Greece in Winter - 2016 Family Holiday

We looked up

We looked down

We climbed

We looked up

We looked down

We climbed

We walked and walked

And once some of us ran - on the first Olympic track, ever

We fact checked

And every evening we warmed up, sampled unique Greek drinks and talked about what we had seen that day.

We roamed Athens for a few days then drove around the Peloponnese Peninsula for 10 days.

Greece is having a quieter than normal winter with colder than normal weather so we often had the famous sites and the hotels to ourselves.

It was a wonderful family time in a unique part of the world.

George Town, Penang, Street Art, Malaysia

'Marking George Town started off as a competition initiated by the Penang State Government to physically brand George Town as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2009, an international competition was held aimed at exploring innovative ideas in art and design for public spaces in George Town.'

Cannon Hole

A canon shot fired during the 1867 Penang Riots made a large hole in this area, hence the name. Location: Lebuh Cannon.

'Out of the 40 entries within the country and from abroad, sculptured work triumphed with its design concept of 'voices from the people'.

Bullock Cart Wheel

In the days when your money could be as "big as a bullock cart wheel", this was a popular rest stop for limousines of the time. Location: Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling.

'Subsequently, 52 unique and humorous illustrations in the form of iron rod sculptures were installed against the city's building walls.'

Double Role Fire! Fire!

'Up until 1909, the police doubled as George Town's firefighters. Location: Gat Lebuh Chulia.'

The fire hose attached to the wall has been incorporated into the understanding of the sculpture.

Quiet Please

'To the dismay of parishioners of the Portuguese church there, Church Street also housed the headquarters of the notorious Ghee Hin secret society. Location: Lebuh Gereja.'

In the hot humid equatorial climate the steel sculptures are aging well and can still be seen clearly while the walls age and develop an attractive patina.

Roti Benggali. Kulit asing?

'Roti Benggali came from the word, 'Penggali' (shareholder' in Tamil). Location: Lebuh King.'

The humour and style remind me of the work of the famous Malaysian cartoonist Lat.

Cheating Husband

Location: Love Lane.

Shadows cast by the art on to the walls at different times of the day add a changing dimension to the works.

High Counter

'The counter of the pawnshop is typically higher for security. Location: Lebuh Camarvon.'

Boy on Chair

'In the George Town Festival 2012, Earnest Zacharevic was commissioned to paint a few murals...Since then, a few other artists have also contributed to the current street art popularity in George Town.'

These murals are popular photo opportunities with people participating making it a tableau vivant, a living picture. 

Old Motorcycle

Location: Lebuh Ah Quee.

Like the chair in the previous mural, the actual motorcycle is real. The art work is titled after the motorcycle but it is the boy that has been painted.

We stayed in the Spices Hotel, an award winning renovated building. A guest, a Russian woman, painted this 2 story mural on the wall beside the stairs up to the second floor

She also painted a portrait of this well known 'street' person. She chose to tuck her under the roots of an ancient tree that has become part of the wall.

Bruce Lee

Location: Lebuh Ah Quee

The picturesque decaying walls are so much part of each mural.

Elizabeth stands beside a mural. I couldn't find out anything about this one. It is just one of so many waiting to be discovered down narrow lanes, on pillars and high up on walls.

There was also more graphic art work.

The work on the left could be considered graffiti in style and purpose.

Sebastian waited by this wall art to make sure I didn't miss it as I tried to take photographs and keep up with the family group.

There is so much to see and do and explore in George Town, all within walking distance.

Each day I had to pick a theme or 2 to focus on otherwise I would have been in a constant state of sensory overload. What a wonderful place.

Morocco - Dyeing and Leather in the Fez Medina

The tourist brochures talk of being in the Fez medina as stepping back into the Middle Ages. Many traditional skills are still practiced and old-world services still offered. This likely to be one of the reasons why it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

If you want a worn article of clothing freshened up, visit the street dyer, drop off your faded garment and  pick it up once it has been over-dyed.

The Fes medina has a dyers' district where dyeing skills have been handed down through many generations. Hand-woven woolen and cotton cloth, tanned hides of camels, goats, cattle and sheep are tanned and dyed at a number of different tanneries.

Earthen vats are filled with dye materials - ochre, poppy, pomegranate and henna for reds, date stones for light brown.

Fullers stomp on the hides in the vats then lift them out. It is back-breaking work for only the strongest. And the smell... but you probably don't notice it when you work there every day. Visiting tourists are handed a fresh sprig of mint to help the delicate ones cope with the smell. I found the smell to be not too bad, but I did remind myself we were there in winter. In the summer heat, I may have gagged.

The small yellow hides are saffron-dyed lamb skins to make the softest of leather.

From our high vantage point in a leather goods store's verandah, we stood for a long time watching all of the different activities going on.

Bridging Waters: Inspiration

The inspiration for the forms I am making came from the Joggins Fossil Cliffs, a United Nations World Heritage Site.

William was our guide down to the site. He passionately explained how the huge surging tides of the Bay of Fundy were actively eroding the Joggins Cliffs to reveal more and more fossils. It must be so exciting to be a scientist going down to the beach under the cliffs when the tide is out, particularly after the high spring tides, to see what new fossils had been revealed.

William explained how the ancient trees were preserved when sediments were laid down.

The tree trunks can be seen preserved in the cliffs today.

William showed us fossil remnants of different trees and named them.

I was intrigued by the patterns made by the leaf scars on the tree trunks.

Samples of different tree trunks are displayed in the interpretative centre. 

I decided to interpret these patterns in fabric.

This is the Calamite's distinctive pattern. It is the gigantic ancient ancestor of the Horse Tail or Scouring Rush found in forests today.

Bay of Fundy - Joggins

This is our 1st view of the Bay of Fundy with its sediment filled red water.

We were on our way to the newest Canadian UNESCO World Heritage Site....

...Joggins Fossil Cliffs. They are pounded by 2 tides a day and are erroding rapidly. Our tour guide said there are new finds on the beach after every high tide.

.

Joggins is where the first fish crawled onto the land. It was covered with huge palm trees, like present day horse tails. The image shows a fossilised palm tree being exposed. There are lots of interesting textures in the stone.