A Kiss on the Hand

On our hiking tour in Slovenia we came across two happy free-ranging pigs. The piggies were willing to establish contact with us!

My friend put fourth her hand and one of the curious little fellows came near!

After a careful examination, he gently kissed her hand!

A perfect cavalier!

But one kiss is not enough!
The devoted gentleman did not refuse my hand too, and so I could also feel the cool touch of his little wet snout!

He was a perfect charmer! And I guess he was well aware of that!

http://camera-critters.blogspot.com/

Skies in Egypt

Sky Watch Friday:
Here are some pictures I made in Egypt in November last year!
Sky watch pictures, of course :)

Here are our first impressions of the African sky :
White feathery clouds over pink desert sands!
I was really stunned!

I think I made 100 pictures or even more!

And then the blue-green strip of the river Nile appeared!

Egypt's lifeline in the desert!

The white sails of a felucca boat brought us to the Botanical Garden in Assuan.

The subtropical vegetation of Kitchener's island gave us pleasant shadow in the heat of the Assuan skies!

Mimosa bushes perfumed the sky over the eternal temples of Abu Simbel.

In Edfu, antique columns worshipped the sky since ancient times.

Finally we reached the Red Sea at Hurghada,
with desert moutains in the evening light hovering over bizarre tourist palaces...

Ahhh... romantic, though,...

We visited a Bedouin-village in the desert mountains at dusk.
A camel ride, Bedouin dishes, Bedouin carpets...

Bedouin children
going home when the sky was getting pale.

Sunset over the desert!

We went back to Europe and wished to come back soon!

Sky Watch Friday!
All around the globe!

http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Gladioli and a new camera

I have a new camera! I spend my evenings at home studying the instruction manual!
And from time to time I dare take a snapshot, try some retouching, and enjoy the result :-)
Oh, it's so much fun to have a new camera!

http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/

Flowers on my window

Now it's the most beautiful time of the year in Vienna:
The temperatures are summerly warm, but the nights and mornings are cool and refreshing;
The air is perfumed with the fragrance of flowering lime-trees, sweet acacia and jasmine.

On my windowsill, my orange tree and the little flowers I brought from Turkey, enjoy the hot midday sun. Not to forget my cactuses!


Have a pleasant Whitsunday everywhere!

An Exhibition

When my husband retired from his job, he began to take painting lessons at the Künstlerische Volkshochschule in Vienna.

This year, one of his watercolours was shown at the yearly exhibition.

Here are some more pictures from different artists presented at the exhibition.

Roses after the rain

It seems that this year the roses in Vienna's Rosegarden are blooming more beautifully than in the last years!

After a heavy rain over night I came to see if the roses had been damaged. No, they are as beautiful as before the rain!

The Turtle Beach of Dalyan

In April we spent a week in Turkey.
One highlight was a boat trip to the Turtle Beach of Dalyan.


Dalyan (follow link to Wikipedia) is a town in Muğla Province located between the districts of Marmaris and Fethiye on the south-west coast of Turkey.

Life in Dalyan revolves around the Dalyan Çayı River which flows past the town.

The boats that ply up and down the river, navigating the maze of reeds, are the preferred means of transport to all the local sites.

Above the river's sheer cliffs are the weathered façades of Lycian tombs cut from rock, circa 400 BC. The ruins of the ancient trading city of Kaunos are a short boat trip across the river.

Dalyan achieved international fame in 1986 when developers wanted to build a luxury hotel on the nearby İztuzu Beach, a breeding ground for the endangered loggerhead sea turtle species.

The incident created major international storm when David Bellamy championed the cause of the conservationists. The development project was stopped and the beach is now a protected area.

İztuzu Beach

On our boat trip to the Dalyan Beach we were offered fresh blue crabs. The crabs were served with Rakı on the boat on our way back to Dalyan.
What a delicious meal!
Some glasses of Raki intensified the relaxed atmosphere on the boat!