travel theme: sugar

Sugar or salt? Although I’m more of a salty person there are times when I can’t resist sugary things, or rather taking photos of sugary things.

chocolate goodies for sale in Bristol’s Southville market

the ultimate cake

a scrumptious piece of Sachertorte, consumed in the Hotel Sacher in Salzburg, Austria, birthplace of this sinfully delicious cake

my coffees never look this good

spice cakes on sale in Strasbourg Christmas market

natural sugar on a star fruit tree

dessert

“Sugar and spice and all things nice, that’s what little girls are made of. Slugs and snails and puppy dog’s tails, that’s what little boys are made of.” So ran a popular saying when I was a child.

Ailsa is to blame for making me post these!

Travel theme: flavour

I have been lucky enough to travel to lots of interesting places and have tasted some wonderful (and not so wonderful) food.

a roadside food vendor in India

food catering on an industrial scale for the many pilgrims visiting the golden temple of Amritsar

freshly squeezed orange juice on sale in India

snake gourds in Sri Lanka

my birthday cake, Thai style

the “strained through an old sock” method of making fresh coffee in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Get your taste buds salivating courtesy of Ailsa’s post on the subject of flavour

travel theme: hills

Does this count as a hill or a mountain? Sigiriya, Sri Lanka

tea plantations in the hill country around Kandy, Sri Lanka

Sagaing hill, near Mandalay, Myanmar. The entire hillside is covered with Buddhist temples and gilded stupas

early morning in Provence

shafts of sunlight pouring down the hills in Northern Cyprus

view from St Hilarion castle, Northern Cyprus

view of Kyrenia/Girne harbour with hills behind, Northern Cyprus

Ailsa’s inspirational “hill”s are here, along with links to many others.

travel theme: enlightened

Luang Prabang, Laos

whirling dervish, N. Cyprus

enlightened by sunrise in Yala park, Sri Lanka

enlightened in Austria’s Losium

A Vietnamese poem hat – you can only see the figures when the hat is held up to a light source

Hoi An lantern festival, Vietnam

young lantern sellers in Hoi An

awaiting the enlightenment of Angkor Wat at dawn

sunset at Bagan, Myanmar

Shwedagon pagoda at night, Myanmar

Did you illustrate Enlightened?

travel theme: history

Nicosia or Lefkoşa (depending on whether you are a Greek or a Turkish Cypriot) is the capital of the island of Cyprus. Unfortunately it is a divided capital and has been since 1963. A narrow band of no-man’s land, known as the “green line” separates the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sections of the city. The same “green line” extends east and west from the city forming a boundary buffer zone patrolled by the UN between the northern and southern parts of the island.

The old city is surrounded by walls, built by the Venetians, with the gates into the city at strategic points. This shot was taken near the Costanza gate.


much of the northern part of the city is in a bad state of repair

house backs

small old mosque

interior courtyard of the büyük han, formerly the main trading and staging post and now a cultural centre

the forbidden zone – it is hoped that at some point in the future this area can be restored, repopulated and rejuvenated

sculpture, south of the Ledra Street crossing point

shade sails provide welcome shade in the heat of the summer

the Phanorameni church in the south part of the walled city

fountain in the more affluent South, outside the walled part of the city

in the south

stencilled logo

graffiti

5th century sculpture of lions attacking a bull

female figurine found in one of the ancient sites

modern reproduction of a bronze age ceramic vessel

If you are interested in learning more about Nicosia, Wikipedia has a fascinating article

Discover more history with Ailsa and followers

travel theme: hands

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

Travel theme: plants

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

travel theme: early

Jacobs sheep and lambs

a very young Exmoor pony

early foliage

early cherry blossom

Sharing my EARLY photos with Ailsa and co.

travel theme: abstract

building in Koln

modern architecture in Dusseldorf

modern batik in Singapore

knotted rope in Thailand

sharing abstract with Ailsa & co.

travel theme: flutter

olive backed sunbirds, photographed a few days before they flew the nest

Sri Lankan paper cut

the flutter of an Indian dancer’s costume

Balinese temple pennants flutter in the breeze

sharing with Ailsa’s flutterings