A-Z Blogging Challenge 2025 - B is for Bells and Bookshops

 As I travel the world I take many photos that pique my interest, these could be lumped into a "peculiar category" ie. they are peculiar to my interests and may be different from what one usually sees in a collection of travel photos.

For the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge in 2025 my theme is Peculiar Pics. During April I invite you to join me for an online tour of Peculiar Pics from my digital albums. These will be sourced from my travels between April 2024 to March 2025.

When I hear bells I am taken back to my school days and the poem by Edgar Allan Poe. 

Bell Tower - Messina, Sicily

St Paul's Church - Passau, Germany

In a Church, Messines, Belgium

In the Museum -Ypres, Belgium

One drives under this - Bordeaux, France

Bell of Hortensia in Meriken Park - Kobe, Japan

As a former librarian and a lifelong bibliophile I find it hard to walk past a bookshop. 

Famous Bookshop, Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal (snapped from a bus)

I think it's a bookshop - Vannes, France
It was closed on the Sunday we were there

Kotor, Montenegro

Bookshop in the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. We may have invested in a few tomes. 

A Bookshop in the main street - Miltenberg, Germany

Budapest, Hungary

Just a few books to sell - On the street, Athens, Greece

I wonder what's inside - Budapest, Hungary

https://abc.nl/ -Amsterdam, Netherlands

A-Z Blogging Challenge 2025 - A is for Arches and Anchors

As I travel the world I take many photos that pique my interest, these could be lumped into a "peculiar category" ie. they are peculiar to my interests and may be different from what one usually sees in a collection of travel photos.

For the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge in 2025 my theme is Peculiar Pics. During April I invite you to join me for an online tour of Peculiar Pics from my digital albums. These will be sourced from my travels between April 2024 to March 2025.

Britannica tells me that an "arch, in architecture and civil engineering, (is) a curved member that is used to span an opening and to support loads from above. The arch formed the basis for the evolution of the vault."

So my first image in this post is not really an arch!
 

Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine - Osaka, Japan 

On our walk through the old town - Tangier, Morocco

Supermarket - Lisbon, Portugal

Royal London Yacht Club - Cowes, Isle of Wight UK

Mural - Gadigal Light Rail Station, Sydney, Australia

Exit from the Old Town - Kotor, Montenegro

St Emillon, France

Melk Abbey - Melk, Austria

Wikipedia provides a detailed description of an Anchor. Most of the anchors I have snapped are out of the water in Museums and on monuments. 

Timber Anchor in Museum - Cadiz, Spain

Anchor from the Amoco Cadiz - Portsall, Brittany, France

Spotted on our way to the Balenciaga Museum - Getaria, Spain

Driveby - Matosinhos, Portugal

A Light Month for Reading

March for me was a month of travel. As often happens I didn't get much time to read when I was on the road, sea and sky. 

I am pleased to report that I managed to read seven books and that I am still on track to reach my goal of reading 100 titles this year.

I'm still on track with the Goodreads Challenge

My reading in March included some new-to-me authors, Charlie Donlea and Alafair Burke. Their mysteries certainly drew me in and maintained my interest.. 

Blogging from A to Z April 2025 Blogging Challenge - Theme Reveal

 

During April I invite you to join me for an online tour of photos from my digital albums at the Blogging from A to Z April 2025 Blogging Challenge.

The A to Z April Challenge requires bloggers to post through the alphabet: 26 days, 26 letters, 26 posts starting with the theme of A on April 1st. As April has thirty days Sunday is designated as a day of rest. I was hesitant about joining the challenge again this year but, encouraged by fellow bloggers in Australia, I was convinced to join the party.  

As I travel the world I take many photos that pique my interest, these could be lumped into a "peculiar category" ie. they are different from what one usually sees in a collection of travel photos, they are peculiar to my interests. My theme for 2025 is Peculiar Pics. 

I'm currently travelling in Asia but will be back home in Australia in plenty of time to join the challenge.

Quite Pleased with February Result

My 2025 Challenge Stats

 Although I have only read a few pages in the last couple of days I am quite satisfied with the volume of my reading in February. 

As I will be be travelling in March and attending and speaking at Connections2025, an Australasian genealogy conference, my reading time will be impacted. Being eight books ahead  of schedule will help me to keep on track to reach my target of 100 books read this year.

You can follow my reading journey on Goodreads, here https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2580847-jill-ball

Here are the covers of  the eleven books I read in February.