Whoa... no parking

In horse obsessed Saratoga Springs NY everyone understands what "Whoa" means.

Brick surfaces

Drop shadow

I like the way the tree throws a shadow on the wall in the late day sun. It also represents my last post from Italy. It was a great trip and one I will always remember. I took 800 photos, of which many were just personal snapshots, but also found many that were, IMO, interesting enough to post.

Humble homes

There aren't any humble homes on Capri, only homes for the 1% (or maybe 1% of the 1%). We saw villas owned by Gucci and Sophia Loren, and several 5 star hotels and restaurants.

But it was fun to wander around the island with the other day-trippers for a few hours.

Faraglioni

The Faraglioni, or stacks, are iconic defining rock formations off the coast of the island of Capri. The size is hard to judge from this picture but our boat, carrying perhaps 16 people, easily fit through the opening. You can see another smaller boat on the other side if you look closely (click the image to enlarge).  It is considered good luck to pass though and demands a kiss from your partner.

Capri fishing boats

Vesuvius view

My last two posts were from Pompeii... today's photo we see the outline of Vesuvius, the volcanic mountain that buried Pompeii in the year 79 AD. This was the view from our hotel in Sorrento.

Amalfi Cathedral

The Amalfi coast is a beautiful drive with stunning views of cliffs and coastline. Amalfi itself is a picturesque small town with a stunning cathedral surrounded by gelato shops and other tourist focused shops.

Corinthian order

The Corinthian order was the third classical design for architecture and the most ornate. Although this particular column does not exactly follow the style, it seems to me it cannot be classified any other way. The rectangular column is one deviation, and another is it's mix with rustic stonework.

Supermoon

Another one day break from Italy...

There has been quite a lot of hype over the supermoon (perigee-syzygy of the Earth–Moon–Sun system if you want to get technical!).  The reality it is the increased size in the sky is pretty minor. And in my neck-of-the-woods it was partially obscured by thin clouds.

Amphitheatre of Pompeii

A relatively smaller amphitheatre in Pompeii which predates the Coliseum by almost 100 years. It was buried by Vesuvius, like the rest of Pompeii and is believed to be the oldest stone Roman amphitheatre. It is sometimes used for events in modern times. David Gilmour, of Pink Floyd fame, performed a concert here a few months before we visited. Wish we could have seen it live.

Going to work

I don't know about you, but the entrance to my workplace was never quite as monumental as this.

More parking

Motorbikes fit better on ancient streets, and seem to get parked most everywhere.

Quite a parking space

The great cities of Europe were never designed with automobiles in mind, so you have to park where you can.

No photo!

Entering the Sistine Chapel the uniformed attendant kept repeating the phrase "no photo!"... sometime with emphasis as someone came into the space and immediately tilted their cell-phone toward the ceiling... leaning way back to take it all in.  And I think that was the issue. People would stop in their tracks and practically tip-over to photograph the famous ceiling frescos, and block the anxious crowd behind them.

We were lucky to find a way to squeeze a seat on the benches along the wall. Not feeling defeated I pointed my camera from my lap and took multiple covert pictures thinking at at least some of them might be framed and usable.

So, feeling only a bit guilty, here are a few images that I captured of Michelangelo's masterwork.

Spiral

Spiral staircases are a common subject for many photos it seems. The twisting lines are almost hypnotic, but am I just stealing the work of the architect? It is a pretty obvious target for the photographer.

This particular stairway, which is really more of a ramp, is in the Vatican museum but it is not being used anymore. The entrance and lobby was expanded and modernized a number of years ago and the traffic now by-passes this feature.

But I could not help myself and took the picture.

Gull

Intermission

I have more images than expected from my trip to Italy and will continue with that series, but I could not let Autumn pass without at least one image of the seasons hues... so here is a young maple in my yard at peak color taken a few weeks ago.

We did not expect to see a lot of vibrant color this year because of the hot dry summer, but I think the show was pretty good.

One more

Pardon my black-and-white, but this image just did not work for me in the weak colors that were captured. I do not post much black-and-white but there are always exceptions.

This is another image from the Colosseum that I like for its tonal and compositional qualities.

Going to the game?

The colosseum (more correctly known as the Amphitheatrum Flavium) was surprisingly like many modern stadiums: it had numbered sections and seats, held over 50,000 spectators, and even had a retractable roof (made of canvas) to protect from the hot Roman sun or rain. It's in pretty bad shape now days, but considering it is almost 2000 years old, it is amazing the brick and concrete structure is standing at all.

Pino

I saw these tall bushy-top trees all over Italy, especially around Florence. I asked a guide what they were called and he called them "pino" which of course translates to "pine". They don't look anything line the pine trees I know, but they do have dark green needles, so I guess that is what they are but a different variety than I know.

Of course the tall skinny trees on the horizon are Italian cypress, famous as the archetype tree of Tuscany.

A rose

On a misty rainy walk I found this rose carefully placed in a vase outside a shop. It struck me as a nice gesture that someone placed something so beautiful for the passerby.

Chapel

It seems to be difficult to get too far away from churches and Christianity in Italy. Here is a chapel in a winery. I guess it is a popular place to get married... and wine, holy or not, is within easy reach.

Cross