Gaudi’s Mosaics at Guell
Eusebi Guell entrusted Gaudi to create an estate for wealthy people, in Barcelona on land that he purchased in the Monumental zone, high above the city where the air was clean and healthy. Unfortunately the project was not viable and Guell halted it in in 1914. When Guell died his family offered the property to the city council. They purchased it in 1922 and opened it as a public park four years later.
Since then Gaudi has become an international treasure, and his creation was declared a Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 1984. Here are some the fabulous mosaics in the park.
And here is Eusebi Guell himself, standing in the Hippostyle room.
Vivid Beauties
I walked past a neighbours house on my way home just now and she was tending her front garden. I said ‘Hi how are you?’ and before I had chance to comment on the glorious poppies I’ve been admiring for the last week, she said ‘Would you like some of these seed heads when they’re ready?’ Did I pounce? You bet I did!
So with a bit of luck this time next year I’ll have my own.
Imagine when I saw that the photo challenge this week is vivid, it was made for these flowers don’t you think?
If anyone knows what variety these are, my neighbour and I would both love to know please.
Lazy Poet’s Thursday Haiku
Find the horizon
Float into the wide azure
Of unbounded sky
Wordless Wednesday
A Bench Edit
Jude’s Bench Challenge for June is to process and image with an arty effect, hooray, that’s licence to play!
I’ve used Photoshop, Pixlr and Snapseed to create this image, but I can’t remember what steps I took to get to the end result.
The photo was taken on the beach path at Dawlish Warren in February. The perspective makes it appear that its a row of single seats but they are in fact benches for two or three peopel. I do quite like the end result and I expect I’ll try some more this month. Perhaps you’ll join in too?
A Walk at Morte Point
Last weekend my friend Lindy and I went for a walk up in north Devon. I wanted to go to see Verity at the same time so I found a walk on the coast that was just 2.3 miles, perfect for the Dido and Daisy as well.
We arrived at Mortehoe, a pretty village, just before noon and walked up the road between the pub and church.
The lane climbing upwards was trimmed with spring wild flowers.
And the walls were full of life.
We walked past a pretty cemetery.
And the walk began
We climbed to the viewpoint
Lindy looked towards Woolacombe
Back towards Mortehoe
That’s where we were heading
So I zoomed in
Back to the path
There were sheep everywhere and the lambs were adorable
The path stretched ahead into bright sun.
We stopped frequently so the dogs could cool down, so I zoomed in again.
Can you see the stegosaurus back bone?
By now we were warming up, and wishing we’d brought all of our picnic lunch, instead of just a packet of crisps. But the walk was lovely in every direction.
There were some interesting rock formations.
Slate possibly
How could this have formed?
The crest of the hill in the photo above was soon just above us.
Some suicidal sheep!
The rock was changing colour as we walked east towards Morte Point.
We were really, really hot here
Made it at last
Morte, as I’m sure you know means death and it’s believed that Morte point got its name because the treacherous rocks caused a number of shipwrecks over the centuries. Smuggling was rife, and some of the wrecks may have been helped along the way by wreckers walking the coast with lamps to confuse the sailors in the dark. Having seen this rcraggy coastline, it must have been incredibly dangerous. According to the South West Coast Path website,
The Normans dubbed it the ‘Death Stone’, and claimed that ‘Morte is the place which heaven made last and the devil will take first.’
Time to head on.
The walk continued steeply.
My camera captured seals here but just as dark bobbing blobs.
We were out of water and fairly certain that we’d missed a turning by the time we reached here.
But a slight hint of a path up to the right led us back the way we needed to take.
The gate leads through to the road by the cemetery.
The village shop supplied cold drinks and ice cream, which we followed with our picnic. The dogs flopped in the shade, tired but happy. The pedometer on my phone said I’d walked 5.5 miles, not the planned 2.3, but we stilled had some energy left to pootle around Ilfracombe.
I don’t know if Jo will be doing her Monday Walk this week but there’s always another day.
Across Women’s Lives: Major Issues Facing Females Globally
A very informative article from Eliz Obih-Frank with statistics on issues that affect women globally. A must read.
“Break the silence. When you witness violence against women and girls, do not sit back. Act.” Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary – General
Across Women’s Lives: Major Issues Facing Females Globally
UN: International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
Worldwide, women live an average four years longer than men. In 2011, women’s life expectancy at birth was more than 80 years in 46 countries, but only 58 years in the WHO African Region. Girls are far more likely than boys to suffer sexual abuse. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among adolescent girls in high- and upper-middle-income countries. Almost all (99%) of the approximate 287 000 maternal deaths every year occur in developing countries. Globally, cardiovascular disease, often thought to be a “male” problem, is the number one killer of women. Breast cancer is the leading cancer killer among women aged 20–59 years worldwide WHO factsheet
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On the Way To . . .
Sometimes we find interesting places on the way to other places, Michelle at the Daily Post asks us to share them for this weeks photo challenge. Here are the ones I’ve chosen for you.
Taormina in Sicily is real jewel of a town and one of the ways of getting there is by train. We travelled from Fiumefredo and were delighted to find this stunning ceiling in the ticket office when we arrived at Taormina station.
This road is on the way to the entrance of Sepilok, the orang-utan rehabilitation centre in Sabah, Borneo. It was a hot, and humid walk from our rain forest lodge, but well worth it for the amazing experience of seeing these wonderful creatures up close.
The long road from the north of Ghana was dotted with villages, where people would rush out to greet us, and we could by eggs and fruit for lunch.
This is the view from the air on the way to Sandakan, from Kota Kinabalu, Borneo. The coast is surrounded by coral reefs, the only time I’ve attempted to snorkel. I love the sea, but I’m not a strong swimmer, so I had to be brave to try it. It turned out to be one of the most incredible things I’ve ever done.
There are lots of on the way posts to visit here, and you can join in too!
Lazy Poet’s Thursday Haiku
Beauty rarely seen
as precious as amethyst
bathed in meadow light
Lucid Gypsy 