Travel

Sunday Post : Collectibles

Having just returned from Wrocław with over 300 photos, you could say that I collect photographs!  However it’s wonderful of Jake to unexpectedly present me with the opportunity to display some of them with his theme for this week, Collectibles.

My uncle Włodek lives in the Polish town of Zgorzelec, snuggled so closely to the border with Germany that it has a counterpart across the River Neisse, in Gorlitz.  The two are one, but divided by language and a boundary.  On Saturday morning when we went to explore this curiosity, it transpired that there was a large market in process, and the following caught my eye.

Don’t you love this pottery?

Or maybe this style?

With a tealight? Delicious!

Motyli – butterflies.  I don’t know what they are in German?

Something more for the garden?

 

Or maybe him? He’s looking pensive.

 

While the horse looks patiently on.

I have to confess, I love pottery and spent happy minutes just browsing.  When it comes to collecting, though, my real vice is postcards.  I filled a suitcase with them, and when it was overflowing, decided enough was enough.  But I still gaze longingly at postcard stands.

So much “stuff” we collect!  One of my nieces came back to England with me and we were looking in the local museum yesterday.  The teddy bear collection was everybody’s favourite.  Winnie the Pooh and Paddington Bear -what would life be without them?

Many thanks again to Jake for presenting yet another opportunity to share my world.  I’m late this week (for good reason) but maybe you’d like to join in next week?  The details are all on Jakesprinters home page.

Sunday Post : Solid

It needs to be quick thinking for Jakesprinter’s challenge this week, because, like the dragon, I’m up and gone tomorrow.  Solid is my subject matter, and as I hightailed it along the road to zumba class, I couldn’t stop the song, singing in my head.  You’ve guessed it!  “Solid as a rock”. (Ashford and Simpson, 1984)

Not even a song I particularly like, but it’s from my era, and it irresistibly draws me back to my Valuable post, completed for Jake’s challenge two weeks ago.  “Solid as a rock” describes how we would all like our partnerships to be.

This is my husband’s definition of an artistic shot?

Taken by him on the beach at Robin Hood’s Bay.

And this is mine. Spot the difference?

Where am I?  Madeira’s north coast, and that’s a pretty solid hunk of rock.

My brain makes strange connections sometimes, and as I marched on down the road, I found myself singing “The churches one foundation is Jesus Christ, Our Lord”.  Quietly, of course.  I’m not given to hymn singing, at full blast, in the street, though there are many worse things to do.

The foundation stone of many of our lives- can anything be more solid?

Igreja de Sao Joao Batista, Tomar

Monastery at Alcobaca

Convento do Christo, Tomar

Carmo Church, Tavira, at one of its many celebrations

Many thanks, as ever, to Jake, for giving us this opportunity to share our lives.  Please do join in the challenge.  Follow the link or click on the flying dragon for full details.  See you next time?

Six word Saturday

A week in Wrocław – lucky me!

Tumski Most (Bridge), Wrocław- from Creative Commons

On Monday, I’m off with Dad to spend a week in Wrocław. (pronounced Vrotswaf, for those of you who’ve been following my A-Z  of Poland)  I’ll be imitating the weather when I get back, and deluging you with photos, so beware!

While I’m gone, feel free to browse my Six word Saturday posts, and join in, courtesy of Cate of Show My Face.  Many thanks to her for being a great hostess. 

T is for the Tavira Vase

Now this may not be what you’re expecting, but I’m well aware that I’ve filled pages with the delights of Tavira, in Portugal’s Algarve.  So I thought I’d dedicate my “T” post to something I find quite intriguing- the Tavira Vase.

As I walk around Tavira I’m constantly aware of renovation work going on.  Many of the older buildings have been painstakingly restored, the Galeria Palace being a prime example.

At the reverse of the building, excavation has been in progress for some time.  A long promised museum, dedicated to locally discovered Islamic Art, finally opened in April last year.  On display are fragments of many of the mosaics originally incorporated into local buildings.

The centrepiece of the museum is the Tavira Vase, and I include the link as it explains the function far better than I am able to.  My husband describes it as a water feature, but then, he would!  http://www.discoverislamicart.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;pt;Mus01_C;9;en

The museum is situated behind the Tourist Information Office.  It’s a shame that the information displayed is all in Portuguese, however there is a video with English subtitles to give you a historical overview.  I found it moved at too rapid a pace, and would have liked a little more detail.  It’s a good start, however, and as I wander Tavira’s streets now, I’m more able to visualise how once it might have looked.

