Spring and Autumn are obviously the best times of the year for seeing the outline of tree branches, when they are clad in little or no foliage.
Autumn leaves
The sculptor of this tree has definitely branched out on a new limb with his kitchen pots and pans
Of course tree branches can be put to all sorts of other uses
See more of Ailsa’s friends’ inspiring photos of branches here
What’s in a name?
in Sandwich, Kent
“aperitif square” – what a wonderful name for a place where you can enjoy an aperitif and more
The mayor of this village in France wondered for a long time why so many people wanted to be photographed next to the sign bearing the name of his village. Once someone told him, he decided to capitalise on it and established a museum dedicated to condoms. People from all over the world have contributed all shapes and sizes ….
Ronnie’s shop on Route 62 in South Africa was renamed Ronnie’s sex shop after a drunken evening when some of his mates decided to change the name of his café to attract more customers
Surprisingly you can get some OK snacks at this café despite its somewhat unappealing name
Click here to see more names that people have discovered
In case you hadn’t guessed, my challenger’s choice is “architecture”. The following 3 photos were taken with the iphone 6+ in camera app and were edited using various settings in the Enlight app. This app produces some great abstract effects.
Bellapais abbey, Northern Cyprus
Bath abbey, UK
a chapel in Clifton, Bristol, UK
take a peek at other challenger’s choices
Our next stop along the coast was the pretty resort of Side, which also has a large complex of well preserved ruins next to it. The resort is pedestrianised so you have to leave your car outside and we caused chaos by getting into the lane reserved for taxis and trying to reverse out when we discovered our mistake.
patterns made from spices
colourful entrance to the mosque
the temple of Apollo
another popular wedding photo location
more ruins
a “pirate” ship for day trips
from ancient to modern – I’m not sure I can see this idea really taking off!
In Alanya on Turkey’s southern coast we opted to stay in a hotel within the old castle walls. It was a very steep climb from the road up to our room in the hotel but the view over Alanya’s bay was well worth it.
It was also a popular place for newly weds to have their photos taken
Next morning we were greeted with this stormy sky
A couple of years ago we went on a road trip in Turkey at this time of year but I never got round to posting about it. This year’s sacrifical Bayram has just finished so it seems appropriate to post it now.
Today was the most important day of the Kurban Bayram (sacrificial Bayram) when families sacrifice a sheep, goat or cow and divide the carcass up between the family and other less fortunate people. Wherever we saw a group of people gathered out of doors they were busy skinning or cutting up a carcass and in some places we caught sight of blood in the drains – not a pretty sight.
scenery en route to Tarsus
At Nigde we found ourselves on a motorway that wasn’t even on our map! We passed fields and fields of dark green cabbages. The 3 lane on each side motorway took us through a series of tunnels, 8 in all, a phenomenal feat of engineering. Once through the tunnels, Akcaktekir looked like an Alpine town and the trees were now clad in their autumn colours.
One of the dashboard warning lights came on so we stopped in a service station to phone Hyundai’s 24 hour helpline. They said we could keep going but if the engine speed changed we should call again and with some trepidation we hit the road and completed the trip without any further problems. We were pleased and surprised to discover that use of the motorway was free because of the Bayram holiday.
Once in Tarsus (birthplace of the Bible’s Paul of Tarsus) we found our hotel without too much difficulty, located in the historical part of town and within easy walking distance of most of the main sights.
entrance to the Tarsus Konak hotel
Inside the hotel were a number of these shirt-shaped decorations. They are based on shirts produced in Tilsim and feature on ceramic plaques and jewellry.
historical quarter.
We visited St Paul’s well – not much to see there,
the covered Bedesten (market),
where we saw these pictures of a mythical monster called a Sahmeran
a stretch of ancient Roman road,
St Paul’s church memorial (painted landscape murals),
the Ulu camii (main mosque), noteworthy because its minaret also doubles as a clock tower
the local hamam,
another Christian church that had been converted to a mosque,
It was very quiet everywhere because of the Bayram and the only people about seemed to be the many men busily cleaning animal skins in the streets. We tried hard not to look at these.
eye candy!!
We had dinner in the hotel and then walked down ‘bar’ street next to the hotel, had a drink in a bar and watched football. C said she didn’t feel very comfortable walking around the streets near our hotel especially in the evening as it only seemed to be guys going into the bars.
Next day we met the Sahmeran outside a shopping mall
I thought the hotel we stayed in there, was the nicest one of the whole trip. It was in one of the historical houses with lots of attractive sitting areas and interesting artwork and pictures on the walls – several examples of Ebru (the art of marbling using coloured inks/paints on paper) as well as some interesting coffee table books. According to one such book, ‘Topkapı saray’dan Tılısımlı gömlekler’ (Tılısımlı shirts from the Topkapı saray) the decorative ‘shirts’ on the walls were based on similar shirts. These shirts feature largely in wall decorations, ceramics and jewellery all over Turkey. It was here, in the covered market, that we also came across images of the mythical creature called a şahmeran, which seemed to be part mermaid and part sea monster.
you might almost call this “digital graffiti” – seen in India
sculpture in Ettelbruck, Luxembourg
a bird in the hand ….
Fortune teller’s sign, Yangon, Myanmar
a girl embroidering a picture from a black and white photo, Halong Bay, Vietnam
view more hands via Ailsa’s links
Partners and partnerships come in many forms:
the twin towers of Hangar 7, Salzburg
a street musician in Salzburg
a man and his bicycle in Salzburg
the most sublime partnership – chocolate cake and coffee in the Café Sacher, Salzburg
WordPress editor Cheri Lucas Rowlands recently shared a post entitled “Doors are stories” and invited artists, photographers, fiction and non-fiction writers to share their take on doors.
I’ve always been fascinated by doors and windows and wondered what lies behind.
not so much into the lion’s den but in through the lion’s mouth (entrance to an Indian temple)
entrance to the Durgiana temple, also known as the Silver temple, in Amritsar, India
view through a doorway in the Golden temple, Amritsar
a doorway in the old village of Khajuraho, India
a door with a fairy tale to tell (Luxembourg-Grund)
main entrance to the Katasteramt (cadastre/land registry office), Trier, Germany
a door within a door, Trier, Germany
Travelling as much as I do, I’ve seen a fair few plants in my time. Here are some of the more unusual/spectacular ones I’ve come across
parrot plant
pitcher plant
angels wing plant
sea pandan
Napoleon’s button tree
sharing with Ailsa and other plant lovers
The question is not what you look at, but what you see - Thoreau 