ABC Wednesday—I is for "Italy"

One of the things I love about much of
Italy (and especially Rome): 
You can point your camera and capture
several layers of civilization in
just one shot.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

inSPIREd Sunday

A favorite spot in one of my favorite
churches, San Miniato al Monte,
in Florence—which I've featured before. 

[To see more churches from
around the world, go here.]

Cent' anni!

A little vicarious trip to Italy
by way of Virginia:
prosecco + Aperol + seltzer
= uno spritz.

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.]

Thursday Challenge—"trail"

Hiking in Italy's Cinque Terre:
The trail from Monterosso al Mare to Vernazza
is not the easiest one I've ever hiked and I 

was usually bringing up the rear, as you can see.

(I'm more of a NYC-concrete walker than an 

"uphill rugged terrain" kind of girl).
If you want to see the reward at the top of

this trail, look at yesterday's post.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—W is for "Waterlogue"

My pal Virginia at Paris Through My Lens introduced
me to this app called Waterlogue that can
make your photo look like a watercolor painting.
It's tons of fun, but (in this case anyway) . . .

to be completely honest, I
think I prefer my original photo
of the beautiful village of Vernazza,
in Italy's Cinque Terre.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

In Santa Croce

There's a lot to see in the 15th-century Basilica of Santa Croce,
in Florence—including the tombs of Galileo and Michelangelo, art by
Canova, Cimabue, and Donatello, and frescoes by Giotto.
My favorite spot in this vast church is the sacristy, where the frescoed
chapel and gilded altar are seen through an ornate iron gate. 

To see more churches from
around the world, visit
inSPIREd Sunday.

Weekend Reflections

One more image of the season—this year, Bloomie's
gave their holiday windows an international
flair.  This ode to Italy was my favorite.

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"outdoors"

To be perfectly honest, I'm mostly an indoors
kind of girl.  However, I am more than willing and able
to pull on a pair of sturdy shoes and make the uphill
effort for a payoff like this.  I took this shot from a
hiking trail in Italy's Cinque Terre and our destination—the
beautiful village of Vernazza—had just come into view.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, go here.]

Tina's Picstory—"beautiful"

There are so many beautiful things in
nature that I didn't even try to choose from
among them.  As for manmade beauty, this is
somewhere very near the top of my list.
I could stare at him for hours (and have!).
[To see more of Tina's Picstory, go here.]

ABC Wednesday—K is for "kitties"

These are some of the well-fed kitties that roam
all over the lovely village of Vernazza, in Italy's
Cinque Terre. In fact, I don't know if these cats are
still there.  Eleven months ago, Vernazza was all
but destroyed by a massive landslide.  Fortunately,
the town is now almost completely restored
(see longtime Vernazza-lover Rick Steve's report)
and I hope the kitty population is once again thriving too.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

abc wednesday —U is for "ugly"

I'm a cat lover, but this just has to be
the ugliest puss in Monteriggione Tuscany 
Italy Europe the northern hemisphere the world!


[To see more abc Wednesday, go here.]

Thursday Challenge — "thankful"

Impossible to choose one photo to show all the things I'm thankful for.
But I should be thankful for every new day that dawns—and
especially when I get to greet the dawn in a place like this.
It was the view from my window when I got up to record
the 7 a.m. church bells in Vernazza, in the Cinque Terre.


To see more thankfulness, visit the Thursday Photo Challenge:
http://www.spunwithtears.com/thursday.html

abc wednesday - U is for "university"

This is the university in Padua, the second

oldest in Italy. It was founded in 1222 and

Galileo taught geometry, mechanics, and

astronomy here from 1592 to 1610.

Seriously—can you imagine studying

astronomy with Galileo?

[See more abc wednesday here.]

abc wednesday - H is for "horizon"

Admittedly, the horizon is probably not the first

thing you notice in this shot of the beautiful

village of Vernazza, in Italy's Cinque Terre.

But there it is out there (and even without a

ship disappearing over it I can see how

Columbus came to his correct conclusion).

[See more ABC posts here.]

Photo Hunter — "fast"

The express train came tearing through

Vernazza in the Cinque Terre—going so fast 

it seemed as though we could see

through it! (Though, apparently, we

actually could see through it—how is that

possible?) Anyway, this is exactly 

how I feel about the approaching holidays, 

and I'm so NOT ready.

[Check out more "fast" photos at PhotoHunt, /here.]

Skywatch Friday

Took this of the Mediterranean from one
of the hiking trails in the Cinque Terre,
in Italy. The not-too-tough trail got
treacherous when the skies finally
opened up—those rocks are definitely
slippery when wet!

Fontana di Nettuno in Bologna

Speaking of pointy-topped doo-dads! I lived
here for a while, and love this outrageous fountain.
As the pope said when he heard about it, "It's good
enough for Bologna." Thought my laptop was fixed,
but when I turned it on my dock had disappeared.
My advice to anyone buying a computer: Pay for the
extended warrenty (so glad I did)!

church talk

I can't go into an Italian church without lighting

a candle—or taking a picture.  I found beauty in all 

of these: the candles in the Gesuiti in Venice,

the gilded ceiling of the basilica San Marco,

 the dome of St. Peter's in Rome,

 Titian's Assumption over the altar in 

Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice,

and the filigreed window of a 

small church in the Cinque Terre.

street shrines

These are everywhere. According to one of my daughter's

Florentine profs, they exist simply to remind you to pray.

Okay.

lock up your love

They're trying to stop couples from doing this

on the Ponte Vecchio, so the lovers have moved

a bit upstream to the Ponte alla Grazie to keep

the tradition going (you write your names on the

lock and toss the key in the water). 

Of course, in the Cinque Terre, on the Via dell'Amore,

 they're all for the lucchetti d'amore—and 

have set up a special place for them.