Lived there 83-86, not been back since the early nineties, keep meaning to, but too many other places to visit. Still got a few mates over there, but they tend to travel a lot so I meet up with them over here or in Europe every so often. Reckon it would be a bit weird now, I’m sure it’s changed a lot and I associate it with a very specific time of my life, I was only 22 when I went there. Good times.
Where I live in France is mostly medieval Incredible structures that have so much history. I get my bread from Olargues each day and am currently looking to buy a little place here to make money out of UK knobs The Devils bridge is a wonderful structure All cut stone https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olargues
Yes, I'm in no hurry to return mate. I found it impressive but totally soulless. My eldest son put quite well when he said its such a "wannabee" place!
www.italyguides.it/en/lazio/rome/pictures-of-rome/pictures-of-the-pantheon Loved this place when we visited Rome a few years ago. Stunning to look up at the hole in the centre and marvel at the way the weight has been cleverly worked out to keep the roof up, even with the hole in the centre!! Stunning!
I was there in 93-96 mate (I think we have talked about this before?) and it was about 15 years until I returned. Although there were lots of new buildings the atmosphere seemed the same. However, when I went last year it seemed a very different demographic. A lot less 'gweilos'. I even had a mainland Chinese family want to take a picture with me as they were fascinated with me looking differently. I really do love the place though and although I felt it might be the last time I would go I am not so sure.
Yes the Duomo is impressive. I enjoyed Milan but found it very expensive (even more so than Rome) I remember sitting in a bar a couple of hundred yards from the Duomo and when I questioned why the bottle of beer I was drinking was ten euros, the owner pointed to the dot in the distance to justify the price.
Never tire of visiting Bleinheim. Interesting building, fascinating history, beautiful grounds and love the Churchill connection too.
A few years after Hong Kong I lived in Milan for a bit (88-92). It’s a great place to live, but not one I recommend to visit so much unless you know people there, or are going to San Siro for a game (Milan, never Inter). The touristy stuff you can do in a day, unlike Rome which would take weeks. Anywhere on a famous piazza in Italy is going to have inflated prices, like in the Plaza Major in Madrid. The worst is Piazza San Marco in Venice. But last time I was in Milan, a couple of years ago with some mates I go on random European football trips with, I took them down to where I used to live (there was a real ale bar there). We popped into my old local for a swift one (they had forgotten me, naturally). We stayed for a couple and they started bringing plates of food. €20 for the 3 of us. After the real ale place we went back for a night cap and stayed for several hours having a laugh with the owners who plied us with a range of whisky. This time they didn’t want paying at all, though we insisted. Brilliant, and totally wrecked as a result. Talking of great engineering feats - Venice. As long as you stay off the tourist track between the station and San Marco it’s fantastic especially in the off season. I can’t really get my head around how they built this place so many centuries ago.
Another impressive piece of work is the Spire in Dublin standing 120 metres high, it was made by a Co Waterford Company, it's 3 meters wide at the base and narrows to just 15 cm at the top. For obvious reasons it was given the name "the stiletto in the ghetto" by local wags....... please log in to view this image
Do like a bit of gothic design. Not a big fan of the religious but architecture and art is something they did very well.
The Floozy was moved to make way for the Spire it's now located in a park close to Heuston Station...... The tart was moved to Suffolk Street from Grafton Street to make way for Luas (tram) upgrade works.........
Spiny. Where is it? Share your feelings on the religious, the art and buildings are great, shame about the rest. Here’s a big Buddhist temple at Borobudur, Java, where there are no Buddhists any more.
Barcelona, it's the Familia Sagrada. Well there's a dam good reason why the religious had the best art and buildings ££££
So you experienced what I had. It's always hard trying to explain to people that have not seen it. I couldn't believe it was man-made.
Well, now I am worried about my brain. I took the audio tour around that building last May, and now, seven months later, I don’t even recognise it. Now for some heresy. While I appreciate that Gaudi was a true original and was trying really different stuff, I’m not a fan of the end result. I liked the inside of the Familia Sagrada much more than the outside, even when I understood all of the symbolism. Just a bit Disney for me, especially his other buildings, though they undoubtedly add to the charm of Barcelona.
www.cornwalls.co.uk/attractions/minack-theatre.htm Watched many shows in this amazing theatre, cut out of the rocks in Cornwall.
Never been but seen it on telly. Wasn’t it built by a lady and her mates basically with their own hands? Have you ever performed there? Fantastic setting. Here’s one from Taormina in Sicily. Etna in the background, which sends out bursts of sparks while you are eating your dinner in a rooftop restaurant. Fantastic how performance and storytelling is so central to being human.
