Weekly Photo Challenge: Morning ( Beach at Harlech)

It was an early morning in 1985.

I stayed at a beach side hotel in Harlech, Wales.

Woke up early in the morning and decided to go down to the beach.

The beach was nothing I have seen in the past. It has some sand dunes piled up quite high parallel to the beach.

I climbed over the dunes; in my climb, I noticed some rabbits jotting about from their hiding places.

When I got over the dunes, my eyes were met with this magnificent sight.

Jesus light from the sky above and lines of waves coming in from the sea.

I was bewildered and took this photo.

 

Summer Time

It is definitely Summer now.

This picture taken in the UK will attest it.

Please enjoy while Summer still last.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Faces

I always wonder how long those DP Weekly Photo Challenges last.

Each of them has a definite starting point – when it is announced every Saturday.

However, is there any end point? I don’t honestly know .

Here I presume it has no end point, all interested bloggers can still upload their posts on the Challenge once the challenge is announced.

Here are a couple of photos my friend YM Chan has taken at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and  Museum, Glasgow, Scotland.

They show so many faces of different expressions. These are so relevant to the theme that makes me want to contribute to the challenge.

 

The Streets and Alleys of Baltic (9)

I will be doing a series on streets and alleys of the Baltic countries.

I have been to all the Baltic capitals which includes visiting of some of the UNESCO Heritage sites like Vilinus, Riga, Tallin etc.

What I found most interesting are the alleys and the streets which all have their own characteristics.

I am not able to tell you exactly where those alleys and streets are; in my simple mind, they are my memorable parts of the Baltic.

I like the cobblestones, the quaint street, the colored walls on both sides of the alleys, the cafes along or encroached onto the roads, the crude masonry wall facing and last, but not the least, the friendly people.

They leave an undeletable part in my memory!

Willow – Down By the Salley Gardens

I have always been fascinated by willows, especially those planted near to the river or lake.

Understand that willows may have originated in the West and some of them were transplanted to the East.

As a secondary school student, I have enjoyed reading the book “The Wind in the Willows” although it doesn’t have a lot to deal with willows.

The view of the willows while punting in the River Cam of Cambridge is an unforgettable sight. Here are some pictures taken of willows.

The first two were taken in XiangShan Gardens in Beijing.

The third one was untaken in a garden while we were travelling in Yunnan – name now forgotten.

The fourth one was taken in a Chinese garden in Okinawa, Japan.

The next three were taken in the gardens of the West Lake, China.

Only recently that I know that Salley, as in the song Down By the Salley Garden,  in fact means willow.

It has been suggested that the location of the “Salley Gardens” was on the banks of the river at Ballysadare near Sligo where the residents cultivated trees to provide roof thatching materials. “Salley” or “sally” is a form of the Standard English word “sallow”, i.e., a tree of the genus Salix. It is close in sound to the Irish word saileach, meaning willow.

Hope you like the lyrics of the song too:

Down by the salley gardens my love and I did meet;

She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet.

She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;

But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree.

In a field by the river my love and I did stand,

And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow-white hand.

She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs;

But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.

The penultimate photo was taken in a garden when we were on our way to Yunnan, China.

The view of the willows while punting in the River Cam of Cambridge is an unforgettable sight.

Unfortunately, I no longer have the photo.

Instead, I have a photo of willow taken at the Central Park, New York to conclude this post.

The Other Side of Dubrovnik

Most tourists head for the fortress side of Dubrovnik; we did the same too.

Many of my photos show the fortresses, the walls and the many terracotta roofs.

For a change, this picture was taken towards the sea, away from the fortresses, when the sun has set.

We were walking back to the hotel and my eyes were captured by the very peaceful feeling of the sea and the cliffs and the lone house by the seaside.

Altogether, a very soothing view!

 

 

Week Photo Challenge: Vibrant ( Peach Blossoms )

These flowers are so vibrant at this time of the year.

The pictures were taken on our way to Luoping, Yunnan in China a couple of years ago.

Spring was in the air.

There is so much of a festive mood in seeing the flowers.