If you’re not familiar with Tavira, then please let me introduce you.  I fall in love with it all over again when I read this post.

I’ve been contributing to Julie Dawn Fox’s A-Z Challenge for some time now.  If you’d like to join in, click on the banner below, or view my previous entries on my A-Z pages above.

Sunday Post : Silence

My friend Jake has come up with the theme of Silence for this week’s Sunday Post challenge.  Hush!  I’m searching for the sound.

How rare is silence!  At home, with the TV and radio turned off, still there’s that intermittent ping of the fridge, a gurgle from the central heating, or the steady breathing of my laptop.  Walking down the street, my head buzzes with thoughts and words, never mind the rumbling of the traffic.

So where do you find silence?  For me, the gentle Algarve countryside is peace and quiet itself.  Bird song, or maybe the rustle of the eucalyptus, is all of the sound.

Rio Arade, with Silves in the far distance

Even the Algarve villages can be a place of refuge and silence.

Looking out from the village of Salir

A quiet corner in the village

Empty beaches on the Ria Formosa, with sandbars that stretch for miles, have no lapping tide to disturb the stillness.

Ria Formosa at Cacela Velha

Wide, open spaces characterise the west coast, but peace there can often be disturbed by the crash of the waves.

Still, there’s always an empty cove to be found, at the right time of the day.

The beach at Burgau

And as the day ends, sunlight, glinting on the water, carries no sound.

Algar Seco, near Carvoeira

Cliff tops have always held appeal for me.  High above the water, I revel in the silence.

Clifftop near Staithes, North Yorks

Far from the Algarve, the North York moors owe their restorative powers to the stillness of their ridges and valleys.

Ruggedly beautiful, the Moors can be a bit of a scramble

But so worth it!

Roseberry Topping in the far distance

And when the colours roll in…

August’s riotous colours

…there’s no place like it.  Even the bees hum quietly.

So where do you go to find your silence?  It’s something to be treasured.  Something that all of us need.

Jake has given so much pleasure in providing this opportunity to look at and experience our world.  Many thanks to him.  You will always be welcomed to Jakesprinter’s world.  Please, just follow the link.

Sunday Post : Valuable

Jakesprinter’s theme for his Sunday Post this week is “Valuable” and I’ve held off posting what came immediately to mind.  It’s still with me and it’s Tuesday already, so I’m going with it.

Michael on the land train at Barril

There absolutely isn’t anything in life more valuable to me than my husband.  Ok, I can hear the groans, but we’re not soppy (well I might be tempted to be, but he most certainly is not).  Please don’t tell him, or let him see this post.  He’s a reserved kind of guy and would be highly embarassed.  Who can blame him?  The blogging wife must be a constant hazard.

I grumble and moan about his deficiencies, but in truth, most of the deficiencies are mine.  He is my rock, and yet, my playmate too.  We’ve weathered many a storm together, and no doubt will have to fend off more.  I picture myself the great world traveller, and he, the anchor, dragging along reluctantly in the sand.  Still, I cannot imagine my world without him.

Michael in “A Taska”, one of our favourite Tavira restaurants.

When set free to roam, I am as happy as that sand boy.  It is in my nature and I cannot change it.  But I would never underestimate the value of the man who welcomes me home.

Thanks Jake, for giving me the opportunity to say this.  I love your challenges.  They make me think, and also appreciate what I have.

To join in with the challenges, click on Jake’s link, or on the flying dragon logo.  It’s superb, isn’t it?

Six word Saturday

These boots are made for walking!

Saltwick Nab from the cliff top

Looking back at Whitby harbour

As usual, my week included its fair share of walking.  It’s been muggy, stormy and grey much of the week but, undeterred, the boots have come out.

A little closer to the Nab

On around the bay

Whitby is a little tacky, like many a tourist town, but it has an endearing quality, and is everybody’s choice of the place to go for fish and chips.

The catch has gone- straight to “the chippy”!

Harbour trips, just £2.50 a go!

You can take a Vintage Steam Bus tour, or sample some of the quirky shops.

Whitby ducks- one of my earliest memories!

