Roman Spring

Along the Tiber, Rome 2003—taken on
the (infamous) day we invaded Iraq.
This was the last trip I took to Italy
before I switched exclusively to digital.
Have to say, I still like the look of the photos 
I shot with my old manual SLR camera.

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Barclays Center

This arena ( the new home of the Nets) is only about
a 10- or 15-minute walk from my house (fortunately,  
just far enough away that I'm not bothered by the
attendant congestion and general hoopla when they host
something like the Grammies or that famous
Barbra (back in Brooklyn) concert.
But maybe I should take advantage and actually
attend something here.  There's basketball, of course.
Other than that, I'm torn between Cliff Richard  (I was a fan
50 years ago, so . . .)  and Walking With Dinosaurs.

[Linking back to Skywatch Friday.]

Thursday Challenge—"important"

Well, c'mon—what could ever be more important to me
than my children?  Here are Katie and Lila, circa 1985 . . .

and not quite 30 years later.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—T is for "This way"

We finally have bikes for anyone to rent
and ride here in NYC, but the program is still
not as successful as the one in Paris,
where riders manage to share some very
narrow streets with cars.  Maybe that's because
in Paris no one drives a big old SUV!

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

The first thing you see . . .

when you walk in the main gate of the
Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a huge circular
planter filled with dozens and dozens of
pink and red tulips. (What's just out of view
are the dozens of people posing in front of it.)

[Am linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.] 

Another shiny chandelier

A week ago, I showed you the chandelier in
the grand lobby of the Metropolitan Opera House.
Here's the one that's in the theater itself.
(All the sparkly "sputniks" get pulled 
up toward the ceiling before the performance 
starts, and everyone oohs and aahs.)

[Once again, I'm linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows
and also to Mandarin Orange Monday.]

inSPIREd Sunday

Venice's Basilica di San Marco is just 
a bit over the top.  But seen from behind, 
the brick structure and lead-clad (I think) domes 
are almost—but maybe not quite—simple.

[To see more churches from around the world, go here.]

Six years of 'pretty in pink'

Here's a bouquet of pink posies 
to celebrate the anniversary of the fun 
and colorful Pink Saturday meme. 
Congratulations, Beverly!

[To see more Pink Saturday posts, go here.]

Weekend Reflections

I've never been here, but after taking the picture
I checked out this place On Centre Street, in
Little Italy/Soho.  Sounds like you should come for
Happy Hour, when cocktails and dim sum are half price.

[To see more Weekend reflections, visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"many"

Just in time for this challenge, the bluebell wood
in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden has burst
into bloom again.  So just how many
bulbs are planted here?  More than 40,000!

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—S is for "spices"

The last time I was in the Galeries Lafayette, 
in Paris, my nose led me straight to this
gorgeous display of spices from around the world.
{Wish we had whatever the blog version 
of "smell-o-vision" would be.}

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Reduce, reuse, recycle

Not exactly sure what these barnyard
animals are made of—but I'm fairly certain
they were all created from something
that used to be something else (plastic, of course).

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and
also to Our World Tuesday.]

Constellations

That was the idea behind the crystal
chandeliers that hang in the grand lobby of
New York's Metropolitan Opera House.
They were designed by Hans Harald Rath, a
Viennese chandelier maker. His first sketch didn't
please the Met's architect, who gave him a book about
the big-bang theory and told him, "Find some
inspiration in this book."  So he did.

[Linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows
and to Mandarin Orange Monday.]

New York in Bloom

At the eastern end of 51st Street, just off
Beekman Place, there's a set of stone stairs that
lead down to this walkway, which goes over a little 
park and the FDR Drive and out to the East River.
I like to come here on my lunch hour—especially
at this time of year, when the cherry trees
and the Eastern redbuds are in full fabulous bloom.

[It's Shadow Shot Sunday; to see more, go here.
And for more of Today's Flowers, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

I believe these dangly little blooms are 
hellebores.  I just love their delicate beauty.

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

That view

"The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always
the city seen for the first time, in its first wild
promise of all the mystery and beauty in the world."
                                              —F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

And, as you can see, it's not too shabby 
from the Brooklyn Bridge either.

[To see more Skywatch Friday pics, go here.]

