PHOTOS

 

When we go on holidays we take hundreds, no thousands, of photos.

 

Tony has the you-beaut-DSLR camera with several different lenses

and I have a little idiot proof, point-and-shoot camera that I love.

 

 Taking lots of photos means we cement those holiday experiences in our memories

so the photos always include photos of the food we eat as well as the places we go and the people we meet along the way.

 

When we come home we spend a lot of time looking at them and it has become a tradition that we make a photo book - ( Blerb is our program of choice ).

 

Every year the book gets bigger and bigger - this year required two books.

 

 

The first, about Italy, filled 250 pages and it a real brick of a book

 

and the second much smaller ( thinner ) one is just about our week in Paris.

 

 

After all this studying of photos Tony has chosen one photo as the best of the holiday and it is this one :

 

 

And guess what?

 

 It is one I took !!

 

Apparently the play of light and shade in this Roman streetscape has made it a winner !

 

The one we chose for the cover of the photobook ( and coming in a very close second ) is this one of a Venice canal taken by Tony.

 

 

We've decided to have them enlarged ( a lot ) and framed to put on our family room wall.

They can take pride of place there for a time until they are replaced with the winners from our next trip.

 

These ones are photos we have had put on canvas from previous trips to England and Paris and will now gradually be replaced with this years selections.

 

 

 ( Tony has changed the setting on my camera so that it takes a photo that fills the whole screen of our new TV without distorting the image but it looks a bit weird doesn't it ?)

 

This photo below ( from this trip ) is a favourite of mine of the spectacular horses at St Mark's in Venice.

I have framed it and it already graces the wall in the dining room.

 

 

 

What do you do with your holiday photos ?

 

Cheers.

RUNNING OUT OF SUPERLATIVES

A final tribute to a very beautiful place -  Bellagio .

So lovely that you have to search your vocabulary for new ways to sing its praises.

What could be better than lunch in a delightful spot like this  ?

Or a cruise along Lake Como drinking in a sight like this ?

where small villages cling to the shores.

Or a visit to the beautiful Villa del Balbianello ?

Looking at old stonework walls and staircases

Or just the view through flowers and trees

You can even cruise past George Clooney's villa and hope to catch a glimpse!

Perhaps contemplate renting  Richard Branston's villa at 160 000 pounds a week ?

It's all here and plenty more

Farewell Beautiful Bellagio.

Cheers.

TUSCANY

Beautiful Tuscany !

Rolling green hills with a patchwork of crops arranged by artistic hands.

Hilltop villages watching proudly over the land they once protected.

Whenever you see a painting of Tuscany it always includes the architectural contrast of pencil pines. 

I don't know if that's the proper name for them but if you look at any of my photos you will see them.

 

Placed there purely for decoration, they are the perfect foil for those rolling hills.

Then there's the stone buildings

With old, weathered terracotta tiles

And picturesque walls. ... And flowers - at the moment mainly roses and geraniums but lots of buds promising a very colourful Summer.

No wonder the area is famous for art as well as grapes and olives.

On to Venice tomorrow, I can't wait !

Cheers.

A SEA OF GREEN

It seems that we left the sparkling blue Mediterranean Sea only to exchange it for a sea of green.

The rolling green hills of Tuscany. 

Best seen of course from a hilltop village like Barberino Val d' Elsa or today's destination 

San  Gimignano. 

 You park the car then walk UP through the town walls. 

Then you stroll along winding streets lined with shops and restaurants and ancient doors.

There were certainly people around but not huge crowds and it was easy to mooch along exploring the little laneways which always seemed to open onto a large piazza.

In what seemed to be the main town square we sat at a nice little cafe for lunch and along came an Italian bride and groom with their wedding photographer for some photos at the large well in the centre of the square.

Most of the tourists who had been sitting there moved away to give them their photos and there were a lot more cameras clicking than just the official photographer's. Then they were treated to a round of applause from the watching crowd.

There are a couple of vantage points where the views are superb

So we snapped away with gay abandon.

Aren't digital cameras wonderful ?

Grape vines and olive trees as far as the eye can see. 

Even the lizards are green !!!

We headed home planning to shop for dinner and bread for breakfast from our local store only to find every single business in our town closed !

I "spoke " to  a couple of ladies in the street who didn't speak any English. They told me everything was " chiuso" - closed. 

When I managed to indicate that I was looking for food the old lady became worried I was hungry and wanted to get me some bread and meat from her kitchen ! Dear old thing !

Anyhow we were about to set off back to San Gimignano as we only have carrots left at home when we discovered one of the local restaurants opening up for dinner. 

Perfect !

and the food was lovely. 

Pasta and strawberries for dessert.

Delicious !

Cheers.