Postcard from Toulouse, France: Is there any logic to the wandering eye?

Above: Place de la Trinité

When I started sorting through our images of Toulouse, more shots seemed to be landing in the random file than normal. Part of that is the patterns of the city itself. The imaginative use of brick and stone, far more striking than the staid formal Williamsburg-look abundant in my original home state. And the way Toulouse tends to reuse not tear down the old, with an unbridled free-spirited approach to mixing centuries of architectural styles in the same block.

Continue reading “Postcard from Toulouse, France: Is there any logic to the wandering eye?”

Spectacular illumination projects city’s colorful history on San Fernando Cathedral

These photographs from 2014 are not great, but reposting them to refresh a suggestion for an outing appropriate for these times – entertaining, outdoors and admission-free on a plaza large enough to allow ample room for spreading out.

The painterly projection of Xavier de Richemont‘s San Antonio Saga (click there for much better photographs) sweep masterfully across the façade of San Fernando Cathedral, founded by Canary Islanders in 1731. Accompanied by lively music, the massive kaleidoscopic collages mesmerize those on Main Plaza.

Continue reading “Spectacular illumination projects city’s colorful history on San Fernando Cathedral”

Postcards from Naples, Italy: Guardians of the streets

Navigating our way around Naples on foot offered us ample opportunities to sense those extra pairs of eyes watching over us….

And spotting the statue of Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), “Il Sommo Poeta/The Supreme Poet” of Italy, gives rise to his cautionary words so applicable to American politics today:

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.