Thursday Challenge—"abandoned"

This is Buddy, my little "tuxedo" cat, whose
 fave foods were potato chips and pansies.  
I must admit he wasn't too bright, but he was 
easily the sweetest cat I've ever had.
Buddy was discovered in an abandoned building
and had apparently been abandoned by his
mama too.  But we found each other and  
he lived with me for 14+ years.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge,  visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—R is for "ribbon"

Last time I was in Paris I stepped into Au Cabas d'Or,
a mercerie (notions store), on the rue du Caire.
Along with buttons and thread and embroidery floss,
they had a fabulous selection of ribbon of all kinds.
(I bought 3 pieces—including the blue
on the left—and framed them for a friend who
loves beautiful ribbon as much as I do.)

This was barely a quarter
of what was available.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Just like new

Last month I showed you a detail of the
back door of this Paris church,
Saint-Paul–Saint-Louis, in the Marais.
And here's the front door.  

When I saw this church three years ago,
it was black with the dirt and pollution of
centuries. See what a good cleaning
and a bright red door can do?

[I'm linking back to Ruby Tuesday
and Our World Tuesday.]

grape hyacinths

I found two kinds of grape hyacinths in the garden
recently—deep purple ones (which I expected) and these
 lighter, almost blue ones (which were a nice surprise).

[To see more Blue Monday posts, visit Smiling Sally's meme.
For more Macro Monday posts, go here.]

In Saint-Germain-des-Prés

A quiet corner in the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
The current church was dedicated in the
12th century, although there was one here as
early as the 6th century.

[Linking back to inSPIREd Sunday, Shadow Shot Sunday,
and The Weekend in Black and White.]

Pink Saturday

Brooklyn Botanic Garden staff and volunteers
spent three days planting 12,000 bulbs
so that we could enjoy a colorful display of
tulips and grape hyacinths.  I didn't catch the name
of this ruffly pink cultivar, but I definitely
appreciate the hard work that made it possible.

[To see more shots that feature the
color pink, visit Beverly's meme.]

Metropolitan Opera House

On Tuesday, I showed a shot of the crowd
filing out of here.  Here's what the Opera House
looked like from the plaza out front on
that beautiful spring day.

[To see more Skywatch shots, go here.  For
more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.] 

Thursday Challenge—"musical"

Last time I was in Paris, I came across these
talented young people in the Metro—twice.  This
time, they were playing Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" with
violins, cellos, and violas. I thought the kid in
the blue sweater was adorable, and he was clearly
the "concertmaster" of this group.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—Q is for "Qu'ran"

. . . another way of spelling Koran.
This one is decorated with gold and lapis and
was made in Kashmir in the late 1700s.  It's
on display with other examples of Islamic art 
(with many beautiful and also practical 
items such as bowls, screens, and carpets)
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

After a Saturday matinée

All of these fortunate folks (and I) had just
enjoyed a performance of Cosi Fan Tutte
at the Metropolitan Opera House.

[It's Ruby Tuesday. To see more, go here.
For more of Our World Tuesday, go here.]

It's all yours

When one of my Brooklyn neighbors puts something
on their fence like this, it's usually an invitation
to passersby to help themselves.  I didn't
want the painting, but I did think it added
 a nice bit of color to the stoop.

[It's Blue Monday. To see more, visit Smiling Sally's meme.] 

Tower of Flowers

Here's a recent arrangement made by
Remco van Vliet, the in-house floral designer
for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
If you'd like to know more about how he
creates his towering floral masterpieces, you
can read this article from the Wall Street Journal.

[I'm linking back to Shadow Shot Sunday
and also Today's Flowers.]

The Weekend in Black and White

The view through one of the Musée d'Orsay clocks.
I loved this place back in the day, when
it was an eerie abandoned railroad station.
Merci to Jacques Duhamel, minister for cultural affairs
in 1970, for not letting them tear it down and to
the directorate of Les Musées de France for 
having the brilliant idea to turn it into a home for
the largest collection of Impressionist and 
Post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world.

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

There's a store in Paris's Passage du Caire
 that sells, among other things, mannequins.
One in particular was extra reflective!

Though the entire vitrine was full of them
(mannequins and reflections, that is).

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

Hiding in plain sight

That's what this lava lizard (spotted
on a trip to the Galapagos) was doing.
Since all of the creatures there seem to have 
no fear of humans—and no reason to—we
were warned to watch out for these little guys
while hiking on a 100-square-mile
lava field on the island of San Salvador.

[Today's prompt for the Thursday Photo Challenge
is "small animals." To see more, visit Dale's meme.]

And it's the 1st of the month, so I've posted to my Paris blog.