Saturday Spotlight.

These two prints are from Budapest, Hungary. As ever, they were intended to be a reminder of our visit and were bought at an open air market. As we were walking around the market area I was surprised to see statuary covered in bubblewrap/fleece blankets, presumably to protect them against the winter cold (there was snow on the ground so one had to navigate the streets with care!). First time I have ever seen that and not a common practise, I think, in the colder European cities.

The top print is of the old town of Buda, on the far side of the River Danube. The near side is Pest.

This print shows the State Opera House. We stayed in the K+K Opera hotel which was just around the corner; an ideal location for us, although we couldn't get tickets for the current performance! But we did manage to see a couple of performances at the city's second venue, the Erkel Theatre (named after composer, Ferenc Erkel). Being rather late breakfasters on holiday, we found ourselves sharing the hotel's dining room with the Hungarian pianist, Andras Schiff, on several mornings!

Magnificent Mosaics.

Following on from my mention of Tunis on Wednesday, I thought I would show you a few photographs of some of the wonderful Roman mosaics that are housed in the Bardo Museum there. There are literally hundreds; some are only small sections but they all show tremendous artistry. Mythological figures predominate.

Imagine commissioning someone to make a floor or wall mosaic like this nowadays. It would be all planned out on computer, no doubt with an automatic calculation of how many tessarae of each colour would be required - and it would still cost a king's ransom!

This one depicts the story of Odysseus, who had himself tied to the mast of his ship so that he might hear the song of the Sirens. His fellow sailors, however, had their ears blocked with wax so that they wouldn't be tempted to drive the boat onto the rocks!

This last mosaic features Neptune, who can also be seen in the very first one. A majestic figure, I have always enjoyed the many interpretations one sees of him in classical art and sculpture. You may remember my poem.

Poetic Purpose.

Read, Write, Poem gave us a wordle group this week (#101), full of 'p' words. Here is my pocket-sized product!

Do not allow the lines of the parallelogram
To hinder and hem you in.
Those who prevaricate and procrastinate
Leave only a plethora of posthumous platitudes.
Your message is too powerful to go unsaid
A polyglot knows no limitations.
Make of it a processional, proffered proudly
To resonate loudly from every plane
Not seep perniciously as through porous plaster
A trickle to prickle the flesh.
A great harvest may be garnered
By planting a single pea.

Bringing The Past to Life.

At the moment, I'm reading the last part of a trilogy by Robyn Young, 'Requiem', about a fictional Knight Templar, William Campbell. The first two books, 'Brethren' and 'Crusade' followed Campbell's life as a youth entering the Templar tradition, finally becoming a knight and then fighting in the crusades until the fall of Acre (1291).

In this final book, he finds himself back in France and the story weaves the war between England and Scotland (Edward I and William Wallace) together with the fighting between England and France (Edward was also a vassal of French king Philip IV in his capacity as Duke of Aquitaine) plus Philip IV's ultimate  destruction of the Templars.

For me, Robyn Young's storytelling ability is excellent, relating historical facts through both real and fictional characters. Philip IV of France is portrayed as a man desperate to leave his mark on history as his grandfather, (Saint) Louis IX had done. Louis fought in the crusades twice and died in Carthage in 1270. The stained glass window, shown above, depicts his arrival in Tunis. It is in the Cathedral of St. Vincent de Paul there, which we visited during one of our holidays. Being able to connect things like this to their place and time in history, I think, helps our understanding tremendously. If the facts can be conveyed in an entertaining manner, so much the better.

I will post more photographs of Tunis another time.

Saturday Spotlight.

You may remember the prints I showed of old houses in Port of Spain, Trinidad, several weeks ago. We were on our way to holiday on the island of Tobago. We enjoyed it very much; so much so that we went again the following year. Today's prints were bought on the island along with a couple of others that I'll show another time. From their style, it won't surprise you to know that they are by the same artist. This small house, with its rusting corrugated roof, is in the community of Carnbee, around three miles from the capital, Scarborough.

This picture is of 'The Sewing Machine Shop' on Wilson Road, Scarborough. Like any capital, this is a bustling town and it was fascinating to wander around the streets and the market, where just about anything one might want was on display. Given that our visits were some ten years ago, I'm sure the island will have seen changes. It certainly seems to have become even more popular as a holiday destination but I hope its essential character remains.

How Did She Know?

A few days ago, my friend, Kathleen, over at Easy For Me To Say, gave me this very attractive 'Super Comments Award'. I'm very grateful, especially as I haven't been leaving many comments anywhere this week!

Kathleen has written a particularly poignant post today about a dear friend. I hope you have the time to give her a visit.

The arrival of this lovable panda happens to coincide with another one, which you can see below. This is one of the latest additions to the 4D Art range of 'Animal Forms' (we have their elephants and giraffe too) and shows the new, textured surface they have introduced on certain models. Being made of a ground stone resin it is quite heavy, so in true panda fashion, will stay put!

In Dreamland.

'Dreams' was the subject for this week's Read, Write, Poem prompt (#100). I rarely remember my dreams with any coherence no matter how vivid they might have been at the time. Composing from a combination of seemingly unrelated images was probably the idea behind the prompt but I decided to take the easy way out! My friend, Rallentanda, from 'Down Under', has written a dream poem that includes me (perfectly understandable!) and I have latched on to her coat tails with my own contribution. Mine will may make sense after you read hers.

Suddenly, here I am on stage,
Smiling in the spotlight,
My ‘Palm Court Orchestra’ tropical attire
Literally and liberally applied.
Has anyone ever told you, fronds
Have sharp fingers?
Swaying to the breeze meanwhile, I caress
The bleached keys of the harpsichord,
Notes rising on the swell like so much
Flotsam and jetsam.

My exalted page turner,
Jewels dazzling beneath a wide-brimmed smile,
Finds difficulty merging with the scenery,
A princess in a far-away land.
And all the while I’m searching the stalls
For Rall, she’s dancing with the moon,
Twinkle toes adding their own pale beams.
The soft fragrance of Honeysuckle is overtaken
By metallic scorching.
Looks like the oeuf a la coque is off!