View allAll Photos Tagged Actually
...actually my little sunshine...
Ein kleines Mädchen auf dem Grasweg
...mein kleiner Sonnenschein...
Sony Alpha 7R, Voigtländer Nex VM Adapter, Leica Summicron 35mm f2.0 pre-Asph
*sigh*
I actually got a pretty good series of these two... this is soon after I got a shot from the front, he had now spotted me... and pulled her in closer to make it look OH so much better... thank you, whoever you are!
Actually, thi si smy pappaw (:
He came up to visit for father's day
I got my daddy a funny card,
and a free golf thing lol
So he can go play golf for free (;
SOOC! (:
I loovee this D90
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Friday 20 July 2012: Rest day featuring the Funivie Monte Bianco up to Pointe Helbronner (3,466 m) (actually Rifugio Torino Nuovo at 3,375 m) and Courmayeur (1,224 m) and finishing up with a fine meal in Planpincieux (1,593 m)
Day 7 of our Tour du Mont Blanc, on Exodus' Mont Blanc Circuit trip - a clockwise circumambulation of the Mont Blanc massif
Vicki, Hazel and I opted to get up early and head up to Pointe Helbronner (3,466 m). We successfully caught the Savda bus from right outside the Camping Grandes Jorasses down to La Palud, and whilst we were ahead of the crowds on the Funivie Monte Bianco cable car, our plan to cross the Vallée Blanche to the Aiguille du Midi was thwarted by major repairs being carried out on the Télécabine Panoramic Mont-Blanc, so we opted for the shorter hop up to Rifugio Torino.
At 34€ the tickets were Not Cheap, but the stunning views from the various viewpoints made it worth every €, and all 200+ steps up from the Rifugio Torino Vecchio (3,335 m) to Rifugio Torino Nuovo (3,375 m): to the east (and a tad north) Aiguille Noire de Peuterey and Les Dames Anglaises, Mont Maudit and Monte Bianco; to the south, Gran Paradiso and Grivola and more ahead, to the west the Dente Del Gigante (Dent du Géant), Aiguille de Rochefort, Grandes Jorasses, Grand Combin, Cervino (aka the Matterhorn), Mont Vélan and Monte Rosa, and to the north and closer by our feet the blankets of snow and glaciers.
Mont Blanc itself remained elusive however, keeping a shroud of cloud despite our best efforts to wish it away (and making no appearance on the information panoramas either!). The only (other) fly in the ointment were the construction works taking place to build a new cable car station above Pointe Helbronner. The building site looked terribly precarious teetering above us, and sent down small avalanches of scree.
After a good few hours (and lots and lots of photos), we took the cable car down to the Pavillon du Mont Fréty (2,173 m) where the air was warmer and we pottered around the Giardino Alpino Saussurea which provided photos and names of many of the flowers we'd seen so far.
There our luck ended as we just missed the once-an-hour bus from La Palud to Courmayeur and the walk along the main road proved longer and hotter than hoped. Still, once in Courmayeur we armed ourselves with an icecream from the gelateria yogurteria on Piazza Brocherel and having (quickly) explored the town, we settled at a pavement cafe for a light lunch.
Courmayeur clearly caters for the well heeled, and we were there at lunchtime shutdown, so with no shopping opportunities to keep us in town we caught the bus back to base to potter the rest of the afternoon away. For dinner, we headed down en masse to Planpincieux to eat at the Chalet Proment. An excellent suggestion from Simon and Ben (who ate there too, and booked us a table) - tasty local dishes, a good choice of wine and lovely waiters.
DSC05427
Ellora (\e-ˈlȯr-ə\, Marathi: वेरूळ Vērūḷa), is an archaeological site, 29 km North-West of the city of Aurangabad in the Indian state of Maharashtra built by the Rashtrakuta dynasty. It is also known as Elapura (in the Rashtrakuta literature-Kannada). Well known for its monumental caves, Ellora is a World Heritage Site. Ellora represents the epitome of Indian rock-cut architecture. The 34 "caves" are actually structures excavated out of the vertical face of the Charanandri hills. Buddhist, Hindu and Jain rock-cut temples and viharas and mathas were built between the 5th century and 10th century. The 12 Buddhist (caves 1–12), 17 Hindu (caves 13–29) and 5 Jain (caves 30–34) caves, built in proximity, demonstrate the religious harmony prevalent during this period of Indian history. It is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India.
ETYMOLOGY
Ellora, also called Verula or Elura, is the cave form of the Ancient name Elapura.
HISTORY
Ellora is known for Hindu, Buddhist and Jain cave temples built during (6th and 9th centuries) the rule of the Kalachuri, Chalukya and Rashtrakuta dynasties. The Jagannatha Sabha a group of five Jain cave temples of 9th century built by Rashtrakuta.
