c.i.: one interesting thing we saw during our one day visit to malta were the baskets that had been lowered by rope from the balconies of many houses. we were on an early morning walk an were quite puzzled by this until we noticed a delivery boy leaving bread and groceries in the baskets. shortly thereafter we'd see a women pull up a basket to the balcony ! clever idea, it saved them from having to carry the groceries up to their third or forth-story flat. we've never seen this any other place. hbg
hbg, Bread delivery is done to residents of first floors too. They just leave the bread on the doorstep.
c.i. : we used to have both the breadman and the milkman call after we came to canada in 1956. as you said , bread and milk would be left at the door (i don't think it would stay there for long now-a-days, i'm afraid ) , but we didn't have a basket-and-rope system to get the goods to the upper floors; if you lived "upstairs" - as we did - you had to go downstairs to pick up the bread and milk. the maltese system seems pretty clever ! hbg
It also implies how honest the Maltese people are that they can still have bread and groceries left on their front door without it disappearing. I think we're still okay in our city; we leave our front door unlocked once-in-awhile without having to worry.
That's true c.i. - about the 'open' doors in Malta. But, it's a small island and hard to hide your identity if you're from there. laughing.
In Austria, Vienna, I saw many deliveries to the door - - - mostly white wine in very large bottles. grin
danon, The funny thing about the inconsistency in Malta was the fact that the hosts that had us over for lunch locked their doors. They said it was "out of habit," but it made me wondering why. I couldn't reconcile the groceries left on the front doors of many homes and their locking their door.
C.I., maybe it's the difference between groceries (outside) and diamonds (inside).
A sculpture at Keukenhof.
Watching the world go by sitting at the outside cafe and drinking coffee at Keukenhof.
A picture without a windmill is not Holland.
I'll suppose you'll be appalled, CI the I go ballistic over your
Brussells Midi post...
Why should I be appalled? You'll have to clue me in on what it is that makes you react with such a blast.
I loved the fuzzy one... heh, back a posts or a page...
Why, the fuzzy one had more beauty to me. Why, who the hell knows. I liked it.
osso, The fact of the matter is, in my rush to take the picture, my hand wasn't steady enough to get a "clear" picture. Sometimes the unintended turns out better - doesn't it? LOL
Yes, C.I., that seems so obvious to me, that the unintentional is often better than one hoped for. But if you decide to keep it, or not paint over it, as in painting, then it is "intentional." Right?
I'm loving your photos of Amsterdam and Keukenhoff. Do you remember passing a garden with muscari which looked like a calm stream flowing through a field of tuilips? It was amazingly beautiful. Then there was another large garden of hyacinths with an occassional red tuilip showing its flashy head. At first I thought the tulip had slipped in by mistake, then noticed there were red tulips throughout at odd intervals. It was cleverly done, with a hint of humor.
c.i.,
Your photos are the nicest treat on A2k! I have been watching for them since I saw your Antarctica photos. Will you be posting any photos of Cologne?
