S is for street and statues

A main street in Hamburg, Germany, and a collection of life-size figures, let me call them  statues:

ABC Wednesday

There were 100 life-size figures - designed by different artists-  of Hamburg’s most famous water carrier, Hans Hummel, in the city centre for about 3 years until June 2006. Hans  Hummel was the last water-carrier in Hamburg at a time when only a few houses still didn't have their own water-supplies back in the middle of the 19th century. He used to walk through Hamburg with his 2 heavy vats of water and he was considered to be an ill-tempered type, which gave the children all the more reason to tease him by calling him by the derisive nickname "Hummel, Hummel!" (English: bumble bee). Because the tormented water carrier was seldom able to catch the little rogues - he was always carrying great quantities of water for many kilometres into the town - his answer was mostly just : Mors, Mors, a Low German (Plattdeutsch) expression to be translated as “@rse, @rse!” (Info gathered from several net sources).

Note: I will be walking the streets of  Hamburg as of Thursday and that is the reason for a  short blogging break. Family (Mr Mar's side) and friends will demand all of my time and attention,  and I am very happy about it. I shall return!! 

red brush

Callistemon laevis. I'd love one for my garden, I took this picture at a park in Valencia.

Macro Monday, Ruby Tuesday

monthly : full moon

photohunt is hosted by tnchick on Saturdays

A monthly magical  and fascinating sight: a full moon. This is a re-run because I ran out of ideas for this week's theme and I  don't have any  recent pictures of the moon, bear with me!

skywatch: cloudless

Not a cloud in the sky. This morning's skywatch during a short walk in my neighborhood (which happens to be the Mediterranean) was suddenly interrupted by the sight of the white stranded shark, sunbathing on that  roof .... (click to enlarge).                       

skywatch

looking out

...from a bodega in Valencia, Spain. Established in 1836.

Window Views

R is for river and riverbed

I was in Valencia last week and I was able to stroll here, which is actually a  riverbed...but it's dry. The reason why is explained below.

ABC Wednesday

The Turia  is a Spanish river whose source is in the Teruel province. It runs through the Valencia province and discharges into the Mediterranean sea near the city of Valencia.After a catastrophic flood in 1957 which devastated the city of Valencia, the river was divided in two at the western city limits. The water has been diverted southwards along a new course that skirts the city, before meeting the Mediterranean. The old course of the river continues, dry, through the city centre, almost to the sea.

The old riverbed is now a verdant sunken park that allows cyclists and pedestrians to traverse much of the city without the use of roads. The park, called the 'Garden of the Turia' (Jardí del Túria/Jardín del Turia) boasts numerous ponds, paths, fountains, flowers, football pitches, cafés, artworks, climbing walls, an athletics track, a zen garden and more. The many bridges overhead carry traffic across the park. Source

red in motion

This is not an award-winning picture but it is a small tribute to this year's short asparagus season and it sort of represents how busy real life has been in the past few days... AND there is a bit of red there too! This is Mr Mar and his quick peeling tecnnique. He is the cook in this household and we are all very thankful for that.

Ruby Tuesday

Update: this post had another name but I love interaction and I loved the second comment, so I used it to rename the post!

half

"Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you." Kahlil Gibran

"Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it just to reach you, Julia"- "Julia", The Beatles.

I finally opted for my glass of cava, photographed in a lovely bodega in Valencia this week, while I had half an ear on the background music. Is the glass half full or half empty?

photohunt is hosted by tnchick on Saturdays

Valencia sky

Walking on the Calatrava bridge L’Assut de l’Or this week in Valencia, Spain (a 3-h drive from home).
The new building Agora is seen on the left, which hosts a center court for the Valencia Open and seats 5,500 spectators.

Skywatch

Q is for quince

ABC Wednesday

Photographed in Chile and re-posted here, my archives are seeing the light again... This one wasn't ripe yet.  I  never particularly cared for  quince (membrillo)  nor for quince jelly (dulce de membrillo), but quince reminds me of my childhood.

quince [kwins]

1. either of two small trees, Cydonia oblonga or C. sinensis, of the rose family, bearing hard, fragrant, yellowish fruit used chiefly for making jelly or preserves.
2. the fruit of such a tree.

Quince (and pear) output

Image via Wikipedia

Will be commenting late as I am on the road, please leave your direct link, thank you!

bit of yellow, bit of blue, big puppy

This is Puppy, a 43-ft /13 m tall floral sculpture of a West Highland White Terrier puppy -executed in a variety of flowers on a steel substructure, with an internal irrigation system- by Jeff Koons , which I photographed  in front of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, two years ago. More about Puppy here.  I love this flower sculpture from my archives, it always makes me smile and that's why it is posted here again.

Blue Monday, Mellow Yellow Monday

mother(s)

...and daughter(s) out for a walk. Captured in Central Chile several years ago. 

Spain celebrates Mother's Day on the first Sunday in May. Happy Mother's Day if you are celebrating, happy weekend anyways.

photohunt is hosted by tnchick .

P is for palm trees

Since it's been raining non-stop these past couple of days, I was only seen indoors and I had the chance to review my archives.  I took this picture of palm trees a year ago near Valencia, along the Mediterranean Sea, at a magical time of the day: dusk. I think they are a sort of fan palms, although the fan-shaped leaves are not easy to see because of the wind.

ABC Wednesday

Photo Friday

row your red boat

It rained all day yesterday, it won't get any better today... Because of the rain I just watched the waves from my dining room window, where I have a lovely view but my little camera cannot capture that, therefore no pictures! I was going through my archives and found one from Gran Canaria taken in 2006: some red for Ruby Tuesday!! I remember I took this picture from the hotel's breakfast room early in the morning.

wave watching

I have a wonderful view from the Med from my home. A wide view of the quiet Med. But it's raining today and the weather is mixed up so I get to see waves!! that's an unusual view.

No chance for whale watching, but for wave watching today. You know where to find me in case you need me. Have a wonderful day.