Love a bit of fudge.

All kinds of “glam” at The Shepherd’s Purse

Yes, please!

You can’t leave without buying some Whitby Jet!

A look back at the Abbey, and it’s time to go.

Now you might think the boots would be tired, but my Thursday Nordic walking group think differently.  By complete contrast, we’re off to the Tees Barrage next.

The Barrage dams the River Tees, and there’s often a playful seal in the water, looking for company. This morning, the White Water facility is in use by the lads from the fire brigade, doing their fitness training.  After a pause to admire, we follow the river bank to the Infinity Bridge.  There are foot and cycle tracks on both sides of the river, and damp runners and cyclists pass us by. (just a bit more rain)

Isn’t this bridge just magical?

End on a high- my favourite shot!

Time to hang up my boots for another week.  Come out with me next time?  I’m sure Cate, of Show My Face, will be my generous hostess again on Six Word Saturday.  Follow the links to join in, or view my previous posts on the button.

Sunday Post : Village

Jakesprinter’s theme for this week is Village.  How nearly impossible to choose just one.

The villages closest to my heart are the storm tossed fishing villages of the north east coast of England.  Battling the elements, they shiver beneath crumbling cliffs and cling fast to steep-sided gullies.  Erosion is a daily concern.  Yet visit these same villages on a calm summer’s day, and all is serenity.  Not a hint of turmoil, or the toll that the sea has taken.

I love them with a passion, for their sheer beauty, and for the tenacity that holds them there.  I never feel quite so free as when walking the clifftops, nor so peaceful as when rambling through their maze of streets and the miracle of their survival.

Looking down on Robin Hood’s Bay

Climbing the hill out of the village

And a little up the coast, Runswick Bay.

And Staithes.

And even sad Skinningrove, watched over by it’s wooden fishermen.

Can you see what draws me to them?

Thank you again, Jake, for your amazing graphics, and the wonderful opportunity you provide for us to share our treasures.  To join Jake’s challenge simply click on Jake’s magical dragon logo, or, if you prefer, here.

Six word Saturday

Help me with my awards dilemma?

On 2nd June, I received the Illuminating Blogger Award from Two Black Doggies.  Isn’t it beautiful? You don’t have to be a dog lover to follow this excellent blog.  There are some wonderful travel features and photographs, which are right up my street.  Many, many thanks for considering me in this category, Sam.

On 8th June, I received the Very Inspiring Blogger Award from Megtravelling.  As the name indicates, Meg enjoys her travels, maybe even as much as I do, and I’ve spent many happy hours looking over her shoulder.  This award is very much appreciated, Meg.  Thank you!

On 10th June, I was pretty in pink with One Lovely Blog Award.  I’m fairly new to Grandmother Musings and very impressed with the humorous but practical approach to life that she brings to her blog.  Many thanks for nominating me, and I look forward to getting to know you better.

Do you have a time thief?  I suspect many of you do.  As a retired lady with “time to spare” I am full of admiration for those bloggers who are parents and work for a living, yet still find time to blog.  It’s a good job I came to blogging late, as I know I’d never have kept up.

I started blogging to enable me to do something that I love to do- write, with a little humour, about my travel experiences.  It has been wonderful, so far.  The warmth and support of the blogging community far exceeded my expectations.  I’ve learnt a lot (and forgotten much of it again) and made so many new friends.  Every day brings new and fascinating posts to read.

Do you see where this is heading, in relation to my six words?  When I received my first award, I was ecstatic!  Somebody out there loved me! Too strong?  “Liked my writing” is probably a better description, but I’m very much someone who needs approval.  Despite thinking I’m a bit of a free spirit, I’m often guilty of trying too hard to be liked.  So it is with trepidation that I say that the awards system gives me a bit of a problem. I understand and applaud the premise behind it.  It is a wonderful way of encouraging new bloggers and extending their network of followers and friends.

The difficulties arise in fulfilling the tasks imposed by the awards, and even more so, for me, in finding people to pass the award on to.  Very many of the bloggers I follow deservedly have every conceivable award in the book.  But it isn’t always easy to see who holds which award, and I’ve spent lots of time searching through blogs trying to find out.  Additionally there are those people who are averse to the awards system, some of whom display “award free blog” logos.  I respect that, and at least you know where you stand, then.  I find it quite embarrassing to pass on an award whilst not knowing if the recipient will be delighted, or not.

