A break

 

It's that time of the year.

Hot summer nights, days on the beach and hardly any creative action...

 

 

 

So we take the time to explore new horizons and getting inspired while traveling in our second home

 

From earlier I know it may be difficult to post on a regular basis, so for this I apologize in advance. Hope to see you back soon, enjoy summer!

 

Thanks for visiting,

 

Regina

Martes!

Hi!

Martes de nuevo  (again it is Tuesday)

(you can click the image for a better view) 

Temperatures are on the rise, I really needed to cool down a bit here in Spain.

What could be better than to show the above dyptich? No warm summer colours this time and with a little bit of imagination one can almost feel the cold from the Athabaska glacier on the left...

We visited the Icefield Parkway in Alberta (Canada) back in 2009. It was our first summer trip with our newly purchased motorhome and we were traveling together with our eldest son, who had joined us in Seattle. We drove from Jasper to Banff and had a fantastic time. In fact it was the Icefields Parkway that made it very special: as a natural park the whole area was pure nature, no houses, no bill boards, just some traffic signs where necessary. 

A landscape that is hard to find these days (imho)...

The picture on the right is of the Athabaska falls, it is said not to be the widest or tallest, but the most powerfull!

There is a lot of info on these sites

https://icefieldsparkway.com/ 

https://icefieldsparkway.com/maps

Ah: Lake Louise, Peyto Lake, Johnston Canyon and so much more,

...sweet memories...

Have a lovely day!

Regina

Martes...

Good Morning!

 

 

 

Now Pentecost weekend is over we can enjoy a relatively quiet period until the 'Moors and Christians' reenactments will take place in our village.

 

 

This revival of the historic war and fights between muslims and Christians is an annual event that is celebrated throughout Spain and in almost every Spanish town and village. Needless to say that it attracts lots of tourists and other visitors.

 

 

I will try to get back to these festivities in a future post, but today it it just Martes (Tuesday)!

 

The left picture is of a painting I made a couple of years ago. It is one of an ongoing series on the subject of New Mexico. Around this time 9 years ago we discovered a Roadtrek mobile home for sale through the internet from an old man in New Mexico.

We went to Santa Fe for a weekend (from St. Maarten!) where we met the owner and decided on buying it after we had spent a few exciting nights in it (among which one night in a Native American settlement near Santa Fe). We were totally content with the camper, and so we made the deal...

 

To celebrate, the lovely man took us for dinner to the casino in Santa Fe, where I saw a stunning painting like this in one of the corridors.

 

Most adobe houses in New Mexico are terra cotta - earth coloured and you sometimes have to look really well to discover them in the arid landscape. So my version of the houses is a little more 'me, eg. colourfull!

 

The second photograph is a detail of the woodish seedshells of our Jacaranda tree. Nothing to do with New Mexico, but I show it because at the moment it is showing its lovely purple-blue flowers. I just gather the woodish seedshells in autumn, put these in a bowl and let them show their beauty as is, at least I think they are beautiful!

 

This is it for today, my little story of the how and why. I hope you enjoyed it.

 

Have a great 'Martes',

 

Regina

Irma (...not La Douce)

Last month we visited the Caribbean. We started on the island where we have been living 7 years, the island where I started my blog in 2008.

 

As you probably know, St. Maarten/St.Martin was severely hit by hurricane Irma on September 6th, 2017. Although we have been following the newspapers and social media ever since, seeing the effects was really shocking..!

 

For once I will address a post on this blog to the aftermath.

 Seeing the island struggle to rebuild was quite difficult. Knowing that lots of people and businesses are still waiting for the payments of the insurance companies before they can start renovating the roofs and other damaged parts. Many people lost their jobs due to the demolished hotels, few tourists are visiting the island that, except for its beaches, now has little more to offer. Knowing that there are just a few months left before another hurricane season starts, makes everything extra hard.

