A Walk Along Macquarie Street In Sydney
It’s an interesting walk from The Opera House to Hyde Park, with leafy trees and wonderful old historical buildings. Recently I was attracted to the round plaques set in the footpath, so here are some for you to enjoy.
Here are two grates that I liked the look of!
The Kimberley In Australia
When asked what my favourite part of Australia is that I’ve seen so far, I don’t hesitate in saying The Kimberley in the far North West of Australia. The first settlers in this region arrived around 41,000 years ago, which is hard to comprehend. Seeing this vast country, its beauty and isolation, and the sense of being with the past, especially when we saw many caves with indigenous rock art that is thousands of years old, on remote islands, was almost overwhelming. Serene, calm, spiritual, mystical,and historical are some words that come to mind. I always had a feeling that someone was watching me. One of the crew would always pay respect to the land as we left a spot. I came away with an ever greater love of my country.
We called this puppy rock.
Here’s crocodile rock!
A real crocodile that was too close for comfort.
An old piece of driftwood in the shape of a crocodile.
Boab trees are only found in the Kimberley.
Seriously beautiful Wandjina rock art in very good condition.
A lone bird on Montgomery Reef.
There were hundreds of turtles.
The biggest fish I’ve ever caught!
Unfortunately we couldn’t swim in the water, but managed to dip on the very edge, with someone always on the watch out for crocodiles.
Bigge Island was beautiful.
Waterholes were everywhere.
We went to Paspaley and played with pearls.
At a Paspaley pearl farm where we ate delicious pearl meat straight from an oyster.
Every day ended with a beautiful sunset in the west.
City Palace, Udaipur
The City Palace on the edge of Lake Picholo in Udaipur looks across at the Lake Palace Hotel where we stayed. There are several palaces in this complex, with some of the most beautiful architecture, murals and art I’ve ever seen. A guide is necessary to understand the history. It was built in 1559, a flamboyant mix of Mughal and Rajasthani architectural styles. It and the Lake Palace Hotel are still owned by the family, and I was privileged to be invited to a small cocktail party with the current Maharana of Mewar and his son and daughter in their private palace .
The current Maharana of Mewar.
Lake Palace In Udaipur
If you ever get the chance to stay at the Taj Lake Palace hotel in Udaipur do so, as it is incredibly exotic, and only approachable by water unless it has dried up, which was the case as recently as 2010, and then guests are driven across the lake! It was built in 1743 as a royal summer palace, facing east so that the inhabitants could pray to the Hindu Sun God at dawn. There’s an air of serenity here, perhaps because there is hardly any noise out on the water.
A flautist on high sends his haunting music over the gardens below.
Marigold petals – “herbs of the sun”.
Faces Of India Part 2
Here are some more faces in Rajasthan.
Ululating musicians.
This is a school in the middle of nowhere.
Metres of moustache.
School girls.
My handsome camel boy.
Desert dancing.
Priests in a Jain temple.
Faces Of India Part 1
Oh India – you have me under your spell. These photos are all in Rajasthan in the north west where it is mostly desert. I hope you enjoy them.
An Indian bride.
Top Of The Rock In New York
When in NY it’s almost mandatory to go up to the top of the Rockefeller Centre to get the best views of Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs. We did it as early as possible on a clear day so as to avoid the crowds. It’s well done with only a few people being let through at a time. I guess they’ve had a lot of experience! It was freezing cold but we were prepared. I love looking down on to rooftops and trying to pick out land marks. This is certainly a great way to get the scale of Manhattan.
Looking south.
The Statue of Liberty.
The George Washington Bridge in the distance – Upper West Side.
Central Park.
Looking east.
Well rugged up!
Coney Island
The day we went to Coney Island was quite a big one – we had already been to the top of the Rockefeller Centre and to Brighton Beach which was the subway stop before Coney Island. it was a bitterly cold crisp day in May, and everything was closed or in repair following the devastation of Hurricane Sandy last year. Hopefully it would be reopened in time for summer. What was impressive was the expanse of the boardwalk – literally miles of timber that went along the seaboard from suburb to suburb, and the wide stretches of sand. We opted for the local bus to get there then walked around. I would recommend a visit if you are in New York for some time.
The boardwalk.
My favourite photo of this area.
Looking out to sea.
Nathan’s is an institution!
I’ve since seen this hot dog eating contest on television….
The entrance to the subway station.
Brighton Beach in New York City
One of the highlights of our recent trip to New York was taking the subway all the way to the end of the line, to Brighton Beach in the southern borough of Brooklyn. It’s right next to Coney Island on the ocean shore. This is an enclave of Russian immigrants who have settled here, the language is predominantly Russian, and it was fascinating to wander around.
You can catch the B or Q subway to Brighton Beach. It takes about an hour.
This elevated train line runs above the main street which makes it even more interesting. It’s probably cool in summer.
This sign made us laugh.
Fabulous Art Deco style architecture on this apartment block.
It was a cold day so we stopped for lunch. Everything was made as we ordered it!
It took a while to get our food but it was worth the wait – delicious!
There was a market in the street, and the shops were busy.
Babushka chocolate!
A wooden sculpture outside a shop.
Every nationality has meringues.
This looked good – not sure what it is.
Russian beer.
We bought a selection of Russian pastries to try.
Casa Batlló In Barcelona
One of the most beautiful imposing buildings in Barcelona is Casa Batlló which we first saw at night as we drove up Passeig de Gracia. Lit up it is at its most beautiful in my opinion. It was built in the late 19th century by Emilio Salas Cortes who incidentally was one of Gaudi’s teachers. Gaudi put his mark all over the building with bone shaped columns, mask shaped balconies, tiles and glass ceramics. To visit this museum, as it is now, is like stepping into a fantasy world of dragons and pure wonder.
Mary Dickinson 