That's My World

We're looking through the open windows of
Chez Jacqueline, a cozy Provençale restaurant in
—no, not Provençe—Greenwich Village.  Care to join me?
[This is part of my world; to see more of the world, go here.]

Monday Doorways

There's a pretty nice view from the doorway of
the church of Santa Maria della Salute, built in
Venice in the mid-17th century as an offering for the
city's deliverance from an outbreak of the plague.
Constructed atop a platform of 100,000 wooden piles
driven vertically into the sea bed, it took about
50 years to build, and was completed in 1681.  
[To see more doorways, visit the "Portes de Lundi"
at Louis la Vache's meme.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

This is Madison Square Park, a nice place to
hang out in the Chelsea area and the site of
many great free summer performances. This
was also where part of the Statue of Liberty
lived before the base was completed—see here.
[And to see more shadows, go here.]

New York at Night (11)

Last weekend I went on one of those touristy but fun
dinner cruises around Manhattan. The food was only
okay, but the views were great (even on a misty night)!
This was taken from the Hudson River, looking at the
spot downtown where the Trade Towers used to be.

Skywatch Friday

Staying right in the neighborhood for this one.
It's the arch in Grand Army Plaza,
which I showed you almost three years ago.
[See more Skywatch here.]

Thursday Challenge — "wet"

Venetians know all about "wet"—and they're well-prepared, 
with high boots and these walkways, called passarelles—
when the lagoon invades their city on a regular basis. 
[To see more things that are wet, visit the Thursday Photo Challenge.]

abc wednesday —S is for "smile"

And who could resist the charming smile of this Peruvian llama? 
(Credit where due: The shot was taken at 
Machu Picchu by my intrepid daughter Lila.)
[To see more "S" posts—and possibly more smiles—go here.]

How about a bike ride?

This fantastic bike is parked underneath the
Brooklyn Bridge.  It's the work of Olek,
crochet artist extraordinaire, who is currently
based right here in Brooklyn. She's covered lots of
things in crochet, including the huge statue of the bull on lower
Broadway.  Go here to see a short film of that installation.
[This is part of That's My World Tuesday. See more of the world here.]

Mellow Yellow Monday

This is Urs Fischer's sculpture "Untitled (Lamp/Bear)."
I shot it right before it was sold at auction by Christie's
(for almost $7 million—and yet below estimate), while it was
 installed in front of the Seagram's building on Park Ave.
It's 23 feet tall and weighs 35,000 pounds.
[To see more yellow, go here.]

BTW, I shot this Urs Fischer
sculpture in Venice (admittedly,
this one I don't get at all).

the bluebell wood

Don't know if I've ever used a picture that I took with my iPhone.
Well, here's one I took today of the amazing bluebell wood
in the BBG.  I showed it last year. (And did I mention
that there are 40,000+ bulbs planted here?)

[Today is Shadow Shot Sunday. See more shadows here.]

locks of love

I've seen these in Italy and on the Pont des Arts
 in Paris.  But I thought the rose was a nice
touch on these locks up on the Brooklyn Bridge
(where you need a strong arm to toss the key from
the center of the bridge over the roadway and
into the water). You can tell that the lock on the
left wasn't put there by an American, since
the date is written day/month/year.

Sky? What sky?

I took this picture of a gray sky through the slats of 
the pergola specifically with Skywatch Friday in mind. 
Looking at it now, all I can see is the gorgeous wisteria! Oh well. 
[To see more skies, go here.]

Thursday Challenge — "happy"

This is Katie, my mom's next-door-neighbor and
the happiest 2-year-old I've ever known.  This child
spent her first 4 months in an orphanage, being largely
ignored, and now has parents and two teenage brothers,
who all absolutely adore her (and who wouldn't?).  
[To see more, visit the Thursday Photo Challenge.]

abc wednesday —R is for "Rocky Mountains"

Flew across the country a couple of times lately and
I was amazed at just how much of it is basically
uninhabited. Crossing the Rockies, all I could think
about was pioneers trying to get over these mountains in
covered wagons. Now they could have used GPS!
[To see more posts inspired by the letter R, go here.]

old friends?

