Farewell to summer

For me, this particular time of year is a strange time. Summer is almost, but not quite, gone, and autumn is knocking on the door. The fruits are almost, but not quite, ripe. The days are getting shorter and the mists cover the fields. The days are still pleasantly warm but chill creeps in overnight. The birds are getting ready for their long journey south. It is a time of plenty, and yet there is already a sense of the cruel times to come...



I don't really hate autumn but I feel melancholy every time the summer is beginning to bid goodbye, when the change is felt in the air, when it becomes clear the careless times are over for another year...

Bridging The Gap - Finale

Back to the Ljubljanica and probably the most famous bridge crossing it. The Triple Bridge (Tromostovje) is one of the best known Plečnik's work. He replaced the existing bridge leading from Prešeren Square to Town Square, and more than that - he constructed three bridges instead of one. The central bridge was intended for the vehicles and the side ones for the pedestrians.

The view from Dragon Bridge. The structure to the left of the picture is The Market - another of Plečnik's masterpieces which spans from Dragon Bridge to Triple Bridge.



The view from the footbridge toward the other side of the Triple Bridge.


A view across Prešeren Square showing one of the side bridges.


Another view, this time showing the central part. The area has been recently closed to traffic and is now a pedestrian zone.


So, this brings another photo challenge to a close. Thank you, Alice. It has been more entertaining than I thought.

Bridging The Gap

Where the canal you saw in the previous post joins the Ljubljanica lies this small bridge. Nothing special really but I kind of liked its iron railings.



You can visit Alice to see more bridges.

Bridging The Gap with the sky in the background

Yes, it's time for another Skywatch but due to my busyness I'm not signing in this time although this shot certainly qualifies for both memes.

Melli said in one of the comments I may not need to stray from the Ljubljanica at all to complete this meme and she was quite right. However, I chose to wander up one of the narrow canals that link to the Ljubljanica to take this shot of a more modern bridge. It looks quite good, don't you think?



Bridging The Gap has been conceived by Alice at I Was Born2Cree8 .

Bridging The Gap Day 4

There was a glimpse of this bridge in the previous post - beyond the footbridge and the flying fish. This is another view of Cobbler's Bridge, designed by Jože Plečnik whose work features prominently in the architecture of Ljubljana and indeed much of the central Europe (he has designed several buildings in Vienna and Prague).



Here I tried to make it look a bit like the old postcards (to be perfectly honest, trying to save an overexposed photo - that's what you get when you trust the automatic settings of your point and shoot camera)



The project is hosted by Alice at I Was Born2Cree8

Bridging The Gap with Ruby Tuesday

Still the Ljubljanica and the city centre. A footbridge with a view of the Cobbler's Bridge and some fish-shaped helium balloons as an artsy installation across the river in between. The photo was taken in May and these fish were on display there only about a week. And if you look closely (enlarge for better view) the footbridge is embellished with some red flowers.



For more bridges you can visit Alice at I Was Born2Cree8
Ruby Tuesday is hosted by the teach at Work of the Poet


a note: I will try to visit as many of you as I can but I'm rather busy these days so please bear with me if I miss on a visit. Thank you.

Bridging The Gap 2

I have written a little about the Dragon Bridge on this blog before so I'm just adding a couple of pics. The river under the bridge is again the Ljubljanica in its final incarnation.



The bronze dragons can actually be seen on each end of the bridge if you click to enlarge.



Bridging The Gap is hosted by Alice.

Bridging The Gap

Alice at I Was Born2Cree8 is hosting a new project. I'm in for a couple of very busy weeks so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to participate but have decided to post a bridge today nonetheless.



The photo was taken this spring at the source of the Ljubljanica - the river that runs through Ljubljana, the city where I live and work. It's a wooden bridge wide enough for a car to cross as can be seen from the pic.