THE BUDDHIST CAVES
These caves were built during the 5th-7th century. It was initially thought that the Buddhist caves were one of the earliest structures, created between the fifth and eighth centuries, with caves 1-5 in the first phase (400-600) and 6-12 in the later phase (mid 7th-mid 8th), but now it is clear to the modern scholars that some of the Hindu caves (27,29,21,28,19,26,20,17 and 14) precede these caves.[citation needed] The earliest Buddhist cave is Cave 6, followed by 5,2,3,5 (right wing), 4,7,8,10 and 9. Caves 11 and 12 were the last. All the Buddhist caves were constructed between 630-700.
These structures consist mostly of viharas or monasteries: large, multi-storeyed buildings carved into the mountain face, including living quarters, sleeping quarters, kitchens, and other rooms. Some of these monastery caves have shrines including carvings of Gautama Buddha, bodhisattvas and saints. In many of these caves, sculptors have endeavoured to give the stone the look of wood.
Most famous of the Buddhist caves is cave 10, (refer map) a chaitya hall (chandrashala) or 'Vishvakarma cave', popularly known as the 'Carpenter's Cave'. Beyond its multi-storeyed entry is a cathedral-like stupa hall also known as chaitya, whose ceiling has been carved to give the impression of wooden beams. At the heart of this cave is a 15-foot statue of Buddha seated in a preaching pose. Amongst other Buddhist caves, all of the first nine (caves 1–9) are monasteries. The last two caves, Do Tal (cave 11) and Tin Tal (cave 12) have three stories.
CAVE 10
Cave 10 is a vihara with eight cells, four in the back wall and four in the right wall. It had a portico in the front with a cell. Possibly served as a granary for other viharas.
THE VISHWAKARMA
The Vishwakarma (Cave 10) is the only chaitya griha amongst the Buddhist group of caves. It is locally known as Vishwakarma or Sutar ka jhopda "carpenter's hut". It follows the pattern of construction of Caves 19 and 26 of Ajanta. On stylistic grounds, the date of construction of this cave is assigned to 700 A.D. The chaitya once had a high screen wall, which is ruined at present. At the front is a rock-cut court, which is entered through a flight of steps. On either side are pillared porticos with chambers in their back walls. These were probably intended to have subsidiary shrines but not completed. The pillared verandah of the chaitya has a small shrine at either end and a single cell in the far end of the back wall. The corridor columns have massive squarish shafts and ghata-pallava (vase and foliage) capitals. The main hall is apsidal on plan and is divided into a central nave and side aisles by 28 octagonal columns with plain bracket capitals. In the apsidal end of the chaitya hall is a stupa on the face of which a colossal 3.30 m high seated Buddha in vyakhyana mudra (teaching posture) is carved. A large Bodhi tree is carved at the back. The hall has a vaulted roof in which ribs have been carved in the rock imitating the wooden ones.
THE HINDU CAVES
The Hindu caves were constructed between the middle of sixth century to the end of the eighth century. The early caves (caves 17–29) were constructed during the Kalachuri period. The work first commenced in Caves 28, 27 and 19. These were followed by two most impressive caves constructed in the early phase - Caves 29 and 21. Along with these two, work was underway at Caves 20 and 26, and slightly later at Caves 17, 19 and 28. The caves 14, 15 and 16 were constructed during the Rashtrakuta period. The work began in Caves 14 and 15 and culminated in Cave 16. All these structures represent a different style of creative vision and execution skills. Some were of such complexity that they required several generations of planning and co-ordination to complete.
THE KAILASANATHA TEMPLE
Cave 16, also known as the Kailasa temple, is the unrivaled centerpiece of Ellora. This is designed to recall Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva – looks like a freestanding, multi-storeyed temple complex, but it was carved out of one single rock, and covers an area double the size of Parthenon in Athens. Initially the temple was covered with white plaster thus even more increasing the similarity to snow-covered Mount Kailash.
All the carvings are done in more than one level. A two-storeyed gateway resembling a South Indian Gopura opens to reveal a U-shaped courtyard. The courtyard is edged by columned galleries three storeys high. The galleries are punctuated by huge sculpted panels, and alcoves containing enormous sculptures of a variety of deities. Originally flying bridges of stone connected these galleries to central temple structures, but these have fallen.
Within the courtyard are three structures. As is traditional in Shiva temples, the first is a large image of the sacred bull Nandi in front of the central temple. The central temple - Nandi Mantapa or Mandapa - houses the Lingam. The Nandi Mandapa stands on 16 pillars and is 29.3 m high. The base of the Nandi Mandapa has been carved to suggest that life-sized elephants are holding the structure aloft. A living rock bridge connects the Nandi Mandapa to the Shiva temple behind it. The temple itself is a tall pyramidal structure reminiscent of a South Indian Dravidian temple. The shrine – complete with pillars, windows, inner and outer rooms, gathering halls, and an enormous lingam at its heart – carved from living stone, is carved with niches, pilasters, windows as well as images of deities, mithunas (erotic male and female figures) and other figures. Most of the deities at the left of the entrance are Shaivaite (followers of Shiva) while on the right hand side the deities are Vaishnavaites (followers of Vishnu). There are two Dhvajastambhas (pillars with the flagstaff) in the courtyard. The grand sculpture of Ravana attempting to lift Mount Kailasa, the abode of Lord Shiva, with his full might is a landmark in Indian art. The construction of this cave was a feat of human genius – it entailed the removal of 200,000 tonnes of rock, and took 100 years to complete.
