Merhaba!

I loved Istanbul , even though it was freezing and the sun only managed to come out on the last day! At the airport for the return flight I was asked if I would do an interview about my visit, and being besotted with the place, I instantly agreed, (though this is out of character for me) . One of the first questions was , what were my impressions of Istanbul? Here are some of things I said:

multi-layered
surprising
fascinating
intriguing
full of contrasts
the people: friendly, charming, helpful, tolerant, interesting...

Here are some photos:

Me outside of the Faculty building, it's the last day, so the sun was shining...

Waiting to get into the Blue Mosque after Friday prayers,and it was worth it!

Watch this space, there's more to come ... in the meantime
Here's one of Merve & me , with hot potatoes at Ortaköy, on the day that the rain turned to snow as we looked out over the Bosphorus...
and just one of The Topkapi Palace...

images from Prague....

From the river and filming on the bridge

a shop window,

a saxophonist,
and folks
stopping
to watch and listen to him,
and a cool shady place to walk
and explore the dark interiors...











some art nouveau.....














a little gallery I found and liked


an evening patrol of penguins,
and some artwork, interesting, colourful, imaginative, whimsical and all done in coloured pencils, and I remembered that I used to work in this medium, maybe I should get mine out and give them a go again.

the trip continued......

In Ostrava.

my favourite coffee shop,
&
where next?

back to Prague ...?

A trip to the Czech Republic

On Charles Bridge in Prague in May,
and with Lenka and Zaneta in Ostrava.

Almost the end of May

A weekend in Malaga;

reflections on a brass band,
trees....
various,
and
flowers

wild gladioli

On a sunlit morning here I picked a bunch of these wild gladioli and took them home and put them in a blue glass vase. In the market in Marrakech I used to buy bunches of these lovely cerise flowers. As I write these words I remember the colours and perfumes of the flowers there... will I ever get back to Marrakech I wonder...?

spring is sprung

On the first day of April 2011 we have a summer's day,

followed by "An Ancient Mariner" day,

then a gloomy Sunday where that is washed away by rain,

but the grass grows overnight and wild flowers spring up along the roadsides.....