The Magic Fountains of Barcelona

Gaudi designed street lamps

Just before dusk

The Magic Fountains

Colour changing

The Magic Fountain is one of the attractions in Barcelona, and a nightly show is put on in the summer months for visitors.  The fountains are in Montjuic, near the Placa Espanya, just outside the city centre.   The fountains were designed in 1929 for the International Exposition, and were used for the closing ceremony.   The display starts at dusk, and the water jets are controlled to music, with lots of lights and colour, that get more intense as the evening gets darker.

Have you seen these fountains, or some others like them in different places?

Wordless Wednesday : Castle on the Hill

Cows and a Castle at Roches Point

 

Thursday Doors : 8 June 2017

Door from the Alms House in Youghal, Co Cork

Over the weekend we went exploring in Youghal, Co Cork – a town about an hour away from my home.    The main street of Youghal, on first glance, is a bit run down with lots of empty shops and derelict buildings, but there’s more to Youghal than first impressions.   The town was buzzing on Sunday as there was a ‘Moby Dick ‘ festival on, as this is where the film Moby Dick was made in the mid 50s.   There was music, food and dancing in the streets!

We decided to explore a little more, and got a walking map from the Tourist Office, and came across some hidden gems, including St Mary’s Cathedral, which is the oldest church in Ireland, with continuous worship since the 13th century.

St Mary’s Collegiate Chapel

One of the main benefactors in Youghal was Richard Boyle who was the first Earl of Cork, and lived in Youghal for many years.  He built 6 alms houses in 1601 for 6 retired soldiers, and granted them a pension of £5 per year – probably a princely sum in those days!   The houses were renovated about 20 years ago, and are now used as private dwellings, but the original stonework is still there in places, as you can see, and they look exactly like they looked when first built.

Another view of the alms houses.

Tyntes Castle, Youghal

This is the door of Tyntes Castle, called an ‘urban tower house’ and built in the late 15th century, it’s a 4 story residence in the main street, where the gentry lived in earlier centuries.

Tyntes Castle, Youghal

Linked to Norm’s Thursday Doors

Tuesdays of Texture : Week 24 of 2017

 

Roches Point Lighthouse

The sea, the grasses, the cloudy sky and the lighthouse – all different textures to make up my Tuesday of Texture!

Cee’s Which Way Challenge: 2 June 2017

covered walkway

This walkway in Mijas, in southern Spain, was a very shady spot in the heat of the day, which was full of plants and with steps leading down to another archway.  This archway was a shortcut out to the sunny street.  Mijas is built on the side of a hill and is full of interesting little laneways, and steps leading up and down to different places – and flowers everywhere.    The locals take pride in their village, and everywhere you go there are pots and hanging baskets, full of colour in the sunshine.

The big question of the day is – Which Way shall we go?

The Donkeys of Mijas

 

Linked to Cee’s Which Way Challenge

Wordless Wednesday : Mijas Taxis!

Ready to party in Mijas, Spain

Thursday Doors : 18 May

We have just been on a short trip to the sunshine in southern Spain, the Costa del Sol, and here are a few of the doors we came across.  Most doors that we saw were very ornate, and a lot of them had these wrought iron doors outside the wooden doors, which means the building can be cooler in summer with the wooden door open.

Or how about these ones?

Green Door

Horshoe door

Head on over to Norm’s for more

 

 

Tuesdays of Texture : Week 20

The craftmanship in this walkway is a very effective design,made with the smooth light and dark stones.   Lots of texture under your bare feet when you walk in the sun in sunny Marbella in Spain, and there’s even a leaf or two in the photo!   This was in a beautiful plaza, and look at the amazing tiled bench, just made for sitting on to watch the world go by!

Tiled craftwork

And on to another Spanish village, this time Mijas, a traditional white village on the Costa del Sol, where we spotted this ceramic map of the world – such a clever idea!

Map of the world, made up of ceramic pieces, in Mijas, Spain

Linked to Tuesdays of Texture

 

Wordless Wednesday : Window Dressing

Plaza de los Naranjos, Marbella

Norm’s Thursday Doors :

My doors this week come from the fabulous Muckross House in Killarney, Co. Kerry.  This is a 19th century house built on the shores of the Lakes of Killarney, with magnificent gardens and old trees.   The house was built in 1839, and extensive work was done on the house and gardens in preparation for the visit of Queen Victoria in 1861 .

Muckross House, Killarney

This is the main entrance to the house, which is open to the public, and furnished in the original style – a very grand mansion, but probably not so grand for those living ‘downstairs’ and having to carry everything up two or three flights of stairs from the kitchens in the basement.

 

Muckross House, Killarney

And these are some of the doors from the back of the house – probably a storeroom.

Servant’s Entrance?