Sixth of Sixth

I have been tagged by Pink Dogwood over at Wandering Mind to share a picture and talk about it.

Specifically I have to locate the sixth picture in my sixth folder and talk about it. Not in a descriptive sort of way, but what it means to me, why I took this picture and why I kept it.

The way my photos are grouped at the moment meant that this one of Times Square in New York is the sixth photo in the sixth group of photos (I use iPhoto so my pics are grouped).


I had long wanted to visit New York. It is a city I had seen so much of and heard so much about without ever setting foot in it. It is in so many TV programmes and films that you can't help but feel you know the place. I had to see for myself though. I wanted to look out of my hotel room at night and see if the city did sleep and if it really is like it is in the movies.

One of the first places I visited after checking into my hotel was Times Square. It was early evening in November and I couldn't wait to explore despite being tired and hungry. So off I went in search of food and I found it along with bright lights and flashing adverts and people and yellow cabs and noise and bustle and music. I couldn't believe I was actually there. I took a few pics and then found coffee and food before heading back to my hotel where I also took in Grand Central Station and a fine view of the Empire State Building. I was actually in New York. Wow.

I would love it if some of my blog friends could do this fun little meme. It can be a nice quick one to do! I therefore break my 'no tagging' rule and tag:

Melody of 'Biglittlesister'
Diane of 'Forks of the Moment'
Randall of 'Musings from the Hinterland'
Kenju of 'Imagine...'
Rashbre of 'Rasbre Central'
and Nikki-Ann of 'Notes of Life'

Don't feel you have to though. If anyone else wants to do this then I'd love to see what you post!

Brussels (sans sprouts)

I am back from Brussels now and although I spent most of my time there in meetings I did get a free evening to explore. So, straight after the first day's meetings I went back to the hotel to freshen up and then it was straight out and about.

The weather was showery and chilly but that didn't dampen my spirits as I always love being in a foreign city with time, no matter how little, to explore. I have been to Brussels on business before so I headed straight for the Grand Place, a wonderful cobbled square surrounded by grand historic buildings. The first time I saw it, it made me gasp at it's architectural grandeur. I did not expect it to have the same effect on me again but I was wrong. It was dark by the time I got there and as I rounded the corner and the square opened up before me I stopped dead in my tracks. I was met with quite a spectacle.

The square was full of people and nearly everyone was watching a light show which was playing on the church like building that dominates one side of the square. Operatic pieces and other music (such as the piece in my video), filled the square and the lights changed with the music to create a kind of theatrical spectacle. I stopped near to the life sized nativity and Christmas tree and recorded the video above on my mobile (cell) phone. It's not quite the same as being there but it's the best I could do.

After watching for a time I went to find something to eat and then visited the Christmas markets where I bought some hand made decorations and. of course, chocolate before heading back to the hotel, via the Grand Place where the lights and music played on.

Time for a Bath

The city of Bath Spa is a great place to visit. It is of course the home of the mineral baths, first discovered by the Romans, and then later became fashionable with the Georgians and Victorians. It is also the setting for many Jane Austen novels, where the heroine would often spend time in the fashionable society there. One weekend recently, I decided it was about time I re-acquainted myself with the delights of Bath and it's numerous diversions (as Ms Austen would say). The day I chose was fine but not sunny and as ever Bath was teaming with shoppers and tourists.

Like any city centre, Bath has the usual high street shops deposited along the main roads, but it also has many fine shops and smaller more unusual shops too, selling gifts, jewellery and couture. The photo above shows one of the smaller side streets. Down this street there is a shop called 'Ben's Cookie's' which makes the best cookies I have ever tasted. Needless to say, that as I ambled down this narrow lane, a strange force pulled me towards the doorway of the cookie purveyors and then the sweet aroma carried me to the counter where I was powerless to resist. One fine cookie later I continued contentedly on my way and popped out near the Roman baths.

The Romans occupied Bath shortly after their invasion of Britain in 43 AD, being drawn to the area by the hot mineral springs situated there. They knew it as Aquae Sulis (literally 'the waters of Sul'). Increasingly grand temples and bathing complexes were built in the area, including the Great Bath. This was rediscovered from the 18th century onward, when the assembly rooms and pump room were added and has become one of the city's main attractions. The main entrance to the Baths is shown in the photo above.

I passed by this and wend my way down the adjoining street until I came to the park which is situated by the river. I captured a view of it in the photo above showing the band stand and an example of the gorgeous buildings for which the city is also known. Many of the buildings in Bath would have been present when Jane Austen moved to the city with her father, mother and sister Cassandra in 1801. The family remained in the city at four successive addresses until 1806, however Jane never liked the city, and after leaving it wrote to her sister Cassandra, "It will be two years tomorrow since we left Bath for Clifton, with what happy feelings of escape." Despite these feelings, her novels Northanger Abbey and Persuasion are largely set in the city.


