Vacation time

I will be going on a vacation on Thursday for three weeks, will be enjoying new places, sun and experiencing new foods, hopefullymeeting new people. I will post photos taken with my camera when I get back, I am brave and I am leaving my laptop home. I might post something from my phone, most likely, but who knows.

I bought these tickets two years ago, but all thats been going on has postponed it. But now, so happy to have a break from the winter and the dark season, even if we have snow now. Our plan was to go in February but the fact that we had to postpone also changed the month. Hope the weather is pleasant anyways. last time it was a bit nippy 🙂 in January.

Looking forward to sunny beaches, warm sand under my feet.

Sightseeing is the other part and cooler weather is good for that as long as it doesn’t rain. It will be what it is, but we will be on vacation from the normal life rut. So looking forward to this. We rented a car so we can move from one place to an other, hotels are booked and research done for the places we are going to visit. We are ready.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #222 – Mountains Are Calling

I live in a country with no real mountains, I have seen few on my travels. Here are some photos I have taken. I have linked this post to Amy’s post #Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #222 – Mountains Are Calling

These first are from Vancouver – the beautiful Canadian Gulf Islands and View of Mt. Rainier from ferry coming from Victoria Island.

The second set is from Whistles mountain Whistler is located in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains,

Huge mountains, rugged foothills, deep canyons, vast caverns, and the world’s largest trees exemplify the diversity of landscapes, life, and beauty here. Sierra Nevada mountain range – Sequoia!

Table rock (mesa) on the Central plateau of Sri Lanka in the rain forest. 

Traveling Crete #10

Some atmosphere photos from Chania old town lanes and the harbor area from an other perspective

Traveling Crete #9

Some atmosphere photos from Chania and buildings at the Venetian harbor. The first set I took with my mobile and the other with my camera where I was able to adjust the settings and zoom better and was able to get more moody shots.

Traveling Crete #8

This post is all about the first sunset we saw in Chania at the Venetian harbour, it was so lovely that we later in the week came back for an other one. Well we came for dinner too and shopping, walking in the small alleys in old town. The first set I took with my mobile and the other with my camera where I was able to adjust the settings and zoom better and was able to get more moody shots.

Crete sunset a Venetian harbour.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Traveling Crete #7

Our first visit to Chania it is a breathtaking city on the north-west coast of the island of Crete. The city is historically significant In the town of Chania, ancient Greek, Byzantine, Venetian, and Ottoman buildings coexist in the landscape of the city. We visited the Virgin Mary Metropolitan Church, on our way to the Venetian Harbour, “It is worth walking and watching, and at sunset you can get some really nice shot. Those I will share in the next post.

Traveling Crete #6

Papadiana is a lovely small village located 60 km south of Chania and close to the village of Sougia. With few inhabitants (population 14 as I found out as I googled the area) that deal mostly with agriculture, Papadiana has traditional architecture with stone houses and narrow streets.

It is surrounded by lush greenery and wild mountainsides. Most vegetation comprises of olive groves that give pure virgin oil, for which Crete is famous.

We drove through this small village and noticed a sign on the side of the road, Old mill, we took the turn and found this idyllic place at the end of this gravel road. When we saw the mill it it had a 1860 A.C. sign on it.,

flowing stream

Tree roots

Traveling Crete #5

Although Crete isn’t the homeland of oranges and lemons, citrus fruits play a huge role in the Cretan diet. If I saw many olive trees I did see some orange and lemon trees as well. Ancient Greeks used to believe that the Earth goddess, Gaia, gave citrus fruits as a gift to Zeus and Hera on their wedding.

The special microclimate in the area of Chania, as well as the abundant water available from the Cretan White Mountains, contribute to the growth of juicy oranges. I heard said that…

an Orange

“In fact, these oranges are among the most delicious in the world.”

Orange trees
Fresh oranges

Orange and Olive tree
Trees in Crete

Traveling Crete #4

The small village of Sougia in the south-west of Crete has managed to remain unaffected by the growth of tourism in Crete. It is still a peaceful haven, with a long beach, we stopped there for a while and had lunch at a one of the beach side taverns.

Sougia beach

In front of the village lies a lovely quiet long beach with coarse sand and crystal clear deep water. The beach starts from the small harbor of Sougia (west) at exit of Lissos Gorge and stretches to the east for 1.5km. This part of the long beach is not organized. Instead, the beach in front of the village offers umbrellas, showers, sports and a lifeguard tower. Along the beach there are plenty of tamarisk trees where you can find shade.

Dock at Sougia
Greece, Crete, seaside village beach of Sougia

Moussaka was the dish I tasted here, and it was very good. I tasted it in an other place later and I have to say this was so much tastier.

Recipe for Moussaka: Components 3-4 aubergines 3 potatoes (optional) 0.7 kg of ground lamb or beef 1-2 onions around a glass of red wine 400 g tomatoes from cans or 5 larger grated fresh tomatoes olive oil Spices: ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, 2 tablespoons of oregano ½ teaspoon of ground cloves, salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar (or mix for moussaka) Bechamel sauce: 600 milk 85 g flour 85 g butter salt pepper, 25 g of grated hard cheese (eg Greek kefalotiri or Italian equivalent) 1 egg

This is going to be the one of many posts, so sorry 🙂 beforehand for the nearly same named posts.

