I took way too many photos of Venice, Italy, on our visit in October 2016, even though I posted loads at the time, I have some spare ones to play around with. I have already posted some black and whites, now its chrome time. I like applying chrome, it seems to lift the photos, adds that little extra, especially photos of Venice, with all that amazing coloured architecture.
We travelled by train to Venice in 2016, I did post a lot of photos taken from the train windows at the time, but there were a few views that I couldn’t find out where they were. But there were some wonderful castles, churches and villages that we passed going through Germany, Switzerland and Italy that I would have loved to have visited, but maybe one day I will get to see some of them. So for now, these photos are of where I would have loved to have jumped off and explored.
We arrived home from this years visit to Landsberg, Bavaria, a couple of days ago, but I have been a little busy since then. We were very lucky, the weather had been glorious, not so good now we are home, but we enjoyed the sun when we were on our visit. I still have Iceland to post, and then this years visit to Bavaria, we did go to some lovely places. I am working on the photos for Iceland, but I did find some of 2016’s visit to Landsberg and Interlaken. We went to Switzerland two years in a row, in 2015 the weather was wonderful, 2016 very cold and mostly wet, but I did find some good weather photos apart from a little rain which sneaked in. So really just a trip from Landsberg to Interlaken and you will notice how each place differs from the other, but both in their own unique way.
This was the only church I managed to visit on our cruise to Iceland, Sandavagur Church on the Island of Vágar, The Faroe Islands. We were on a coach trip exploring the Island of Vágar and one of the stops on the journey home was to visit this wonderful church.
The church is the first building you really notice when you see Sandavagur in the distance, I think… it might be the red roof standing above the surrounding buildings. Again we had to negotiate some slippery paths up to the church, but all went well and no one slipped.
Sandavagur Church stands on a hillock and overlooks the small town. Built in 1917, it has served as a place of worship for the locals ever since, it was the fifth in a series of churches built in the last 300 years. In addition to its distinctive bright red roof, the church contains a 13th-century rune stone bearing an inscription that a Norwegian man, Torkil Onandarson, was the first settler here, it is believed to be dated back to the 13th century. Normally the churches are very plain inside, but this church has painted pews and wall paintings.
Hanging from the roof, is a beautiful sailing ship and this seems to be a local tradition. I found a paragraph for maybe the reason why……..Quite often the church ships were gratitude gifts from sailors who survived dangerous trips on sea. In some villages with strong sailor traditions the ships could be a way of protecting and praying for the ships and their crew. To bring them back safely…. and as a curiosity none of the church ships have a rescuer boat…. Of course because the ship is the hope itself and the captain God himself.
After an interesting visit, we made our way back to the coach and the drive back to Torshavn, but this time going over some very snowy mountains, post to follow.
March 2018
Finally on our cruise to Iceland, March 2018, we arrived at Tórshavn, The Faroe Islands, I was so excited, I got up really early to watch the ship enter the port, so I could take some photos. What I had not expected was the snow, I’m not sure why I hadn’t, as when we had left the UK it was still snowing. But it did look wonderful, especially the wonderful coloured painted house with the white roofs. It was also very cold, so I was glad I had my three layers on, plus hat, gloves and scarves, but it did warm up during the day. We visited an island, a sea shore village and a wonderful church, plus on the way back to Tórshavn, we went up and over a very snow-covered hill, so we could see a birds eye view of Tórshavn. Posts will follow shortly, this post is our early hour arrival into port.
Last weekend we were on the South Coast, blue skies and a little warmth in the air, and then the Beast from the East came, and now Emma from the South. We have been lucky in the little bit of the Fens we live in, and although it has been below freezing most of the time, only a little snow…..until tonight. It has come with a vengeance, now I know what the rest of the country has been going through. We lost our electric at the start of the week when a big power cable came down, so one night powerless and then for three nights we lost the internet……not good, even now it’s very slow.
Anyway I have found some blue sky, we visited this wonderful church last summer 2017. I had trouble with my camera, the battery was misbehaving and I only managed a few photos, so a revisit this summer is a must. St Margaret’s Church at Cley next the Sea, sits above the village green and the church dates to the early 14th century, with the addition of a late 14th century porch. There was an earlier church on the site, but around 1320 that church was rebuilt. While the body of the church is intact, the north and south transepts are ruined, and open to the sky. So really this is just a reminded for me to return and photograph the 24 late Medieval bench ends and more of the wonderful 15th century Perpendicular font.
Kilmore Knap Chapel, St Mary’s on the shore of Loch Sween. We visited back in 2016 and I did think I had posted about the chapel, but it would seem I did not. Still, l think this peaceful tranquil place, will not have changed since I took my photos. Kilmory Knap Chapel was probably built in the early 1200’s and it seems to have remained largely unaltered until it ceased to be used following the Reformation.
Following the Reformation the chapel, by now roofless, found use as a burial enclosure. It was re-roofed in 1934 to provide a shelter for the carved stones found within the chapel and churchyard, and is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.
I wasn’t quite expecting the amount of wonderful tomb slabs that I found on entering the chapel, they are amazing well preserved.
The far end of the chapel is dominated by the beautiful MacMillan’s Cross, carved for Alexander MacMillan, who through marriage became keeper of Castle Sween in the 1450s. The original base of the cross can be seen in the churchyard outside, but given how crisp the carving is, it is difficult to believe it was ever exposed to the elements. It was moved into the chapel in 1981.