The temple is a splendid achievement of Rashtrakuta Karnata architecture. This project was started by Krishna I (757–773) of the Rashtrakuta dynasty that ruled from Manyakheta in present day Karnataka state. His rule had also spread to southern India, hence this temple was excavated in the prevailing style. Its builders modelled it on the lines of the Virupaksha Temple in Pattadakal. Being a south Indian style temple, it does not have a shikhara common to north Indian temples. – The Guide to the Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent, 1996, Takeo Kamiya, Japan Architects Academy and archaeological Survey of India.
THE DASHAVATARA
The Dashavatara (Cave 15) was begun as a Buddhist monastery. It has an open court with a free-standing monolithic mandapa at the middle and a two-storeyed excavated temple at the rear. The layout of the temple is closely related to caves 11 and 12. Large sculptural panels between the wall columns on the upper floor illustrate a wide range of themes, which include the ten avatars of Vishnu. An inscription of grant of Dantidurga is found on the back wall of the front mandapa. According to Coomaraswamy, the finest relief of this cave is the one depicting the death of Hiranyakashipu, where Vishnu in man-lion (Narasimha) form, emerges from a pillar to lay a fatal hand upon the shoulder of Hiranyakashipu.
OTHER HINDU CAVES
CAVE 21
Other notable Hindu caves are the Rameshvara (Cave 21), which has figurines of river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna at the entrance and the Dhumar Lena (Cave 29) whose design is similar to the cave temple on Elephanta Island near Mumbai. Two other caves, the Ravan ki Khai (Cave 14) and the Nilkantha (Cave 22) also have several sculptures. The rest of the Hindu caves, which include the Kumbharvada (Cave 25) and the Gopilena (Cave 27) have no significant sculptures.
The five Jain caves at Ellora belong to the ninth and tenth centuries. They all belong to the Digambara sect. Jain caves reveal specific dimensions of Jain philosophy and tradition. They reflect a strict sense of asceticism – they are not relatively large as compared to others, but they present exceptionally detailed art works. The most remarkable Jain shrines are the Chhota Kailash (cave 30), the Indra Sabha (cave 32) and the Jagannath Sabha (cave 33). Cave 31 is an unfinished four-pillared hall and a shrine. Cave 34 is a small cave, which can be approached through an opening on the left side of Cave 33. Amongst other devotional carvings, a place called samvatsarana can be found in Elora caves. Samvatsarana is of special interest to Jains, as it is a hall where the tirthankara preaches after attaining omniscience.
THE INDRA SABHA
The Indra Sabha (Cave 32) is a two storeyed cave with one more monolithic shrine in its court. It has a very fine carving of the lotus flower on the ceiling. It got the appellation "Indra Sabha" probably it is significantly ornate and also because of the sculpture of the yaksha (dedicated attendant deity) Matanga on an elephant, which was wrongly identified as that of Indra. On the upper level of the double-storied shrine excavated at the rear of the court, an U image of Ambika, the yakshini of Neminath, is found seated on her lion under a mango tree, laden with fruits.
OTHER JAIN CAVES
All other Jain caves are also characterized by intricate detailing. Many of the structures had rich paintings in the ceilings - fragments of which are still visible.
GEOLOGY OF ELLORA
Ellora occupies a relatively flat region of the Western Ghats. Ancient volcanic activity in this area created many layered basalt formations, known as Deccan Traps. During the Cretaceous, one such volcanic hill formed on the southwest-facing side of Ellora. Its vertical face made access to many layers of rock formations easier, enabling architects to pick basalt with finer grains for more detailed sculpting.
INSCRIPTIONS AT ELLORA
Several inscriptions at Ellora range from 6th century to 15th century. The best known of them is an inscription of Rashtrakuta Dantidurga (c. 753-57 A.D.) on the back wall of the front mandapa of Cave 15, which gives an account of his conquests. Inscriptions on the Kailash temple itself range from 9th to 15th century. Jain cave Jagannatha Sabha has 3 inscriptions that give the names of monks and donors. A Parshvanth temple on the hill has a 11th-century inscription that gives the name of the donor from Vardhanapura.
The Great Kailasa (Cave 16) is attributed to Krishna I (c. 757-83 A.D.), the successor and uncle of Dantidurga. A copper plate grant by Karka II (c. 812-13 A.D.) narrates that a great edifice was built on a hill by Krishnaraja at Elapura (Ellora).