 

 

view from our apartment

 

Oyster Pond, once a very popular nautical area. Docks complety destroyed, hardly any yacht in harbor now, since there seem to be several ships on the bottom and thus sailing is difficult and dangerous. Moreover, no facilities are left...

 

 

Front Street in Philipsburg

At the time of our visit, I guess only 20-30 percent of the shops were open

This is an area close to the harbor where in high season up to 9 cruiseships came ashore. But, who needs diamonds seeing this?

 

 

Driving along the eastern coastway, we passed Coralita Beach and these cars

give a good impression of nature's powers

 

 

Marigot. Capital of the French part of the island

All shops and businesses at the waterfront completely destroyed,

so very sad to witness

 

and finally Orient Beach.

Once the most popular beach for both tourists and

people of this island. Lovely shops and restaurants, everything to welcome and pamper the people who came here to have a good time.

 

 

Before taking up my blogging regime, I felt the urge to tell you about these very recent experiences.



 

We have been talking to many survivors and can only just a little bit imagine how horrendous the passing of this hurricane must have been.

 

However, we have also seen the resilience of the people. The determination to rebuild and make St. Maarten/St. Martin once again a favorite destination to travel to.

 

Next time something else, more art related

 

Thanks for reading, see you soon,

 

Regina

 

 

Guggenheim Bilbao

It is almost one year ago that we visited this great museum

in Bilbao, Spain

A funny thing is, at this moment our daughter and her partner are visiting this very same place. 

They are traveling with our Roadtrek motorhome, so needless to say that our thoughts are with them a lot these days. I hope they enjoy Northern Spain as much as we did...

Playful

 

Just some playing today:

 

 

I chose a picture of the Roman Theatre in Cartagena,

 

 

and laid over this picture a detail of a mural

...

 

 

then the playing started: filters and layers in my favorite editing program

and there it is: Cartagena digital collage

 

Enjoy the beautiful spring weather!

 

Regina



Cartagena day 1

 

Last week we visited Cartagena...

 

We went there for a special reason, but since there was some time left before our appointment, we visited the old town

 

 

and were surprised by the beautiful old buildings

this is the town hall

 

 

of course, this is the Mediteranean, so there was a lovely boulevard...

 

 

 A glimpse of the 'Calle Mayor', the city's main shopping street. It was very quiet, since it was siesta time...

 

 

detail of the town hall building

 

 

but our main goal was this: the Roman Theatre

 

situated behind and above the Plaza de Ayuntamiento, one can get there by steps (like we did) or by using the formal entrance via the museum

 

 

it was very special because of its juxtaposition to the present, old and new together making a shift between then and now

 

 

In the city of Cartagena archeologists are working and discovering remnants from the past until today.

We loved the atmosphere and the loving care being given to old buildings all over the city...

 

to be continued



Before traveling to the cities...

...we visited

Bardenas Reales Natural Park first!

This UNESCO Biosphere reservation is situated in Spain's Navarra region and was the perfect start of our vacation

A friend who had recently visited this natural park was very enthusiastic about it and compared it to some canyons in the USA. And since it was on our route to the upper Spanish provinces, we decided to give it a try. After having stayed the night at a camperplace close to a series of cave dwellings, we headed to the park's west entrance the next morning





camperplace in Arguedas, near the west entrance of
Bardenas

much wanted information about the park...

What was really special about this semi desert area, was the emptiness, and the lack of any commercial sign and activity. No restaurants, no bars, nor wifi, let alone shops for souvenirs, nothing but bare fields and splendid rock formations. Almost unimaginable that this is possible these days...

Nothing but emptiness, the perfect decor for movies like
Airbag, Accion Mutante, The Pride and The Passion and even
 The World is not enough (19th James Bond movie)

 

a bare landscape, the result of erosion by water and wind. A landscape that housed crocodiles and turtles in the past, but now is the habitat of eagles, vultures and all kind of reptiles

 

 

 

looks like the perfect hiding place to me for the above mentioned creatures...