I carried on past the park and then crossed the river to walk along the opposite bank which afforded me the lovely view of Bath Abbey, shown in the photo above. Originally a Norman church on earlier foundations, it was rebuilt in the early 16th century and transformed into a grand monastic church with Perpendicular architecture. The river walk took me down towards Pulteney Bridge and the weir (photo below). Pulteney Bridge crosses the River Avon and was completed in 1773. It is one of only four bridges in the world with shops across the full span on both sides. I climbed the steps by the bridge which took me over it and ventured back into the city centre where I found a small cafe to revive me before continuing.


I did a little shopping and some more walking, not really going anywhere but going down this or that street, going left or right as the mood took me. One such turn took me down a more quiet back street shown in the last photo. The dominant style of architecture in Bath is Georgian and many of the prominent architects of the day were employed in the development of the city. As a result Bath has many fine terraces, however, the original purpose of much of Bath's fine architecture was as purpose-built lodging houses, where visitors could hire a room, a floor, or (according to their means) an entire house for the duration of their visit as alluded to in Ms Austen's writings. If you find yourself in Wiltshire then I recommend a visit.

Wall Street

A trip to NYC would not have been complete without seeing Wall Street. I am afterall a postgraduate business student so I got on the subway and headed downtown. Wall Street runs east from Broadway and continues downhill to the East River. The photo below shows the sign post which stands on Broadway near the Trinity Church (often seen in movies such as Die Hard III and National Treasure). It was a lovely day but the height of the surrounding buildings meant that the sidewalk was in shade. Still I felt I had to include this pic as apparently this signpost is one of the most photographed in the world!

Here comes the history bit - The name 'Wall Street' derives from the fact that during the 17th Century, it formed the northern boundary of the New Amsterdam settlement. The stockade was built on behalf of the West India Company by Peter Stuyvesant. This was further strengthened by the time war had developed with the English to a 12 foot wall of timber and earth fortified by palisades. The wall was created, and strengthened over time, as a defense against attack from various Indian tribes, New England colonists and the British. In 1685 surveyors laid out Wall Street along the lines of the original stockade and the wall was dismantled by the British in 1699 leaving the street running along the course it does today.

Wall Street is of course famous for being the heart of the Financial District and the photo above is of the New York Stock Exchange. In the late 18th century, there was a tree at the foot of Wall Street under which traders and speculators would gather to trade informally. In 1792, the traders formalised their association with the Buttonwood Agreement which was named after the type of tree they met under. The photo above was taken looking across from Federal Hall and in the foreground you can see the steam rising through one of the covers in the road - a common sight in NYC! Below is a close up of the wonderful carvings that are above the columns of the Stock Exchange.

Federal Hall is also sited on Wall Street and below is the statue of George Washington that stands outside it. Of course, Federal Hall is the site where George Washinton took his oath as the first President of America in 1789.

Of course I couldn't do a post about Wall Street without showing you a photo of the Bull. This isn't actually on Wall Street but stands on Broadway just a little way from Wall Street, towards Bowling Green. The is also a very nice little diner nearby where I had a great lunch. As I ventured further down Broadway towards Bowling Green the wide opened up, allowing the sun to reach the sidewalk and defrosting my fingers as I can't take photos with gloves on - how I suffer for my art! :-)

This last photo (below) is of Bowling Green looking back up Broadway. Bowling Green is the oldest park in NYC and was made by the British who played bowls there (hence the name). After this I continued my explorations and headed towards Battery Park but that is another tale...

Back in the UK and jetlagged!

I'm back and at the moment I am soooo tired despite just sleeping for eleven hours! Guess I have jetlag. Anyway, it was nice to see that some of you had left me a message so thanks for that - it's nice to know you dropped by :0)

Anyway, I had an absolutely fantastic time in New York. It rocks!!! Big time. I thought I'd share a few of my photos with you as a taster now and I will post more over the next few days. I did so much and saw so many great things it would be impossible to write about it all at once. To start with, the first photo was the view from my hotel room. The hotel was called The Alex and was very nice. It was quite modern and comfortable and I even had an LCD TV in the bathroom. But the best bit by far was waking up on my first day, opening the curtains and seeing the Chrysler Building. It really is a stunning building and looked great at night too when it was all lit up.

