Florentine Sunset

 As I looked out of my window this evening there was a beautiful glow in the sky as the sun was setting out over the Irish Sea. I am so very lucky living on the west coast because I am treated to the most wonderful sunsets and today, after a week of grey cloudy skies it was  great to see the rich colours that I enjoy so much.

As I was thinking about that I recalled the sunset over Florence while I was there with my youngest son in 2018, it was so spectacular viewed from the Piazzale Michelangelo. There are millions of photos of the city from this spot given it is a favourite tourist destination and it is the perfect vantage point to view the city with the famous duomo of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Campanile di Giotto and of course the Ponte Vecchio spanning the River Arno. I have even shared some of these, or similar images in 2018 but today I was inspired to review them and edit them to really bring out the colours of the sunset.

I have also included a shot of a hillside with the old city walls enclosed by trees which have grown up as the wall has decayed.

I have wanted to return to the city because although I have been lucky enough to visit on two occasions I have never really spent enough time there to see everything I want to see. It is possible that I will go back in a few weeks as I will be traveling to Venice again and a day trip to Florence by train is definitely doable however nothing is certain at this stage. Wish me luck.

More From Burano

Today here are a few images from Burano, a couple of picture postcard views of the coloured houses and canals and also of an old church viewed across the lagoon from Burano set against the backdrop of the snow covered Italian Alps.

There are a couple of shots of one of the posts that line the canals, I have chosen one in colour because with the colourful buildings behind it looks really good, the other one I have posted in black and white because it isolates the post from the background which was the effect I really wanted and I think it looks fantastic.

Mountain Stream

Yesterday's post was going to be my last from my visit to Snowdonia last weekend but then I decided to post this last shot.

I love the shape of Pen Yr Ole Wen and the shadow of Tryfan cast by the low sun. 

Pen Yr Ole Wen

I love this view of pen yr ole wen on the right looking along the Ogwen valley towards Anglesey in the distance.

This is the seventh highest mountain in Wales at 978m or 3,178 feet. 

In The Snow

The forecast tells me that there will be snow across high ground in the UK this weekend but its an absolute certainty it wont be anything like this.  These pictures were taken in March in Austria en route from Salzburg to Venice

Rocks and Crags

These two views are looking east from above Ogwen Cottage.  In the first image we can see Llyn Ogwen at the bottom of the valley and in the second picture we can see the top of Tryfan.  

Simply beautiful!

High on a hill...

Salzburg, famous as Mozart's birthplace and setting for The Sound of Music.

The first picture is of the church of Sankt Sebastien on Linzer Gasse, a pleasant shopping street in the city.

Next is a view of Festung Hohensalzburg and views of the surrounding area taken from the castle.

The final shot  is of  Unterach am Attersee and the mountains along the eastern shore of the lake.

Walking around the city it was funny to see signs and t-shirts with the slogan "No Kangaroos", apparently because of the number of visitors who confuse Austria with Australia and think they will see kangaroos. Almost to silly to believe but it's true...

Loch Ard two...

In September I posted one picture from my trip to Loch Ard in March 2011.  The water was crystal clear and it was mirror calm meaning that even though the sky was overcast the reflections were beautiful. I had such a great trip and got some lovely shots so wanted to share a few more today.  I hope you enjoy them, I will and I will enjoy the memories that they bring back too.