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Ein bezauberndes Weihnachtsboot liegt auf dem Weiher unseres Nachbarn vor Anker, zusammen mit den frisch verschneiten Bäumen war die Szenerie wie aus einem Märchen, ich konnte mich kaum mehr davon losreißen...Herzliche Grüße aus dem frisch verschneiten Isarwinkel
An enchanting Christmas boat is anchored on our neighbour's pond, together with the freshly snow-covered trees the scenery was like something out of a fairy tale, I could hardly tear myself away from it...
Google Pixel 8 Pro Night Mode
A must-do while in Madeira is to take an exhilarating 2 km ride down the streets in a wicker toboggan guided by two white-clad locals. While presently a tourist attraction it previously was the local transportation to get from Monte to Funchal.
Khachkars, or memorial stone-crosses, are a uniquely Armenian art form dating to the 9th century at the commencement of the Armenian Renaissance. Typical examples include a cross set against a very intricate floral or tree of life pattern. They can be seen at cemeteries, incorporated into walls or facades of religious buildings, and on pedestals or even in piles at churches and monasteries. They are made from the very abundant Armenian volcanic stone and, as far as I can tell, in the same manner they have been for the last one thousand years or more. A stone mason, or varpet, carving a khachkar in Yerevan, Armenia.
Kurze Spritztour heute auf meinen "Aussichtsbalkon": Panoramablick von der Sonntraten über den Isarwinkel. Die Höhe ist eher bescheiden (1.100m), die Aussicht aber grandios....
An early start to Spring.
Fresh spring morning time.
That's the sound of solitude,
the presence of peace.
Haiku by Billy R. Warner
Today's Bulgaria was part of a region known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Thrace, after the people who lived there. They were a tribal people, but with the 5th century BC establishment of the Odrysian Dynasty a large portion of them were organized into single kingdom, which commenced a Thracian golden age when Thrace played a major role in the politics of the ancient world. Deceased kings of this era were deified and buried in monumental tombs (some of which can be visited) in the Valley of Thracian Kings.
During a period of internal division resulting from dynastic dispute, Alexander the Great's father, Phillip II, conquered much of the region, and many Thracian elites became Hellenized. The conquest was completed by Alexander, but the Thracians rebelled after his death and revived an autonomous state which continued in some form until final conquest by the Romans in the 1st century AD.
Above, a life sized portrait head of the Thracian King Seuthes III, who led a restored Thracian State after Alexander's death in 323 BC. This portrait was almost certainly produced by a Greek artist. It is one of my favorite artifacts from one of my favorite museums, the Sofia Archaeological Museum. The museum is somewhat small (it is housed in a 15th century Ottoman Mosque) but packs a real wallop and is amazingly well curated. Particularly memorable is the Hall of Treasures, which is actually a fairly small room containing artifacts excavated from and around Thracian burial mounds, mostly executed in the Greek style. Portrait of Seuthes III (4th century BC), in the Sofia Archaeological Museum, Sofia, Bulgaria.
We started the day a bit below freezing with a mix of fog and sun. Mrs. Orca and I made some rounds and didn't see a great deal of note except this frost beard, or hair ice. It occurs only in a unique combination of circumstances, specifically when freezing temperatures force water out of the pores of rotten broadleaf timber (in this case alder) that has been colonized by the fungus Exidiopsis effusa. The process has only been understood for about a decade. I won't pretend that it is understood by me, but somehow this specific fungus interacts with the ice in such a way that it cannot recrystalize into a crust. Instead it grows as hair from a follicle in these very fine 0.02mm filaments. Frost beard at McLane Creek Nature Trail, Olympia, WA.
Perhaps the most striking building in Yerevan, Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral was consecrated in 2001 to commemorate the 1700 year anniversary of the state adoption of Christianity. It is, of course, named for the Gregory who was instrumental in the conversion in 301 of King Tiridates III, his erstwhile persecutor. It was also intended to house the relics of the saint, which for complicated historical reasons had long ago been removed to Naples, Italy.
