Pinning Inspiration #6

Last week’s post was about explorer and adventurer Alexandra David-Neel. Did it leave you feeling inspired to travel?

If like me, you’d love to travel but don’t have the funds to do so, perhaps this week’s Pinning Inspiration will inspire you with ways to bring the exotic into your home!

Sometimes, a few framed posters or photographs will be enough. A cerulean sea, brightly-clothed African women, a Tibetan temple--images from whatever part of the world appeals to you the most. 

Even if pictures aren’t enough, they are a good start!

Pinning Inspiration #5

Source: squidoo.com via Kei on Pinterest

Do you ever feel like travelling off to foreign climes, to adventure in exotic places?

Alexandra David-Neel did. Her inspiring and adventurous life is therefore the subject of this week’s Pinning Inspiration.

Norway

Thanks to the wonder of blogger's scheduling function, nobody (except a few friends outside of blogland) would have known that I went to Norway in April!
Which is just as well, as I haven't made a post about travel for ages!

Mum and I headed to Bergen to stay with her friends,18th-22nd April. This is the view from their house on the hillside. Isn't it stunning?

Norway has lots of breathtaking scenery and I was lucky to experience some of it!

Travel: Sagrada Familia

It seems like an age ago that I shared some photos of past trips to Spain (it was--September!) Back then, I said I might eventually upload some pictures of the amazingly detailed Sagrada Familia.

Then I lost the pictures--or thought I did. After half an hour of confused flicking through old photographs, I realised these photos were taken on a digital camera, therefore would be on the computer and not in a shoebox of old photographs.

Some days it seems my brain goes on holiday, leaving me behind!

But you’re not here for my bird-brained ramblings; you’re here for the pictures, right?!
Your wish is my command!

The level of detail in the Sagrada Familia has always amazed me. I love the melting, mud-sculpted appearance of this façade. Looking closely...

As well as stained-glass windows, scenes are depicted in the stonework!  The entirety of the building is steeped in symbology, the walls telling the story of Jesus and the history of Catholicism.

The rest of the building features carvings, too, both heavily detailed...

...and simpler stonework that lends itself to the existing beauty of the architecture:

Most of these photographs are from just one side of the building. On this trip we didn’t go inside. I went onside on a college trip, but have no web-worthy photographs (never mind that it was an art/photography trip...!

This is a truly amazing building. Only when you stand at its foot do you realise how high the spires reach into the sky and all the tiny details, each one placed with care and accuracy.
It’s no wonder that this great church, the construction of which began in 1882, is taking so long to be completed (as far as I know it is still being built!)

A lot of information is available on the official website for the Sagrada Familia.

Travel: Pompeii, Italy

I realised that it's been a while since I last posted anything about travel! In my last travel-related entry, I promised a post on Pompeii.

Well here it is!

Situated near Naples, Pompeii is the city infamous for being buried by volcanic ash after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD.

Naturally most of this city is in ruins, but the amount of things that have been preserved is astonishing! Thanks to the volcanic ash that destroyed this city, we can also peel back the centuries and see how these people lived, how they decorated their homes and public spaces.

Undoubtedly a lot of modern preservation and repair has gone into what remains of Pompeii. When I went there (six years ago), excavations and repair work was still being carried out! Taking into account that this city was rediscovered in the 18th century, the sheer size and complexity of this work becomes more apparent!

Whilst this was another organised trip, the sheer number of people milling around on that day meant we were limited in what we were able to see.

However, we saw a number of preserved houses, the ruins of the public baths, and the amphitheatre.

Of course, there were poignant moments of the trip, too. Plaster casts of excavated bodies can be found in situ. Due to the volcanic ash that layered upon the victims of the eruption, even details such as the folds of their clothing have been preserved for eternity.

Amidst the history and beauty these forms bring reality to the horror of the ever-present, looming shape of Mount Vesuvius.

Travel: Italy

Following my other posts relating to the countries I’ve had the fortune to see, here’s a post about a country where the people are as warm and inviting as the climate--Italy!

The people of Italy are so friendly, even when there has been an obvious language barrier they have always tried hard to help me break through that and communicate!

This first photograph is from my first visit to Italy (again as part of a cruise). My family and I went on a guided tour of Rome, which took in many of the ancient sights including the area around the Colosseum, St Peter’s Basilica and...

The Trevi Fountain! Obviously this is just part of it. None of my photographs can do it justice.

