Her Majesty reflects on the year’s events, and encourages us to be grateful ‘for all that brings light to our lives.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
John 1:4
11 Comments CherryPie on Dec 24th 2015
Filed under Faith Foundations, Heritage, Holidays, Piran & Ljubljana 2015
The Monastery Church of St Anna
Until the Second World War, this was one of the richest sacral buildings far and wide. It had a rich library and a collection of paintings by famous masters like Benedetto Carpaccio, Girolamo Santacroce, Vivarini and Palma Jr., which were displayed in the monastery church. In the presbytery, there was a big renaissance triptych by Cimo de Conegliano. The most attractive feature of the church today is its precious late Gothic benches from the end of the 15th century and a Baroque organ. Till the 16th century, the church was dedicated to St. Mary of the Angels, when it was renamed the Church of St. Anne.
10 Comments CherryPie on Dec 23rd 2015
I arrived home to be informed that visitors (family members) were due to arrive shortly. It was a nice surprise but it meant that my evening Christmas preparation plans were put on the back burner…
Whilst we were enjoying a catch up with our visitors the doorbell rang and on opening the door we found yet another family member delivering Christmas cards. A few pleasantries where exchanged but they were on their way out so they chose not to come in.
As our guests left someone else turned up at our door with rucksack in hand… He opened it up and pulled out a parcel which he explained had been delivered to his house just around the corner from us. He mentioned that the box was open and had to be re-wrapped, which he looked a bit uncomfortable about. I thanked him for delivering it to us. On inspection the parcel was intact as supplied by the courier, but on opening it I found that one of the boxes of high quality printing paper had a small split. I think he may have been trying to convey a message from the courier, which he himself didn’t understand. The paper is fine and I will be putting some of it to use tomorrow 
After all this excitement it was time to think about an evening meal. We elected for an easy option and while that was warming up the phone rang…
It was my mum phoning to tell us that she had (eventually) been to the doctors with her chest ailments and now was on a course of antibiotics to clear a chest infection. I have been telling her for weeks she should go to the doctors but she kept saying she was too busy… Thankfully one of her friends made her see sense!!
The photos are from a brief moment of calm when I was able to visit Wightwick Manor on Saturday afternoon 
PS: I haven’t included the story of a new born baby that caused us to adjust all our weekend plans
14 Comments CherryPie on Dec 22nd 2015
Let us not be justices of the peace, but angels of peace.
Saint Therese of Lisieux
12 Comments CherryPie on Dec 20th 2015
The Loggia Palace is a Venetian Gothic palace, the only preserved Gothic town hall in Slovenia.
The earliest part of the existing building dates from 1462, when building work began on a replacement for an earlier Loggia that had stood in the same position on the north side of the main square of Koper, opposite the Praetorian Palace.[1]
Following a plague outbreak in Koper in 1553-1555,[2] the facade of the Loggia was embellished with coats-of-arms, and a terracotta statue of the Madonna and Child was erected in a niche above the left corner column.
Further work was carried out in 1698, when a second storey was added and the facade was extended with two additional arches taken from the west side of the palace.[3]
The Loggia currently houses a cafe on the ground floor.[4][5] In the second floor, it houses an art gallery operated by the Piran Coastal Galleries.
6 Comments CherryPie on Dec 18th 2015
The Cathedral stands in the nucleus of Koper and dominates the area between the east side of the main square, Tito Square (Titov trg), and Brolo Square (trg Brollo). The three-nave Romanesque space with three apses was built in the second half of the 12th century. The Romanesque construction is especially preserved on the south side, where typical funnel-shape windows are intact and the stonework is imitated in the facade. Towards the west the church was extended to the bell tower and in 1392 it was Gothicized. The lower floor facade by the square has remained Gothic. The upper floor was redone with pilaster separations after the fire in 1460. The decorative Renaissance elements are the most distinctive on the west side, built in 1488, and in the chiselled details, such as the portals.
In the middle of the square, right next to the west façade, stands a mighty self-supporting bell tower repaired as a city tower in the 15th century. It has four main floors. The upper is open on all sides by quadra-forums. Higher up is a terrace and an ending with an Aquileian cap. In the bell tower hangs one of the oldest bells in Slovenia (1333). It was cast by Master Jakob in Venice. The upper terrace is periodically open and offers a great view of the Bay of Trieste. The clock, positioned in the middle of the third floor, faces the square
8 Comments CherryPie on Dec 17th 2015
