Top Three Holiday Photos

[TheRealTMA]

San Gimignano, Tuscany. October 2005.

San Gimignano - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

San Gimignano Tuscany,San Gimignano near Siena & Florence

Visit San Gimignano in Tuscany with our useful travel guide. Learn more about the beautiful medieval town of San Gimignano near Siena and Florence, Tuscany.

www.discovertuscany.com

 

[VPS]

San Gimignano, Tuscany. October 2005.

View attachment 225144View attachment 225145View attachment 225146View attachment 225147View attachment 225148View attachment 225149

San Gimignano - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

San Gimignano Tuscany,San Gimignano near Siena & Florence

Visit San Gimignano in Tuscany with our useful travel guide. Learn more about the beautiful medieval town of San Gimignano near Siena and Florence, Tuscany.

www.discovertuscany.com

I was there in November 2005 - weird. Great spot.

 

[RooFlyer]

San Gimignano, Tuscany. October 2005.

Been waiting for these

 

[TheRealTMA]

Been waiting for these

Why?

 

[RB]

2013 Gengenbach, Germany-western edge of the Black Forest

 

[RooFlyer]

Why?

I meant waiting for Tuscany pics in general. From your posted wine and other stuff, I got the impression that you’ve been there a fair bit I’ve only been there once, to look at a geothermal power station, so am a bit Tuscan deprived.

 

[TheRealTMA]

I meant waiting for Tuscany pics in general. From your posted wine and other stuff, I got the impression that you’ve been there a fair bit I’ve only been there once, to look at a geothermal power station, so am a bit Tuscan deprived.

ok. More tomorrow!

 

[TheRealTMA]

San Gimignano . May 2002. Stayed in Albergo La Cisterna.

 

[BCons]

... looks like you're drinking a French red in Tuscany ??

 

[TheRealTMA]

... looks like you're drinking a French red in Tuscany ??

Yep! Drank lots of Venaccia di San Gimignano but the red we had all the way from France!

 

[OZDUCK]

Nova Scotia 2016

Sunset at Mabou on Cape Breton Island



Cape Breton Drive





Lookout at the end of the Skyline Trail overlooking the Cape Breton Drive. I am the red blot on the landscape. My wife refused to walk down the multitudinous steps to the lower platform.

 

[RooFlyer]

San Gimignano .

What's with the tall square towers (the one's without obvious bells) - Medieval lookouts?

One of my few pics from Tuscany - an 'architecturally designed' geothermal power station "in Tuscan colours" to quote our host

 

[RB]

Billabong Zoo Port Macquarie a great local business Billabong Zoo | Port Macquarie Koala and Wildlife Park

 

[TheRealTMA]

Medieval Buildings and walls in San Gimignano.

 

[VPS]

Some more of San Gimignano and an explanation about the towers for @RooFlyer

The small town of San Gimignano lies conveniently on one of most important medieval pilgrimage routes. Its inhabitants exploited the situation well. Made quickly rich by the constant influx of pilgrims, the families of San Gimigano wanted to show off. Each of them yearned to have a palace, but only thing that could be crammed between the tight confines of town walls was a tower. Merchant families of San Gimignano entered an informal contest of building a higher and more splendid stone tower. The law forbade building the tower higher than the main communal one, known as Rognosa. Owning one become a status symbol. At the peak of fashion San Gimignano boasted no less the 72 of them.

Today only 15 remain. In 1348 the Plague devastated the city and it faded in obscurity, until it was rediscovered as tourist attraction in 19th century. The historic center of San Gimignano is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A similar Tuscan tower, the Torre Guinigi Tower can be seen in the small town of Lucca, only 77.4 km away via the SS439 and SP11.

 

[RooFlyer]

Merchant families of San Gimignano entered an informal contest of building a higher and more splendid stone tower.

Thanks; a simple matter of medieval 'mine's bigger than yours'.

 

[RooFlyer]

Azerbaijan

The Flame Towers in Baku - fire is a big thing in Azerbaijan - its built on top of natural gas! The Zoroastrians were right at home here.



Here the towers are lit up with flickering flames:



Just out of Baku, the gas reservoir rock is at the surface and alight



Upper palaeolithic (~40,000 yrs ago) to middle ages petroglyphs at Gobustan, south of Baku







An somewhere to tie up your palaeolithic beasties:



Roman graffiti "The time of Emperor Domitianus Caesar Augustus Germanicus, Lucius Julius Maxim, and Centurion XII of the Lightning Legion"



Extraordinary cold mud volcanos:

 

[TheRealTMA]

SIena 1

Piazza del Campo - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[UP4014]

Thought I'd post up 4 from LA, the sights most people don't visit.

Don't hang around on the street corners, or you'll be approached by someone intent of either converting you or demanding to know why you are there.

https://flic.kr/p/L4aLMP

Not far from LAX

https://flic.kr/p/eh43Vw

Watts Towers

https://flic.kr/p/9RZVCz

Seal Beach USN submarine memorial

https://flic.kr/p/eNcZtH

 

[VPS]

SIena 1

View attachment 225540View attachment 225541View attachment 225542View attachment 225543View attachment 225544View attachment 225545

Piazza del Campo - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The cafe with the red awning - Gran Caffe Siena is where I have had the most expensive hot chocolate ever - I think in 2005 it was about $12 but it was good and wonderful to just sit there and take in the atmosphere.