Dubai: memories from the past

_MG_6048 [Dubai: memories from the past]

 

The boat in the picture is a boat-restaurant.

Tourists on board enjoy a night view of Dubai or they take advantage of an opportunity to try a selection of local and international specialties for their evening meals while the boat is on a cruise along Dubai creek.

 

The picture was taken from our boat-restaurant that happened to be moving the opposite direction at that moment.

 

Dubai memories from November 21, 2007

 

Please click on the picture for a better view.

Colchicum bivonae

803_7818 [Colchicum bivonae]

 

This colchicum blooms as soon as we have the first cold in Autumn. So, the fact that the flower above was the only one bivonae I found on my recent visit to Parnitha most probably indicates that cold weather is on the way! [Some sort of primitive Meteorological Service!!!]

 

Beautiful but the whole plant contains colchicine, a poison that Medea used to kill her children in Kolchida! 

 

Photographed on Mt. Parnitha on September 12, 202

 

 

Patroklos and the Milky Way

803_2235 [Patroklos]

 

I had just taken a series of photos of a lunar eclipse over the Temple of Apollo on Cape Sounio [You can see the eclipse here.] and was about to return home when the boats near the little island of Patroklos and their reflections on the water looked tempting to my sleepy eyes at 1:30 in the morning. I confess, I am not strong enough to resist photographic temptations, so I decided to take 1-2 more photos - the last ones - for the night. The stars above were not visible to the human eye but PhotoPills - my mobile photo-advising App - ensured me that part of the Milky Way was still over the little island of Patroklos at that time.

So, I turned my camera towards a new direction and once again yielded to the temptation.

The outcome on the computer screen on the following day reminded me of David’s Psalm that reads:

“The heavens declare the glory of God; The skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

 

Photographed at Sounio on July 27, 2018 

 

Please click on the picture for a better view

 

 

Pancratium maritimum

801_6220 [Pancratium maritimum]

I consider Pancratium maritimum one of the most attractive plants in the Mediterranean countries.

Its large, pure white, trumpet-shaped flowers are of striking beauty and appear from July onwards.

Its leaves, contrary to most flowers, are green in winter but they get dry when the flowers appear.

 

 

302_9242 [Pancratium matitimum]

 

It grows from a bulb which is buried deep into the sand:

a fact that allows the plant to withstand the heat in the hottest months of the year.

 

 

IMG_8712 [Pancratium maritimun]

 

We rarely see single plants emerging from the sand.

Instead, we see it come out in clusters.

 

 

IMG_8674 [Pancratium maritimum]

 

IMG_8699[Pancratium maritimum]

 

The fruit of the plant.

 

 

All photographs were taken at Legrena on various summer dates over the last 3-4 years.

 

 

The Acropolis of Athens

Please click on the picture for a better view. 

 

803_6643 [Acropolis]

 

 An early evening view of the well-known, much-photographed, Acropolis of Athens.

 

The sun was setting exactly behind the Parthenon that day and I was hoping for a spectacular sunset to combine with the Parthenon in the foreground but my hope remained only an unfulfilled wish. The sky was dull, the lighting conditions in the area were rather poor but the Parthenon was again as spectacular as ever. To avoid going home with an empty basket, I faced my challenging task by using the HDR technique (7 images stalked) so that I could record as much detail as possible. I am sharing with you whatever I managed to get and look forward to another opportunity with better conditions.

 

The picture was taken from the roof terrace of a friend’s house in the center of Athens on July 19, 2020.

 

 

Pinguicula balcanica

302_7171 [Pinguicula balcanica]

 

  A carnivorous plant found in heights between 900-2.500m.

Like most carnivorous plants, it grows in wet, nutrient-poor soils. 

 

For more info about them 

please see a post of a similar plant HERE.

 

Photographed on Mt. Voras on June 04, 2010

 

 

Cicada orni

803_6811 [Cicada orni]

 

 g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g …. All day long! All summer!

 

Cicada: The well-known insect with the familiar sound.

 

One evening one of them landed on the awning over our balcony to spend the night. I was very close but I didn’t pay attention to it. The following evening, it came back to almost the same spot. Accidentally? On purpose? Was it the same insect? Who knows? I prepared my camera and pressed the shutter release just in case it had come on purpose to be photographed!

 

Photographed in Holargos on August 08 2020

 

 

Ag. Eirini

801_8427 [Ag. Eirini]

This little church, dedicated to St. Eirini, can be found at the very foot of Mt. Hymittos next to the residential area of Argyroupolis in Athens. It takes nearby residents only five minutes’ walk to get there and, besides lighting their own candle in the church, they can picnic in a beautiful spot arranged to that purpose under the trees.

Photographed on November 09, 2014

Please click on the picture for a better view.