Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is reflections and shadows.








Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is reflections and shadows.
Thursday Trio is a weekly photo challenge by Mama Cormier, who invites us to share our trios.
This trio of teenaged girls in Olomouc, Czech Republic were dressed in costume to collect funds for a cause which I don’t remember (I think it was something for their school).
In this same town, I saw this ad for ice cream – the only way I can remember how to say “ice cream” in Czech is to look at this photo!
On a recent trip to Poland, we spent a day and a half in the southern city of Krakow. Krakow is a vibrant city with a well-preserved Old Town and full of interesting public art! Here are four of my favorites and most well-known.
In the main square of the old town, was this head. “The artist’s gift to the city of Krakow, 2005” read a plaque (which I translated with the help of Google translator). The artist is Igor Mitoraj and his bronze sculpture (created in 1999) is called “Eros Bendato.”
Nearby was a wooden pole with colorful birds, called “Emaus tree.” A sign in English explains that the Emaus tree “refers to the traditional trees of life” which were found at the stalls of the annual fair in Zwierzyniac on the 2nd day of Easter. The Emaus tree could be a nest with figurines of chicks or a bird mounted on a stick decorated with leaves, usually made of wood. The tradition of making this ornament dates back to pre-Christian times when it was believed that the souls of the dead came back to life as birds who sheltered in tree branches. It also symbolized nature coming back to life in the spring.
A “fire breathing” dragon is a popular site for children, located below the wall of Krakow’s castle. Every evening at 6 p.m., this dragon is supposed to “breathe fire.” I don’t know exactly how it works and our guide didn’t explain it, but the day we were there, no fire issued forth from the dragon’s open mouth, disappointing this crowd of expectant kids.
We visited the old Jewish quarter, where the Steven Spielberg movie, Schindler’s List, was filmed. Nearby is an art installation consisting of tall, stark chairs, each representing 100 Krakow Jews (about 6,700) who were killed in the Holocaust. The artist and the installation’s title are on the sign below.
Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge this week is “white or off-white.”
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge currently is about Earth elements and this week it is metal.
It’s been awhile since I have participated in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, but I am back in time to contribute to this week’s bridges!
Cee’s series featuring other challenges this week has the theme Which Way. This challenge includes streets, walkways, waterways – any “way” on which people travel.
Winter, spring, summer or fall – there’s always something interesting to experience on roads and sidewalks in every season.
Jude’s July challenge on her blog Travel Words: Life in Colour is the color blue. This week she challenges us to post seaside blues.
Two views of our cruise ship at the first stop of our Panama Canal cruise, at Half Moon Cay, Bahamas.
Three scenes from our cruise ship to Alaska: leaving Vancouver (click on photo to see it larger).
CadyLuck Leedy hosts the challenge Just One Person From Around the World. Her posts are always interesting, and if you follow this link, you will learn about the rigorous life of the guards who guard the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery!
When we took our European cruise two years ago, we spent three days in Amsterdam, which was at the beginning of a prolonged heat wave! Europeans are not used to this kind of weather, but do take advantage to enjoy it! In Amsterdam, many people spent a day in the sunshine on their house boats. I can’t tell if this guy is happy or grumpy about the weather, but he knew how to stay cool!
Anyway, the heat wave lasted until several days after we got home two weeks later. Later in the summer of 2019, another heat wave hit Europe, sending the temperature in Paris to 109 degrees F (43 degrees C) at one point!
2016 broke the high for hottest summer on record, and every summer since then has similarly broken the record of the previous year! I wonder if 2021 will do the same?
Climate change is real and urgent action is needed!
I think I am late for this one, but I’m participating anyway! Lens-Artists’ Photo Challenge #146 is to focus on the details.
In 2019, we took a Viking river cruise, which started in Amsterdam and took us down part of the Rhine River. Our first stop in Germany was in Cologne, with its fabulous cathedral. Its imposing towers can be seen rising above the rest of Cologne’s buildings, this photo taken from our cruise ship as we arrived in the morning.
Officially named the Cathedral Church of St. Peter, this Gothic architectural wonder took centuries to build. Construction began in 1268 but was halted around the middle of the 16th century. It was finally finished in 1880, remaining true to its medieval plan, and at 157 meters (515 ft) it is the third tallest church in the world. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.
Its façade contains a dizzying number of carved details, none of which are the same. (And these are all on its exterior!)
Historical details from Cologne Cathedral – Wikipedia.