The Ellora caves, unlike Ajanta, were never lost. There have been several written records that indicate that these caves were visited regularly. The earliest is that of the Arab geographer Al-Mas‘udi of the 10th century A.D. In 1352 A.D. Sultan Hasan Gangu Bahmani, who camped at the site and visited the caves. The others are by Firishta, Thevenot (1633–67), Niccolao Manucci (1653-1708), Charles Warre Malet (1794), and Seely (1824)
WIKIPEDIA
The Sea Rabbit (Monafluffchus americanus) of Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York – This unique sea-dwelling rabbit, which is actually a close relative of the sea lion, was officially discovered and investigated by Henry Hudson when he first visited this land to colonize the area by order of the Dutch government. It was named New Amsterdam -- today’s New York City. This island was named after he saw the beach covered with strange swimming wild rabbits. The word “Coney Island” means “wild rabbit island” in Dutch (originally Conyne Eylandt, or Konijneneiland in modern Dutch spelling). Sea rabbits were also referred mermaid rabbit, merrabbit, rabbit fish or seal rabbit in the natural history documents in the 17th century. The current conservation status, or risk of extinction, of the sea rabbit is Extinct in the Wild.
This website features two species of sea rabbits, which have been taken care of by Dr. Takeshi Yamada (山田武司) at the Coney Island Sea Rabbit Repopulation Center, which is a part of the Marine biology department of the Coney Island University in Brooklyn, New York. They are – Coney Island Sea Rabbit (Monafluffchus americanus) called “Seara” and Coney Island Tiger-striped Sea Rabbit (Monafluffchus konjinicus) called “Stripes”.
The photographs and videos featured in this website chronicle adventures of the Coney Island sea rabbits and the world as seen by them. This article also documented efforts of Dr. Takeshi Yamada for bringing back the nearly extinct sea rabbits to Coney Island in the City of New York and beyond. Dr. Yamada produced a series of public lectures, workshops, original public live interactive fine art performances and fine art exhibitions about sea rabbits at a variety of occasions and institutions in the City of New York and beyond. Dr. Yamada is an internationally active educator, book author, wildlife conservationist and high profile artist, who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
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Sea Rabbit
Other Common Names: Coney Island Sea Rabbit, Beach Rabbit, Seal Rabbit, mer-rabbit, merrabbit, Atlantic Sea Rabbit.
Latin Name: Monafluffchus americanus
Origin: Atlantic coast of the United States
Description of the specimen: In the early 17th century’s European fur craze drove the fleet of Dutch ships to the eastern costal area of America. Then Holland was the center of the world just like the Italy was in the previous century. New York City was once called New Amsterdam when Dutch merchants landed and established colonies. Among them, Henry Hudson is probably the most recognized individual in the history of New York City today. “This small island is inhabited by two major creatures which we do not have in our homeland. The one creature is a large arthropod made of three body segments: the frontal segment resembles a horseshoe, the middle segment resembles a spiny crab and its tail resembles a sharp sword. Although they gather beaches here in great numbers, they are not edible due to their extremely offensive odor. Another creature which is abundant here, has the head of wild rabbit. This animal of great swimming ability has frontal legs resemble the webbed feet of a duck. The bottom half of the body resembles that of a seal. This docile rabbit of the sea is easy to catch as it does not fear people. The larger male sea rabbits control harems of 20 to 25 females. The meat of the sea rabbit is very tender and tasty.” This is what Hadson wrote in his personal journal in 1609 about the horseshoe crab and the sea rabbit in today’s Coney Island area of Brooklyn, New York. Sadly, just like the Dodo bird and the Thylacine, the sea rabbit was driven to extinction by the European settlers’ greed. When Dutch merchants and traders arrived here, sea rabbits were one of the first animals they hunted down to bring their furs to homeland to satisfy the fur craze of the time. To increase the shipment volume of furs of sea rabbit and beavers from New Amsterdam, Dutch merchants also started using wampum (beads made of special clam shells) as the first official currency of this country.
At the North Eastern shores of the United States, two species of sea rabbits were commonly found. They are Coney Island Sea Rabbit (Monafluffchus americanus) and Coney Island Tiger-striped Sea Rabbit (Monafluffchus konjinicus). Sadly, due to their over harvesting in the previous centuries, their conservation status became “Extinct in the Wild” (ET) in the Red List Endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Currently, these sea rabbits are only found at breeding centers at selected zoos and universities such as Coney Island Aquarium and Coney Island University in Brooklyn, New York. The one shown in this photograph was named "Seara" and has been cared by Dr. Takeshi Yamada at Coney Island University.
