VARNA, BULGARIA

During the Summer of 2006, we visited Europe and one of the countries we visited was Bulgaria. This was a very interesting trip and amongst the cities we visited was Varna. Varna (Bulgarian: Варна, pronounced ˈvarnɐ) is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and the third largest city in Bulgaria. With approximately half a million inhabitants, it is the administrative centre of the homonymous province and Varna Municipality and the tenth-largest city in the Balkans.

It is also the fourth largest city on the Black Sea. Often referred to as the marine (or summer) capital of Bulgaria, Varna is a major tourist destination, a starting point for all the resorts in the northern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, encompassing the so called Bulgarian Las Vegas - Golden Sands, business and university centre, seaport, and headquarters of the Bulgarian Navy and merchant marine. In April 2008, Varna was designated seat of the Black Sea Euro-Region by the Council of Europe.

The Varna culture is a record holder, the oldest golden treasure in the world was discovered in Varna Necropolis, consisting of artefacts dating to 4750 BC.

This post is part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

SPARROW IN RED

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,

and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

HOME DÉCOR

We saw these home décor accessories in a shop a few days ago. The orange lantern and vase were quite striking, as you can see in the first image, which is straight-out-of camera. I then used the poster edges command in Photoshop and adjusted the brightness/contrast for the second image.

The third image was a further processing of Image 2, with various adjustments to colour and colour balance. The third image was more processing of Image 2, with selective masking and changes in colour balance.

Image 5 is a cut-up combination of several areas of Images 4 & 5.

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme,
and also part of the Nature Footsteps Inspiring Photography meme.

SANTA MARIA IN PORTO, ITALY

The basilica of Santa Maria in Porto is an important place of Catholic worship in Ravenna It is located on Via Roma, the main road, which crosses the centre of the city from north to south, not far from Porta Nuova. It is home to the Sanctuary of the Madonna Greca (The Greek Virgin), Patroness Saint of Ravenna.

In the first half of the fifteenth century, the Canons Regular of Santa Maria in Porto decided to build their monastery in the city of Ravenna, next to the church of Santa Maria in Porto Fuori. However, the Venetians imposed that the monastery be built within the walls of the city.

Land was bought then near the Porta Nuova, the then southern end of the town. Houses that were occupying the land were demolished on August 5, 1496.  The construction of the monastery was started in the same year to end thirteen years later, in 1509, although the canons settled there since 1503.

In 1511 Pope Julius II lived there during his trip to Romagna and in that same year, the project for the church construction was presented to him by Bernardino Tavella. Construction of the church began in 1553 and lasted several decades: The coverage of the nave was built in 1561 , while the consecration took place on October 8, 1606, by the Archbishop of Ravenna and Cardinal Camerlengo Pietro Aldobrandini. In 1710 the new altar was built, and in 1784, the façade was completed, by Camillo Morigia.

In 1797 the church suffered the effects of the French invasion. The sanctuary was stripped and plundered and the monks were expelled. The following year both the monastery and the church were closed, and were subsequently used as a military barracks. In 1828 the monastery was re-opened but it was closed again in 1886 because of new ecclesiastical laws. The monastery became a confectionery factory.

At the end of the nineteenth century, the church of Santa Maria in Porto was ceded to the diocesan clergy, becoming a parish seat. On the initiative of Archbishop Vincenzo Moretti (1871-1879) and his successors the cult of the Madonna Greca was restored. On 21 April 1900, in its eighth centenary celebrations, the image of the Virgin was solemnly crowned.

July 24, 1944, the church was hit by an unexploded bomb in the choir. The damage was later restored. Today the monastery is partly used as a dwelling of the monks of the Order of St. Paul the First Hermit, who officiate the church still, and in part it is the seat of the Municipal Art Gallery (since 1972 ).

This post is part of the Scenic Weekends meme,

and also part of the Spiritual Sundays meme,

and also part of the inSPIREd Sunday meme.

UDAIPUR, INDIA

Udaipur, also known as the City of Lakes, is a city, a Municipal Council and the administrative headquarters of the Udaipur district in the state of Rajasthan in western India. It is located 403 kilometres southwest of the state capital, Jaipur, 248 km west of Kota, and 250 km northeast from Ahmedabad. Udaipur is the historic capital of the kingdom of Mewar in the former Rajputana Agency.

The Guhils (Sisodia) clan ruled the Mewar and its capital was shifted from Chittorgarh to Udaipur after founding city of Udaipur by Maharana Uday Singh. The Mewar province became part of Rajasthan after India became independent. Apart from its history, culture, and scenic locations, it is also known for its Rajput-era palaces. The Lake Palace, for instance, covers an entire island in the Pichola Lake.

Many of the palaces have been converted into luxury hotels. It is often called the "Venice of the East", and is also nicknamed the "Lake City". Lake Pichola, Fateh Sagar Lake, Udai Sagar and Swaroop Sagar in this city are considered some of the most beautiful lakes in the state.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme,
and also part of the Photo of the Week meme,
and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme.

NIGHT VIEW

This is the view from my bedroom window. A full moon can be quite special and lend a magical air to even the most ordinary view.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

CHRISTMAS LILIES

Lilium candidum (popularly known as the Madonna Lily) is a plant in the genus Lilium, one of the true lilies. It is native to the Balkans and West Asia. It forms bulbs at ground level, and unlike other lilies, has a basal rosette of leaves through the winter, which die back in summer. A leafy flower stem, typically up to 1.2 metres high, sometimes up to 2 metres high, emerges in late spring and bears fragrant flowers in summer. Flowers are white, flushed yellow at the base.

It has long been cultivated, but is susceptible to virus diseases of lilies, and to Botrytis fungus. One possible way to avoid problems with viruses is to grow plants raised from seed. This can be a spectacular garden plant, especially if mass planted.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

ULURU DREAMING

Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. It lies 335 km south west of the nearest large town, Alice Springs, 450 km by road. Kata Tjuta and Uluru are the two major features of the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park. Uluru has immense cultural significance and is sacred to the Anangu, the Aboriginal people of the area. The area around the formation is home to a plethora of springs, waterholes, rock caves and ancient paintings. Uluru is listed as a World Heritage Site.

Uluru is an inselberg, literally "island mountain". An inselberg is a prominent isolated residual knob or hill that rises abruptly from and is surrounded by extensive and relatively flat erosion lowlands in a hot, dry region. Uluru is also often referred to as a monolith, although this is a somewhat ambiguous term that is generally avoided by geologists. The remarkable feature of Uluru is its homogeneity and lack of jointing and parting at bedding surfaces, leading to the lack of development of scree slopes and soil. These characteristics led to its survival, while the surrounding rocks were eroded.

This post is part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

GARDEN ITERATIONS

The first shot is a straight out of the camera image taken in the School of Botany's System Garden of the University of Melbourne. I then Photoshopped the image, taking it through several passes via a sepia filter so that the colour was almost completely neutralised. This is image 2.

I then used the saturation and colour balance commands to try to regain some of the colour, emphasising the orange and green. These are the third and fourth images, which have also been enhanced with some of the filters in the Photoshop art filter gallery. The last image shows the effect of more fine tuning of colour and an oil painting filter.

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme,
and also part of the Nature Footsteps Inspiring Photography meme.