens, but it was not until the 16th century that King Henry VIII transformed it from a fortified stronghold to a magnificent royal palace.

Leeds Castle was the last Castle to visit on our tour, and here I found the indoors to be the most interesting part – but let’s have a short look at the roses first, and the multitude of Hollyhocks!

Jumping into the 20th century, during the 1930s, Leeds Castle became one of the great country houses of England and a centre of lavish hospitality for leading statesmen, European royalty and film stars. The interior decorations are very stylish in cool colours, giving it quite a modern feeling. There are not many castles you feel you actually could live in – but Leeds Castle, yes.

In 1974 the castle and grounds were finally left to a specially created charity called the Leeds Castle Foundation, whose main aim was, and still is, to preserve the castle for future generations to enjoy. The reputation of Leeds Castle as a leading visitor attraction and conference venue grew, and in 1978 it was chosen as the location for the Middle East peace talks that preceded the Camp David Accords of the same year.

Since then Leeds Castle has become one of England’s top tourist attractions with over 600,000 visitors a year.

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!

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. 

Lens-Artists Challenge #307- Tourist Attractions

/ Leya / 21 kommentarer

Leanne Cole is our fantastic host this week, and she invites us to show what the normal tourist wants to see – but in another way. ”You might go to the same place, but you are after something different.”

So her challenge is to look for those photos that are of tourist attractions, but where we have tried to get the untypical image of it. They can be near or far away in other countries.

I have just returned from a trip to England, so I am a bit late, but here we go…with Japan! Japan was a delightful country to visit this spring, and the first gallery shows some famous attractions – my way:

The superfast Shinkansen train, Fushimi Inari-taisha in Kyoto (Inari is the god of rice and sake and the messenger is a fox), Kawachi Fujien (The world famous wisteria garden in Kitakyushu), the Shibuya crossing in rain (- the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world with about 2300 crossings every 3,3 minute) and lastly, Tokyo Sky Tree.

From Sweden then, not that many:

Stockholm in double exposure (City Hall and Central Station). The Doll Museum was closed, but my shot was taken through the window.

Thank you to Tina for her beautiful and thought provoking challenge on Habitats two weeks ago, and I hope you all had a lovely week off too! Thank you again to Leanne Cole for leading us this week – please visit her site for always amazing photography.

I hope you want to join in next week when our next guest host, Elizabeth of Albatz Travel Adventures, challenges us to share Pairs.

Thursday Thoughts – More Culture Fun

/ Leya / 15 kommentarer

He will run safely with you through the streets – don’t worry! And here’s a gallery with old and new – A tram conductor in white gloves, real people, stiff dolls and and pop-ups.

Then teamLab Planets Tokyo – a fantastic experience in led lights, water, mirrors, film and much more. You lose yourself all the time – using all your senses. Exciting, and especially appealing to young people. We spent some interesting hours there.