Tuesday 9 August 2016

Warsaw: Great Artwork


Not really a fan of (post-) modern art, but this piece of 'strange art' on the side of a bar in Warsaw city centre really caught my eye.

Monday 8 August 2016

Tempio Pausania (Sardinia): Cork Trees


Couple of shots of the famous Sardinian cork trees near our hotel in Tempio Pausania:


Sardinia: Church Shot from a Coach Window


Not often that a mobile shot taken through a coach window turns out well, but I was more than happy with this one.

Bosa (Sardinia): Cryptic-Looking Door


Found this door in Bosa really cryptic-looking.

Sardinia: Santa Cristina Church and Pilgrim Houses


My final shots from the Santa Cristina holy well site are of the church and Christian pilgrim houses:




This poster from the toilets intrigued both me and my wife:


It had us speculating that some Bronze Age, Nuragic religious ritual might be being re-enacted at Santa Cristina some time soon.

Santa Cristina Holy Well Site (Sardinia): More Prehistoric-Looking Buildings


At the Santa Cristina Nuragic Well site, there were plenty of other prehistoric-looking buildings:





Sunday 7 August 2016

Cagliari: Nostra Signora di Bonaria Basilica


While in Cagliari, we visited the Nostra Signora di Bonaria basilica.


Currently reading up on the significance of the basilica, with people coming from afar to pray to a wooden statue of Mary and Christ, which is kept in a niche behind the altar and is believed to have saved a Spanish ship during a storm in the 14th century.



Saturday 6 August 2016

Sardinia: Tempio Pausania Cathedral


My shots of St. Peter's Cathedral in Tempio Pausania which dates back to the 15th century:


Couldn't help but notice these intriguing small statues on the front of the cathedral:




We didn't get inside the main part of the cathedral but from outside it looked a big place:


The chapel below, which may have been attached to the cathedral, was open:



Sardinia: Santa Cristina (Nuragic) Holy Well


One of the highlights of the Sardinia trip was the visit to Santa Cristina holy well:


Just read that the Bronze Age Nuragic people, like many ancient civilisations, worshipped water.
  

Below, people are walking down to the well:



And here there's many more details about Santa Cristina Well:



Sardinia: Castelsardo Cathedral


Pictures from St. Anthony's Cathedral in Castelsardo which, in its present form, goes back to the late 16th century.








Of course, the cathedral is famous for overlooking the sea:


Ichnusa: Sardinian Beer


Drinking Ichnusa, which seemed to be the staple Sardinian beer, somewhere on the northern Sardinian coastline.


Ichnusa seemed to be so dominant that it reminded me of Super Bock in Portugal.  Still, it was okay on a hot summer's day.

 

Friday 5 August 2016

Tempio Pausania (Sardinia): Shaded Boulevard


In Tempio Pausania, on our last day in Sardinia, we needed to wheel away a few hours before setting off for the airport, so we were really happy we came across this wonderful kind of shaded boulevard in the town centre.


From the shaded boulevard, we were able to get great shots of the surrounding, sunny landscape:




And connected to the shaded boulevard, there was a wonderful park full of pine trees and cones:


The pine cone below was secreting a kind of turquoise substance and giving off an incredibly beautiful smell that I seemed to recognise from somewhere:


Then, my wife explained that traditional incense was produced from such cones.