From advertising to ....

Yes found this amazing photograph and wondered if ISIS is operating in the same century. Or was it here where they discovered the idea. I saw it in Italy amongst historical sculptures. I believe it was Florence or Milan and a part of the Middle Ages I suspect.

But I'm onto more pleasant topics. Well almost...! If you ever go to Buenos Airyes the cemetery is not to be missed. Besides famous people having been buried there (don't cry for me Argentina) they also do their own advertising....

 and even make room for you should you want to join another burial plot.
And now to a more pleasant subject LIFE is for the Birds!!
Or in this case...waiting for GOD..Do is not such a bad idea either. This image i captured in Martigny, Switzerland but whether the gentleman was waiting for a bus to test the actions of his God I don't exactly know.

 Or until the humans come along! The fountain where the poor dog is kept in the dark is at Siena Italy and is known as the GAY fountain...no not as in Gay of modern day meaning but Gaye as in Let's celebrate!! The first flow of fresh water to the city of Siena flowed through these orifices (more suitable word of description escapes me).

What about these colourful advertisements in Milano?

 It was a fund -raising idea for the elephants and a way of disclosing the creativity of some in the process.

 The sore spot on the other hand of the bull's torso encouraged people to place their foot in just that area to claim luck in their lives!

The colourful Italians in Venice displayed their sense of lyalty ot various aspects in their lives...country...the washing...and of course the joy of living amongst colours. Click on to enlarge!

I want to be heard! Or seen at least!

This travelling picture idea has got me. I've covered our most recent trip but on scanning some photographs which hadn't been taken much notice of, I decided to show those... beginning in Venice. We've been there 3 times now and almost feel we need to go there again.
And as this photo shows even a statue of beautiful youth, unclothed and showing all, and above all a frog hanging from his hand and on display for all to see, is not enough to attract anyone's eye. What does a boy of culture have to do to see tourists appreciating his efforts? 'You may well ask', as Gough Whitlam would have been heard to say. You don't know who Gough Whitlam was in Australian Politics? Ask Google!

As we are on to politicians of the past, or I am anyway, Jo Bjelkie Petersen would have been heard to say 'Don't worry about that little girl.' He must have been one of the few who never experienced the 5'10.5'' of my body, so little, is not an apt description.
Being a business man farmer he would have approved of the car advertisement encroaching on the wonderful ancient architecture of Venice...particularly when cars are not permitted on the islands. Ho Hum!!

Then again advertising or should I say protesting for one reason or another is also not appreciated by some and in fact it may attract the attention of the riot policia. All an impossible situation for the once in a lifetime visit by the average tourist.

What about the night scribbler on these precious walls? Are they doing anything to make this art form more acceptable?
Click on the photos to enlarge.

Malta and Gozo...so much history splat in the middle of the Mediterranean.

Fond memories indeed for us the paying tourists of antiquities with our favourite Archaeological Tour, Andante from England.
Another antiquities tour in a country much ignored and almost forgotten on the tourist agenda. But we were much better off than the drowning migrants from Africa...yes close to 900 people drowned...a tragedy which forced the committee of the European people involved...to hold an overnight meeting at our Hotel. I was shocked to find the hotel surrounded by police on motor bikes and at least half a dozen black Mercedes cars waiting at our door. Surely this was not a bomb scare!!

When we were due to start our harbor cruise and our guide confidently pointed to our little cruise boat...I noticed the front of the wooden boat missing...how would the waves be stopped when we leave the calm waters of the huge harbor? And I was right! They weren't going to be stopped except by my body and camera. 'Oh no' I proclaimed 'and we thought we'd die in Jordan and now we're going to die in Malta harbor!' Luckily we Australians know how to swim!! But we didn't have to die even with a crew of only one man, the captain, and a number of unknown life jackets tucked safely in a cupboard somewhere.
  Instead we were able to visit most of the heritage sites offered. And on top of that we enjoyed a very comfortable ferry ride to GOZO a much smaller island. And on our return that same day we were shown some incredible restaurants and allowed to enjoy their food. Agnes will never be forgotten. She did all she could to find these outstanding sources of food. Thanks Agnes!!




