Europe 2018

In March and April, I once again took the (horrendously long) flight to the other side of the world, firstly to meet my new granddaughter in Barcelona, and then to spend time in a few places I hadn't been before. In all, I was away for nearly 6 weeks.

One of the things I badly wanted to do this time was go inside the Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi's astonishing as-yet-unfinished church in Barcelona. 

When I first visited Spain, in 2010, there was plenty to see outside this amazing building, but you couldn't go further in than a small area inside one of the doors.

 On later visits I just walked around outside, looking at the progress being made. 

The lines were too long to stand waiting in the hot sun!

This time, my son was very organised and had booked tickets online, so that we could

just go straight in at opening time. Here are some of the photos I took inside.
Please click on the photos to enlarge them!

By 1915, when the building was conceived, Gaudi was focused on an organic style, imitating the shapes of the natural world. He intended the interior to resemble a forest, with inclined columns like branching trees. He didn't like straight lines at all!  Natural forms can be seen everywhere you look.

There is masses of stained glass, usually progressing upwards from darker colours to lighter ones. The windows are not like traditional stained glass, but free-flowing in their designs, to demonstrate the beauty of the world.

One of the architect's dreams was that rays of light should bring the colours of the glass into the church, staining the air. You can see the effect he wanted here:

In this massive space, with so many wonderful things to look at, one of the most striking is the enormous figure of the crucified Christ, suspended in mid-air in the central spaces of the building:

Truly this is one of the greatest, most awe-inspiring man-made wonders of the world.

Holiday Memories

Earlier this year, I spent nearly 3 months in Europe: my retirement present to myself.  

I have posted quite a lot of photos since I got back, but there are many more which I would like to have see the light of day, so I'm going to try to publish a few every day or two. 

Today's are from Barcelona. 

My son and his girlfriend have lived there for about seven years now, 

and I've been there before; it's one of my favourite cities, 

especially away from the crowded sightseeing spots.

This peaceful spot is the little plaça which my son's apartment overlooks. 

No cars are allowed, and the trees provide much-needed shade. 

The people of the neighbourhood meet for coffee and conversation while

the kids play, there is a community vegetable garden...

On one walk, we paid a visit to the enormous Cementiri de Montjuïc:

"In Spain, the dead are more alive than the dead of any other country in the world."

~ Federico Garcia Lorca

Rear views

Late as usual...

Here are my "taken from behind" pics for TP 209:

Changing the guard at Ataturk's Mausoleum.

Ankara, Turkey.

 Kids messing about at the harbour. Tauranga, New Zealand.

 A boy and his dog:

A favourite photo of my grandaughter, aged about 18 months:

 

My son walks ahead of me down an alley in Barcelona:

 

Thematic Photographic 184: Curved

For this week's theme I have a collectic ellection an eclectic collection 

of curved shots from near and far...

I could have done a whole post on my favourite architect/artist, Gaudi - but I restrained myself to just one shot of a ventilation cover on the roof of the Casa Batllo, Barcelona ~

Now I'm inside the Grand Mosque in Bursa, Turkey ~

Walking into, and around the top of, a recently-formed crater of Mt Etna in Sicily ~

Back in New Zealand, here's a wintry late afternoon shot in Wellington ~

and some lovely curvy blossoms in a garden in Taranaki ~

Visiting the Auckland zoo - this is a whale's backbone ~

Three curved shots from my neighbourhood ~

And my last curve: goodnight, moon...

If you'd like to see more posts for this theme, visit Written Inc and look around!

Thematic Photographic 147: Got the Blues

Carmi's new theme at Written Inc is 'Got the Blues'. 

I've been feeling pretty darned blue lately, so maybe some 

of these blue pics will remind me of happy places and times

Mt Taranaki, New Zealand

Summer Sky

Roof panels at the mall

Fencing in the sky

Park Guell, Barcelona

Corinth

Bells Beach near Melbourne, Australia

Thematic Photographic 146: Aerial

This is probably the most testing theme I've seen since I started participating in Carmi's weekly photographic fun (for other posts see here)




I can't seem to come up with any lateral thinking idea, and I've no pics taken from a space shuttle or an aeroplane...

So herewith some shots taken from high(ish) places: please click to enlarge

An intersection in Barcelona, taken from the roof of Gaudi's "La Pedrera":

Monastery almost aerial, in Meteora, Greece:

o shots of the beautiful blue Mediterranean, from high up n the cliffs of Capri:

And Portofino, taken from the Castle at the top of the town:

Lastly and laterally, Ariel from A Midsummer Night's Dream

Full fathom five thy father lies;
of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange

TP141: Windows (again)

I love windows. Can't resist another tilt at this theme:

Stained glass windows in the Hagia Sofia, Istanbul

Blue Mosque, Istanbul

 

Tiled wall mosaics, Istanbul. You can see my reflection in the window...

Looking out. Casa Batllo, Barcelona

More Strangers

I've found some more pics which seem to qualify for Thematic Photographic's 'Strangers' theme.
First, two shots of ceremonial guards at the Mausoleum of Ataturk, in Ankara, Turkey:

 

These people are engrossed in what the guide is saying at the National Museum in the same city:

 

A group of friends playing a Spanish version of boules in Barcelona:

"Good things happen when you meet strangers."   ~Yo-Yo Ma