Traveling Crete #3

Do olives grow in Crete?

Common trees in Crete are the tamarisk , oak-, chestnut-, pine-, cypress– and the evergreen plane tree (Platanus ). It is quite often found in the village squares, offering its shade to people. A huge plane tree, or platanos in Greek, can be seen at Topolia village in west Crete “Monument of Nature” after a day on the road we did not go to see it but we did stop in the village. I will post some photos of it later.

Mousoura

It is believed that 55 to 65 percent of the cultivated land on Crete is given over to olive groves, which contain approximately 30 million trees, so that the groves cover one-fifth to one-quarter of the island. And I felt it, I am surprisingly allergic to the bloom of Olive trees and at the end of May early June there was still some in bloom.

Hill or mountainsides in Crete

This is going to be the one of many posts, so sorry 🙂 beforehand for the nearly same named posts.

Traveling Crete #2

On the mountain roads we on more than one occasion ran into these goats with bells on their necks letting us know they were there. So this post is dedicated to the goats we saw 🙂

A Cretan mountain goats with a bell around its neck standing alone mountainside.

Shepherding is one of the oldest proffesion in Crete. Bells for sheep and goats were used all over Greece and Crete of course. 

The bells were the pride of the shepherd and they were used to monitor the sheeps and goats. The quality of each bell as well as their combination was very important so that the flock will sound harmonious.

Goat by the side of the road.

The Cretan bells are hammered bells with thin sheet metal and consequently have a low weight. In addition, they are plated with bronze and bronze which protects them from seawater. 

The sounds of sheep-bells allow sheperds to know whether an animal is grazing, drinking water, or trying to get away from something or even to locate animals that have been lost.

a small sample of the sound of the bells
Goat and a bell

All traditional hand-made sheep bells sound different.  These goats below we saw at Anatolikos Selinos.

This is going to be the one of many posts, so sorry 🙂 beforehand for the nearly same named posts.

Traveling Crete #1

After our trip as well as having back up issues, which are now solved, I got a summer flu. Not happy about it, it certainly has me tired.

I still am now aiming to get some pictures published. I will try to cover as much as I can, in the end I did not take all that many photos as I would usually take, but still I was able to capture some beautiful places and things. The flowers bloomed as it was early summer, the hills and trees were still green. I had not many expectations beforehand so I was nicely surprised of what this island had to offer.

Mountain views from Mousoura.

The first picture above is from Mousoura area, at least that is what came as the location in my mobile photos, I took shot with my camera and also with the mobile so I would have the locations to remember. The village in these photos, if I remember correctly, is mountain village Lakkoi surrounded by the beautiful mountains of that area

Greece, Crete, mountain village Lakkoi

This is going to be the one of many posts, so sorry 🙂 beforehand for the nearly same named posts.

Traveling Crete

I am back from my short vacation in Crete. I have some issues with ma back-up storage. So I have not been able save or even go through all my photos. I was rather good, I only pressed the shutter 701 times during the trip on my camera and some on my mobile 🙂

The week went by fast, we rented a car for three days so we got to see more than the beaches and tourist areas. I am going to post here one shot that I really like. It was on top of a hill in corner of the road leading up to the mountains.

Coffee break under the tree

This is going to be the first of many posts, so sorry 🙂 beforehand for the nearly same named posts.

Holiday

I am currently on my vacation here are few shots from my trip, but I will come back to this topic when I get back home. Oh by the way I am in Crete 😊

Peru-Cusco

This week we’ve has new snow, lot’s of it, slush, and rain. It has been cold and I am so over winter and snow. Busy week at work and I have not taken any new photos

Then my son shared these…

Travel fever, that is what I have… I have not taken these photos, only edited. My son is traveling in Peru and he shared them from Cusco, often spelled Cuzco is a city in southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It looks so beautiful…

Bridge

this month the #WordPrompt is Bridge, here is my contribution to the word.

The Bahia Honda Rail Bridge is a derelict railroad bridge in the lower Florida Keys connecting Bahia Honda Key with Spanish Harbor Key.

View of old and crumbling Bahia Honda bridge from the southern end, across the channel from Bahia Honda State Park. 

Lighthouse

Byron Bay Lighthouse

We all need a lighthouse in our lives to lead us, whatever it is, a person, place or state of mind. This came to my mind as I saw all the news about mourning people for Prince Philip. I myself am not one to mourn for people I do not know.

I sympathise, with the person who has lost a loved one, but for me to get really emotional about some celebrity or public persons passing is unlikely to happen. That is just me.

Washing lines

I was commenting to Sue about her post Monday Washing Lines and mentioned I had few photos of wash hanging on lines in odd places. So here is my finds on this topic, what I recalled having easily available. I loved the image with the washing seen between the bell tower of the church in Ravello.

