Photography

[ozzie]

Just the last few from Monaco as the sun was going down. I'm not really proficient shooting at night/low light, and the ship was moving as we were pulling out of port, but here's what I managed to get:

[LennG]

Once again Lou, just wonderful shots.

What cruise are you on?

[ozzie]

We were on Oceania Cruise lines and we went from Barcelona to Turkey. It was all thanks to my brother in law & sister in law. They were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and invited us along to be a part of it.
We visited eight countries (I think) and were onboard for 21 days. An incredible experience.

[LennG]

It has really been a while since I posted anything here, instead loving all the other pics that have been put up.

I do have several folders that I just haven't had the oomph to go thru and post, but I will get there.

Instead, I was looking thru some of my older pix and found a few 'summer' ones I thought I would share.














From Sedona, Arizona

[LennG]

This last pix is from where Norman Rockwell lived and painted for maybe 20 years, Arlington, in a small town in Vermont.
He lived and painted in this house and since has been bought and redone as a bed and breakfast. While we were on the grounds, the new owner came out and started chatting with us. he asked if we would like to see Rockwell's studio and where he slept while he was deep into paintings. The red building in the first photo is where his studio was. The entire area is SO Norman Rockwell, with the covered bridge, the small church, farms, and horses grazing in the meadow.  We are HUGE fans of Norman Rockwell's works and this was a really great experience for us. Rockwell always used many of the local people from this town in his paintings, and a few are still alive today (they were children when he painted them), we have met a couple of them.

[ozzie]

Wow, that must have been a really neat experience to be able to see Norman Rockwell's home and especially his studio.
Love that cactus shot in the first batch too!

[ozzie]

Our next port was Livorno, Italy, which was our gateway to Florence.
Here are a few of the highlights.

This ship is actually still used for training exercises by some of the Italian Navy


The obligatory shot of David


Il Duomo








The Basilica of St Croce, where many famous Italians are entombed, including Michelangelo, Michiavelli & Galileo










Back at the port in Livorno

[Jolly Blue Giant]

These pictures are extraordinary 

[LennG]

Brings back some terrific memories Lou. We did the train to Florence when we were in Rome, but we did that cruise stop in Livonia and we opted for Pisa instead.

Florence is one beautiful city. As I said, we spent just the day there, walked all over the place, and then just found a wonderful small restaurant and sat outside and enjoyed the view for over an hour before boarding the train back to Rome.

Really great shots of this wonderful city.

[ozzie]

We were in Italy for four days total and while all were great, I think Florence was my favorite.
We opted for Florence over Pisa and some other options on advice from some relatives and I'm glad we listened. Florence is just so beautiful.
Speaking of small restaurants, we had lunch at a little place recommended by our tour guide and I had the best lasagna I've ever eaten. (don't tell my mom I said that!!)
Nothing but great memories and I already can't wait to go back.

[ozzie]

Onto Rome!








These are the famed "Spanish Steps". To be honest, I was pretty underwhelmed. I don't really know what I was expecting, but I didn't think they were really anything worth even seeing! Which is ironic because we walked for a good long time in the unseasonable European heat trying to finally find them!

[LennG]

 I think I  took these pix last year but never really had a chance to go thru them and see what I had.


we spent a few days in and around Lancaster PA, Amish Country. We have visited here many times and it is always a treat to just drive the back roads, thru these odd-named towns, and sort of takes you back to a time when life was a lot quieter and slower.

[LennG]

Lou

When we were in Rome, our hotel was a few blocks from the Spanish Steps. We were there almost every day, mostly to sit and watch the sunset. I can understand how you felt about The Steps, but we enjoyed them, just to sit and view Rome and some of what goes on around it. I think most people who enjoy The Steps, use it to sit and just enjoy the surroundings. Funny, when we were there, they weren't allowing anyone to eat anything while sitting. They had policemen patrolling up and down the Steps. There was a family sitting a bit in front of us, who were having a snack. The policeman told them, nastily, to put it away, which they did, but as soon as he left, out they came again.

Anyway, great shots, and, as I said before, thanks for bringing back great memories.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Nice pictures of Lancaster. I was there a few years ago to buy my silver lab puppy from an Amish family. The Amish have turned farms into beautiful pristine buildings and landscaping. About 15 years ago, quite a few families sold their farms in Lancaster and moved to the small town that I live in. They got a hefty price from companies drilling for natural gas. Sixty some families moved here and bought up a lot of run down farms as kids these days who grew up on farms didn't want to follow in their dad's footsteps. The Amish built a saw mill, started cutting trees, and fixed up the old farm houses and barns, painted everything and landscaped the houses and barns until they look like something on a Hallmark card. They built two schools in my town, one on each side of the river and are very active in the community. I watched one of their barn builds and it was amazing

When I first retired, I started a business with a 12 passenger van giving wine tours in the Finger Lakes. That ended with Covid. There are plenty of Amish farms in the Ovid, NY (smack middle between Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake. They plow and grow corn on hundreds of acres (huge, huge fields with nothing but horses and old style plows and planters) and their farms are pristine. But the funniest thing I saw was three push-type-reel lawn movers welded together in the form of a triangle with a steel seat welded to the top. It was pulled by a horse with a woman on the mower. She had a "riding lawn mower"...LOL In my town, I watched 4 boys mowing big lawns with their push reel mowers - one kid was pulling the mower with baler twine tied around his waist while the other was pushing/steering it and the same combination of two boys was pulling and pushing a mower right beside the other two for a double swath. They are hard workers, I'll say that much. I should also get out my camera and take some pictures of some of these things I see around here. One of my favorite subjects would be these two Amish boys who have a canoe and they built a long carriage for the horse to pull it. When they go fishing, they go down the road in the canoe with 4 steel wheels being pulled by a horse, I always laugh. Another thing that makes me laugh is they buy a perfectly good hay wagon with rubber wheels and then retrofit it with steel wheels that cost as much or more than the wagon itself...LOL

I remember working like a dog as a kid, but these Amish kids work harder

[LennG]

The Amish are some of the hardest working families in the country. As you said some have broken away from the really devout Amish and call themselves Mennonites. In a way, they resemble Jewish religion, where you have the ultra-orthodox that take all laws to an extreme, so many sects broke away and really established the conservative side of the religion.

Ever watch the show 'The Amish Mafia' or there was another, Growing up Amish?