ljubljana

ljubljana

25 Sept 2023

 

I flew into Ljubljana last week and spent a few days there before driving to Croatia. I'm heading back there today for my final day in Slovenia.

I really didn't know what to expect from Ljubljana, other than it was going to be pretty and pretty it was. Ljubljana is known for it's many bridges such as the Triple Bridge, the Butcher's Bridge and the Dragon Bridge which features 4 dragons. Why dragons? The patron saint of Ljubljana is St George and we all know about his dragon slaying reputation. Even in Slovenia I can't get away from the place!

Jože Plečnik is known as the architect of modern Ljubljana and he's responsible for the Covered Market building and the Triple Bridge.

You know how much I love a good market, so I snapped quite a few images before going on my walking tour.

Everything was so lovely, fresh and local.

Ljubljana has a number of distinct architectural styles in the main due to the earthquake of 1895. The old town was largely unscathed and has Baroque architecture, whilst the new town was rebuilt in the art nouveau style of Austria as Sloveno=ia was then pasrt of the Austro-Hungarian empire. You can tell someone was paying very close attention to the tour guide! Anyway I managed to catch both architectural styles in this image.

The architecture on the other side of the river.

Some of the shops

The eateries were busy on a sunny Saturday.

The ceiling of St. Nicholas Cathedral.

On a hot Sunday with most of the shops closed, I visited the famous Tivoli Park. You can see autumn is on its way.

Looking through my photos, there seem to be a few gaps, so I might run around with my camera this afternoon. 

See you all again next week with some more travel photos. 

Bye for now, 

Jillian

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paris

paris

18 Sept 2023

Paris, what can I say about you that hasn't been said before? It's equal parts sublime and frustrating.

I stayed in Goncourt, an area I'd not stayed in before, and visited some new to me places as well as old favourites. One thing for sure, 3 full days in Paris was never going to be long enough. I hared around as quickly as my feet and the Metro would allow, not helped by my complete inability to follow phone directions. Guaranteed, I ended up walking in the wrong direction every single time. Call me a fossil, but I need an old fashioned paper map that I can turn upside down.

I vowed I would consume a pastry a day and that I did. They were of varying quality and price and the best of the lot was this pain aux raisin from The French Bastards.

No place is at its best when it rains and on my first day in Paris it absolutely bucketed down. Unfortunately that was the day I spent in the Marais, one of my favourite places in Paris, and with such limited time, I wasn't able to return.

After my pastry run, I made my way to Merci, a store I photographed many years ago. Since then it's popularity has grown and the place was packed. It was then a toss up between Museums, either the Musee Carnavalet or the Musee Picasso.

I chose the recently renovated Musee Carnavalet but in retrospect I wish I'd chosen the Musee Picasso. The history of Paris was less engaging to me than the works of Picasso.

Air conditioning isn't much of a thing in Paris so the museum was pretty hot and stuffy. I was quite happy to be outside in the rain photographing the pretty gardens.

I then walked down Rue des Roisiers but by this time the rain was so heavy and my jeans and shoes were wet, so I gave up and went home for the day.

The next day although there wasn't too much sun, at least it didn't rain. I started my day with a market, the new to me Marche Monge, which was charming.

As you can see despite the heat, autumn had come to Paris.

I wish you could had smelt these strawberries. The perfume was so intense and best of all, they tasted like strawberries.

I visited the Arab World Institute for the rooftop view over Notre Dame.

As I was on the left bank I walked to the Odette, a pastry shop housed in an extremely old building. As you can imagine Odette is an instagram magnet and I had to wait a very long time for the crowds to part.

I visited the Jeu de Paume, to see a black and white photographic exhibition then walked through the Tuileries.

I kept walking until I reached the Galeries Vivienne, one of the many covered passages of Paris, where I photographed this pooch.

I then crossed the street to the recently reopened Bibliothèque Nationale de France - Richelieu to see the fabulous Oval reading room.

The next day, my final day in Paris was meant to be low-key but in the end I spent the whole day running around. I started the day with a visit to Musée de la Vie Romantique a small museum near Pigalle.

It has a pretty little garden and I sat writing postcards under these heavily scented blooms.

I planned a bit of light shopping around the Rue Montorgueil area where all the kitchen shops are located. I somehow managed to turn a 2 minute walk between shops into a 45 minute escapade.

Eventually I found the shop and left with my goodies but walked past many an eatery en route.

Do you think these customers knew I was taking their photo?

 

I stopped by the Galeries Lafayette for a final view of Paris. Nowhere near as good as the view from Printemps but their terrace is now reserved for restaurant customers only.

Such a pity the sun only came out on my final day but then again, I'll always have Paris!

See you all again soonish with some photos from my time in Slovenia. 

Bye for now, 

Jillian

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glasgow

glasgow

13 Sept 2023

Have you ever been to Glasgow? I've been there so often, it feels like a home away from home for me. I stay with my good friend Kay; I play with her dog Boris and together we catch up over copious cups of tea. 

When I'm not drinking tea, I catch the bus into town and roam around.

I missed my stop and accidentally ended up at Glasgow University, which was no hardship because I love the quandrangle there. I also dropped into the Hunterian Museum and learned a lot about Lord Kelvin.

I made my way into the city and found Buchanan Street abuzz and the crowd bopping to a rockabilly group called The Best Bad Influence.

Kay stables her horse at a farm so on Saturday we went for a walk around the back roads, where I spied brambles, thistles and cows.

On Sunday we went for a walk around the Pollok Country Park, then visited the Burrell Collection.

Pollok House is surrounded by beautiful gardens and the dahlias were in bloom.

My favourite vista

The urn that I first photographed about 20 years ago on black and white film.

I still have more images to share with you, but as this blog post has taken me more hours than I care to share, I'll be back next week with some highlights of my time in Paris. 

Bye for now,

Jillian

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london

london

7 Sept 2023

Greetings from London, where I've just spent the past few days struggling equally with jetlag and from the unexpected heat. 

I've had a few camera issues since my arrival - a few days ago I had a flat battery at a key moment coupled with the filthiest sensor I've ever seen and then the focus on my camera stopped working. Most likely issues one and two are connected to issue 3. Somehow, I managed to get the auto focus working again, but some of the images I took on the day are a little 'soft'. Unfortunately, I'm not in one place long enough to get the sensor cleaned or the focus issue looked into.

So how have I spent my time? I visited Somerset House, where I found children gambolling in the fountain in an effort to combat the heat. 

I visited the Chelsea Physic Gardens, a little beacon of calm in the city.

I arrived in time to take in the golden glow of the afternoon.

As I was staying in Fulham Broadway, I walked past the Stamford Bridge Stadium, home to the Chelsea FC, to the Brompton Cemetery, a place I'd not been before. I loved it so much; I visited it twice so expect an avalanche of photographs sometime in the future.

No visit to London is complete without a visit to Borough Market, where I photographed these beautiful artichokes and white asparagus.

My last day ended with a stroll along Marylebone High Street and a droolworthy visit to the Conran Shop.

Camera issues and unstable internet do not allow for long blog posts so I hope you'll understand that my posting will be irregular. I plan to do some proper blog posts once I'm back home with my familiar laptop and software and of course get my film developed.                                                                                 

Next stop Glasgow. 

See you all again soonish. Bye for now, 

Jillian

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