The sea rabbit is one of the families of the Pinniped order. Pinnipeds (from Latin penna = flat and pes/pedis = foot) are sea-mammals: they are homeothermic (i.e having high and regulated inner temperature), lung-breathing (i.e dependant on atmospheric oxygen) animals having come back to semi aquatic life. As soon as they arrive ashore, females are caught by the nearest adult male. Males can maintain harems of about 20 females on average. Several hours to several days after arriving ashore, pregnant females give birth to eight to ten pups with a dark brown fur. As soon as birth occurs, the mother’s special smell and calls help her pups bond specifically to her. The mother stays ashore with her pup for about one week during which the pup gains weight. During the first week spent with her newborn, the mother becomes receptive. She will be impregnated by the bull, which control the harem. Implantation of the embryo will occur 3 months later, in March-April. During the reproductive period, the best males copulate with several tens females. To do so, males have to stay ashore without feeding in order to keep their territory and their harem. In mid-January, when the last females have been fecundated, males leave at sea to feed. Some of them will come back later in March-April for the moult. The other ones will stay at sea and will come back on Coney Island only in next November. After fecundation, the mother goes at sea for her first meal. At sea, mothers feed on clams, crabs, shrimps, fish (herring, anchovy, Pollock, capelin etc.) and squids. When she is back, the mother recovers her pups at the beach she left them. Suckling occurs after auditive and olfactory recognition had occured. In March-April, the dark brown fur is totally replaced by an adult-like light brownish grey fur during the moult that lasts 1-2 months. This new fur is composed by 2 layers. Externally, the guard fur is composed by flat hairs that recover themselves when wet. By doing so, they make a water-proof barrier for the under fur. The underfur retains air when the seal is dry. Because of isolating properties of the air, the underfur is the insulating system of the fur. In March-April, the fur of adults is partially replaced. First reproduction occurs at 1-yr old in females. Males are physiologically matures at 1 year old but socially matures at +2 years old.
NOTE: The name of Coney Island is commonly thought to be derived from the Dutch Konijn Eylandt or Rabbit Island as apparently the 17th century European settlers noted many rabbits running amuck on the island.
www.takeshiyamada.weebly.com/performances.html
www.takeshiyamada.weebly.com/sea-rabbit-center.html
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www.flickr.com/photos/searabbits23/
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www.flickr.com/photos/yamadaimmortalized2/
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www.flickr.com/photos/yamadabellhouse2014/
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www.flickr.com/photos/takeshiyamadapaintings/
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For any questions, please email contact Takeshi Yamada, Art & Rogue Taxidermy, Museum of World Wonders, official website. www.takeshiyamada.weebly.com/
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For any questions, please contact Dr. Takeshi Yamada. His email address is posted in the chapter page (the last page or the first page).
(Updated April 7, 2015)
Last stop in Rajasthan: Udaipur. Rajasthan is known for its palaces, forts, and history. Udaipur is no exception. It doesn’t have a “kingdom” to speak of as Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Jaisalmer did, but there is a City Palace, a museum now, which happens to be the state’s largest with a façade 244 meters long and 30 meters high. The palace was begun by the city’s founder, Maharaja Udai Singh II, and completed by subsequent maharanas. There is a uniformity to the palace and it’s not terribly different from some of the others we’d seen: cupolas, courtyards, balconies, towers. All in all, it’s a nice visit and certainly a “must see” if you have a tourist checklist for this town.
The biggest difference between Udaipur and the previous cities we’d visited is the setting. In southern Rajsasthan, Udaipur (population around half million) is nestled among the Aravalli Hills and is on the eastern shore of Lake Pichola. Now, this lake was always here, but not quite at these dimensions. It was enlarged by Maharana Udai Singh II (city founder) to its current size of 4 km (north-south) by 3 km (east-west) by flooding the village of Picholi. Being manmade (or…man-enlarged), it’s shallow and can dry up completely during severe droughts.
Because of its setting, Udaipur is considered one of the most romantic spots in India and, while I haven’t seen much of India, I can certainly say that I can see how this could/would be a romantic spot. My Udaipur experience began when we arrived via overnight bus around 4:00 in the morning on Friday, October 2.
Udaipur was one of the cities where I was not able to actually reserve a guesthouse, but I did have one in mind (Lal Ghat Guesthouse) and we hopped in a tuktuk and made our way there now. Bless their souls and wonderful Indian hospitality for opening the door before the sun had come up and giving us a comfortable – though like most other places, bare necessities – room. (I’m always pleased and impressed, both in China and India, that hotels allow you to check in very early without charging an extra day.)
Needing a few hours of actual sleep, since the bus sleepers felt more like a sarcophagus than a sleeper, we got a slightly late-morning start to the day. The Lal Ghat Guesthouse is located just north of City Palace and on the shores of Lake Pichola. From our room, if you crane your neck just a little bit, you could see the lake (with some flowers in bloom) and the Lake Palace. More on that later.
For now, the first order of business was to find food. I can’t recall the name of the restaurant, but I enjoyed it so much I ate there a second time on my own. It was a few doors south of the guesthouse and, like the guesthouse, was lakeside and afforded wonderful views. Fortified by a delicious lunch of chicken biriyani and reshmi chicken, we made our way to the City Palace (and Palace Museum) and wandered around there for a while.