This was probably the hottest day I have ever experienced, including when I went to Egypt! Still, it was fantastic to see such famous sights (and wonderful to step into the awe-inspiring coolness of St Peter’s Basilica. Unfortunately all my photographs of  that place came out dark, boo!)

From a second trip to Italy, these following three pictures are all taken from the same place; a church in an area known as Tuscania.

This is the 8th century Church of St. Peter. We weren’t able to go inside, but there was a lot to look at outside!

Here’s a close up of the ‘rose window’:

The church was pretty far up a hill and had beautiful views of Italy’s rustic countryside:

Italy is such a lovely country! Between the sights, the history and the food (and wine, of course!) there is surely something for everyone to love here.

I’ve only shared a few photographs of this country today, but I plan to make a separate post relating to Pompeii, where I spent a whole day being amazed at the architecture, murals and history. So please keep popping back!

Travel: Spain

I previously blogged photographs from a trip to Egypt. This time I’d like to share some photographs from a few trips to Spain.

I’ve been to a few places in Spain--Barcelona, Elche, La Coruña, Cadiz and Palma! This is certainly a country with a lot of beautiful architecture, which is pretty much the theme of the photographs I wish to share today.

This is at Montserrat in Catalonia. We took a tour up to the Santa Maria de Montserrat monastery there, where the Virgin of Montserrat is housed.

I seem to remember there was some significance in the plants growing outside, but don’t recall what this was!
I bought a beautiful red-beaded rosary in the gift shop here; at six euros it was surprisingly cheap!
The line to see the Virgin of Montserrat was a long one that wound through the areas of the monastery that were open to the public. It's a lovely building and the wait was filled with curiosity and excitement to see the famous artefact.

This is Elche; close to the beautiful Municipal Gardens. On this trip we went to a shoe factory (yay, shoes!) so I didn’t take many pictures. However, this scene struck me as particularly exotic with its palm trees, banana trees, the pale stone and the gushing water. It was pretty warm that day and I was sorely tempted to run through that!

As for the rest of these photographs, I’m not entirely sure (my holiday photos were jumbled up long ago!) but I think they are all of Palma.

 

 

As you might have guessed, I have a thing about religious architecture. It’s so beautifully done!

I’ve got lots of photographs somewhere of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, but if I ever post them it will be in a separate post. So much detail has been placed into the construction and design of that building!

Finally, whilst it isn’t a church, cathedral or similar, this dental practice in Palma caught my eye!

 

Travel: Egypt

A blog that I’ve been loving recently is Bohemian Valhalla, run by the lovely Dawn. I found it via Pinterest and have spent a lot of time since drooling over the beautiful pictures!

Inspired by the holiday pictures Dawn posted recently, I decided to share some of my own snaps from holidays gone by!

In my teens, I was lucky enough to go on cruise ship holidays and see a little of the world. I am forever thankful that I had this chance, since it’s allowed me to experience so many places!

I’ll start off with a few pictures from a country that has always, inexplicably, been close to my heart--Egypt.

Being a port of call on a cruise, we only spent one day there. But I went on a guided tour with my family. Our coach went from Port Said all the way to Cairo, via Saqqara. This meant travelling along both dessert roads and madly congested highways, where luxury coaches travelled alongside donkeys pulling carts (I kid you not!) 

Saqqara has a number of ancient structures, including this! (I don’t remember what it was...however there are pyramids and other ancient buildings nearby)

I saw a documentary on TV a while ago that showed through satellite imagery how archaeologically significant the area is.

The journey to Cairo seemed to take hours and was somewhat bizarre, since the coach was air conditioned yet it was clear how warm it was outside!

Still, the weather was utterly beautiful!

Heading into the city, all to be seen on the horizon was nothingness...then, out of nothing, those infamous three pyramids materialised.

Up close, the Sphinx was actually smaller than I imagined it to be. 

It is also surprisingly close to the city.

The journey back to the ship was another long one. I had been awake since 3 a.m. and the sun was setting...yet I felt utterly invigorated by this beautiful country!

The sunset itself was amazing - unfortunately I have no photographs - since it happened so suddenly, but so vibrantly. 

I have a lot of other pictures that I'd love to share, but they're all stuck into old photography workbooks from my college days. I went on this trip before I owned such thing as a digital camera and used up multiple rolls of film on this trip alone!

Whilst the revolution has made Egypt appear unstable, it is a beautiful, culturally rich place with friendly people. I sincerely hope to return there in future!