My photo of the month is of one of the beautiful mosaics in the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. With the recommendations of some very cool Slow Travelers, I spent the night there last year as a day trip from Venice so I would have the time to be able to view and admire these superb mosaics from the Byzantine period. It was just an awesome experience seeing these stunning mosaics in person. Photos just don't seem to do them justice. Here's another of my favorites . . .
I'm off today & tomorrow! Yippee! And I'm pretty sure I'll be posting my Venice photos and report by the end of tomorrow! It's about time!
And oh yeah . . . . 65 Days to España! Whoo Hoo!
Oh my gosh, my heart jumped when I saw that kitten! It does look like Maria (and laying in the litter box instead of her perfectly good bed is just like something she would do!). Were those kittens up for adoption?
ReplyDeleteWonderful slide show. You are right, sometimes there's no place like home. But then...65 days to your big adventure in Spain!
I really want to go to Ravenna someday; I know I'd love it.
Have a great extra long holiday weekend!
Hi Annie, wow I actually get to reply after publishing a comment, since I am home today. It never works from my iPhone when I am at work.
ReplyDeleteThere were three kittens from the same litter. And yes, when there was room with her sibling in the bed, she still chose to laydown in the litter box. Too cute!
There were so many people around that I couldn't take a very good photo of all of them, but this one kitten really reminded me so much of your Maria I had to maneuver myself around the people to at least get a close-up of her/him. I was so tempted. They had a lot of people there interested and I hope that someone really nice adopted them. I spoke with the guy for a really long time and went into my whole Spain trip story. He gave me his card and said to give him a call when I am ready. They usually have up to five kittens up for adoption all the time and they do all the shots and everything.
The mosaics in Ravenna is spectacular. Are you still going to Venice in December? I think it's so cool that Maria is spending 8 days in Venice before her Spain trip. And she mentioned that you helped her a lot and that's so nice of you. And Maria has been so helpful to me too. And then all the wonderful tips and information sharing between everyone . . . it's all so great. I just love it.
Thanks for your comments on my slideshow. I can't believe summer is over. And 65 days o Spain . . . time is sure flying by! I bet before we know it, it'll be 2010!
Hope you had a great long weekend!
Cool slide show! Summer here means staying indoors due to the heat and by the time we can go out in the evening, there's a dust storm on the horizon. I miss so much living close to the beach.
ReplyDeleteI replayed the slides twice so I could take a closer look at the kitty. He/she is a cutie! Our cats would always stay put in the cat litter whenever they felt insecure, like when they have to stay at the clinic.
Your mosaic pictures are fantastic. I went to Ravenna in 2001 and loved the city. I want to return.
Enjoy your time off! I'm looking forward to seeing your photos and reading your trip report on Venice.
¡Sesenta y cinco días! ¡El tiempo vuela! (Time is flying!)
Hi Maria, thanks for your comments. Oh, I hope it wasn't too hot for you this holiday weekend!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about that Kitten photo. The other siblings were also cute. One black and the other grey and white. I wish I had taken a better photo of all of them, but all the rest of my photos are so blurry. I wonder if that's why she was sitting in the litter box. There were so many people, maybe she felt a little scared, poor thing.
The mosaics are really incredible. I also want to return someday.
I'm not a very good writer, so my report is basic. I hope to improve as I keep practicing and learning from reading from everyone else's blog and reports. I've been trying to remember how to upload my photos to Slowtravel again. It's a little slow but coming along.
I love your new countdown clock! And look at you going to Venice and Spain. That's so cool.
I'm definitely getting more and more excited (with a little bit of yikes added on)! :)
Have a great evening Maria!
I was just thinking about the TV show with Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow. Have you checked the schedule of your local PBS station? It’s supposed to air this month. Mine is not showing the show in the September line-up. :-(
ReplyDeleteFirst, I LOVE LOVE LOVE your new photo of the month! I was only in Ravenna once for a couple of days. I must get back there sometime.
