ITALIAN LAKES & SWITZERLAND

August`s had to be cancelled due to illness unfortunately and September`s is late due to travels. So here is a combined one from the Swiss Alps and the Italian Lakes.
We`ll start with a view taken from our hotel balcony overlooking Lake Como at the village of Cadenabbia.
It shows Bellaggio across the water :-

by Ken » 05 Oct 2011 10:00 am

Just a short boat ride down fro Cadenabbia is this beautiful Villa Balbianello situated in a magnificent position by the lake side :-



Its worth a look around if you can arrange a private visit. Its not only quite beautiful inside but also very interesting. Its previous owner , Guido Monzino, was quite a famous explorer having led an expedition to the North Pole, climbed Mount Everest and about 20 other expeditions all over the world. Several rooms are dedicated to his priceless collection of treasures and artifacts collected from remote areas across the globe.
He also had a fear of terrorists/invaders and built several secret passages throughout the villa --- ready for a quick escape if neccessary.
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by Ken » 06 Oct 2011 05:56 pm

Lake Como is crystal clear & freshwater fish are in abundance.
This one seems to be the most common :-



They`re mainly about a foot to 18 inches in length. Anyone any idea what species they are?

Ken.

by Ken » 07 Oct 2011 11:33 am

Mind you, its not surprising that the water is so unpolluted as the boats dont seem to have petrol engines -- they`re dog-powered !



Ken.

Ken

 

At the south western tip of the lake is the town of Como :-



A better overall view may be had by taking the funicular up to the little village of Brunate :-



Ken.

by Ken » 14 Oct 2011 03:26 pm

Once uo there you could spend all day exploring the lovely little old Italian villages which stretch for miles around the opposite side of the mountain to Como :-



Ken.

by Ken » 17 Oct 2011 11:11 am

On the shores of Lake Como there are dozens of pretty little villages. This one is Bellagio :-



Ken.

by Ken » 22 Oct 2011 11:30 am

But now we board the Glazier Express and head for the Swiss Alps :-



Ken.

by Ken » 23 Oct 2011 06:28 pm

Climbing higher and higher and passing some pretty little Swiss villages :-



--- and green/blue alpine lakes :-



Ken.

by Ken » 28 Oct 2011 10:35 am

Through the snow covered peaks :-



--- and on to St.Moritz :-

Ken

Michelle » 01 Nov 2011 12:24 pm

Great pics Ken. Any more coming up ?
Michelle

by Ken » 01 Nov 2011 05:05 pm

Yes-- in fact coming up even higher --- to St.Moritz sat perched on the mountain side :-



There`s not much to the town of St.Moritz. Its clinically clean & reasonably pretty :-



--- but a cup of coffee and a beer will set you back a tenner ! 

Ken.

.

by Ken » 04 Nov 2011 11:40 am

However --- its location can only be described as stunning :-



Ken.

 

Russia

RUSSIA

by Ken » 20 Jul 2011 04:27 pm

This one is "From Russia With Love" -- pics to follow later but first of all my thanks to the wonderful, kind and helpful staff of The People`s Hospital in Moscow and in particular to Serge who kept leaving his computer job to come over and translate as not a single member of the medical staff spoke any English although they did everything possible to help me. ( I was taken ill on my first day).

Ken.

Ken

Red Square is amazing. At one end is the beautiful St.Basil`s Cathedral :-



Ken.

Ken

And along one side , of course , is The Kremlin :-



Ken.

Ken

And along the other is "The Gum" :-



The original trading rows were burnt down & the Gum rebuilt in 1825. Since then its had a chequered history but was reopened as a trading post in 1953 . Red Square then witnessed long queues trying to get in to buy goods that were scarece throughout Russia. In recent years it has become the shopping centre of the wealthy, with countless upmarket designer stores.



Ken.

Ken

by Rosebudkid » 24 Jul 2011 10:32 am

Hi Ken-Well we're all very glad you recovered sufficiently to take some photographs of Moscow! St Basil's cathedral is the iconic view known world wide but I wonder what it is like inside? I expect there were very long queues to gain admission so perhaps you didn't have time.

With the large number of millionaires(and billionaires!) now in Russia I should think that Gum is a popular store but can it rival Poundland in the UK? 

Rosebudkid

 

by Ken » 24 Jul 2011 10:57 am

No. Because of my stay in hospital I missed the interior tour of St.Basil`s but fortunately later in our travels I managed to get to Pushkin and wander round the interior of the fabulous palace of Catherine The Great and also the beautiful palace gardens at Peterhof.
Pics of those later but first back to Moscow and the incredible underground(metro) system which must rank as the eigth wonder of the world :-





The gold is real gold leaf. Tons of pure gold were used in the decorations.

Ken.

Ken

 

by Ken » 24 Jul 2011 11:10 am

And such contasts from station to station. This one was decorated with beautiful stained glass panels :-





Ken.

Ken

 

by Ken » 24 Jul 2011 06:15 pm

Another station is lined with oil paintings :-





Ken.

Ken

 

by Ken » 24 Jul 2011 06:21 pm

Many depict a colourful illustration of an historic event :-



Ken.

Ken

 

by Rosebudkid » 24 Jul 2011 07:49 pm

I wonder how long the gold would remain intact in this country? With thieves ripping up cables and conduits for the copper cable(not to mention railway signalling apparatus) I wouldn't think it would last long before somebody had a go at stealing it!

