Florence

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SUNDAY-STILLS-PC-Towering

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A variety of Towers towering over

their respective landscape.

 

I’m not sure why the Tower of London was so named.

Google to the rescue:

It was founded towards the end of 1066

as part of the Norman Conquest of England.

The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name,

was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was

a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted

upon London by the new ruling elite.

 

 

And now I know 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Closer to home is…..

…Auckland’s Sky Tower in New Zealand.

Using your imagination it could be

described as similar to Sydney’s Tower. 

The major point of difference is that we

celebrated Number 2 Daughter-in-Law’s birthday

with dinner in the Auckland Sky Tower in 2018.

 

Many of my photos I remember taking,

not so this one over Paris…

 

…not from the top observation point. 

Alas we only made it to the

second observation deck.

 

I guess we should be happy to have made

it up the Eiffel Tower at all,

because we did not set foot inside the

Giotto Bell Tower in Florence, in Italy.

 

I think we may have paid more than we should have,

to visit the observation deck of the Burj Khalifa

(Burj meaning Tower, so I was told). 

However, it was a wonderful, last day, experience

and we thought some pricey

souvenir photos worthwhile. 

 

High Tea at the Burj Al Arab was our

main reason for a stopover in Dubai. 

Again, not something to do on a weekly basis

but a wonderful experience. 

We nudged the local retail economy along 

with a new set of clothes each, for the occasion,

and felt human after living in the same

traveller kit for four weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These Towers are springing up

all over the Western District.

  Almost at our back door, on the farm,

is a wind farm of over 100 towers

claimed to be the largest in

the Southern Hemisphere. 

May have been when built,

but no longer so, I suspect.

 

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SUNDAY STILLS PHOTO:….Towering

 

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FriendlyFriday-Coffee-Conversations

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In Florence, hot, weary looking for

a cold drink and a place to sit for a while.

I ordered iced coffee…expecting a glass

of coffee flavoured milk, some ice and

at least one if not two scoops

of ice-cream to help

further chill the liquid.

Needless-to-say I was surprised to see

this cocktail/martini glass in front of me.

It did contain iced coffee.

Very strong coffee and some ice.

It was definitely a case of,

When in Florence, do as the Florentines do.

And I did.

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FriendlyFriday:   Coffee-Conversations

Amanda                       Sandi

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A-Photo-a-Week-Challenge-Over-100-Years-Old

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Thank goodness we visited

Europe a few years ago.

The Colosseum

Constructed between 70-80 AD.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Built between 1173-1372

Built during the 1300s the Florence Bell Tower .

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A Photo a Week Challenge:  Over-100-Years-Old

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WeeklyPrompts-PC-Bridge

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Bridges from all over…

Probably Australia’s best known bridge.

Auckland Harbour Bridge, New Zealand.

 

A small rural bridge in

New Zealand’s North Island.

Arriving by ferry in Melbourne…

…and cruising under

Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge.

 

 

A footbridge in Geelong’s

Balyang Sanctuary.

 

A one lane bridge in Botswana’s

Okavango Delta.

 

Finally a bridge from my primary years of schooling.

Whoever said some of the old methods

of teaching are wrong is incorrect.

 Or maybe I am getting older and cannot remember

what I had for breakfast, but can remember incidents

and conversations which occurred nearly 60 years ago,

as if it were yesterday.  🙂

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Weekly Prompt Photo Challenge:  Bridge

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WeeklyPrompts-PC-Unusual

Perseus with the Head of Medusa~~~~~

My unusual is the statue of

Perseus with the Head of Medusa

By the time we reached Florence the thinking part

of my brain must have been on permanent hibernation.

I remember asking myself what Perseus standing on

and what was he holding.

My initial thought was that he had

a bunch of grapes in his hand.

I did say I was tired!!! 🙂

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Weekly Prompt Photo Challenge:  Unusual

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FOWChallenge-Abnormal

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abnormal

deviating from what is normal or usual,

On a warm Florentine day we opted for

a cool drink and a few minutes rest.

When I ordered an iced-coffee

I was thinking of a tall large glass,

filled with icy-cold milk, some ice and ice-cream

with a hint of coffee taste.

My dreams were different to that which I received.

Refreshing but not what I would

call a normal iced coffee.

Then again visitors to Australia will also

receive an abnormal drink when

ordering an iced coffee.

When in Rome (or Florence, in this case)

do as the locals do because that is

half the fun of travelling.

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Fandango’s One Word Challenge: Abnormal

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Word-of-Day-Challenge-Glimpse

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glimpse

“she caught a glimpse of the ocean”

see or perceive briefly or partially.

Each morning of our European holiday,

our tour director would begin with the phrase…

‘...well you’ve done (insert city name), 

tonight we will be in (insert city name)…’

 

While I thoroughly enjoyed our trip…

I did feel that we were only getting

a glimpse of each city…the highlights.

The following year I returned

to Arras in France for a

Western Front Battlefields tour.

Arras, Bell Tower

Because I was in Arras for 5 nights

I think I enjoyed that brief trip

as much as any of the cities

we visited the previous year.

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Word of the Day Challenge:  Glimpse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge-More-Than-5

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More than five objects or people in a photo.

Sunrise on Corio Bay

 

Watching a sunrise.

Just had to have a chuckle.

Restaurant lights

Sadly these trees no longer are.

Not sure if they have been replaced by eucalyptus trees

Model and photographer at work on St Kilda Pier.

 

Tourists helping each other…or resting.

While other line up for entry to,

or photograph, the next attraction.

One of my favourites this time of year.

Erlicheer daffodils…an early sign of spring.

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WitsEnd-Weekly-PC-People

 


People…

…who need people…

If  only the iPad operators, in our group

stood this far back from the crowd,

instead of in front.

Will always remember these

two young ladies from Amsterdam.

After asking would they mind posing,

the girl on the left hit me for 5 Euro,

and kept straight face long enough

for mine to express the shock I felt,

before she burst out  laughing.

The villains 🙂

 

Mostly we have met…

 

 

or seen people helping others…

…in various ways.

Is the photographer helping

her model or vice versa?

The ‘shoot’ was for a tertiary

photography course.

Maybe they were studying

the same course.

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Witsend-Weekly-PC-People