ReplyDeleteThe beach slideshow is so cool. It struck me right away how different the beaches are there. They are so flat and long. Not sure why I thought of that as I watched the show and I also had to go back to see the cute kitten photo a couple of times. Finally I put it on pause.
Two extra days off!! AND 65 more days!! Yippeeeee!!
Hi Maria, wow thanks for the reminder! I completely forgot with the holiday weekend and everything else. I will definitely check my PBS schedule so I don't miss it. Maybe they will travel to Southern Spain! That would be cool. Thanks so much for the reminder. Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteHi Girasoli, thanks for your comments. I love that photo too. I wished I had a tripod or a good friend's head :) handy so my photo could have been more sharper. I just loved the facial expressions and colors so much!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the beaches being different. The beaches here are not as beautiful or clean as the ones in Hawaii! I really wish they were.
I love that kitten photo too. It really reminded me so much of Annie's Maria. I was really surprised how many people were interested in adopting them. I couldn't quite get a clear photo because there was no room to maneuver around to the other side. I have about 10 blurry photos trying!
64 days and counting . . . I kind of know now what you meant about watching your countdown clock. :)
Thanks again for your comments and have a great day!
Kathy,I'm glad you got the guy's card - kittens that need a home are everywhere, and I'm sure you'll get the exact right one(s) for you when you get back from Spain! They do seem to like to get into enclosed spaces - Maria has claimed this little basket on my desk as one of her places, and she gets inside and curls up and goes to sleep. It's so cute! I'll post a photo soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Maria for the reminder about that Spain food show. I need to check my local listings too. Kathy, I agree with you that all this exchange of info and help is so great!
Venice in December...well, I continue to drag my feet about it. I need to just bite the bullet and buy my plane ticket! Originally I had wanted to put a longer trip together, like a week in Venice and a week in Rome, but now I don't want to leave the kitten for that long, so I'm thinking about going just to Venice for around 10 days or so. It's not that I'm worried about her, because she'll be with LuLu and they'll be fine, it's just that she is growing so fast and I'm realizing that the fun kitten phase will be over so soon. I need to stop procrastinating!
I too am looking forward to your trip report - that will probably inspire me to buy that ticket!
Hi Annie, can't wait to see that photo of Maria in her little basket!
ReplyDeleteI'm also glad Maria wrote that reminder about the Spain Food show too! I'm really looking forward to watching it.
Venice in December for 10 days sounds wonderful! I hope that the prices go down soon so you can get your tickets. Gosh, it doesn't seem so long ago that we were both there last year. Time sure does fly by!
I'm pretty much done with my report. I want to thank you for encouraging me to write it, I almost didn't. And although I had great intentions of submitting it to Slow Travel, I just don't feel that it is good enough. I'm hoping with better note taking and organization I can write one up for Spain. For now, this little report will be something that I can go back and remember my trip by. Maybe as I go along I can blog about additional stuff that I remember after the fact. I'm actually getting ready to post it. I hope you find it interesting.
Have a nice evening Annie!
Hi Kathy, wonderful slide show! I'm envious -- Ottawa had very little summer weather this year. Very little sun or clear skies so your beach shots are especially welcome......and the kitten is adorable!
ReplyDeleteI love your photos from the Ravenna mosaics -- especially the group that you've featured as your photo of the month. Gorgeous! Ravenna sounds very cool. I will get there, one of these days!
Hi Sandra, thanks so much for your comments. It's too bad your summer weather was not so good this year. Hope you'll get more of a summer next summer.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, that little kitten was such a cutie! Reminded me so much of Annie's Maria.
It would be so great if one day you can swing by Ravenna to see those mosaics. I really think you would really like seeing them. I thought it was definitely worth tearing myself away from Venice for a night! :)
Thanks again! I'll have to go check your countdown clock again. If I'm not mistaken your trip is coming up real soon. Lucky you!