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Category Archives: travel

Florence in the Rain

The heavens opened as we left our hotel, boarded the train and visited Florence, along with thousands of others as we visited on a bank holiday, it being May Day! We were taken around by a guide who filled us with information, most of which I promptly forgot. Dodging the puddles meant looking up to see the beauty in Florence was quite hard but we had fun anyway.
I had a mission for the day – to buy myself a red purse with Firenze on it. Many years ago when I was about 17, my Daddy had been on a school trip with his pupils and he brought me home a lovely red purse from Florence. Sadly, I left it in a phone box and though I returned within minutes, it had gone. Now, 70 years later, I have another.

Umbrellas in the crowds

Santa Maria Novella

Baptistry

Gates of Paradise, Baptistry

Dragon in Florence

Statue in the rain

The San Lorenzo market stall where I bought my purse

Beautiful coffee and ice cream shop we sheltered in

Wedding couple – in the rain

In a brief respite from the rain, with calm waters, the Ponte Vecchio

2 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on May 14, 2024 in architecture, blacksmith metalwork, environment, Italy, Postaday 2024, sculpture, travel, Wedding

Tags: Baptistry, Gates of Paradise, Ponte Vecchio, Santa Maria Novella

A First Taste of Tuscany

13 May

We took the train to Tuscany – well, several trains! After three days by train and two overnight stays – Redruth to St Pancras, St Pancras to Chambéry and finally Chambéry to Montecatini Terme where we stayed for the next eight nights and a first day of exploration and adventures.
Montecatini Terme is a spa town with a beautiful park and a wonderful old spa building, Terme Tettucio where we spent the morning with new friends.
We then went up the delightful funicular to the old hilltop village of Montecatini Alto, found a lovely place to have lunch and enjoyed the architecture and the very extensive views. Enjoy the gallery and click on any photo for a bigger picture.

Gateway

Entrance

Fountain

Waters for the drinking

The funicular

Square

Colours

The café where we had lunch (more of that in another post)

Café Giusti

The view

2 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on May 13, 2024 in architecture, environment, friendship, Italy, Postaday 2024, travel

Tags: Great Rail Journeys, Montecatini Terme

Christmas – A Concert, A Poem and Our Tree

18 Dec

Tomorrow evening, both my choirs are singing in the ShelterBox Christmas concert and although, Dear Readers, you are all over the world, you can still join the festivities from the comfort of your own home by watching live at shelterbox.org/ChristmasConcert. I hope you’ll be able to join us. If you do, please add a like or a comment tomorrow evening. We’d love to know where in the world the concert was watched.

The lovely poet, Brian Bilston, has very kindly said I can share another of his poems with you all. For me, it sums things up very well indeed – if only we still had a cat. We have tickets for his gig in Falmouth next May!Our tree is covered in angels. They have been bought over many years and all around the world where we have visited. (Still need to go to Vietnam, Cambodia and Australia!) There are angels from Warsaw, Volcano in Hawaii, Phoenix, Santa Fe, Denver and Seattle, from Munich, Salzburg, Sheffield and Truro, from Mapoch in South Africa, Nepal and more! The fluffy ones were my Mum’s.

4 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on December 18, 2023 in America, Celebration, Cornwall, music, poetry, Postaday 2023, ShelterBox, travel, Truro

Walking Around the Neighbourhood 2

04 Oct

Our room in the Sugar Magnolia B&B was called the Aviary. The ceiling had very lovely birds painted on it.

Our room wasn’t square – here’s the ceiling

On the door frame

And, around this delightful neighbourhood………

Leaving Albuquerque for Atlanta

30 Sep

Seeing the clouds from the plane reminded me of one of Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings called Sky Above Clouds

This beautiful house, Sugar Magnolia B&B, is to be our base for the next week.

Sugar Magnolia B&B

I love this weather vane.

4 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on September 30, 2023 in America, Georgia, nature, New Mexico, photography, Postaday 2023, travel, Uncategorized

Tags: Georgia O'Keeffe, Sugar Magnolia B&B

Santa Fe – Breakfast and Loretto Chapel

27 Sep

We loved the soft architecture of Santa Fe (of which more later) and the place we stayed had features of the same.

We had the most delicious breakfast in a lovely hotel in Santa Fe where glass panels were all painted and very lovely. As far as I could tell, each of the 100+ panels had a different painting..

I wanted to see the ‘miraculous staircase’ in the Loretto Chapel

The Chapel

The staircase

One of the beautiful windows

I just loved this t-shirt on sale in the shop – excellent sense of humour.

3 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on September 27, 2023 in America, art, environment, Food, glass, Humour, New Mexico, Postaday 2023, travel

Tags: Loretto Chapel, miraculous staircase

Zuni Pueblo

25 Sep

We made a stopover at the Zuni Pueblo on our way to Santa Fe. Here’s a flavour of the brief stay.

Inn sign

Parking sign

Loved this tree in the garden

Beautiful painted washbasin in our room

In our room

Before we left we walked about to see the Old Zuni Mission and the Visitor Centre.

Visitor Centre

Old Zuni Mission

A musician’s cross

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Posted by mybeautfulthings on September 25, 2023 in America, architecture, art, ceramics, environment, New Mexico, photography, Postaday 2023, travel

Lunch, Murals and Bins in Gallup

24 Sep

I’d read about the numerous beautiful murals in Gallup, commissioned in the early 2000s, and after a Mexican lunch in Jerry’s, we walked about in the crazy heat to find some of them. Here they are:

The Long Walk Home by Richard K Yazzie

Left detail

Right detail

Info

Ceremonial Mural by Irving Bahe depicting the unity and life that inter-tribal ceremonial brings

Native American Trading by Chester Khan showing the nature of commerce in Gallup throughout history

Multi-Cultural Women by Erica Rae Sykes, a tribute to the women who have continued the cultural traditions of every day life.

And the bins!

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4 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on September 24, 2023 in America, art, community, environment, Food, painting, Photography, Postaday 2023, travel, Uncategorized

Tags: Chester Khan, Erica Rae Sykes, Irving Bahe, Jerry's Cafe Gallup, Richard K Yazzie

Sea Air and Winslow, Arizona

23 Sep

We needed sea air today and went to Godrevy for ice creams and a stroll breathing in the wonderful fresh air.

On our trip, we stopped off in Winslow, Arizona for a break. I love spotting murals in the small towns and also found a butterfly. The hotel, La Posada, is such a lovely spot, full of beautiful things. Enjoy the gallery.

Family of hogs in the garden

The hallway

Beautiful wash basin in the Ladies

4 Comments

Posted by mybeautfulthings on September 23, 2023 in America, antiques, Arizona, art, Cornwall, Godrevy, mural, photography, Postaday 2023, stencilling, travel

Tags: La Posada

Oak Street Canyon, Jerome and Earrings

22 Sep

On September 6th, we went to the lovely old mining town of Jerome to visit our nephew, an artist in glass whose work I have shown you here before. It’s an interesting drive through the Oak Street Canyon, a switch back ride through forests. The switchback can be seen in four places in the photo.

We had a delightful visit with Mark and his artist girlfriend who are, together, the featured artists in a local gallery

The poster

Mark’s smaller pots

Lana’s batik

Lovely quirky design on one of Lana’s pieces

lana’s pots

Mark’s glass human

As we went back up the Oak Street Canyon we stopped at the overlook where there was a craft market and I bought some beautiful locally made beaded earrings.