Tagged T: Tango

Allow me to repost it… It’s really funny if you haven’t seen it.

Visit Frizz and see his awesome post and many other entries. Hope you will join us.

I’m going to take a short break, see you later

Signs and Beaches

Here is my combo post for Cee’s Fun Foto Signs and Ailsa’ Travel Theme: Beaches  

–A sign is placed by a beautiful hanging flower basket and above the sculpture.

– A store sign is accompanied by a gorgeous hanging flower basket.

– A wine barrel is used for a vineyard sign

– These photos were taken in Italy

See more signs and beaches. Thanks to Cee and Ailsa for the fun challenge ideas.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Pattern

This post is dedicated to the Hopi Indians who still make beautiful traditional quilts and the Papago Indians (the people of the desert) who make authentic baskets. 

The Hopi are one of many Native American cultures in the Southwestern United States. Hopi means good, peaceful, or wise.

For hundreds of years American women have produced warm bedding for their families by reuse and recycle fabric scraps.

Embroidery and patterns add beauty to the quilt.

Quilt has been recognized as “A Universal American Textile”.

The Papago Indians in the southern Arizona. Here they still gather the materials for their baskets as their ancestors did.

For more, click here. Thank you so much for visiting! Happy weekend  

Tagged S: Siena

Siena was a major banking and trade center during 1260 and 1348. It began to decline after the Black Death in 1348.

Il Campo is the heart of Siena. It has been the center where neighborhoods come to celebrate and compete, including the famous twice a year horse races.

Duomo was built between 1250 and 1350:

The annual parade began in the morning and finished at the Campo at night. And, the night parade was eventful! Its drum playing, costumes, and flag throwing took us back to the Medieval time.

Thank you for visiting! Frizz has a great photo and story, don’t forget to take a look of other entries. Join us  :)

Attraction and From Above

For both challenges for this week – Sunday Post’s Attraction and WPC’s From Above (part 2)

Jake defines the attraction for the challenge: thing or place that draws tourists: something such as a historic site or building that people, especially tourists, like to see or visit.

Mont St. Michel is connected by a two-mile causeway to the mainland and surrounded by a vast mudflat. It’s a  one-street village that winds up to the fortified abbey. 3.5 million visitors flood the tiny island each year.

I took this photo from the window of the hotel that we stayed in Mont St. Michel, approx. 240 ft above sea level.

Click the icon to see Jake’s stunning images and other entries. Join us and share your photos. See more WPC: From Above.

WPC: From Above

Dordogne River

Dordogne Cliff

Capilano River, Vancouver

Ligurian Sea

Nafplio, Greece

Dolomite, Italy

5 million years old earth pyramids, Italy

For more entries click here.  Thank you for visiting! Happy weekend!

Cee’s Fun Foto: Bridges

These bridges connect the lush landscapes, pathways, waterfalls, ponds, and outdoor patios of the 5-mile long Riverwalk in San Antonio:

The uniqueness of the Riverwalk is that it is one level below streets. A dozen of bridges were built over the river; visitors can walk up to the street level or down to the Riverwalk from the street.

The river winds and loops under bridges as two parallel sidewalks, lined with restaurants, bars, shops, and hotels.

A few months ago, I did a bridge post for Ailsa’ weekly travel.

Thank you for visiting! See more Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Bridges

Tagged R: Renoir

I’m like a piece of cork thrown in the water and carried by the current.

I let my painting take me where it will.      – Renoir

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) was one of the leading artists in the development of the Impressionist style. He loved to paint pretty children, beautiful flowers and scenery, and mostly lovely women. “Why shouldn’t art be pretty?”, he said, “There are enough unpleasant things in the world.”

One of Renoir’s earliest known paintings is this still life of flowers, dated 1858; in 1919 are flowers yet again. In between he was never tired of this traditional subject.

Renoir died on December 3, 1919.  According to his son Jean, a few hours earlier, Renoir asked for his palette and paintbrush to paint some flowers.  As he handed them back to his nurse, he murmured,

“I think I’m beginning to understand something about this.” 

Monet and Renoir had been lifelong friends. Together, they struggled, traveled, developed Impressionism, and grew old… Renoir had a great Salon success in 1879, and Monet became secure financially during the early 1880s.  After Renoir died, Monet said, “Renoir took part of my life with him.”

(–Renoir self-portrait)

Thanks to Frizz’ Tagged R. Frizz has a great photo and story to share. Visit more wonderful entries.

Note: pictures are from wiki commons

WPC: Culture

Fiesta San Antonio started in 1891 as a one-parade event. Now, it’s an 11 day celebration – parade, music, river parade, dancing, food… This big festival reflects San Antonio’s colorful history and cultural diversity

The Flambeau parade is held at night and illuminated by torch-bearing brigades marching between the floats and bands. Spectacular!

More…

More culture entries here

Still Go Home Again

At the age of ninety, I M Pei has demonstrated that perhaps one can fulfill the promise of youth, and still go home again.       – Carter Wiseman

(photo from PBS .org)

In 1935, I. M. Pei came to the United State in pursuing graduate studies. His goal was going back to help build future China after finishing his study. When the Chinese Communist took over, Pei had to choose to stay in the U.S. and became a U.S. citizen. He said, “It was very difficult for me to give up my Chinese citizenship.”

In 2000, Pei accepted the Suzhou Museum commission, he was 83 years old. He said that it was emotionally special to him since his family had the connection to Suzhou for over six hundred years. When he was a young boy, Pei used to go Suzhou from Shanghai (75 miles west) to visit his grandfather. For Pei, this commission was very much a way of going home. When the building was completed, Pei was almost 89 years old.

(photo wiki commons)

The museum has a gross floor area of 183,000 sq feet (17,000 sq m). Pei wanted  the traditional Chinese garden to be part of the museum, thus he made an effort to locate 50 rocks in Shandong province (475.8 miles north of China) and had them shipped to Suzhou.

(Photos from Flicker)

In the words of his biographer, Pei has won “every award of any consequence in his art.”  That includes the Pritzker Prize, sometimes called the Nobel Prize of architecture. The jury said: “Ieoh Ming Pei has given this century some of its most beautiful interior spaces and exterior forms … His versatility and skill in the use of materials approach the level of poetry.“

(photo from PBS.org)

He is 96 years old today. Happy Birthday, Mr. Pei!

Notes:

In 2008, Mr. Pei completed the Museum of Islamic Art, and he was 91 years old. He described it as his last major cultural building.

Pei wanted a stand-alone island for the structure to avoid the encroachment on other buildings. Thus, this museum was built on a man-made island (64 acres) above the water, approximately 195 feet (59 m) off the Doha Corniche.

Thank you for visiting! 

Part I: An Architect of His Time

Part II: It Is A Work Of Our Time