Actually, this is just one of the sources of the river known by many names. Because of its karst origin and character it springs in several places and after a few kilometres sinks again into the underground only to reemerge in some other place by some other name. A couple of hundred metres upstream from where this photo was taken the main spring of the river emerges from under a solid rock and acquires its final name.

Reflect This - final day

I wanted my final reflection to be somewhat symbolical and the Universe brought forth these reflecting globes I found appropriate. In fact, they may have been there before and I just haven't noticed them although I seriously doubt that to be the case.



It's great how these memes bring together folks from all over the world and what can represent that better than rotating globes reflecting gazillion dots on surrounding walls.





Thank you, quilly. I had a great time.

An explanation and more reflections

Many of you have wondered what the photo in the Skywatch post (the previous one) represents. Well, it was a detail from the building picced below. No solar panels there, just darkened plexiglass reflecting the sky.



The building is situated beside one of the bigger junctions in the city centre and is crescent shaped. It was constructed only a few years ago and it hosts several offices. I drive (or am being driven) past it almost every day but I usually take one bus stop before it so until now I haven't really taken the time to examine the thing. For yesterday's post I deliberately walked the extra length to shoot the detail of this building but didn't remember to take another shot at a wider angle. So I had to repeat the action today to bring you this.

But then I walked around the building and to my delight (and embarrassment) discovered more spectacular reflections. On reflection (sic), I'm not too pleased with how the shot turned out so I'll have to repeat the action soon, possibly at a more favourable time of day.



Same building from the back side...

Reflecting on Sky Watch Friday

The place to visit for more sky photos...



Well, another day of Quilly's photo challenge set me looking for reflections of the sky for obvious reasons. I hope these speak for themselves.

Reflecting in the dark

Not a particularly good picture, I know - way underexposed - but... if I used flash there would be flairs everywhere but even so there are quite a few reflections in it...

Reflecting on Ruby Tuesday

is hosted by Mary at Work of the Poet

whereas Quilly hosts the Reflect This prompt throughout the week.

Reflecting on day 2

We've had a lot of rain this summer. In fact, this must have been one of the wettest and most humid summers on record although official statistics may disagree. But I have rarely seen the streams and ponds so full even in spring when the snow (provided there was any) melts. So, the water in the local pond is murky but still clear enough to reflect an occasional cloud and some surrounding vegetation.

Reflect This - Take 1

OK, so Quilly has announced a new one week photo challenge in which she asks for reflections in any shape and form. Here's one from the recent archives to set me off but I'll try to come up with some fresh stuff for my next contributions.

Final day of dragon hunt

This beauty is a dragon by its name so I reckon it counts.
Thank you for the challenge, Melli. T'was fun.

A different kind of dragon

Skywatch plus Dragon hunt

The sky tonight was full of curious clouds.







Well, Melli has called for a dragon hunt but the creatures seemed to be in short supply lately so I told her I didn't have any to show. But then dragons started to appear all over the sky as if they knew it was time for a Skywatch post. It does take a little imagination to see them but...

More dragons

I have added a closer view of one of the fellas



Just when I thought I was done with the dragons in the city centre I came across these boxes. Having no idea what this was about I approached and found out they are apparently doing some excavations in the area to make underground containers for collecting waste. If you click to enlarge you'll be able to see pictures of dragons on the boxes...

More dragons

Finding dragons in a city whose symbol is a dragon is not easy at all. However, there are a few along the river bank...





Yes, this is one and the same photo (taken with the snapper so excuse less than perfect depth of field) but I wanted to present it in different ways... which one do you prefer?

Ruby Tuesday

Phew, this is becoming addicting... but it's time for another Ruby Tuesday post with a picture of something red. As always, RT is hosted by the teach of Work of the Poet.



a cheerful sight in a street of derelict old buildings

Morning scavengers

Do you see them? The pair of rascals hopping up and down this concrete monstrosity which some smart-ass once thought would embellish a neighbourhood?