There was a serious obstacle to the repatriation of the relics, however. Over the course of the Middle Ages, the various Eastern and Oriental Christian churches had all fallen out with each other and with the Western church in Rome. This falling out was ostensibly over very arcane theological disputes (in the Armenian vs Roman example, which came to a head in 451: Christ had two natures, but were they united or distinct?). In reality, the falling out between the different churches was really over matters of supremacy and power, as the heads of various churches sought out and found justification for why they should be in charge and not that other guy.
In recent times, councils of the the several churches have as much as admitted that the theological differences either don't really exist, or aren't that significant, or aren't significant enough to have warranted the breaches in the first place. Still, no one has yet agreed to hand over the power to that other guy, and all of the distinct church hierarchies remain. Yet, the renewed good feeling did bear some fruit: just in time for the consecration of the above cathedral, the Catholic Church transferred Gregory's relics to the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, Yerevan, Armenia.
Mrs. Orca and I came across this owl yesterday afternoon on our neighborhood walk. I didn't have my camera with me but it was close enough to use my phone. Barred Owl, Olympia, Washington.
We're back after a marvelous two months in Armenia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria. The highlight was undoubtedly hiking the Bulgarian section of the E4, about 250km from Sofia to the Greek border. This was a hike we'd wanted to do since the first time we were in Bulgaria six years ago, and finally doing it provided a great opportunity to visit old friends, make new ones, and see some of the highest places in one of our favorite countries. Mrs. Orca on the trail to Vihren (2914m), Pirin Mountains, E4, Bulgaria.
Liebe Flickr Freunde, ich wünsche Euch ein schönes und glückliches Neues Jahr 2025!!
Dear Flickr friends, I wish you a happy and prosperous New Year 2025!!!
We've had two nights in a row without raccoons, which makes life a little easier for me and much easier for the amphibians in the yard. Pacific tree frog, backyard Olympia.
Das imposante Schloss Gottesaue ist ein Renaissance-Schloss in der Karlsruher Oststadt auf dem Areal einer ehemaligen Benediktinerabtei. Es ist heute Sitz der Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe.
The endpoint of our hike in Bulgaria. I believe the cluster of flowers are Anthyllis aurea, a Balkan endemic with a long history of medicinal uses. On our final day we saw many small groups on the mountain picking various teas and medicinal herbs, a practice which is common everywhere in Bulgaria. Strictly speaking I do not believe this is legal at this particular location, though it is customary, and I doubt there is much if any harm in it. Gotsev Vhrah (2212m) and Anthyllis aurea, Slavyanka Mountains, Five Mountains Trail (E4), Bulgaria.
A Soviet Modernist metro station from the last decade of the USSR. The fountain in the center was not working when we saw it. Republic Square Metro Station, Yerevan, Armenia.
Mrs. Orca following friends we met on trail down toward the Rilska River Valley far below. Notice the large glacial lake in the perfect hanging valley on the other side, I believe Smradlivo Lake, or Stinky Lake (2298m), Five Mountains Trail (E4), Rila Mountains, Bulgaria.
Another surprising and mysterious object in the collection of the Plovdiv Archaeological Museum. This is a phiale, or libation bowl, from the Panagyurishte Gold Treasure, a collection of nine ceremonial 23 carat gold objects weighing in at over six kilos. They date to the late 4th or early 3rd century BC and--given their immense value--are thought to have belonged to the Thracian monarch of that time, Seuthes III. Like the famous Portrait Head of Seuthes, they were probably made by Greek artists. This, the most interesting of the objects, is decorated with African faces for reasons that are not entirely clear.
The gold objects were discovered by quarry workers in 1949, not in one of the famous Thracian monumental tombs, but in an unmarked hoard. Like most such hoards it was probably hidden during a time of unrest or invasion, but the person who buried it must have been killed or taken captive, else he surely would have returned to recover it. Part of the Panagyurishte Gold Treasure, Plovdiv Archaeological Museum, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.