Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Letter X – X needs to be anywhere in the word or shaped like the letter X
For Cee’s challenge this week – I go for shape. A mountain meadow in Switzerland – flowers and steep hills. There is need for an X- fence.
Europe
Fake News At The House Of The Wannsee Conference, Berlin
Fake News At The House Of The Wannsee Conference, Berlin
Please, go to the blog Hikeminded, for a very important article to remind us all where we might be heading with today’s fake news. We tend to forget, don’t we – what we should have learned from history. She writes it so well – and unfortunately I cannot find the reblog button.
CFFC: Letter W
Letter W – Needs to start with W and have two vowels in the word (window, wheel, wagon, working, weather, woodshed, woman)
In the header – Wisteria – a favorite flower in every respect!
Woman. One of my favorites -a collegue of mine, waiting for Heathcliff on the moors!
Window. From a silent, late evening walk in the old part of Riga.
Having More Fun – Driving in Sofia
Skies of Ireland
Looking back on the trip to Ireland last year, brought back a rush of green love through my veins.
How I love this countryside!
And the seaside!
Dark skies over the meadows – but no rain…
…only golden gorse glowing in the dark.
Wordless Wednesday
Cee’s B&W Photo Challenge: Arches, Domes, Half Circles
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Arches, Domes, Half Circles
For Cee – both man made and natural. In both cases, these shapes are pleasant to the eye.
Canary Pearls
Montaña de Arucas on the north coast of Gran Canaria boasts a view of the town as well as almost the whole island. An early morning view from up there is not bad. The church (Not a cathedral!) San Juan is a real beauty. From the narrow streets its spires look almost unreal.
We continued our roadtrip to some northern pearls, Teror and Firgas.
Teror is the religious heart of the island, and every year, September 8, pilgrims come here from the whole of Gran Canaria. They all come because of Nuestra Señora del Pino, their patron saint.
The church, with the same name, was built in the 18th century in Moorish and baroque style. Very special.
Some of the 16th century houses along the street. Many famous for their skillfully carved balconies.
At the end of the street you can also see one of the great pines growing outside the church
Gargoyles on the west side
The altar and the Virgen of Snow and Pine
After a slow and meditative walk through Teror, we headed for Firgas. Mineral water con gas, was my first thought – but the small town is also known for Paseo de Gran Canaria with its cascading water and tiled benches decorated with landscapes and historical symbols of Gran Canaria. On the walls – city arms.
A closer look at the cascades in the header!
If you walk further up the stone steps, above Plaza de San Roque, you will find tiled maps of the largest 7 islands in the archipelago. A geography lesson well worth a visit!
Lost – and Found
On our way in the early morning for another mountain hike – we suddenly came upon this strange settlement. A set of caves with real doors and windows. Dogs barking and people up and on the move.
Guanches? Strictly speaking, the Guanches were the indigenous peoples of Tenerife, but the name came to be applied to the indigenous populations of all the seven Canary Islands, those of Tenerife being the most important or powerful.
Guanches refer to the aboriginal Berber inhabitants of the Canary Islands, and it is believed that they migrated to the archipelago around 1000 BC or perhaps earlier.
The population probably lived in relative isolation up to the 14th century, but after the Spanish conquest of the Canaries they were (almost totally) ethnically and culturally absorbed by Spanish settlers.
A bit touristy this settlement…and yes, soon a bus arrived with camera people swarming out…But, on the other side of the road, people were, for real, living in caves. Nobody looked that way…And if you look closely at the header picture, you will find the dog standing there – the one I used for Abandoned or Alone in Cee’s B&W challenge.
Well, when we continued driving towards the mountains, we realized we were lost – this was a dead end road – and not at all the road leading to our planned hike….But, instead we had found these interesting caves!
They day was turning into evening, so we had to return to our apartment. Again passing this strange wind mill. Why do you build one right in the factory- and shopping ghetto?
Jardin Canario
Establishing this botanical garden was the life work of the Swedish-Spanish botanist Erik Ragnar Svensson (1910–1973), who searched – and found – the optimal site for this garden, one that could successfully accommodate many of the diverse plant species of the Canary Islands. The garden was layed out in Tafira Alta, near Las Palmas, and the Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo was officially opened in 1959. Svensson (Sventenius) served as its first director. When he died in a traffic accident in 1973, David Bramwell was appointed his successor in 1974.
According to Wikipedia, the garden comprises approximately 27 acres (10 hectares), on which approximately 500 plant species endemic to the Canary Islands are cultivated. Important divisions are the ”Garden of the Islands” (Jardín de las Islas), the ”Garden of Cacti and Succulents” (Jardín de Cactus y Suculentas), where approximately 10,000 cultivars of succulents are on display, the ”Macaronesian Ornamental Garden” (Jardín Macaronésico Ornamental), and the “Hidden Garden” (El Jardín Escondido) with greenhouse. Also worthy of mention are the pinetum (El Pínar) and the ”Laurel-leaved Forests” (Bosque de Laurísílva), featuring trees which once covered most of Macaronesia prior to Spanish settlement. At the ”Fountain of the Wisemen” (La Fuente de Los Sabios), botanists who discovered and described the flora of the Canary Islands are honored.
But we will remain in the impressive garden of cacti and succulents. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did! The last tree in this gallery is a gigantic ficus.
Leya 
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