My Favourite Things

My favorite color of car is yellow
My favorite color of shirt is white

My favorite color of pants is black
My favorite smell is espresso coffee

My favorite flower is freesia
My favorite time is dusk
My favorite small city is Santa Margharita
My favorite big city is Milan, or maybe San Francisco, or Barcelona, or Melbourne (in the summer)

My favorite sport is tennis

My favorite hobby is reading
My favorite thing to do is listen to music
My favorite month is March, or maybe November
My favorite past time is travelling


I pilfered this from Rick's blog at Life 101

It was fun to read his list, and fun to make one of my own.
What are some of your favorite things?

Thematic Photographic 151: Rough

There had been a 3-day easterly storm , and there were driftwood logs and debris thrown up 

all along our beach.

These kids were enjoying playing amongst the flotsam:

 See other "Rough" entries here.

 I've had a rough day at school today - but I won't mention that....

Sunday Snapshot 5

During my day on the Ligurian coast of Italy, I took another of my "class photos", of which 

I'm starting to have quite a collection.

These little guys were having a lovely time in Vernazza, sitting in the sun and enjoying their gelati.

I wish I was back there now!

A day on the Italian Riviera....

As I may perhaps have mentioned (!) I spent the last 2 weeks of April and the 1st week of May in Italy. 

One of the highlights was a day spent hopping along the villages of the Cinque Terre, on the Ligurian coast, by ferry boat. 

 

 The day was beautifully sunny, not too hot, a little breezy. And as it was early in the season, not too crowded!

 Early in the morning we caught the boat at the old naval station city of 

La Spezia

not long afterwards, we rounded a cape to stop briefly to change ferries at Porto Venere

 

Thirty minutes later we were at the first of the Five Villages, Riomaggiore

From there we had the option of getting back on a ferry to the next village, Manarola, or walking along the cliff path to meet the boat there, which I did

  It was a very easy walk and left us some time before catching the ferry to the village, Vernazza 

(the prettiest according to our guide).

 

Three hours at the last village, Monterosso, meant plenty of time for a leisurely lunch and 

lots of exploring

Finally we got one of the frequent trains to our destination for the next 3 days, Santa Margherita, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. But that's another post.... 

Please click on photos to enlarge

Sunday Snapshot 4

Two days to go until the shortest day!

our beach, June 21st (midwinter day) 2010
(click to enlarge)

"In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, 

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;"

~ Christina Rossetti

Thematic Photographic 150: Signs

Signs that make you wonder...
I'm coming in on the tail end of this one - it's been a busy week.  I've enjoyed reading other people's strange signs, though. here are some New Zealand signs which have made me wonder....

Little Blue Penguins are endangered,
so please don't run over them when they're
silly enough to cross the road!

Depth of.... what, exactly?

Yes, they are.

The Main highway through the middle
of the North Island runs through a desert,
several volcanoes - and an Army camp

Kiwis are also endangered. I dislike that there are
bullet marks on this sign.

You may need a translation of NZ slang where this one's concerned

For more entertaining signs, go to Carmi's Written Inc.

Sunday Snapshot 3

This Māori warrior stands beside the walkway around the pit rim of the open-cast 

goldmine in the small town of Waihi, New Zealand.
I like the calm strength which his sculptor has depicted in his face and limbs.

Please click to enlarge