 

This formation is called 'Cabezo de Castildetierra' which means as much as

'Head of the earthen castle'

 

And with this picture I finish this post about a very remarkable place in our current country: Spain

 

Thanks for reading,

Regina

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Hi!

Considering the success of our first trip, we went on a second motorhome vacation throughout France, Belgium and the Netherlands. I now finally have the energy and time to post again.

 

But this time I am not going to apologize, since this is my blog, my space to document my life and of course, if there is still someone out there (hello!) who reads it that would be great, but seeing all blogs rapidly making place for Instagram and who knows what else, I think it is only good of me to not give up..!

That being said, I revert to our holiday in Spain.Visiting the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao was certainly one of the highlights of our trip! Boy, what a building, what a fantastic design! The building itself would have been an absolute goal to travel to, but of course there was art inside...

When we visited this summer there were three exhibitions running: one was of Andy Warhol's prints, one of Louise Bourgeois (Cells, quite interesting) and The Paris School. We visited the last two exhibits. Beside that there was Richard Serra's permanent installation: The Matter of Time, consisting of several huge kind of labyrinths of Corten steel. These were absolutely stunning!

 

The pictures give only a slight impression of the splendor of this museum, I can recommend it to everybody should you have a chance...

 

by architect Frank Gehry

 

Guggenheim inside

 

 

ah, the construction of it all!

 

 

outside, just looking up



 

 

a model of Serra's work

 

 

look at the human at the right, the work was huge

 

 

patina at the inside of one of the installation's parts

 

Well, this was it, I am back at blogging at last and look forward to any comment.

Thanks for reading!

 

Regina

Spain report: colours!

HI!

After a long break due to vacations, I am finally back on my blog. It has been a very wonderful, great trip we made throughout the Northern coastal provinces of Spain. While I am still full of all the beauty this landscape offered us, I am slowly getting back into my normal rhythm again and even finished sorting out all images I made.

So, because I am so happy to be able to post again, I will start with some very colorful, sea related images. Whereas in the Caribbean  life was full with vibrant colours, life in Spain normally is more natural, e.g. the colours of rocks, earth, wood play the leading role here. Though I love a neutral colorscheme very much, I now have a longing for the abundancy of real colours, so here they come:

this colorful fisherman's tool we spotted in a almost completely grey little harbour

in Asturias

 



 

a group of guides getting instructions,

Playa As Catedrais, Galicia

 

 

more tools, like in picture 1

 

 

my private Bay Watch! He was not very busy that day, for the water was cold...!

Saturraran, Asturias

 

 

What else do you need?

Cap Agustin, Asturias

 

I hope you liked this first issue of my travel report, more will follow soon

Thanks for visiting, grtz,

 

Regina

Looking out for this

 

 

Hi!

 

Again it has been too long that I posted here, but I had my reasons...

Five weeks ago I fell over ' I don't know what' and seriously bruised my right hand fingers and broke a tooth.

 

The repair works have taken lots of time, visiting the dentist every week for a root canal session and temporary crown. Visiting the trauma surgeon for my fingers. My middle finger had a joint out of its place and had to be immobilized after it had been put right again. At this time it is still taped to the index finger and I have to exercise as much as possible.

Until now I have always enjoyed a very good health, so for me this was quite an experience, and not a nice one. At the same time I realize how lucky I always have been and still am, compared to people who have ongoing health issues. I hope and expect that I will be able to bend my fingers to an acceptable level again.

 

So, in between feeling miserable for not being able to use my hand, I have been reading and, oh happy day!, preparing our first trip with the Roadtrek  motorhome, after four long years!

 

We have plans to travel through Spain in some weeks and the above beach is one that is on our list.

 

It is Cathedral beach at the Gallician coast near the city of Lugo.

 

I look forward to this trip so much. My DH has converted the electrical system from US to European. Our generator, boiler and microwave have also been replaced, so everything should be ready for, I hope, many travels here on the European mainland.

 

But starting in Spain first, our lovely 'new' home country

 

Hope to be back soon...

