One’s missing! Where’s she gone?

Pic 246 [One is missing]

This is part of the façade of a building next to the “Fulton Grand Canal” hotel on The Grand Canal in Venice [See picture below]. While I found amusing the sight of penguins on the balcony watching cruise boats go by, I was also curious to know why one of the penguins in the lower right balcony was missing. Where had she gone? I wonder!

Picture 245 [One is missing-hotel]

Both pictures were taken from a cruise boat in Venice on September 15, 2005

Ophrys aesculapii

300_5895 [Ophrys aesculapii]

Photographed on Mt. Hymittos on April 17, 2017

Onosma frutescens

300_5876 [Onosma frutescens]

Photographed on Mt. Hymittos on April 19, 2017

The Cathedral of Athens

802_6445 [Athens cathedral]

The Cathedral of Athens is centrally located, very close to Syntagma Square, and constitutes a major landmark of the city. It is 40 m long, 20 m wide and 24 m high. It’s construction started on Christmas Day of 1842 and was completed 20 years later. On May 21, 1862 it was dedicated to the Annunciation of the Holy Virgin Mary at the presence of the King Otto and Queen Amalia who had laid the cornerstone 20 years earlier.
 
Throughout its history, it has been the venue of all sorts of official ceremonies ranging from coronations to royal weddings and to funerals of prominent figures of the Greek society.

Photographed in Athens on July 20, 2016



 

802_6597 [Athens Cathedral: Interior]

 The interior of the Cathedral seems to impress all visitors who have the opportunity to admire the plethora of Byzantine-style icons and frescoes, treasures like a part of the chain that Romans used to chain up Paul the Apostle in Rome, or the tombs of two saints: Agía Filothéi and Patriarch Gregory V to name a few.
 
While the night-shot of the exterior of the Cathedral was easy to take with the use of a tripod, photographing the interior proved problematic. Huge dimensions, dim light, and no tripod permitted were only some of the problems any photographer would face. The problem was partially solved with 18 pictures HDRed into 6 and then stitched into the above hand-held 2x3 panorama.
 
Photographed in Athens on August 18, 2016
 
Please click on both pictures for a better view.