![Sign mimicking an artist's palette](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/001-feature-Arpino-P1100019-Custom.jpg?resize=980%2C736&ssl=1)
Gallery: all the colours of the kaleidoscope
I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for.
Georgia O’Keeffe
Life is a train of moods like a string of beads and as we pass through them they prove to be many-coloured lenses which paint the world their own hue, and each shows only what lies in its focus.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I went looking for good quotes about kaleidoscopes but instead found myself drawn to ones about multiple colours. Maybe that’s the same thing?
And how many colours can you pack into one photo? That’s the challenge I set myself when I saw Jude’s Life in Colour challenge for this month: ‘let’s celebrate that with the brightest / most colourful images you can find’. The photo above was taken outside an artist studio in Arpino, Italy. Now let’s see what else I unearthed in my archives!
![Large round stained glass window](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/P1100435-St-Chappelle-1.jpg?resize=960%2C726&ssl=1)
This window in the Sainte Chappelle in Paris really looks like a kaleidoscope!
![Round window with stained glass](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/P1000729-Sacre-C.jpg?resize=960%2C969&ssl=1)
![Lots of small round stained glass windows](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/P1150635-St-Albans-1.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
As do these in the Sacre Coeur (left) and St Alban’s Abbey in England (right).
![People dancing in a large city square](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/10-DPRK-14-P1200672-Mass-dancing.jpg?resize=960%2C720&ssl=1)
I think these dancers in Pyongyang, North Korea, look a bit like a kaleidoscope too.
![Flight of outdoor steps painted different colours](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Cape-Verde-P1110492-2018-02-Santiago.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
The person who painted these steps in Praia on Santiago, one of the Cape Verde Islands, certainly knew the meaning of the word colourful!
![Brightly coloured textiles hanging up](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Cape-Verde-P1110780-2018-02-Sal-Custom.jpg?resize=735%2C980&ssl=1)
And these fabrics that I spotted in a souvenir shop on another of the islands, Sal, also fit the bill.
![Small brightly coloured baskets in a pile](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/62-Marrakech-Sept-2016-Place-des-Epices-Custom.jpg?resize=960%2C720&ssl=1)
It’s easy to find colours in Marrakesh; these little baskets were for sale at a stall in the Place des Epices.
![Tagine pots in various colours](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/M-souk-03-1.jpg?resize=960%2C637&ssl=1)
And these tagines in one of the souks.
![Russian dolls, one with Peppa Pig](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/97-Sofia-Photo-29-05-2019-11-30-53.jpg?resize=960%2C720&ssl=1)
I found these (mostly) traditional Russian dolls on a flea market stall in Sofia.
![Large coloured letters spelling out together](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/108-Plovdiv-Photo-01-06-2019-07-24-31b.jpg?resize=960%2C405&ssl=1)
Bulgaria’s Plovdiv embraced all the colours of the rainbow when it was Capital of Culture in 2019.
![Mural of a black cat in a tea cup](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/3-3-Valparaiso-2016-Cerro-Concepcion-.jpg?resize=960%2C686&ssl=1)
Street art is an obvious place to look but perhaps a bit of a cheat, as it’s really the original artist who put these colours together! Nevertheless I can’t resist including just one example, and this is a favourite, from Valparaiso in Chile.
![Bright flower beds in front of a modern building](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Photo-16-02-2019-05-22-41-1.jpg?resize=960%2C720&ssl=1)
The Royal Palace in Muscat is striking in its design, and made much more so by the riot of colourful flowers planted in front.
![Group of young women wearing bright colours in a garden](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/India-39-Agra-1.jpg?resize=960%2C802&ssl=1)
I loved the colours of these girls’ dresses, spotted in the grounds of the Taj Mahal.
![Brightly lit street at night](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/06-0077-Cam-P1230124.jpg?resize=960%2C694&ssl=1)
At night colours shine more brightly; this is Pub Street in Siem Reap in Cambodia.
![Bright ligghts by a river bank](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/20-0042-Vie-P1240922-Hoi-An.jpg?resize=960%2C446&ssl=1)
And this is Hoi An in Vietnam, the bright lights reflected in the Thu Bon River that runs through the town.
![Coloured lanterns by a river](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/21-0062-Vie-P1250032-Hoi-An.jpg?resize=960%2C636&ssl=1)
Here is Hoi An by day, with lanterns strung out on the small boats that take tourists for rides on the river, glowing with colour even on a rainy day.
![Kites hanging on the wall of an old house with shutters](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/21-0075-Vie-P1250060-Hoi-An.jpg?resize=960%2C733&ssl=1)
And kites for sale in a shop in its old town.
![Carousel horse](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/P1000328-Liverpool-1.jpg?resize=960%2C765&ssl=1)
Kites are fun and so are carousels; I came across this one at the Royal Albert Dock in Liverpool.
![Women in exotic costumes playing drums by a river](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/P1000276-1.jpg?resize=960%2C707&ssl=1)
These drummers were at a carnival by London’s City Hall a few years ago.
And let’s finish with a riot of colourful food from all over the world!
![Stylised female statue head](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/001-feature-2.jpg?resize=75%2C75&ssl=1)
![Large waterfall glimpsed through spray](https://i0.wp.com/www.toonsarah-travels.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/001-feature-Photo-10-07-2018-07-04-47.jpg?resize=75%2C75&ssl=1)
14 Comments
Lesley Russell
Gorgeous photos, Sarah
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Lesley 🙂
Forestwood
Amazing burst of colour on my screen! I particularly like the visual feast in Pyonyang and at the Taj Mahal!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Amanda, glad you liked them 😀
SandyL
Very colorful!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Sandy!
Heyjude
You have unearthed some beauties here Sarah! So wonderful to see so many bright colours together, it certainly cheers up a very dull day here in Cornwall. I can’t choose a favourite though the dancers and the baskets are just great photos. Thanks so much for finding these xx
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Jude 🙂 I just realised I forgot to post a comment on your original post so have rectified that, but I see you found me anyway! Dull here in London too, after a bright start, so we need all the bright colours your contributors can muster 😀
maristravels
What a colourful selection of pictures you’ve given us to enjoy, Sarah. For me, I’ll take the baskets from Marrakesh. I’m not sure if they are the most colourful but I know it’s what I’d buy if I were there (yes, I’m a great collector of useless stuff when abroad which I have to give away – usually to a charity shop – when I return as it never fits, stylistically, into my home.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Mari 🙂 I tend to buy stuff on holiday too and in the past have definitely bought things that don’t fit in, but I do try to be more careful these days because I find it so hard to throw away a holiday memento!
Manja Maksimovič
Ahh, how lovely! I know that you know how much I like this post. We need all the colours! When? Together! 😀 Thank you for this collection!
Sarah Wilkie
Haha, yes, colour is your thing I know 😀 Glad this lived up to expectations!
margaret21
Marvellous. What a tonic.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Margaret, I had fun unearthing these!