It’s a very nice palace, mind you, but I was beginning to become a bit anesthetized to grandiose palaces by this point, having been to Jaipur, Jaisalmer, and Jodhpur in the past seven days. Though this is the largest, it didn’t rank as my favorite. (Jaisalmer Fort was my favorite as it’s a living fort, followed by Mehrangarh in Jodhpur, then City Palace here in Udaipur; Jaipur didn’t really have a comparable palace to speak of, though it’s the capital of the state.)
Though I was starting to suffer palace fatigue, I still did enjoy myself quite a bit, though I know I was rushing a little. I was more interested in finding “unique” here, which was only with views of the lake. Other than that, it was standard fare for palace museums with the women’s quarters, various displays, and so on. However, it is a pretty building, and I’m certainly glad to have gone there.
From City Palace, we walked out the south gate to take a boat ride around Lake Pichola. This is where Udaipur comes into play in pop culture. James Bond fans may recognize the scenery around Udaipur and Lake Pichola in particular as the main setting from the movie Octopussy. (It was said to have been an Afghan palace in Octopussy.) You’d also have to be a pretty die hard 007 fan to have seen that movie, I think; it’s usually ranked among the worst of the Bond franchise. But, I digress…
There are really two islands in the middle of Lake Pichola: Jagniwas with its Lake Palace Hotel (Taj Lake Palace) and Jagmandir with its own palace. I’ll start with Jagniwas. It’s not a private island, but you can only go there if you are a guest of the hotel…with rooms that start from 40,000 rupees/night. (I don’t know the high end, but that translates to close to 4,000 RMB or over $600 USD/night for the cheapest available. I’ve seen pictures and, while beautiful, I’m not Daddy Warbucks, and don’t expect I ever will be…so will just settle for their promotional pictures on their website: www.tajhotels.com .)
Jagmandir, on the other hand, is an island you can visit, and we did. The boat left the mooring south of City Palace, went northward to give a close-up view of City Palace from the lake, along with Bagore-ki-Haveli up to the north end before veering south and around Jagniwas and docking at the north end of Jagmandir, 800 meters south of Jagniwas (and roughly in the west central part of the lake).
Jagmandir’s palace was built in 1620 by Maharana Karan Singh, and was expanded by his successor, Maharana Jagat Singh. Not much has changed from those days until recently when it was convereted into a small hotel (nothing like the neighboring Taj Lake Hotel). For the Bond aficionados, the Taj Lake Hotel was the main palace of Octopussy, and I believe Jagmandir’s palace is where Bond stayed in the movie. There was also some filming at the nearby Monsoon Palace, but we didn’t have the time to visit there.
Jagmandir didn’t offer much at all in the way of things to do. Once you get to the island, you’re pretty much limited to wandering around an interior palace courtyard (where you can have very, very overpriced drinks and possibly a bite to eat, though the drink prices kept me from looking further, so I’m not certain). After staying in the courtyard as long as you’d like – and the views from and in the courtyard are lovely, though don’t require too much time or effort – you can walk outside to the boat dock where there is also an outer garden that’s quite pleasing, and affords beautiful views of the wooded Aravalli Hills in the west.
After an hour or two on Jagmandir, we finally took a boat back to the mainland (a whole 10-15 minute ride, tops), and then tooled around the area near City Palace and the guesthouse. We eventually had dinner at a rooftop restaurant down the lane from where we stayed which had a nice view of the lake with its shimmering palaces (well-lit by night) and a bit of a nice view for sunset. The best sunset views, I would say, would have been from the islands, though – especially Jagniwas – as you could have an unobstructed view of the sun setting over the hills with the lake in the foreground. The food at the restaurant, like most every other restaurant we ate at, was spectacular. It was a good way to end the first day in Udaipur.
Saturday morning came along and we didn’t have much planned. I was actually glad to spend the majority of the day alone. After running a few errands, I went to Jagdish Temple. This is an “Indo-Aryan temple..built by Maharana Jagat Singh in 1651. The wonderfully carved main structure enshrines a black stone image of Vishnu as Jagannath, Lord of the Universe; there’s a brass image of the Garuda (Vishnu’s man-bird vehicle) in a shrine facing the main structure.” (Per Lonely Planet India.) This is one of the smallest temples I’ve ever been to, though the details were delightful. I was pretty impressed with how intricate the temples were both here and at Jaisalmer.
After a quick half hour at Jagdish Temple, I went back to roaming the streets of Udaipur, eventually finding my intended destination, the Bagore-ki-Haveli. This is a pretty large haveli in the Gangaur Ghat area. It was built by a Mewar prime minister and has 138 carefully restored rooms around courtyards on three levels. These days, it’s kind of a klitschy museum. There are a few rooms that have interesting exhibits of Indian musical instruments (a sitar, obviously, and many others that I don’t recall the names of), and exhibits with turbans – including the world’s biggest turban. (This, by the way, was a bit strange; don’t know why anyone would want such a huge turban. Anyway, it was in a glass case, didn’t photograph terribly well, and none of us are the worse off for that.) The nicest part about this haveli is that, like the guesthouse, it was on the water’s edge, so had a few rather pleasant views.