So where does this leave me?  Well, I intend to produce an Awards page for my blog, so that it’s obvious to anyone which awards I have collected.  But I don’t want to bore you all senseless with facts about me, when I’d so much rather spend the time on other things.  If anyone is kind enough, in the future, to nominate me for an award, I will receive it with hugs and kisses, and do my utmost to show appreciation.  What I don’t want to do is donate the time to finding candidates to pass it on to.  I would very happily share any of my awards with all of my followers.  Believe me, I am very appreciative of you all.  A nicer bunch of people I have yet to meet.  So if you’re reading my blog and find an award that appeals to you, I’d be delighted for you to take it up.  Please check out the blogs that have given me these amazing awards by following their links.  You won’t be disappointed.

I’m hoping that you’ll humour me with this, and not shun my future posts.  I did say that I need to be loved, didn’t I?  But that time thief is lurking.

Many thanks to Cath of Show My Face for enabling me to have this conversation with you.  I’ll be back next Saturday, when I shall be more succinct, I promise.

P.S Oh dear- already published and I’ve realised I’m remiss!  I was intended to include a link to the originating blog for the Illuminating Blogger Award.  Not good at this, am I?  Here it is:-  http://foodstoriesblog.com/illuminating-blogger-award/

Quotes from the Masters : Grahame

I couldn’t resist the theme of “messing about in boats” that is the basis of this week’s Quotes from the Masters challenge, designed by Robin of Bringing Europe Home.  This is a great idea, using quotes from celebrated authors to inspire.  Looking at Robin’s lead photograph, I think she may well have messed about in some of the same boats as me.

I’m going to take you back more than 20 years with this post, but I still can’t imagine that there is anywhere in the world more glorious than the Turkish coastline for messing about in boats.  It’s an idyll to me, with the bluest of seas and a flotilla of islands for drifting in between.

The holiday I have in mind was a bit of a gamble, in more ways than one.  Although I love water in all its forms, I’m not much of a swimmer, and totally lacking in confidence when out of my depth.  Yet I had in my head the image of a gulet, cruising in and out of beautiful bays.  I somehow convinced myself that I’d be game to go in over the side- such foolishness!

Despite being fairly gregarious by nature, I wasn’t entirely sure that a gulet full of people was quite the medium for me.  The potential for disaster was assuredly there.  Moaners, crashing bores- even worse, what if nobody liked me? (apart from the husband, and he was duty bound)  Still, those lovely images in my head persisted, and any reservations were firmly put away.   The booking was made almost a year ahead, but it was never part of the plan that I would be pregnant when we set sail!

Boats at Bodrum

In so many respects, I needn’t have worried.  I fell in love with the gulet, and as we sailed out of Bodrum, I was awed at the magnificence of my surroundings.  My fellow sailors proved to be a highly likeable bunch, (phew!) with many tales to tell, and none of them seemed particularly averse to me. (double phew!)  The 3 man crew were totally amazing.  They cooked, in the most minute of spaces, or occasionally on a beach, some of the most delicious food I have ever tasted.  They laughed and joked, and entertained us.  They manoeuvred our boat through some of the loveliest waters I have ever seen.

Of course there were hiccups!  It was enormously difficult to have a satisfactory hot shower in the confined space.  I was bitten on the bum by a huge flying insect, causing considerable consternation.  And you know that I never leapt bravely into the sparkling water, but clung like a limpet to the rope that anchored us in the bay. (despite the cumbersome lifejacket I was kitted out in)

A salutary lesson on messing about in boats was taught, unwittingly, by the crew.  Dressed in drag, two of them capered around the deck, and then proceeded to “fall” into the water.  Unfortunately one of them cracked his head on the side, and was rowed to shore, bleeding and concussed.  Imagine our dismay when several hours later and heavily bandaged, he rejoined the boat, pronounced by the hospital “fit for duty”.  I expect he needed the money, but we made sure after that to proceed with care.

Thank you so much, Robin, for the opportunity to share this.  It’s a holiday that remains vivid in my memory.  The photos were taken by my husband on an old Brownie camera, but I make no apologies for that.  Looking forward to seeing what your next challenge brings.

Follow the link to Bringing Europe Home to join in, people.