Despite my hotel room being great I didn't spend too much time in it as there was so much I to see and do. I must have walked miles and miles while I was there but I also used the subway a lot too with the fabulous Grand Central Terminal being my nearest station. I could not believe how big it was or how beautiful this station was inside. Still, at the end of every day my feet were sore from walking!

The next picture was taken at dusk when I was exporing and was taken up the road from Radio City which you can just see in the distance. New York is definitely a city that looks good at night and my first view of it as we drove in was at night and I left in the dark too. What an impressive skyline! The other thing that took my breath away was how tall many of the buildings were. This meant that even on a nice day the sidewalk was often in the shade and boy, it could feel cold so I wrapped up nice and warm.

The photo above was taken at the site of the World Trade Centre which I visited on the day I went Downtown. It was quite a moving experience as there were pictures of 9/11 displayed at the site as well as a run down of the events that day. It was quite a positive place too however as you could see the building work taking place and it really felt like NY was repairing itself and looking forwards with this new project.

The next photo was taken from the top of the Empire State Building. The view took my breath away. It didn't matter which way you looked there was a building you recognised and the people and cars below looked sooo small. The photo below is of the East side of the city and my hotel was a block north of the Chrysler Building which you can see in the picture.


The next picture is of Radio City. I didn't go and see a show there but I was quite taken with how it looked all lit up with this huge Chriustmas Tree. The Rockettes were in the Macy's Parade which I turned out to see but was a bit of a wash out. It was cold, wet and miserable and the poor people in the parade looked the same even though they were trying to put a brave face on it. The weather also meant that the balloons were tethered very low so it was not such an impressive sight. I also discovered that on Thanksgiving NY is more or less is shut! The city that never sleeps took a day off for the holiday so I went to the cinema in Times Square instead. I saw Happy Feet and the New Bond Film and I must say that seeing a film is a much different experience in the US. American audiences seem much more vociferous and seem to get quite wrapped up in the film gasping at all the white knuckle moments and even yelling at the screen, or maybe this is just New York?

Anyway, I did go to see Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera in the Lincoln Centre which was wonderful. The sets were beautiful and the production was excellent and I also thought the Lincoln Centre was a lovely building with an Art Deco feel and an impressive chandalier in the foyer and auditorium.

My wanderings around NY took me to MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum, The Natural History Museum, Rockerfeller centre, Wall Street, Battery Park, Bronx Zoo, the Staten Island Ferry and 5th Ave and the area around it for shopping (including Tiffany's and Bloomingdales) and I have some pics to share soon. I also took time to walk around Central Park which is in the last photo below. I visited Strawberry Fields and also saw the skaters though I didn't go skating myself.

Anyway, I'm tired so I'll write more soon. I had such a great few days away but came away wanting to go back as there is still so much to see!

Czech this out some more

I thought I would share some more pics I took of Prague as it is such a picturesque city. The photo above was taken on Charles bridge. It shows one of the statues of the saints that line either side of it with old Prague in the background.

This pic was taken on the walk to visit Prague castle (pic on the previous post) and shows St Nicholas church at the top of the road.

I thought the Old Town Square was a fantastic place to chill out and this is it in the evening. It was always a bustling and vibrant place and surrounded by fantastic buildings.


This is a view from the old Town Hall Tower and shows some of the ornate architecture. Many buildings have balconys, statures, frescoes and mouldings. Hopefully this gives you an insight into how rich this place is in architecture, history and culture. I recommend it!

Czech this out

I have wanted to go to Prague for quite a bit. I don't know why. I think I saw it on TV and just decided that I had to go for myself. Well, now I have and I wasn't disappointed. Prague is a wonderful city to visit. Full of beautiful architecture, impressive churches, bridges, narrow cobbled streets, little street cafes and bars, a wonderful castle, museums and plenty of history. There are loads of shops selling Czech goods such as crystal and wooden toys and puppets. In one such shop I was insanely happy to be reaquainted with a blast from the past when I found a toy Mole which was a Czech cartoon character that I adored as a small child.

The first evening I was there, I dumped my stuff at the hotel as I couldn't wait to get out and see the place. Every corner turned was a new discovery and I just wandered around taking everything in until it clouded over suddenly and I got caught in a big electric storm and torrential rain. I wasn't bothered though. I was in an exciting foreign city and the storm just added to the adventure. I spent the next three days walking miles looking around and taking it all in. The view from the castle across the red roofs of the city is amazing and I also went on a lovely boat trip down the Vltava river which runs through the city. All I can say, is the pictures don't do it justice. Go and see it for yourself but avoid the weekends - as I was leaving I saw several stag parties lurching through the airport about to be let loose on Prague so it was the right time to get back on the plane.