After finishing up here, I wandered back to the previous day’s restaurant for lunch (and would even eat dinner there on Saturday night; they were probably happy with me…). For either lunch or dinner, I had hariyali murg tikka and cheese naan. Now…I would gladly eat murg tikka (chicken pieces generally made in a tandoor) any day of the week. Hariyali…is a coriander-yogurt-mint marinade. It’s heavenly. I really need to learn how to make that one, though I don’t really have any way to make tandoori chicken.
The afternoon and early evening was spent eating very well and relaxing, and really waiting for the last thing I had planned for Udaipur: Dharohar. This is a cultural event at the Bagore-ki-Haveli that hosts Rajasthani folk dancing, singing, performance, and so on. It’s an hour long and pretty interesting, in addition to being in a nice setting.
Before bidding farewell to Udaipur, I returned for the last time to Lake Pichola to try to get a few pictures of the Lake Palace and Jagmandir by night. A few turned out alright, but not spectacularly.
All told, Rajasthan was an absolutely brilliant way to spend a week, and I was looking forward to the last few days in Uttar Pradesh, beginning with the Taj Mahal in Agra after yet another long overnight train ride across the Indian countryside.
Actually done with oil sticks which are like tubes of lipstick in all different colors. Done mostly from detailed on-location sketches.
Actually this could be Lesser Burdock (Arctium minus), the only difference apparently the size of the plant, so who cares. Suffice it to say it was a large plant w/big leaves.
Another European invader typically classified as invasive or noxious, it is actually cultivated in some countries (particularly Japan) for its root which is commonly used as a vegetable.
Burdock has historically been used to treat a wide variety of ailments, including arthritis, diabetes, and hair loss. It is a principal herbal ingredient in the popular cancer remedies Essiac® (with rhubarb, sorrel, and slippery elm) and Hoxsey formula ( with red clover, poke, prickly ash, bloodroot, and barberry).
Actually, Gran Canaria doesn’t do lakes. But it’s home to 69 reservoirs. Many of these, including the remote Presa de Chira, are set in stunning terrain.
Rainfall is scarce on the island and its soil’s got more pores open than a sauna-crazy Finn. So the islanders built presas to conserve as much water as possible. Providing storage space for the treated water created by desalination plants which makes the Atlantic ocean drinkable. With the result that there’s now a reservoir for every 25m² of Gran Canaria.
As a totally natural way of restricting the number of aquatic weeds in the presas, they started to introduce carp to the likes of Presa de Chira. These monsters of the deep, which can weigh up to over 55lb (25kg), are the underwater version of a lawnmower. And their population has multiplied, leading to Gran Canaria establishing itself as a popular carp-fishing destination.
(Wikipedia)
It was more of a necessity rather than a plan that we somehow managed to descent to the tranquil reservoir of Presa de Chira and the silent hamlet of Cercados de Araña - the other mountain road we planned to use was closed.
What we didn't know, however, was the fact the road does end here at the lake or better said, only a 4WD rough track follows down to the coastline - fools or adventurers, we decided to give it a go and luckily succeeded after a 90-min long bumpy and slow ride (in our ordinary rental car).
Actually all poles are sucker poles because all you need to do to remove the pole (and thus the bike) is remove the nut on the bolt attaching the pole to the base.
Why is there a flag pole here?
Actually, a lot of penguins live on the southern island of New Zealand. In fact, we are closer to Antarctica than to the equator. The Antarctic Center is home to many little penguins. Many of whom have been saved because of injuries.
Actually those beautiful clouds turned to a hail storm, just few minutes later, when I took this picture, and at that time, I was napping on the grass, so the end was, so so so hurt!!!!!
Actually much lighter than it looks - the overall brightness here is lower so the Sun does not flood the shot.
Actually I stayed in Oak Creek just outside of Sedona. I found this happening driving back from one of my many outings that finish long after the sun goes down. The moon is about to hide behind one of the many buttes that dot the country side
SET 4 – Colony Crossing Kroger, Pre-Remodel
It’s a good thing I just mentioned the floral department in the previous description: this shot serves as a callback to that description, posted way back in January! (My estimate of posting this follow-up pic only a month or two later was a bit optimistic, given it’s now April, lol XD ) As mentioned at that post, the floral counter occupies an L-shaped wall pretty much straight ahead as you enter the store (well – straight behind the vestibule, anyway – ignoring the fact that you technically *enter* from the vestibule at an angle). The backside of the L-shape, in an unusual arrangement for Kroger, is occupied by the books and magazines shelving – which, I’ve gotta be honest, actually looks pretty dang good, and is a clever use of the space! No specific department sign here, but Kroger did at least splurge on a couple of décor diamonds for the wall; and the font for “Magazines” and “Featured,” while still also the current font for such Kroger shelving (!), definitely fits perfectly with the script atmosphere here.
