Sue's Indoor Shots, Leeds Castle

Hi folks,

If you have been paying attention you will already have seen the outdoor shots Sue took with her Christmas present so now a look inside.  Each year the rooms are decorated with Christmas trees, ornamental arrangements and something for the children to discover, this year were little gingerbread men subtly standing around and not always easy to notice.

On the landing

This year there was a Gingerbread Castle based on the New Castle built 1821/23  and made from 60 kilos of gingerbread dough with interiors made from coloured fondant icing, it took over 350 hours to complete.

Gingerbread house with the chapel which it represents very well.

The real Coats of Arms over an open fire

and here the one made of fondant, notice also the picture on the wall behind the armchair.

The "real" exterior with a nice bit of December sunshine.

Children were given a Gingerbread Man Sheet and had to look for all the gingerbread men distributed around the rooms.

Well I think she did very well for the first time using the camera indoors.

Happy New Year to you all, Mike and Sue. (M&S)

Happy New Year 2015

Hi folks.
would just like to wish all my followers a Happy and Healthy New Year.

After today the decorations adorning houses will start to come down marking the start of the new year, shame really.  I thought let's stick a few up on here to remind us all of Christmas 2014.

All the best for 2015
Regards, Mike

Sidekick Comes to the Fore at Leeds Castle.

Guess what the boss had for Christmas being married to a camera nut, yes you guessed it a camera.

Unfortunately on holiday Susie's poor camera that she uses took a turn for the worst and developed a big black blob on the sensor which didn't help her pictures.

Sue, bless her really helps me in pointing out "scenes" that I sometimes miss and helps with the blog and sometimes the typing.

What do I get her Christmas, well of course a mini camera, so onto the web I go to get her one. Must be small, have a viewfinder and the same shape as my pictures so at any time I can incorporate them into the blog.

Well Happy days she took it out today and this is what she got.

Last one, ere indoors took this bird, what bird I said? The one in the tree she exclaimed. What tree? That tree in the middle of the last picture. Can you spot it???

I think she did very well, needed a bit of pushing at times but that was good for my ego.

Thanks for looking, M&S. (Mike and Sue).

Snapshot of Prague Part 12

Me again, well that's the festivities over so back to the holiday we go......
 almost at the Charles Bridge and the Weir, see the Yellow Penguins on the opposite bank.

At the Charles Bridge from a different route.

Sue on Charles Bridge doing what all the tourist do touching the statues for luck

And another person doing the same thing.

Close up of the polishing done after constant touching.

General view on the bridge, with it's famous blackened statues. The church on top of the hill, that's where we are heading.

We stopped at the square for a coffee before our assent.

Whew, long climb up, stopped to get our breath back before exploring the Castle. looking down towards the river with the TV Tower, a viewing point and restaurant on the horizon.

Thanks again for looking, regards Mike

Snapshot of Prague Part 11

Hello again folks,
now on our second full day in Prague and keeping going as there is still a lot to see and we go home tomorrow. The weather was again a bit grey and although cold was warmer than yesterday. Today it was the turn of the Metro an underground railway system in the form of a cross under Prague. After a great breakfast in the Jury's Inn Hotel we crossed the road to get the underground which was a bit frightening as the escalators were steep and went very fast, two stops, a change and another two stops and we were down by the river again, A great way to see Prague once you have got used to the ticket system.

This shot shows the Weir from the our side of the river with the water running fast and the lock on the background and grey sky's.

Next on our to do list was this building nicknamed "Ginger and Fred" very quirky and is home ot the Perle de Prague Restaurant.

Designed by Frank Gehry's as you can see the legs of Ginger and and the skirt and the straight Fred with Ginger holding him with an outstretched arm. the second view is further around the corner.

We then walked along the river towards Charles Bridge again, this time we wanted to visit the Castle.

What struck us was the building with different designs looking to us as if they were trying to out do one another.

Restaurant on the river edge

The tramway system heading towards and across the river by one of the many bridges

The seats by the river looked interesting with it's Serpent type head and tail.

Back to the Charles Bridge and beyond. Thanks for looking, don't forget to click on any picture will take you to a gallery of images. Click the cross in the top right hand corner to return to the blog.
As its Christmas day and the 2014 blog crashed, I will go on, Happy Christmas and Boxing Day.
Regards Mike

Snapshot of Prague Part 10

Hi folks.

Well that tower with the clock I keep going on about, It was getting late so we purchased a couple of tickets to climbed to the top and have a look at the view as the sun went down. It was very difficult to take pictures from the top of the tower as it was very narrow to walk around the top.  I could only use the tripod as a monopod to take the pictures press it against the retaining wall and as the light was fading we spent well over an hour up there. I hope you think it was worth it. Old Town Square as it started to get dark and the mist was falling with its market stalls. Below in the square the Jan Hus Memorial that was unveiled in 1915 to commemorate the 500 anniversary of his Martyrdom and of course. the Christmas tree.

Across the square and then lit up as it got dark with the Christmas markets below.

As night fell, I liked this one and printed this one A3 and it is now on the wall at home.

Back on the ground and a close up of that tree with the clock tower behind.

Walking back to the hotel after a really good but cold day passed the Powder House in blog to take it again at night.

Lastly a close up the that Mosaic panel.

Back to the hotel for a well earned rest.

As it is nearly Christmas I and Sue would like to wish you all a very happy time.

Best regards, Mike

Snapshot of Prague Part 9

Hi again folks,

With the sunshine now with us we walked slowly back to the Old Town Square passing these renound beautiful cars.
One of the cars for hire near the Old Town Square 1,200-Czech Crowns is about £34.

Expensive shop window with a selfie of us both.

Back in Old Town Square was the "House of the Stone Bell" on the right. You can see the bell on the corner of the building?

Church of St. Nicolas above, looking down on Old Town Square with it's two towers looking like rockets.

Back to my beloved Astronomical clock in the square and a bit more information of it's working.

The lower is the calender dial, giving signs of the Zodiac and the months, it has a pointer at the top to show the month.

Trying to get my head around this clock, according to the camera it was 10.25 am.

The figures on the main clock are, on the left of the clock face Vanity with the mirror and Greed a Jewish money lender. On the right are Death a skeleton and the Turk, a symbol of lust. All these figures move before the hour and were covered discretely in chicken wire to keep the birds off.

Beside the calender dial to the left is the Philosopher and the Archangel Michael.

On the other side of the calender dial is an Astronomer with his telescope and the Chronicler with his tablet. 

The purpose of the clock was not to tell the exact time but to show the supposed orbits of the Sun and Moon around the Earth and show the movement of the Sun and Moon through the twelve signs of the Zodiac. This was of great importance to 16th century Prague.

At the top of the clock arch is Peter's Faucet and below two door which open in the hour to reveal  

St Paul and 11 of the Apostles going past the doors.

Hope this helps to explain this magnificent clock of over 600 years.

More to come, regards, Mike