The map shown below is an example of the Temple Culture...evidenced all over Gozo and Malta.
The prehistoric underground burial Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, Paola, Malta, dating ca.3600-2500B.C. is not to be missed. Here 3D glasses help the visitor to understand the construction of the underground burial
sites. Not to mention the minute examples of
sculpture found.

Our intrepid Geologist in his usual style actually found something our Archaeologist hadn't expected an example of converging Kart Tracks still existing .... small round impressions marking perhaps round stones used to transport massive stone slabs down the hill or... anything is possible. All is open to conjecture.

Saturnia...Italy

Yes sounds like an unusual name for an Italian city and surrounds. In fact it is one of the few cities in Italy which remains with a purely Roman name. Saturnia, makes one think of Saturn, the star, yet it is the site of the most famous thermal springs in the world.
The warm thermal sulphureous outflow along the Roman road Clodia and existing from the 2nd century BC is regarded as beneficial to one's health. Entry is free to these hot springs in the district of Maremma, Tuscany and the site is popular at any hour to be visited by locals and tourists alike.
Hotels offer dressing-gown-like covers for potential bathers and to see these odd religious types in their sect outfits (most are white towelling) makes for quite some entertaining viewing.

 For some attracted by the waterfalls available or for others just to sit in the tranquility of fairly calm soothing waters knowing that a few minutes of this pleasure is sure to make one's body feel like new, the experience is more than worthwhile...worries and concerns being washed downstream without much effort required.

 We had to try it. And after sitting there for a few minutes and staring at the beautiful surrounding countryside my attention was broken into when I spied a tiny multi-limbed insect climbing down my leg. One flick and the poor insect became air-borne. I relaxed and restored my gaze out and beyond.



However this tranquility was not to last. This time small red worms came to the water surface...so they weren't big...good swimmers...I encouraged them to keep going...past my body...when they insisted on staying I only had one option...to leave and to never return!


But don't let my little experience put you off trying these warm waters...in my experience the waters were one of the cleanest and most natural I have ever encountered.....You can enlarge the photos with one click (I didn't include a shot of a worm) Ha!

 

On a whim!

Yes giving Siena a break we drove north to an archaealogical park we hadn't seen. And how stirring was it to be amongst the ancient pathways, signage and history.

Of course we allowed ourselves to be open to everything including two to three hours of walking, climbing and or stomping in waterways and squeezing ourselves along ancient pathways etc.just to experience the history of the place. I woke wanting a walk and I sure got it. But to end up in open fields with knee-high thorn bushes tearing at our pants and squelching moisture in our shoes? Well, these walks were home to the ancients so what were we complaining about. If I wait long enough I think his obsession with antiquities may lessen then again......click on the photos to enlarge!

Forget Mother's Day...well maybe...but this I find too beautiful to forget.

I wanna go to SIENA!!
I've always wanted to go to SIENA!
Alright...so we'll go!! I know I'll have to do some climbing. So what! We are used to that from Petra and from last year in Florence. Let's go!

Can you believe that we bought some tickets...after finding our hotel that is and driving through the city of Siena and being stopped by the local police. The choices of the tickets were 1. climb to the top of supposed 'new' Cathedral, the one never finished and the one which was supposed to replace the original Cathedral. Or, we could go underground to the basement of the main Cathedral and spend an hour or two admiring all or we could come back the next day and climb into the roof of the cathedral to take photos and/or come back and admire another church and climb again or go across the road and discover some neolithic earth works and a huge, what was once the biggest hospital in Europe but is now a museum. I wanna see it all!! And we did!

And in between the churches looked a bit fussy from the outside but....then there were the floor tiles reminiscent of the inquisition period in history or the many figurines, the carvings not only in wood or ceramic, the lights, the...oh...the...and the...if only google would let me place these photos where I want them!!!Don't forget to click on them to enlarge the pictures.