Travel memories 15

No travel in sight, so I am going to post photos of lovely places I have visited. I will keep it simple, lots of posts, less words is the theme in these posts.

A View from Villa Rufolo in Ravello, Amalfi Coast, unesco world heritage site, Campania, at Annunziata.

Coastline as seen from Ravello

Hills and vineyards of Ravello

I love the sea, beaches, forests, mountains, countryside and lovely cities and the people in them. Colors; blue, green, red, white, yellows and what ever you can find around you. I love beauty and these photos remind me of beauty I have seen.

Welcome to my travels, some of them you might seen before…well, that’s life! Let’s go with the flow…

Travel memories 14

No travel in sight, so I am going to post photos of lovely places I have visited. I will keep it simple, lots of posts, less words is the theme in these posts.

Cathedral of Ravello, Amalfi Coast

Cathedral of ravello

I love the sea, beaches, forests, mountains, countryside and lovely cities and the people in them. Colors; blue, green, red, white, yellows and what ever you can find around you. I love beauty and these photos remind me of beauty I have seen.

Welcome to my travels, some of them you might seen before…well, that’s life! Let’s go with the flow…

Travel memories 13

No travel in sight, so I am going to post photos of lovely places I have visited. I will keep it simple, lots of posts, less words is the theme in these posts.

A View from Villa Rufolo in Ravello, Amalfi Coast, unesco world heritage site, Campania, at Annunziata.

Villa Cimbrone

Villa Cimbrone

Annunziata, Ravello

I love the sea, beaches, forests, mountains, countryside and lovely cities and the people in them. Colors; blue, green, red, white, yellows and what ever you can find around you. I love beauty and these photos remind me of beauty I have seen.

Welcome to my travels, some of them you might seen before…well, that’s life! Let’s go with the flow…

Travel memories 12

No travel in sight, so I am going to post photos of lovely places I have visited. I will keep it simple, lots of posts, less words is the theme in these posts.

At Villa Cimbrone in Ravello, Italy.

Villa Cimbrone

Villa Cimbrone

Mountain in the clouds

I love the sea, beaches, forests, mountains, countryside and lovely cities and the people in them. Colors; blue, green, red, white, yellows and what ever you can find around you. I love beauty and these photos remind me of beauty I have seen.

Welcome to my travels, some of them you might seen before…well, that’s life! Let’s go with the flow…

Travel memories 11

No travel in sight, so I am going to post photos of lovely places I have visited. I will keep it simple, lots of posts, less words is the theme in these posts.

Shopping, stores, boutiques isn’t that one of the joys of travel ? At least window shopping

Linen
Butterflies
Wine time

Wine break

I love the sea, beaches, forests, mountains, countryside and lovely cities and the people in them. Colors; blue, green, red, white, yellows and what ever you can find around you. I love beauty and these photos remind me of beauty I have seen.

Welcome to my travels, some of them you might seen before…well, that’s life! Let’s go with the flow…

Travel memories 10

No travel in sight, so I am going to post photos of lovely places I have visited. I will keep it simple, lots of posts, less words is the theme in these posts.

I was going to leave Capri, but I have to share more of the beauty I saw. I am in no hurry, the travel ban is not going to lift anytime soon. These small roads, ways, are shouting out – shoot me, that sounds bad, – take a photo, is more appropriate 🙂

Mountain in the clouds
upwards

Clouds over the mountain tops!

I love the sea, beaches, forests, mountains, countryside and lovely cities and the people in them. Colors; blue, green, red, white, yellows and what ever you can find around you. I love beauty and these photos remind me of beauty I have seen.

Welcome to my travels, some of them you might seen before…well, that’s life! Let’s go with the flow…

Travel memories 9

No travel in sight, so I am going to post photos of lovely places I have visited. I will keep it simple, lots of posts, less words is the theme in these posts.

I was going to leave Capri, but I have to share more of the beauty I saw. I am in no hurry, the travel ban is not going to lift anytime soon. The coastline of Amalfi coast as we approached the island was beautiful.

view of the coast line

Clouds over the mountain tops!

Mountain in the clouds

I love the sea, beaches, forests, mountains, countryside and lovely cities and the people in them. Colors; blue, green, red, white, yellows and what ever you can find around you. I love beauty and these photos remind me of beauty I have seen.

Welcome to my travels, some of them you might seen before…well, that’s life! Let’s go with the flow…

Travel memories 8

No travel in sight, so I am going to post photos of lovely places I have visited. I will keep it simple, lots of posts, less words is the theme in these posts.

I was going to leave Capri, but I have to share more of the beauty I saw. I am in no hurry, the travel ban is not going to lift anytime soon.

View to the coast at Capri, Italy

Boating on a warm sunny day at the coast of Capri, wouldn’t that be something…

View from Capri

I love the sea, beaches, forests, mountains, countryside and lovely cities and the people in them. Colors; blue, green, red, white, yellows and what ever you can find around you. I love beauty and these photos remind me of beauty I have seen.

Welcome to my travels, some of them you might seen before…well, that’s life! Let’s go with the flow…