I’m finally participating in Marianne’s (of East of Málaga) photo challenge. I love photo challenges but haven’t been able to get this one done for one reason or another. But I knew I had a bunch of blue photos for this month’s challenge that I hope you’ll all enjoy.
This is a photo of the Mississippi River taken from the Ford Parkway bridge in St. Paul. We parked the truck on the St. Paul side of the river and rode across this bridge on our bikes to Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis. It was a fun day! On the way we stopped to rest on the bridge and I snapped this photo:
The St. Louis River in Jay Cooke State Park which isn’t really blue but it sure appears that way in this photo:
A balloon flower from my garden:
A window in the Església de Santa Maria del Mar church in Barcelona:
Cool blue flower sculpture in the Jardín Botánico in Madrid:
Blue coat of arms tiles in the pathway of the gardens of Sevilla’s real alcázar:
The memorial to the victims of the attack at the Atocha train station was very moving. It’s a large room with blue walls. The memorial is above you, messages from around the world and in many different languages to the people of Madrid following their horrendous tragedy on March 11, 2004. These messages are inscribed on glass and circle above you:
This blue sign in Málaga really made us feel welcome:
Approaching Toledo on foot from the train station. The sky was a brilliant blue that day:
All kinds of blue from our window at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, CA:
This last photo is another from our recent trip to California. The sky at Venice Beach was also a brilliant blue:
The last part of the challenge is to pick two blogs for people to peruse. I’d like to highlight one of my favorite blogs that’s in Spanish for those of you that know the language. This blogger writes about all sorts of things in Madrid: restaurants, fashion, things to do. I love her perspective and she’s given me all kinds of ideas of new places to go the next time I’m in Madrid:
Another one from Spain is Making Time to Live! One of the bloggers is none other than Ben from Notes in Spanish. He and his wife are online Spanish language teachers and I’ve learned so much from their blog and videos. Ben and his friend created this blog to help rekindle creativity in their lives. I’ve really enjoyed their new blog!
travels with toby 
Wow! I love the colors in this photo!
thank you for your nice comment and for stopping by.
What a visual feast of blue you have offered to us this month, Toby! Just when I think I´ve discovered my favourite of your photos – wham – you hit me with another!
You did very well to capture the stained glass window in the Església de Santa Maria del Mar church in Barcelona. I think they are notoriously difficult to capture because of the intense light from outside – but you have managed it effortlessly. Well done!
I´m travelling to Madrid the week after next on the AVE train, so I´ll be sure to look at the memorial at Atocha train station whilst I´m there.
Thanks for the links to two (new to me) blogs – I´ll HOP over there, right away :)
oh gosh, you are so kind to say that!! I think that everyone should visit the memorial at Atocha, it is very moving. and it’s interesting that it’s blue. I recall when I asked where it was that I didn’t really understand what the gentleman was saying but I heard “arriba” and “azul”. And once we got upstairs it was obvious.
thanks for providing these fun challenges! and for your very nice comments.
Superb blues, Tobyo. I love them all. My Spanish is rubbish but I can look at the photos!
he he. yes, well I know not everyone that follows my blog knows Spanish but only one of my links is in Spanish, the other’s in English. Thanks for stopping by and for your nice comments, as always :)
A fab collection of blues!
thank you so much :)
What a great collection of blues. Tobyo. I especially love the flower sculpture and the beautiful stained glass window. Thanks so much for your visit to my blog. :)
and thank you for your visit to mine ;) and your very nice comments!
how different the view of the mississippi river is from your vantage point and from the one i had when growing up along the river in mississippi!
all of your images are great for this challenge!
good work/buen trabajo, amiga!
z
I bet! thanks for your kind comments. muy agradecida ;)
I’m struggling to decide which is my favourite here – I love the stained glass and that beach looks so inviting – beautiful!
The beach was inviting indeed!! We had amazingly perfect weather while in southern California. Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting.