This is Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Of course, that is the Cathedral. The Old Town is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The little plaque on the wall with stars is an ancient indication that the owner of that building had insurance. Much classier than our current paper policies, no? I love little details like that.
Finally, that is St. James himself.
Every year about this time people start landing on my blog by doing a Google search of "holiday window box." These two shots are for those folks. I did spruce tips and dried hydrangeas this year.
I also bought three boxes of battery operated colored lights. If you too have been considering them, save you money. They are a pile of crap. The strands are about 3 feet long and none of the blue lights worked. I ended up using one strand as a donor to make two almost complete strands. They work on a timer and I'm sure they will probably last 4 days.
Porto is one of my favorite cities in the world to visit. And the train station is one of the most beautiful I have encountered. The hotel I stay at was opened in 1877. And of course, there are the port wine cellars.
Clearly it is going to take me a while to get back into the swing of writing posts again. It's already been a week?!!
Before I continue I just want to say, this blog has the best readers in the world. Don't let any other blog tell you anything different. Holy cow, to remember me after almost a year and a half. Best. Readers.
And now on to Portugal. I love the old world charm of Lisbon. And the breakfasts.
I'm trying to post pictures of things that inspired me...things that in some way I bring home when I'm working on my house. Or that tasted good :)
Lets get this out of the way first off. No, the kitchen is not done.
It's been a long time since my past post. A really long time. Over a year, in fact. Blogger has totally changed, and I actually had to figure out how to post again.
You have missed nothing regarding work on my house. I take that back. I completed one minor project and started another. I have pictures of both. I will bring you up to speed.
What have I been doing for the last year? I desperately needed a break from my house. It was running my life, taking all of my time and spending all of my money. I was tired of it. Literally.
So, where have I been throwing my energy and my money? Travel. I have have been making some tracks. A trip to Spain and Portugal. Two trips to Michigan to trace family history. And last month a trip to Finland and Estonia.
I now feel able to talk about my house again.
I don't have any StuccoHouse restoration photos to share with you. However, you can take the girl out of the house, but she will photograph architecture.....
I'll probably do a series of posts with pictures from some of the places I visited. I'm starting with Madrid. Will work through a few more Spanish cities and then Portugal. This will not become a travel blog, I promise.
When I get to Finland and Estonia it is full on architecture and you will laugh. Its the whole nature vs nurture debate come to life.
A few photos of Madrid. I'm not going to bother to label them. Ask if you want to know.
