Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Le Castellet, France











Le Castellet, France

When in Toulon, we booked a shore excursion to Le Castellet, a medieval village atop a hill about 30 minutes drive from the ship. This little town has been restored and gives an idea how villagers may have lived hundreds of years ago. this morning I've included a couple of images of the valleys surrounding this tiny town as well as a few of the narrow streets and people dressed in period costumes.

I watched the coverage of Hurricane/Sub-tropical Storm Sandy in amazement yesterday - so much damage and so many people affected by this unusually large storm. I have to wonder about the reporters who stayed in dangerous areas to bring us up-to-the-minute news. At first I thought they may be brave, but after watching them standing in the rising waters, crashing waves and hurricane force winds, I thought they were irresponsible. People were being advised to evacuate or stay inside during the storm, but the reporters ignored these warnings and put themselves and their crews in danger just to get current images of the storm for their viewers. How can authorities expect the general population to follow their directions when reporters are on television standing in the water and wind? They certainly aren't setting a good example.

I was also shocked to hear about the loss of the HMS Bounty during Hurricane Sandy. I photographed this ship in Puerto Rico last March. You can view my photos of this historic ship at: http://www.lanephotography.com/places/San%20Juan/The%20Bounty/the_bounty.htm



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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Toulon, France










Toulon, France

Sorry about not sending my Photo of the Day for the past week - I haven't had access to my computer and could not send emails or post photos to my Blog. Everything should be back to normal again effective today.
The first stop on our Royal Caribbean cruise aboard the Liberty of the Seas was Toulon, France. As we were docking, I made a few photographs of the large harbour, which is an important port with a large French naval base. There were quite a few navy ships in the harbour and you will see a few in the photos I've uploaded to my Blog this morning.

It was an absolutely beautiful morning to be on the top deck of "the Liberty" as she docked in this historic harbour. I really liked the early morning lighting and made photos of the whole area as well as a few images of other passengers who were enjoying the fantastic view.



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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Barcelona 14










Barcelona 14

Today's photos were taken inside another beautiful old church in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. I photographed a sign in the church that said, "Capella de Sant Cristofol", however when I searched on line, I couldn't find the same building - the images looked different. As you can see from the images, it is a beautiful building with lots of art. We didn't spend much time there, but I managed to make a few photos that I liked and can share with you this morning.

This is the last in the Barcelona Series for now. I thank you for all your comments over the past two weeks and hope the rest of you have enjoyed seeing one and a half days in Barcelona as seen through my eyes.

The following day, we boarded the Liberty of the Seas and left that evening for Toulon, France the first stop on our seven night cruise to destinations in France and Italy and the next series for my Photo of the Day.

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Monday, October 22, 2012

Barcelona 13











Barcelona 13

The small area with trees was just across the street from our hotel in Barcelona. I've uploaded a few more photos of "signs" that were also taken near the hotel. Finally you can view a few images taken from the roof of our hotel. All these awit you on my Photo of the Day Blog.

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Sunday, October 21, 2012

Barcelona 12











       Barcelona 12

There were lots of things to see while walking around the narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter in Barcelona.  The old buildings, church spires, clotheslines, people and the narrow streets were all great photographic subjects.  When a young lady wearing high heels and atypical biker's outfit  passed by on a scooter, I was sorry I missed her, but when she turned and stopped ahead of us, I made a quick image before she got off the bike.  The blue chair with blue flowerpot was both interesting and colourful and I just had to make an image of it before moving along. 

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Tulips

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