Regina

Our destination

 

 

With these storyboards I will conclude my recent travel experiences in pictures

(before my many visitors wonder if I ever will show some creativity or art again...haha)

 

In the back country of the city of Murcia is a famous spring. This seems strange at first, because the Murcia area is very dry and arid; I wouldn't say the landscape is lovely to put it mildly. But there, some 50 km from the sea in the mountains, you have the village of Archena with its spring.

 

We found a free campersite and could easily walk to the wellness and spa facilities. These are surrounded by some four-star-rated hotels that you can see at the right. The streets were paved in a lovely square pattern and the buildings were all in terra cotta colours, very stylish

 

 

The Segura river ran through the bottom of the enclosed space that was formed by high rocks and along the sides there was lush vegetation, that might be different in summer though...

 

We spent a day in several thermal baths and felt really reborn when we returned home the day after.

 

That was it for this Sunday, I will now go for the beach. Just some sitting there and enjoying the sun.

Hopefully you enjoy your Sunday too!

 

Regina



What we saw during our motorhome trip (2)

 

 

Like yesterday's storyboard, this one is built of pictures of typical Spanish 'things'

(sorry, I am looking for a better word in English but don't succeed)

 

The first one is near a museum shop where all kind of local products were being sold. The vehicle is a typical agricultural appearance and quite handy on the small roads and terraces of the vineyards.

 

When we were ready to continue our trip, we had to cross this bridge. There are lots of these old bridges in our neighborhood. They cross the usually dry 'barancs', but in time of rain need all the height to enable you to drive there

 

Ah, siesta time in the village. Everything is quiet, all tiny little shops closed, except for the bars and terraces. Very, very Spanish!!

 

This mural had the quality of a 'tromp d'oeuil', so realistic with the market stalls...

 

At the end of day 1 we arrived at our final destination and got a glimpse of the 'grandeur' of the place!

 

More on that in the next issue, see you!

 

Regina

What we saw during our motorhome trip (1)

(please click the storyboard for a better view)

 

In this storyboard you can see from left to right:

 

-gourds

 

-firewood near a roadside grill

 

- almond trees

 

- the Alcoy castle

 

-baskets

 

These pictures were taken on day 1 of our trip. At that time most almond trees had lost their blossoms and fragile leaves had started to come out.

 

Firewood is called 'lena' in Spanish, though it is mostly somewhat thicker than these fine ones; I suppose this size is to get the fire started

 

The gourds were wonderful, they looked like hams from a distance. Until today I have not yet discovered them in any Spanish garden.

 

Baskets are being made  near our village, in the village of Gata de Gorgos. There are several shops selling all kind of basketry, hats, furniture and rugs. Gata de Gorgos is also hosting a textile exposition once a year. Quilt like textile, fabric paintings and so on hang from the balconies in one of the narrow village streets, out in the open! No quilt police here, no protection from the weather, simply exposed outside. Last year I visited the annual expo on its final day and by that time many of the works had lost their colour, paint had washed out. I suppose you have to be earlier to really enjoy the art, it may be a Spanish 'something', but seeing this for the first time I was in a kind of shock, as I am used to the tender loving care with which quilts in other countries are being handled.

 

The Alcoy castle is on top of a very narrow hill. To me it really looked like the way a castle was described in history books. Maybe I can visit it one day...

 

That was it for today. As always: thanks for visiting!

 

Regina

Villages while driving by and through

 

 

 

 

In this post some images of Spanish villages we drove through on our recent motorhome trip.

 

As you can see: no exuberant colours, the dark pink house was about the only one colored one we saw. If I miss one thing of the Caribic it's just the colours...

 

What we see everywhere are electricity cables, most are still hanging from poles and run from one house to the other, simply crossing streets. It is therefore very difficult to make pictures without these, so I chose to simply show!

 

In a future post I will show the landscape which reminded me somewhat of New Mexico, same dry atmosphere, even something that looked like a canyon to me. But that is for next time!

 

Bye for now, thanks for visiting,

 

Regina