(c) 2024 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
A diffraction effect. These actually happen very, very often, but in normal daylight they're too bright to look at, while in moonlight our colour perception is too weak to appreciate them. Just for about five minutes, during the eclipse, they were very clearly visible with the naked eye.
More: oolong.co.uk/eclipse2015
Well, actually it was quite well past evening. Taken after the sun had gone down on the Pacific, this picture was captured at the last place we visited on the San Diego trip.
We landed on this beach in quite an unplanned way. While heading north from Solvang, we planned to make a stop at the Sand Dollar Beach to catch the sunset and started on our way on US-1. Driving on one of the most scenic drives in the country can make you forget some routine but important things.
Paying a price for our neglect, of all things we ran out of gas mid-way!! The help from the National Car Rental came surprisingly quickly, within 40 minutes of calling them. By the time we re-fueled, we could already sense the sun about to go down. Being on US-1, thankfully there is no dearth of beaches! Quickly Googled the directions to the nearest beach and here we were, at the Moonstone beach, finally catching the nice sunset at a beach to end a memorable trip!
Moving on to the actual shot, this has to be the most heavily processed shot that I have ever put up on Flickr. It was quite dark and this time with only some after-light in the sky. On top of that, I was using a 2 stop ND filter to get the smooth water. Processed the RAW file two times, once to bring out the colors in the sky and then to brighten the water and saturate the rocks. But well, I did go overboard and almost gave a painting-like look. Hopefully, it's not awful!
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Abandoned Gas Station in a ghost town.
Calchaquí Valleys (Valles Calchaquíes) near Cafayate (Argentina)
For more information about the Calchaquí Valleys area, read: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calchaqu%c3%ad_Valleys
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Actually not really a folly, I believe it was pinched from an old church by the original estate owners of Nowton Park. Whatever, it makes a lovely thing to come across walking through the trees - just beware of the nettles!
Actually I wanted something more in background, i'm not very satisfied with the composition of the photo.
A few months ago I purchased the remote control of self-timer and I am completely satisfied with purchase.
Obviously you're not watching horrible way in which I have given the enamel.
I hope you can spend a long full weekend like will probably be as mine.
Have a nice time to all!
Actually, I think this was in Vila Nova de Gaia (just across the river), but the punning is better this way.
actually this is our "last First Date Anniversary" It was our official "first date" and the last one of those we would ever have. we go to Morton's in Bev. Hills each year and OMG I have gotten crab legs the past couple of years, but I must've gotten the half order because I got the full order and didn't even eat half of it (and it was $120!!! - i'm eating this doggie bag for real!!!!)
Sean and I were actually together when it snowed. We've always been separated each time it snows and we got to play in it all day yesterday before we had to babysit my nephew while my dad went and rescued my mom and sister from the abandoned snowpocalypse on 280.
Seriously, it's so bad out here. Like people slept in their cars yesterday. People abandoned their cars and walked for miles in the freezing cold to get to warm shelters. Some people are still trapped in their cars tonight. Hopefully the ice on the roads will thaw for a little bit tomorrow so people can get home to their families.
Alabama weather. XD
I saw a photo of this bridge posted on John4KC's Flickr stream and thought it might be a good time to post these.
This is a two-span through truss bridge that crosses the Big Piney River at Devil's Elbow on U.S. Route 66 (currently Teardrop Road) in Pulaski County, Missouri. The bridge is still open to traffic, but a little TLC wouldn't hurt. It was built in 1923 by Riley & Bailey, Contractors, however, it was made obsolete by a new U.S. Route 66 bridge in 1942.
Traveling east to west, the direction we were headed, the traveler crosses four concrete deck girder spans with a curved alignment, then two riveted 8-panel Parker through trusses, and finally one riveted Warren pony truss.
The total length of the bridge is 588.8 feet, with the largest span being 161.0 feet. The deck is 19.4 feet wide and the vertical clearance is 14.0 feet (although it's marked 13 feet 8 inches).
The bridge appears on the Devil's Elbow USGS topographic map. The bridge's approximate location is 37°50'51"N, 92°3'44"W (37.8475, -92.0621)—that's actually where I was standing when I took this photo.
The bridge's inventory number is MONBI 18976 (Missouri bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory).
During the inspection of September 2007, the deck condition rating was Poor (4 out of 9). The superstructure condition rating was Poor (4 out of 9). The substructure condition rating was Fair (5 out of 9). It's Sufficiency Rating was 30.9 out of 100. The overall condition of the bridge was appraised as Structurally Deficient.
In 2007, an average of 100 vehicles crossed daily.
South side of the bridge looking north (looking eastbound)
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