Rosebudkid

 

by Ken » 26 Jul 2011 09:52 am

Very true --and there`s no excuse . There are far more poor people in Russia & yet beautiful works such as these can be left unguarded in the knowledge they wont be vandalised. Also in our travels across Russia we didn`t see any signs of graffiti.
This next station has beautiful oil paintings on the ceiling depicting the different Russian trades :-





Ken.

Ken

 

by Ken » 26 Jul 2011 09:56 am

The milk-maid :-



The harvesters :-



Ken.

Ken

by Ken » 26 Jul 2011 09:58 am

The miners :-

Ken

 

by Ken » 26 Jul 2011 10:03 am

And on the way out -- Russia has the deepest metros and longest escaltors in the world. This is the longest in Moscow :-



Shame about the post in the middle but I nearly fell a couple of times taking that pic. It would have caused one of the biggest domino falls ever !

Ken.

Ken

by Ken » 26 Jul 2011 02:08 pm

Before leaving Moscow, we take a walk through Victory Park to the Great Patriotic War Museum. Its worth a visit if just for the huge realistic 3D scenes of the battle of Stalingrad :-







Most of the tanks , guns & other hardware are real and the models so realistic you almost felt as if you were there.

Ken.

Ken

by Ken » 26 Jul 2011 02:13 pm

And now we take the overnight sleeper & head north:-



Difficult to get used to at first but soon the clickety-click, clackety-clack becomes natural & in fact quite soporific.
Woke up once to the sound of a strange "alien" voice wondering where I was but eventually realised we`d stopped at a station & it was a Russian female making a very long announcement. Next awakenening was to the knock of a maid at the door with our breakfasts.

Ken.

Ken

by Ken » 26 Jul 2011 02:44 pm

And we awake in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) :-



-- sometimes referred to as the Venice of Russia.

Ken.

Ken

 

by Rosebudkid » 26 Jul 2011 04:45 pm

Hi Ken-Fantastic pictures of the Patriotic war Museum! 

Rosebudkid

 

by Ken » 27 Jul 2011 10:57 am

Yes. I only wish I`d had a wide angled camera to take in the whole of each scene. The pics I`ve posted show only about a quarter of the 3D panoramic scene. If there hadn`t been a rope barrier , you could have jusat walked into each set and strolled around the tanks,guns etc..
And now to Leningrad --another beautiful city with countless inpressive buildings. This one is The Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood :-



And this is St.Isaac`s Cathedral :-



Ken.

Ken

by WillyLad » 28 Jul 2011 10:36 am

Another great selection of fascinating photos Ken. Takes us to places we`ll never get to.
Bill.

WillyLad

 

by Ken » 28 Jul 2011 01:07 pm

Cheers Bill. There are also many strange buildings in St.Petersburg. There are lots of these scattered about :-



I was told they are old lighthouses.

Ken.

Ken

 

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Re: Ken`s JULY postcard.

by DoctorBeaker » 28 Jul 2011 04:55 pm

Sorry you were ill Ken, thank goodness you were able to get help. Wonderful pictures, I can't imagine what the atmosphere in such places must be like. Steeped in history. Thanks for sharing them.

DoctorBeaker

 

by Ken » 29 Jul 2011 09:38 am

Thanks Dr.Beaker. Feeling much better now. My doctor still hasn`t quite figured out what all the drugs are that I was given (and still taking some). Some are not available in the West.
And yes -- the atmosphere was spell-binding almost whereever we went we saw things like we`d never seen before.
And now we move on to the town of Pushkin and the palcae of Catherine The Great :-



Even the servants quarters were the height of luxury :-



Ken.

Ken

 

by Ken » 29 Jul 2011 09:46 am

8,500 tons of solid gold were used to decorate the palace :-



No wonder the peasants revolted !

Even in those days there were also some clever devices. The candles you see were all connected by some sort of permanent taper so that only one at the bottom had to be lit. This automatically ignited all the others in that section.

They even had a crude form of central heating . A huge furnace was lit in the basement and heat carried up through the rooms in a huge ornate chimney located in the corner of the room :-



Ken.

Ken

 

by Ken » 29 Jul 2011 03:24 pm

And the next day we travel to Peterhof where the palace grounds of Peter The Great are stunning :-



-- and two surviving members of the aristocracy who managed to keep their heads ??

Gold statues everywhere amongst the fountains with the water flowing down to the Gulf of Finland :-



Ken.

Ken

 .

by Ken » 29 Jul 2011 03:29 pm

And finally its back to Leningrad/St.Petersburg where at this time of the year its part of the land of the midnight sun, where the sun doesn`t set properly but hovers around the horizon :-



-- creating some beautiful sunsets :-



And with that its good night and goodbye Russia and her freindly, helpful people.

Ken.

Ken

 

by Michelle » 30 Jul 2011 10:39 am

WillyLad wrote:Another great selection of fascinating photos Ken. Takes us to places we`ll never get to.
Bill.

I`ll second that. very interesting and vey informative.
Michelle

Michell

by Kristof » 30 Jul 2011 06:52 pm

Very good Ken. Excellent pictures and descriptions as usual.

Kristof

 

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by Kattaddorra » 31 Jul 2011 12:32 pm

Wonderful pictures Ken, thanks for sharing them.
It's bad enough being ill in familiar surroundings but it must be very frightening when it happens abroad.
I'm glad you are OK now, take care.