Bricks and Mortar

A new TP - and this time it's Bricks and Mortar. This is great - I get another chance to post some of the beautiful structures I've seen in Europe over the last couple of years.

Firstly off to Montserrat, north of Barcelona in Spain. The beautiful Benedictine monastery and church are on the top of a mountain 1236 meters (4055 ft) above the valley floor. Montserrat is the highest point of the Catalan lowlands, and is an important shrine to the Catalonian people. I was there at Easter last year, and although I'm not Catholic I loved the spiritual atmosphere of this beautiful spot. 

 

My second stop is Meteora, in the north of Greece, which I visited on the same trip. The area is famous for the monasteries which sit perched on the very top of high mountains. It is an amazing place.
At Varlaam Monastery, built in 1350, they used to winch supplies up to the monks - it took 22 years to hoist all of the building materials for the three churches, the monks' cells - and a water tank.
Seven monks live there today.

This lovely little chapel is at another Meteora monastery, St Stephen's, built around 1400. 

It is now a nunnery.

This year I visited Milan; these two piles of bricks and mortar are both part of the Castello Sforzesco,  

once the seat of the Duchy of Milan, now a museum and art gallery.

While in Italy I also went to Lucca, and it was one of the highlights of my trip. Here are two 

not-so-majestic bricks and mortar pictures:

 

Thanks for re-visiting these lovely places with me; looking back on travel pictures immediately takes me back to the moment, the feelings, the atmosphere. Thanks to Carmi at Written Inc for this Thematic Photographic opportunity!

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