Wow, Jake is back just in time for Christmas! We just got our tree and decorated it last night and I took some photos so how fortuitous that Jake’s Sunday Post is about the Christmas tree. Do check out other entries, there are a lot of fun ones!
And then a little gallery of a few of my favorite ornaments:
It’s nice to see Jake back!
Filed under Challenges, Holidays
Jakesprinter’s challenge this week is architecture. I was inspired by adinparadise’s similar post for this week’s challenge and I decided to try and squeeze it into my busy holiday week. My menu is done, shopping list is made, now I can play a little. Do check out her post as it’s full of great photos of my favorite country. To see other entries click here. I have posted some of these before, but it’s fun to rearrange them for another theme. I do hope you’ll enjoy them.
La mezquita, Córdoba, Spain
Real alcázar entrance, Sevilla, Spain
Patio de las Doncellas, Real Alcázar, Sevilla
Beautiful ceiling in La Alhambra, Granada
One more from Granada:
From Barcelona:
Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
A piece of the old Roman wall that surrounded the city – Barcelona
Inside the Barcelona cathedral
Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona
Another detail from the Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona
Mudejar architecture from Toledo, Spain
Mudejar architecture inside Malaga’s alcazaba
Plaza Mayor – Madrid
Madrid is full of these beautiful old doors:
I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief snapshot of Spanish architecture!!
Filed under Challenges, Spain
Nothing makes me feel more wonderful than my “little girl” who just turned 13 the other day. And so this post focuses on her. I’ve chosen just a few photos that I hope you’ll all enjoy.
First up, a photo I’ve posted before that I just love. One because it’s of my favorite girl and two because it’s of my favorite place on earth: southern Spain. This was taken in Nerja in 2010:
Next, a photo of my wonderful, favorite girl doing what she loves:
Finally, me with my favorite girl and my favorite photo of the two of us. It makes me feel wonderful to see how happy we both are in this photo:
This is an entry for Jakesprinter’s weekly challenge. Please do check out other entries on his blog as there are always great entries there!
Filed under Challenges
I don’t know about anyone else but I don’t have just one favorite spot. Kind of defeats the purpose of the word favorite a bit, don’t you think? I think it’s fun to have lots of favorite spots. And while looking through pics with this theme in mind, I not only found some of my favorite spots but also some others. You’ll see what I mean, just take a look.
First off, some of my feline family members’ favorite spots. Fritz loves to lay on my desk, doesn’t matter if there’s something there. He will just lay on top of it:
One of Fritz and Eddie’s favorite spots. They’re always snuggling together:
One of hubby’s favorite spots: Stella’s Fish Cafe. This is from their rooftop and we’re viewing downtown Minneapolis:
A favorite spot of mine: a park bench with my favorite girl on a walk around the lake:
Another of my favorites is the agriculture building at the Minnesota State Fair. They have flower contests and the displays change every two days. I always enjoy the gladiola displays.
A favorite spot for all of us: 11th Crow Wing Lake, Akeley, MN:
And of course, some favorite spots in Spain. The Real Alcázar in Sevilla was my favorite spot on that particular trip. And this is one of my favorite shots from the alcázar. Patio de las Doncellas, Real Alcázar, Sevilla, Spain:
A favorite spot for tortilla española in Madrid: El Brillante:
Our favorite hotel in Madrid: Preciados
Another favorite spot in Spain: Toledo. This is the Alcántara bridge:
A favorite in Málaga: Casa de la Antigua Guardia. I highly recommend this place as not only a great spot for Malagueñan sweet wines but for its unique character. In the photo below, our tab is being tracked on the counter in front of us. The chalk is erased so that a new tab can be tallied for the next customer.
And last but not least, what I hope to view every day once I move to southern Spain. This is the Mediterranean Sea as seen from Nerja.
Check out other entries for this week’s theme, or to enter yourself, at Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post.
Filed under Challenges
I usually don’t take that many photos with people in them, except of course the ones I take of my family. I have lots of those but not so many of other people. While looking through my photos for this challenge I came upon a few that have stories attached to them that I think are fun.
The first one that came to mind is one I took of some of the students on field trips the day we were in Toledo two years ago. So here’s a scene with that great mudejar architecture and student type people on the street with us:
More mudejar architecture but this time it’s in Sevilla. Here are some people outside of the cathedral:
Here’s a group of people, lots of tourists in the cathedral section of the mezquita and their tour guide. Choir loft, Córdoba, Spain:
Everywhere we went in Spain there were lots of people. Not the least of which was the Alhambra in Granada. We are entering the Nasrid Palace with all these people:
People strolling and shopping in Córdoba Spain:
People purchasing olives at the Atarazanas market, Málaga, Spain:
We loved this place in Málaga, Spain. People taking coffee and churros y chocolate at Casa Aranda:
People on Calle Larios including street musicians in Málaga, Spain:
And here’s a favorite moment of that trip two years ago that started in Sevilla and ended in Málaga. After eating alfresco amongst orange trees my daughter and I went off to check out a few of the shops in the square and left my husband with his cognac and cigar. When we returned there were four more people at the table. What happened was that they wanted to eat outside but there were no more tables so they asked nicely if we were done and my husband invited them to sit while he waited for us to return. They were on holiday from Amsterdam for two weeks in southern Spain. So we wished them happy travels and an enjoyable meal and we were on our way.
A couple of days later we were again eating outside in Málaga and a gentleman was tapping my husband’s arm and then we realized it was one of the gentlemen that we gave our table to in Sevilla. So I asked if I could take their picture. Here are our friends from Amsterdam who also make good dining choices:
And now for a few photos closer to home. The first one is an orchestra concert, festival style I think. It’s several schools’ orchestras combined together in a gym in a middle school. Just look at all the people in this one:
And then some from our state fair where there’s always lots of people. I did purposely take this shot just to show the street full of people:
There’s always lots of people in the art building at the fair. Here are some viewing the piece of art that I voted for:
This was a fun challenge!! For more great entries check Jakesprinter’s post here or click on the dragon icon below.
Filed under Challenges
This week’s theme from Jakesprinter is my favorite season. Click the link to see more great entries this week.
Here’s a collection of autumn scenes in Minnesota.
Filed under Challenges, Minnesota
Check out Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post for more entries on the theme morning. I had to go searching for this one, but this is the photo that came to mind for this week’s theme.
Sunrise, winter in Minnesota
Filed under Challenges
travels with toby 