We all know that saying: when one door closes another one opens. Doors symbolise opportunity, a chance to discover something new and maybe unexpected. There’s also a sense of mystery about a door, especially an unusual one. What would we find were we able to open it?
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I visit Newcastle so often I no longer consider myself a tourist, though local Geordies may disagree! But I recently saw it anew through the eyes of tourists when I hosted a group of former Virtual Tourist members for a weekend meeting in the city.
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Every picture tells a story. But sometimes it’s useful to have more than one picture to expand on the narrative. If one picture can tell a story, what more can three tell us? Here I’ve chosen to focus on some impressive buildings I’ve visited around the world. I’ll show you the overall appearance, share a detail that caught my eye and introduce you to a person or people I saw there. Hopefully this will bring these buildings to life in a way a single image could never do.
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According to Sherlock Holmes, 'There must be something comforting about three. People always give up after three.' Hopefully this isn’t true of architects and builders; we would all be very short of homes, schools, offices, etc. etc. if they were to give up after three!
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Who hasn’t explored a building, maybe an impressive fortress or palace, and had one of those ‘wow’ moments as you emerge from the darkness of the building to an arch or window revealing the lightness outside?
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I doubt you can walk more than ten metres through a traditional Portuguese town and not spot a ceramic tile or several! The unique craft of azulejos portugueses is an unmistakable feature of these lovely old houses. And just as you can’t walk far without seeing them, I find it impossible to walk any distance without photographing some!
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I couldn’t go to the Faro area and not meet up with blogging friend Restless Jo, could I? Or perhaps I could! We planned to meet, naturally, but on the day fate intervened and our coffee date had to be … not cancelled, I hope, but certainly indefinitely postponed.
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The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, to give it its full name, seems to divide opinion. Built only in the early 20th century, I have seen some commentators criticise it as an eye-sore. Others (actually often the same people) abhor the reasons behind its construction. Its inspiration was the defeat of French troops during the Franco-Prussian War, which some felt was due to spiritual rather than political causes.
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When Beatrix Potter adapted Aesop’s fable about the town mouse and the country mouse, in her picture book The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse, she concluded that tastes differ. Some of us seem born to city life, others are happiest in the country. I fall firmly into the first group.
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The world is full of curves. A bend in the road; a gently drooping flower; the arch of a bridge; a spiral staircase. Animals curl up to sleep or to feel safer. Leaves gradually unfurl. The wind shapes a sand dune daily into new curves, and with time water does the same to hard rocks.
