Travel Theme: Fantastic

There are many fantastic writers and authors, and now one of them, Sir Terry Pratchett, has left us – at least for a while…

If you look up the word ”fantastic” in a dictionary, it says ”wild and strange; grotesque; absurd; marvellous; wonderful.” What am I to do about such a theme?

I will pick three shots – trying to picture the definitions. All of them from New Zealand, the land of wonders.

From Weta Cave, Welliwood,  and all its fantastic gear – unfortunately I never noted down who this is…

And fantastic Milford Sound – even more beautiful than Norway.

For more of Fantastic – visit Ailsa’s here.

# 23 Blåsigt – Windy (89/365)

Magle – blåsigt, men en gnutta sol.

Magle – windy, but a short glimpse of sun.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Depth

My first thought about depth is involving water – so I chose that angle. For other angles, click here.

 

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Landscapes or Seascapes

From Ostia Antica we went by train to the sea. I hadn’t expected anything special really, but we had a lovely walk. Here, two afternoon seascapes for Cee’s Challenge.

Travel Theme: Freedom

Freedom…a magical word. To those who live in countries with dictators, to those who live under dictators at home, to those who are chained to their jobs, to those who…

The word freedom I think belongs to those words that never will be worn out. Partly because there are so many ways of enterpreting its inner meaning.

When I think of freedom, in my life, I would say it means freedom of thought and freedom to live some days without any ”musts”. Those days are so precious…and without doubt, they are often connected to being alone, hiking and travelling. Travelling in a mindblowing book or travelling over geographic land and sea.

I will try to picture my Freedom, and I’m grateful to Ailsa at Where’s My Backpack, for being allowed and able to. I looked through pictures I thought would give me that feeling, and my final choices were these:

 

 

Lastly, hard to admit it, but…

Travel Theme: Slow

Slow is the theme for Ailsa this week…I guess the photos could speak for themselves!

Gdansk, Saint Bridget and Sopot

On our way to the railwaystation, we just had to visit the Church of Saint Bridget (Swedish Sankta Birgitta). Maybe it doesn’t look much from the outside – but inside – you are filled with awe.

Destroyed, rebuilt and restored – this church is, and since the 1980’s associated with the Solidarity Movement.

The silence and the crystal air was fascinating. The windows the only source of light in here. But that is enough.

Everything serene, and the altarpiece is planned to have only pure amber in its decorations. Together with red, white and silver, this golden amber art had me standing in total silence and contemplation, head uplifted, for at least 30 minutes.

Walking towards the railway station, autumn showed its true colours.

And then – Sopot next. The summer city of Poland with 40 000 inhabitants. An old health resort with the, always terrible, water which should be good for you…

By train back to Gdynia again – a soft and lovely evening. We found our Stena Line ferry, heading for Karlskrona.

This was an amazing and unexpected adventure – close to home, but with totally unexpected outcome. To be recommended!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Silhouette

WPC this week is about silhouettes – so, I’ve picked up a series from Gran Canaria. This was a velvet evening walking on the beach on our way home. A couple was standing there, when a ship with partying people came sailing.

Watch the postures of the two on the beach while the ship is passing…

 

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The Virtual Blog Tour

Scrapydo at http://scrapydo.wordpress.com/ invited me to take part in a Virtual Blog Tour on Monday August 11, 2014. Thank you for inviting me!

Being a retired  teacher from the Netherlands and South Africa, she now lives in New Zealand. She’s an animal behaviourist and her best friend and mate is Trompie – a sweet Schnauzer. ”In March it is going to be my third year in N Z. I love it to be here,…”, she says. I understand that completely, as I had the pleasure of seeing something of NZ for a month some years ago.

Do visit her creative and interesting blog! She loves everything crafty – and her lovely companion!

  • Virtual Blog Tour

    The Virtual Blog Tour is a relatively new project for bloggers.  The rules are fairly simple:

    • Compose a one-time post which is posted on Monday (date will be given to you from whoever passes on the tour)
      1. What am I working on? 
      2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
      3. Why do I write/create what I do? 
      4. How does your writing/creating process work?  
    • Answer four questions about our creative process which lets other bloggers and visitors know what inspires us to do what we do.
    • Then pass the tour on to up to four other bloggers. Get their permission first and give them rules and specific Monday they are to post.

    So –

    1. What am I working on?

    I am still travelling and still loving photography even if I’m not a trained photographer. Attending a photography course is one of my goals once I retire from teaching. My trips this summer went to Scotland and Denmark and all those photos have not been sorted out yet…And, I’m constantly loving my dog, Totti, of course.

    From Scotland  –  Highland Cattle grazing – while a ship is sinking…

    17th Century house in Köge, Denmark

    2.  How does my work differ from others of this genre?

    Maybe it doesn’t differ that much… but I try to show the world around me, focusing on nature and other architectural marvels. Usually I give some information about the photos too, or show them as a short story in a gallery. I also have a blog for photos that I cannot easily fit in to a story, but are favourites anyway. http://faialflores.wordpress.com/

    And, recently I started a third blog for the love of trees, for my hikes and car tours, http://treetreats.wordpress.com/ – here I also want to feature guest posts!

    3. Why do I write/create what I do?

    I think this started because of my work as a teacher. I spend so much time correcting students’ papers and essays – but I never get to write or express myself only because I want and need to. Another reason is my neverending love for nature. Nature is soothing and ever changing, listening and answering many of my questions…I think maybe it’s giving more than me some of the best reasons for living on this planet Earth. Creating posts here is also a must when I try to relax after a tough day at work.

    Photography gives me the opportunity to capture special moments as well. Literature, theatre and movies are other great interests – I try to review as many as I find time for in my blog.

    4. How does your writing/creating process work?

    It usually starts with a view…a photo, or a series of photos,  and then I try to give some interesting information around it/them. Sometimes facts I have read and sometimes I just try to put the reader in the same mood as I was when the photo was taken. I love weaving short stories of photos.

    Can you feel the mood in this one – ?

    Now I also hope to have the pleasure of introducing you to Maria at http://mariayarri.wordpress.com/ : I love animals and especially dogs … I´m half way to the hundred and during my life I have always been a person who like our nature in generally and forest in particular; and I try to combine that with my other interest photography 

    She is a marvellous nature photographer and doesn’t forget to include her friend Yarri in her posts. He usually has his say about things too…The other important part of her blog is about ageing parents and how to deal with Alzheimers.

    Thank you for joining us on Monday, Maria! We’re looking forward to your contribution.