Mostly from Monserrate

Here's another set of photos.

These ones from our 2nd outing in Colombia to Monserrate. This location is on the edge of Bogota  on a large hill that many consider a pilgrimage and one of their popular tourist spots. To reach the top of the hill, we took a tram, AKA funincular. There is a monastery and lots of ardent street vendors at the top. The vistas are simply lovely.

Some lovely flowers at our relatives' house.

These climbing ones covered the property walls. Bonus, I caught a bit of a Colombian spider web too.

"Milka" - one of our relative's dogs - practically begged me to take this picture.

Some of the traditional architecture of Bogota - white buildings with tiled roofs.

If you look close, you can see a bit of the USA symbolism.

Part of the scenery as we waited for the tram to the top of Monserrate.

An up close of the statue. My husband made rude comments about the flower near the nose.

The plaque commemorating the tram to Monserrate.

A little of the engineering that allows the tram to run.

The view as the tram starts to climb the hill.

Downtown Bogota from the tram.

Part of the monastery at Monserrate

One of the vistas from the top of the hill.

A blossom yet to be.

A tree full of those blossoms.

Another view from the hill

Painted ironworks on one of the monastery buildings

Part of Bogota behind the monastery

A Christ statue on a hill across from Monserrate

Church bell

Behind the alter in the monastery

A monastery angel

Church tabernacle

I loved stained glass, even if it's inside a glass enclosure.

Another scene with Jesus done in stained glass 

Flourishes on the monastery ceiling too.

A panorama of Bogota made from 47 individual pictures taken from Monserrate.

Cathedral of Salt Photos

No, I didn't fall off the face of the Earth, I've just been occupied with other Life activities. Yes, it's been way too long since I've posted any photos here. I'll fix that today.

After thousands of requests from my husband, I finally agreed to visit his birthplace of Bogota, Colombia. (Yes, I took to heart the horrible stories about the place. Thanks to assurances from family and our priest, who visited Bogota a few years ago, I relented.) So we took the kids and headed to South America this past summer. I loved meeting family - they were all so kind and generous; the food was great, so great I gained weight; and for this hobby photographer, the vistas breathtaking.

I've finally gone through my photos from the trip, over 1.1k of them. I'll be sharing a few of them (don't worry - only a few) over the next few posts.

The ones included with this post are mostly from our first day in Colombia - taken in Bogota, along the way to the Cathedral of Salt, and inside the converted salt mine.

Enjoy.

The kids jumping around with a younger cousin.

The view from our lunch table at the restaurant. The thick walls reminded me of the adobe walls of the US Southwest.

Churches abound every where. This one was on the square near where we lunched.

The view of the countryside.

Yes, you read that correctly - a Juan Valdez Cafe. (This was the first of many that I saw.)

Another view of the mountains and villages that dot the countryside.

The view from the Cathedral of Sal parking lot.

Saw this beauty while waiting in line to enter the Cathedral of Salt.

One of the many cross carvings in the converted salt mine. This one is found in one of the Stations of the Cross.

The main cross in the church section of the Cathedral of Salt.

A sculpture from the depths of the old mine. Talk about treasure.

Had to capture the texture and swirls.

From the light and music show.

Photos from Tumacácori

From a recent field trip to Tumacácori, AZ with my youngest's 4th grade class...

We visited the Tumacácori National Historical Park which includes an old mission. Between chaperoning the students on a nature hike and through various stations like tortilla making, I was able to take a few photos along the way.

Time to Fill the Well

It's been a long time since I've been able to play with my camera and photos. I'm hopeful that can keep my plans to fill my well. Here's a good start.

Mexican Bird of Paradise, with my Lensbaby Velvet lens again. I love the soft and sharp contrasts in this lens.

Photos: From the OR coast

We went to the Seaside, OR for a dance competition and to visit with good friends. Here are two photos that I absolutely love, both taken with my new* Lensbaby Velvet lens.

The little one walking along the OR coast. 

The girls playing in the surf.

* new...well mostly new, as is I received it as a birthday gift last year, but finally started using it this summer. Yeah, things have been that busy.

Photo: A Velvet look at Mexican Bird of Paradise

Photos: A few moon shots

Love that I could manipulate the RAW file to get to this detail.

Grainy, but love the moodiness.