The Daily Post Photo Challenge – Curve – June 23, 2016

A silos complex near Champagne, Illinois.

After a week in the United States we went up to Champagne, Illinois.  I wanted to see the area I was born and my family had business in that city so off we went.  Along the way we were greeted by miles and miles of farm-land.  The above silos complex was only one of several that I saw – and was able to snap from a moving car!

 

 

A storm brewing over a farm near Nashville, Illinois.

I often found myself in a car riding through the vast country-side of “Little Egypt”, a vast area between two rivers in Southern Illinois.  If you like I feel a little perplexed by the appellation thinking that the land between two rivers was Mesopotamia, so Little Babylon might be more appropriate, you would probably get the same reply from the people of the region as I did … a laconic: “Little Egypt” and that’s all she wrote.

 

I thought I’d pop these off for this week’s Photo Challenge hosted by Daily Prompts … dedicated to “Curves”. Just click the red link to find more photos dedicated to curves!

 

Word Press Photo Challenge – Relic – July 16, 2014

For this week’s DP Photo Challenge we’re looking for relics!  I usually show you the beauties of Riva … we have so many.  However there are also a few derelict buildings … and right in the center of town,  like this building below where one of my favorite bakeries used to be:

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Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!  Bastet

Ducks…a twist (DP Photo Challenge) May 24, 2014

The other day I went for a walk on the lake.  At Riva del Garda, we don’t have only tourists, we also have, ducks, swans, coots, ravens, sparrows, swallows and lots of other birds which don’t come to mind right now, that have learned to live with the tourists like the “Rivani” have.

It was a nice suny day, so I decided to lay out in the sun…and who should come waddling by but two male ducks!  So I slowly got my camera out and twisted around to take this group of photos:

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This week DP Photo Challenge asked us to tell them what twist means to us…this is my first thought!  And if you want to read the set of haiku I wrote to honor the pair go to Bastet and Sekhmet’s Library by clicking the link!

Ciao…Bastet!

The Daily Post – Photo Challenge: Spring!

What does spring mean to me?  Warm sun … perfume scented air and children in the parks.  No more coats, at last, the sun is warm again…and of course the ducks and birds in general are all ready for the maiting game!

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This week’s Daily Post Photo Challenge was asking…what’s spring to you….this is my first answer!

Weekly Photo Challenge – Letters – second round

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This week’s D.P. Photo Challenge is dedicated to letters….I took 4 shots of this beautishop … a new addition to Arco and very chic and elegant!

Change
Is not what you wear
Or how you style your hair
It’s not about looks
It’s a special feeling,
Thinking,
Understanding …

That goes beyond your mirror.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Threshold – 2

It’s Monday…and on Monday, when I can I post black and white photos…today I’ll be doing so whilst posting for the Weekly Photo Challenge dedicated to thresholds!

Back to Arco’s Castle…into one of the main halls of the castle:

 

Looking at the threshold of the city of Arco:

 

 

Ciao…and have a great week!  Georgia

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Threshold

Thresholds…as in going into a new world…or walking through a door:

 

 

 

From a shot taken at Arco’s Castle….for this week’s Photo Challenge – Threshold.

Happy blogging everyone…and take a look at some of the other responses to this interesting challenge through the links below…Ciao!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflections

This week, both Pixelventures – March 18 and The Weekly Photo Challenge have us reflecting on reflections….

My archives are full of reflections…and some of them have already been published in one form or another, it’s one of my favorite subjects, so without further ado…

Today it’s raining.  Nothing unusual for March, but although I’m not overly fond of rain, I have to admit it can give me something interesting to photograph.  When I look for reflections, I’m not looking for a mirror-like picture, though if that comes up, I won’t throw it away.  I shoot though for effect and I often use my photos to prompt myself or illustrate a story or poem I’ve written.  Here then are three rain photos taken not far from my house:

 

This is a photo of a mud puddle…upside down.  I liked how the colors of the grass and leaves accented the darkness of the puddle and loved seeing those trees reflected in the water.

This is a little further along the road.  Here the trees tops reflectin the water on the road … further along almost out of sight are two people walking their dog.

My walk finished, I came upon this traffic mirror…I tinted the photo in olive-green…

Thanks for following today’s post, shortly I will be posting a series of traffic mirrors,one of my favorite reflective subjects. I like to think that it’s sort of like looking where you’ve already been, a sort of walk into the past 🙂

Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside

For this week’s Photo Challenge, dedicated to inside, I’m going to interpret this as inside the past, but not only …

When you live in Italy, you live in the past a lot.  Old architecture from the Colosseum to a whole city like Venice…but even in small historically insignificant towns, which is the norm for Trentino, we have our relics.  From castles to … train stations.

The first project to add Riva del Garda to Rovereto was created in 1870, but it was only in 1889 that the Vienese government decided to give the ok for the building of 24.2 kilometers of railway.  The original 1889 plan created by engineer Rudolf Stummer Ritter von Traunfels was to include Arco, Dro and go all the way to Sarca, but was never completed.  Railway service between Riva del Garda and Mori opened for business on 28 January 1891. By that time Stummer had sold his project rights  to a banking project in Bolzano under the name of Lokalbahn Mori-Arco-Riva, the head of the bank was Sigismund Schwarz, who also participated and financed other similar projects throughout Trentino.

During the first World War, the tracks were damaged.  The railway in 1918 passed under the control of the Italian Railway company, since Trentino- Alto Adige was ceded to Italy by the Austrians at the end of the conflict.  An extension was projected to Rovereto in 1922.  In 1924 the extension was added and so, Riva del Garda was connected to the National railway route.  The municipality of Rovereto bought out the shares for the railway and in 1925 officially opened for service.  Unfortunately, the railway service never earned much money.  There was a project to pass from steam engines to electric engines, but the project never got off the ground.  In 1933, due to the growing car industry, a bus service was added to the train service and on the 21st of October, 1936 the station was closed…the tracks eventually being pulled up.

Inside the Station

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The station is open today for tourists … but there’s also a travel agency and a caffè restaurant open in the evenings.

Here’s what the station looks like from the back:

back entrance

old reminders

what’s left of 24.2 kilometers of railway

Thanks for visiting!  Ciao, Bastet!

Weekly Photo Challenge – Perspective 2

Today for The Weekly Photo Challenge, I’m taking you back up to Arco’s Castle.

As I was walking up the steep climb to the second tower, which is also the most ancient, known as the Renghera, I luckily also came upon one of a many strategically placed benches.  This one is especially interesting because it has a reproduction of what the Castle looked like in the past, before Napolian’s troops destroyed the Castle in the 1800s.

As I was approaching it, I scared a poor squirrel who jumped across the path and down the hillside!  I couldn’t help but laugh…here are two shots of the bench and the map:

The map

Have a nice Sunday everyone!