Architecture

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #87 – Reflections

/ Leya / 68 kommentarer

We welcome another guest blogger this week, Miriam of The Showers of Blessings.  She suggests we find reflections to share.

Believe it or not, but I found myself in some of mine…even though I never do selfies.

Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.
― Charles Dickens

Today, International Women’s Day, we might just change his quote a bit…and put in woman and women too.

Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?

― Charles Bukowski

Did you ever wonder if the person in the puddle is real, and you’re just a reflection of him?

― Bill Watterson 

Bewilderment increases in the presence of the mirrors.
― Tarjei Vesaas,

When do I see a photograph, when a reflection?
― Philip K. Dick,

A lake is a landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.
― Henry David Thoreau,

 

These images were made in Iceland, Stettin, Copenhagen, Bilbao, Norway and Switzerland. As usual, click to enlarge.

For the rest of March, we will follow the usual schedule – and stay tuned for next Saturday when the host is me, Leya!

 

Thursday Thoughts – Glimpses of Modern Tbilisi

/ Leya / 22 kommentarer

More of Tbilisi, Georgia – there is, of course, a modern part of it as well…even if that was not the main reason for my visit!

Strolling the busy streets, I looked through the windows of different restaurants and shops – and saw this fantastic wallpaper, with lamps in an oval shape.

The overall photo sits last in this gallery – there you will find the first three of these architectural wonders – more facts in the pictures.

A would be Concert hall – empty interior, all the money spent on the exterior. See the header!
Peace Bridge – or ”Always ultra”, beacause of its likeness to a sanitary towel…see the overall, last photo in this gallery.

This passage was filled with murals and graffiti – too narrow to get a good shot though…

Out in the street again

I just had to go back for a closer look at the wallpaper – fascinating history become art? Anyway – I just loved it. It covered the whole interior, quite a large room. I would love to have a piece of it framed on my wall. So many different faces – Please click to enlarge – and you get the feeling!

 

Thursday Thoughts – A Cheering Up Gallery

/ Leya / 18 kommentarer

For One single day this”winter”, we had a frosty delight (yesterday’s post) – all the others are grey. Here’s to cheer myself up – and you too I hope! From Croatia with love.

And the goat? He was the biggest goat I have ever seen, I would guess a mix with Alpine breed. Weight at least 75-100 kilos. Glad he was on the other side of that fence…

Cheers!

 

 

 

Thursday Thoughts – Pur Pur

/ Leya / 35 kommentarer

This is Pur Pur, another magical restaurant In Tbilisi, Georgia.

A bit hard to find though – in the middle of this big construction site called – Tbilisi. Luckily there were some signs on the way…

…so, finally we found Pur Pur, in the old town area. Resting close to a peaceful park –

– leaning against another house, it was one of the last houses still standing. Just open the door, walk slowly up the stairs, enter the room, and you will be enveloped in its warm, rich and creative atmosphere!

Their food is delicious, and so is the Georgian wine. We got the blue table by the window, where we had our farewell dinner, saying goodbye to a very special country, a very special city and a very special people.

If you ever find Pur Pur while roaming the world – (it might not be found in the same house by then…) I do recommend you to drop in – and not only for the food and the wine. You will leave a richer person than you first arrived here.

 

 

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Stone

/ Leya / 14 kommentarer

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Stone

Frank, of dutchgoesthephoto, challenges us to bring him stones this week – here are mine! Also from Ireland, and I think one of the broadest stone fences/walls I have ever seen.

 

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Overhead

/ Leya / 19 kommentarer

Nothing beats Nature – but –

For Frank – maybe the most strange and sweetest wonderful works of art over my head…

The ice chandelier at the Ice Hotel, Sweden.

The lovely, painted bookstore in Vilnius, Lithuania. (Not exactly the Long Room, but…a piece of magic still…)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #54 – Detail

/ Leya / 41 kommentarer

When you pay attention to detail, the big picture will take care of itself.

– George St-Pierre

First of all – thank you for a marvelous response and encouragement for us to keep going with the challenges! Cheers to you – here we go for year two!

From Patti we are urged to think about details this week. I thought of our travels in Bhutan last spring, and the colourful Tsechu we attended in Paro. So many people, so many faces, so many details. All these people, they make up a great picture together – a picture where you maybe don’t pay attention to the details so much…at first.  Sometimes there actually are so many details that you have to decide to really take a closer look. To get the Whole picture.

It’s the details that make people distinct, that make them individuals. 

– Howard Lutnick

The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail. 

– Charles R. Swindoll

This magnificent temple displays tree carvings of utmost beauty. As I am usually well prepared when traveling, I knew what else to look for – the hanging pouches above the window. They are natural details, not man made. In fact they are bee communities. The bees are free to live there, and the Bhutanese don’t touch them or take away their honey.

Art is all in the details. 

– Christian Marclay

Things can happen when you least expect them so you always gotta be prepared. And pay attention to the details. The devil is in the details.

– Lesley Kagen

Abundant details or a few – they all make up the whole picture. What makes you tick? Personally I love both ways, and the combination of man made details and natural ones gives the picture a whole new dimension. I find it fascinating.

 

Thank you, Patti, for an inspiring challenge – you made me think of details from different angles!

 

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #35: Architecture

/ Leya / 31 kommentarer

As Amy’s challenge this week is Architecture, I invite you to follow me to Umeå for a visit to a very special hotel.

The Grand Hotel in Umeå, by architect Viktor Åström, was built 1894-95. The facade is in neorenaissance. Close up to this beauty is U&Me Hotel, opened in 2014, by architects from Snøhetta, and interior design by architect- and design Stylt Trampoli.

The more than 120 years old Seafarers’ House and Grand Hotel in central Umeå has been exquisitely renovated, and the concept of historic influences from the seven seas is so unique that the hotel was elected World’s Best New Boutique Hotel 2014.

The whole interior is spectacular…

and some pieces remind you of a shipwreck.

The old Grand Hotel is closely connected to (a real juxtaposition) U&Me, something that feels a bit awkward from the outside – while the inside might be described as a smooth swim through a coral reef…

Thank you, Amy, for an inspiring challenge and the opportunity to follow in your footsteps to one of the new seven wonders of the world!