Teenagers occasionally gather there after dark to do whatever it is the youth are wont to do. They don't usually stay very long but they sometimes leave stuff behind: cigarette butts, empty beer cans, food leftovers... and the crows, being the clever birds they are, know that all too well.

Dragons

Since dragons appear to be in demand in the blogosphere these days, I have decided to repost one of my earlier entries from this blog.

This verdigris-coated creature stands proudly along with three others of his kind, each occupying one side of the bridge called, how appropriately, The Dragon Bridge.

Dragon is a symbol of Ljubljana. There are a few legends as to why this is the case.

According to some, the legend of the dragon is connected to St. George, the patron of the Castle Chapel, usually depicted as slaying a dragon.

A more intriguing myth involves Jason and the Argonauts. After taking the Golden Fleece, or so the story has it, Jason and the Argonauts, running away from the pursuers, wandered into the estuary of the Danube. Having had no other option, they continued up the Danube and the Sava and eventually the Ljubljanica all the way to its source. There they disassembled the Argo and carried it on foot to the shores of the Adriatic Sea where they reassembled the ship and proceeded with their journey. Along the way they came across a huge lake and a swamp where a ferocious monster lived. Jason killed the monster and founded a settlement nearby, which got to be known as Aemona and subsequently Ljubljana (Laibach/Luwigana). The swamp monster later took the role of a dragon.

There is evidence of human presence in this area since the Bronze Age. There is no evidence whatsoever of the presence of a swamp monster or any suchlike creature. If they could speak, I wonder what these bronze-cast dragons guarding the bridge would have to say on that matter?

Buildings

This shot and the one in the previous post were taken within an hour. After the first round of hail the sky brightened but remained mostly overcast. However, some light broke through to linger in the windows of The Skyscraper and reflect off the copper covers of a few chimneys on the adjacent building for a few moments. Soon afterwards another round of rain with more hail followed.

Curious

It's been a curious day. After a glorious sunny morning the sky turned dark in a few moments and hailstones of various sizes - most the size of peas but some as big as large walnuts - started bouncing off the ground. Hailstorms lasted for the best part of the afternoon and there were only short intervals in between.



I don't think the pic does it justice but may give some idea as to how all this looked.

Sky Watch Friday

is hosted by Skywatch


please klick to enlarge


The sun was just about to set as these misty clouds stretched across the crescent moon. So I decided to give the moon due attention and this is what turned out.

ps - busy tonight so i'll try to visit as many of you as possible the following days

A little more about Ljubljana

Well, Ljubljana has a long history. There is evidence of ancient tribes occupying the area long before the Romans put up a settlement called Emona. In 12th century the name Luvigana first appears and in 13th century it is granted city rights.

Since the town is situated in a seismically active area, it has been affected by earthquakes throughout its history. After an earthquake in 1511 it was rebuilt in Renaissance style and in the 17th century Baroque architecture appeared.

Another earthquake hit the city in 1895, and destroyed some 10% of the buildings. Large parts were reconstructed in Art Nouveau style.

So, today the old city is a mixture of different styles and, apart from being the capital of Slovenia, it is also a strong cultural centre.

The pic shows the Prešeren Square situated in the heart of the old town.

Ruby Tuesday

Ruby Tuesday is hosted by Work of the Poet blog.


So, this is one of the buildings in the centre of Ljubljana, built in Secession (a form of Art Nouveau) style.

Past its prime

Today I was walking through the city park and looking up I noticed rusty spots on chestnut leaves. Now, horse chestnut is always the first to show signs of ageing, but seeing these signs also means that summer is slowly beginning to wane and autumn is not far away.

Pft

Some days just don't feel right from the beginning. Nothing tangible, nothing obviously wrong but... just a vague feeling things are not going the way they should. You try to shake off the feeling with gentle humour but it is neither understood nor accepted. Then something insignificant - a word, a move, whatever - triggers an unexpected explosion of pent up frustration... and all of the sudden you enter an emotional ice age.