Walking Squares: A Warmer-Than-Usual Dublin

It’s been a hectic two days of hard traveling, but now self is almost to her destination, and she only has to get on the bus to Monaghan tomorrow.

Here’s her latest installment for Life of B’s November Squares Challenge: Walking Squares.

Dublin is warm! And sunny! Perfect walking weather. From her Airbnb on Aungier Road, she walked to the Chester Beatty Museum (in Dublin Castle), which is a jewel of a museum, with the most amazing collection of ancient texts, all compiled by one man, Chester Beatty, who deserves to be a household name. She spent about three hours there (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) today. The museum has a café/restaurant (called, appropriately, The Silk Road), where you can take a break and eat a wide variety of hot food and/or pastries/salads/cakes/coffee.

The Chester Beatty is a small museum (only 1 % of the permanent collection is on display at any one time) but this is the Holy Grail of book collectors. If you can, take a docent tour. They’re 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and 11:30 a.m. on Saturdays. There are also excellent downloadable audio tours (free)

Water Water Everywhere # 148: Golden Gate Park, Last Summer

Whenever self feels in need of getting away, she goes to Golden Gate Park. It is 30 miles north, but being there always nourishes her spirit. She visits Stow Lake and sees whatever’s on at the de Young.

Last June, when she took these pictures, she dropped by to see the Alice Neel exhibit (fantastic!)

Posting for Jez Braithwaite’s Water Water Everywhere Challenge.

One Word Sunday: High

Titanic Museum, Belfast

Posting for Travel with Intent’s One Word Sunday challenge

The Titanic Museum in Belfast is a must-see. It was built to the exact height of the ship itself. Self visited in April.

Ruth Asawa at Modern Art Oxford

There is a permanent installation of San Francisco artist Ruth Asawa at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. Just happened to be in Oxford when the Museum of Modern Art did a show on her, in May. Saw the exhibit with two American friends, Amy and Sam. In one word, stunning.

Posting for Travel With Intent’s Six Word Saturday Challenge.

Thursday Trios: British Museum and Hackney Road

This post is about exhibit banners (at the British Museum) and store window mannequins.

In her explorations of East London, self discovered Wall and Jones. It’s a clothing and jewelry shop on Hackney Road, across from Hackney City Farm, that sells the most lovely, unique items. Beautiful jewelry by Eve, clothes by Ali Wall.

Posting for Mama Cormier’s Thursday Trios.

Whatsoever Is Lovely Challenge: Raphael

Xingfu Mama’s Whatsoever Is Lovely Challenge asks:

• What was lovely in your life this week?

Today, self was at the National Gallery in London to see the Raphael exhibit. It was magnificent. In particular, this self-portrait. Because if Raphael really did look like that (the man in front), WOWEEE. Am I right?

Last on the Card, April 2022

Bushboy’s Last Photo on the Card allows self to share one more photo from the Titanic Belfast Museum, which she visited yesterday. It was an unexpectedly emotional experience.

There is a very swank hotel next to the museum. Yesterday afternoon, the hotel’s formal dining room was all decked out for a wedding reception. In the lobby were lovingly restored photographs of the ship at launch. You’d think the associations would keep people from wanting to get married there, but the opposite seems to be the case.

This ship’s model was on the second floor, away from the crowds. (The museum got very, very crowded mid-afternoon, at which point self put on her mask. People were staring. But self would rather be safe than sorry.)

Cee’s Midweek Madness Photo Challenge (CMMC) — Pick a Topic from Cee’s Photo

Here’s the link to Cee’s photo. Possible topics: mother, bigger than life, purple, cups, halloween, club, bricks, red, child, scarecrow, autumn, table, door, sign, brown, mask, water bottle, outdoors, etc.

Self’s photo is of a woman made out of coffee cans, riding on an exercise bicycle.

Isadore Weber’s “Can-Can”, at Baltimore’s Visionary Art Museum

Last on the Card, September 2021

Thanks, bushboys world, for hosting the Last Photo on the Card photo challenge.

I’ve been taking more pics with my cell these days. The last pic I took with my Nikon coolpix on September 23, 2021:

“Pink Over Red”: Mark Rothko, American, born Latvia (1903 – 1970), Stanford’s Anderson Collection

Stanford’s Anderson Collection had re-opened to the public, the day before. It so happened that Sept. 22 was also Dear Departed Mum’s birthday; she would have been 86. So, I was full of FEELZ when I stumbled across this Rothko.

Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.

A Photo A Week Challenge: Unedited

Love this photo challenge from Nancy Merrill’s A Photo a Week.

tbh, ALL self’s shots are unedited. She takes all her pictures on the fly.

Here are a few shots she took last week at the Legion of Honor. She went to see the exhibit Last Supper at Pompeii. On the way in, her attention was captured by these Wangechi Mutu sculptures, and there was no way to take pictures of those without including the bystanders. Not the ideal, but here they are anyway. The man in the blue jacket has a starring role:

Stay cool, dear blog readers. Stay cool.