I have lived in the UK for most of my life, but when young I definitely had wanderlust and even ended up living in South Africa for several years which was a wonderful experience. I now look forward to a long and leisurely retirement doing what I like most - gardening, photography, walking and travelling.
Witley Court in Worcestershire was once a grand Victorian country house, developed over several centuries, but it’s heyday was in the 19th century when the 1st Earl of Dudley invested heavily in the refurbishment of the house spending the equivalent of £100 million. His fortune came from the coal mines of the Black Country together with iron works, chemical factories and the railways.
After the First World War the family’s fortunes declined and the second Earl decided to sell it to a carpet manufacturer from Kidderminster. In 1937 the main part of the house was destroyed by fire, believed to have started in one of the kitchens. Now you see the shell of the house, without any glazing in the stone mullion window frames.
The South WingThrough the Door
The main attraction to the site is a restored working fountain which represents Perseus and Andromeda and reaches the original high cascades when fired on the hour between 11 am and 4 pm.
There are also lovely woodland walks and restored parterre gardens and the ruins of a gorgeous conservatory which once housed exotic plants and had an enormous cast-iron, plate glass roof.
Description: Every Tuesday I offer the “A to Z challenge”, walking step by step through the alphabet.
If you would like to join in then please click here.
The Lotus Temple, located in New Delhi, India, is a Bahá’í House of Worship completed in 1986. Notable for its flowerlike shape, it serves as the Mother Temple of the Indian subcontinent and has become a prominent attraction in the city. Wikipedia
Delhi in winter is unfortunately plagued by fog and pollution caused by the many open fires in the city. Hence the rather hazy photographs.
Before you reach the House of Worship you need to deposit your shoes at the shoe room. You can then enter the Prayer Hall, which is a place for silent prayer and meditation for people of all religious backgrounds. Photographs are not allowed inside, but it is very plain with rows of chairs although the roof structure is quite interesting.
The lotus has been used as a unifying symbol for all Indian religions. The most basic idea in the design is that light and water are used as its two fundamental elements, and that these two elements alone are responsible for the ornamentation of the House of Worship in place of the thousands of statues and carvings to be found in other temples.
After breakfast on Saturday we checked out of the hotel and set off eastwards along the East Rim. It was a dry day, but extremely windy, which made standing out on the exposed viewpoints and keeping a camera steady, quite challenging.
(click on an image to enlarge and see the detail)
Can you see the river?
I was amazed and rather concerned at the number of people who venture out onto the overhanging rocks to get a photograph, especially when said rocks are covered in snow and it is difficult to see where the end is! I wonder how many tourists lose their lives in this way?
The best views of the canyon on the East Rim are from Grandview, Artists Point and Lipan Point. The whole drive takes about an hour but stopping to look from the various pull-ins will add on at least another hour. Possibly more! From this side you can catch glimpses of the River Colorado and the rafts making their way down the rapids.
Pinyon Pine hanging on for dear lifeHance Rapids – click to enlarge and see the rafts bottom right – yes it really is that deep!
And if, like us, you are leaving via the east gate then make your last stop at Desert View where you can see and hear the river below. Climb up the Watchtower for even more spectacular vistas, framed by the windows they look like paintings. Admire the wall murals inside and maybe buy yourself a souvenir from the region.
View from the Watchtower – Colorado on the right, Little Colorado centreView from the Watchtower towards the Painted Desert
Hard though it was to pull ourselves away from the Canyon we had to get to Page for the night which meant driving eastwards through the Painted Desert to join the 89 route again.
Murals – the large circular painting tells the legend of the Snake peopleWatchtower
The drive from the Grand Canyon Village to Page will take about three hours without stops, so make sure you don’t dally along the rim for too long! After exiting the east gate at Desert View the next logical stop is at the historic Cameron Trading Post where you can buy artefacts or a Navajo frybread taco if you are feeling hungry!
Painted Desert Scenic Highway
Dreamcatchers
Trading Post
Butte in the desert
Route 89
Through the Painted Desert
The next two hours is on the Painted Desert scenic highway. The road was pretty empty of traffic in March and the views of the layers of coloured rock meant that it was never boring.
At Bitter Springs where the 89 winds up into the mountains we pulled into a viewpoint where you have views back towards the Grand Canyon and also to Marble Canyon [1].
Above Bitter Springs towards the snowy North RimVermilion Cliffs east of the Colorado River – can you see where the river runs?
Further on is the turn-off to Horseshoe Bend Overlook on the Colorado River, where you need to park up and hike for an hour to view the river from a spectacular high viewpoint. Although I would have liked to see this, we didn’t have the time or the energy for an hours hike (each way).
Lake Powell in the distanceDriving into Page
We stayed at the Courtyard Page at Lake Powell, which is not the most convenient location as it is right on the edge of the town so not easily walkable to the shops and restaurants. But it is quite close to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area from where you get good views of the dam and where you can take river trips down the Colorado.
Glen Canyon Dam – it really is very highCatching a Raft down the Colorado
We popped out later for a burger at the Dam Bar and Grille, a steak house in town, hoping that the snow which was forecast overnight wouldn’t lead to the cancellation of our photo trip to the Upper Antelope Canyon on the following day.
[1] The US 89 to Page closed after a landslip in February 2013 and you have to take the newly paved 89T or use the route via Tuba City.
Ailsa of “Where’s My Backpack?” is tickled PINKthis week. If you would like to join in with her challenge then please do. Everyone is welcome.
(Above: pink flamingo at San Diego zoo)
50 shades of pink
Pink is not a colour that I wear or normally buy, though I confess to having a soft-touch pink mouse attached to this laptop. Not by design, it was the only colour they had in stock. As the only girl-child in my family I was enforced to spend my childhood in a pink room (Dawn Pink) which was quite a subtle pink if I remember correctly, but pink all the same. As a teenager I rebelled and went for purple!
Anyway, obviously the same distaste doesn’t stop me from photographing things that are pink, so here are a few of my discoveries made on my travels.
THIS WEEK, IN A POST CREATED SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHOW US AN IMAGE THAT SAYS REFLECTION.
I have blogged about Yosemite before; it is a place where I felt the opportunity to reflect on life. It seems appropriate to use this image for this week’s photo challenge.
There are also lovely woodland walks and restored parterre gardens and the ruins of a gorgeous conservatory which once housed exotic plants and had an enormous cast-iron, plate glass roof.
Source: English Heritage and Information plaques on site.
TRAVEL WORDS 