Or maybe she just stopped to say she liked the music.
Even though this lady was a bit overdressed for the 
warm, sunny day, she had a certain je ne sais quoi.
Frenchwomen seem to be able to carry off any outfit, don't they? 
[This is part of That's My World Tuesday. See more of the world here.]

the peonies . . .

. . . are showing off in the botanic garden right now.
These are Japanese tree peonies, those big, blowzy
beauties that I love at every stage of their colorful bloom.
[Today is Mellow Yellow Monday. To see more yellow, go here.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

Came upon this little display of shabby chic furniture
on Houston (that's pronounced "how-ston" here) Street,
the northern edge of Soho. Before the magazine
The World of Interiors came up with that wonderful term
30 years ago, I thought my furniture was just plain shabby.
The Brits really are brilliant sometimes.
[See more Sunday Shadows here.]

Weekend Reflections

I usually post to this meme from my other blog, but
Blogger has been a little wonky the past few days.  I was
flying across the country recently and turned away
from snapping shots of the Rockies to see this.
Reflections are almost as big an obsession as shadows!

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

Skywatch Friday

Yet another reason why I'm not sorry that I don't drive!
Would much rather be walking across the Brooklyn Bridge,
looking at this sunset (and Lady Liberty out in the harbor)
while those poor folks down there inch their way along.

abc wednesday —Q is for "Queens"

Coming home from somewhere, flying over Queens.
New York at night is just amazing when seen from the air,
and I live in hope of getting a really good shot one
of these days (or, rather, nights).
[For more "Q" shots, go here.]

Bklyn Heights

Here in historic (and high-end) Brooklyn Heights
it's quiet enough that the locals walk down the middle
of the street at any time of day.  Try that right over
there across the East River in Manhattan—I dare you.
[This post is part of That's My World. 
To see more of the world go here.]

Mellow Yellow Monday

Love this bright yellow shop selling oil and
wine—but I could do without the graffiti.
Don't you wish the taggers would leave
the beautiful cities alone?
[See more Mellow Yellow here.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

Back to Notre Dame, where I found lots of lovely
shadows—including this one near the main altar.
[See more Shadow Shots here.]

Paris in Living Color III

This one's for my friend Virginia, who loves "les rouges" 
de Paris—and also the rue Mouffetard market. 

Skywatch Friday

The tip of Manhattan's not a bad place to be
to catch the beginning of a good sunset.
To enjoy it with food and/or wine, grab a table
(as I did) at Gigino's, in Wagner Park.
[To see more Skywatch, go here.]

Thursday Challenge: Beautiful

For this photo challenge it wasn't hard for me to choose
what I find beautiful—my daughters, of course!
(The backdrop here is not too shabby, either, so
I wish I could say I took this shot.)
[To see more things that are beautiful, go here.]

abc wednesday —P is for "piano keys"

One of my favorite things: listening to my brother Chris play his 
19th-century Steinway grand.  Chris plays the drums professionally
(with the Lone Sharks), but oh! what he can coax out of that gorgeous piano!
And, btw, today is his birthday—Happy B-day, Bro! 
[See more "P" posts here, at abc wednesday.] 

Paris at Night

For a big city, Paris can be surprisingly
quiet at night (or maybe I'm just used to
living in "the city that never sleeps").

[This is part of That's My World Tuesday.
To see more of the world, go here.]

Mellow Yellow Monday

A small but intrepid band of protesters managed to
halt traffic (right in front of the building where the
governor has his NYC office) for 5 or 10 minutes . . .

. . . until the boys in blue showed up
and slapped the cuffs on 'em.
[See more Mellow Yellow here.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

While I was up in Massachusetts recently, I visited some
old cemeteries. This one is more or less in what is now someone's
backyard.  They can't complain that the neighbors are noisy, can they?

Besides, those "neighbors " were there first.
[To see more shadows, go here.]