Prison Door

Details of an old prison door at Constitutional Hill,

photographed in May this year....

 and a sneak image of the staircase ...

Wordless Wednesday post
Windows & Doors
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Copyright 2010 Gena D Images for thinking aloud

Quinta da Bacalhoa, Portugal

Quinta da Bachaloa in Azeitao, Portugal

this estate dates from the 1500's and is obviously much smaller in size

now, but still highly impressive.

I've wanted to visit this palace for quite some timw now, and this year

when in Portugal finally got there, only to discover that you need to

prebook in order to access ... oh well, still got to enjoy the vineyard part of the

gardens, although the building and formal gardens are something to behold.

a Wordless Wednesday post.

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Copyright 2010 Gena D Images for thinking aloud

A tribute to times gone by ....

a selection of images from a heritage trip which I did (together with a number of

others') to the SAA Museum at Rand Airport (South Africa). 

It's one of those amazing places that many don't realise exists.

Rand Airport is still very much a functional airport (for light aircraft mostly),

and on weekends there are a number of interesting aircraft out and about - 

 either in the skies, doing aerobatics, or parked waiting for lift off. 

apologies to the fundi's, as I cannot remember the names of the

 two exquisite "specimens" above and below.

 the control tower (below) is built to resemble the "front" of an airplane with

 Art Deco detailing.

 These are some of the old planes that have been retired into the

open air museum space.

and finally some detail of the Harvard Cafe - a vibrant cafe/ restaurant that

serves great food at reasonable prices and overlooks part of the runway.

A Ruby Tuesday post

and

That's My World post

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Copyright 2010 Gena D Images for thinking aloud

In honour of a great pilgrimage II

a view of the monument from the parking lot, seen through a mass

of the inidigenous Bauhinia shrubs which were in flower.

This is part II of my visit to the Voortrkker Monument 
(click to view post I). 

This monument commemorates the pioneers who travelled from the coastal
areas inlands between 1835 and 1855 - this trip was called "The GreatTrek".

During this time approximately 15,000 pioneers moved inlands to
 establish the provinces of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, effectively
 the start of  South Africa as it was to become.

Images clockwise from top left:        
Monumnet from the parking lot; a view over part of Pretoria; internal architecture;
Woman and Children statue by  Anton van Wouw; a view of the monument from
 entrance as you approach;  the numerous arches and circles.

Click here to see previous post

View more Scenic Sunday posts here

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Copyright 2010 Gena D Images for thinking aloud

Through this door ....

during a recent outing in Johannesburg, I came across this old building with the

most glorious doorway ....  perfect arch with fine detail - the best part (for me)

was the weathered and worn look....

Wordless Wednesday posts here

More Outdoor Wednesday posts here

more Windows & Doors here

Sepia Scenes here

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Copyright 2010 Gena D Images for thinking aloud

In honour of a great pilgrimage

A couple of weekends ago I was out in Pretoria (capital city of South Africa) and
noticed the Voortrekker monument up on the hill ....  I had not been there since
high school, which if truth be told, was a very, very long time ago .....

Camera in hand, off I went.

I spent a great afternoon there in the tranquil nature reserve type gardens
enjoying the scenery and the fascinating history and architechure.

This first image (above) is taken inside the actual monument (see image below) where

the late afternoon sun was shining through the latticed glass panels

in a vibrant golden hue, creating both reflections and shadows

onto the marbled floor.

a view of the Monument on the hill (quite literally)

This monumnet commemorates the pioneers who travelled from the

coastal areas inlands between 1835 and 1855 -

this trip was called "The Great Trek". 

During this time approximately 15,000 pioneers moved inlands to establish the

provinces of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, effectively the start of

 South Africa as it was to become.

an outside shot of the stone/ brick work, bathed in afternoon sunshine,

creating soft shadows ....

an afternoon  garden view - the monument is surrounded

by a round wall mimicking a circle of oxwagons,

 which in fact are carved onto the wall ....

the real thing ... an old oxwagon ...

a gorgeous strelitzia growing the well kept gardens

view more Weekend Reflections here

more Scenic Sunday here

and more Shadow shot here

Click to view more Mosaic Monday posts

Click to view more My World Tuesday posts

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Copyright 2010 Gena D Images for thinking aloud