The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
Albert Einstein
12 Comments CherryPie on Dec 16th 2012
BBC News (York & North Yorkshire) have reported that a section of Roman road has been discovered during excavations underneath York Minster:
Archaeologists have unearthed a section of Roman road beneath York Minster.
The road was found during construction work for new visitor displays in the medieval minster’s undercroft.
The York Archaeological Trust said the road was probably a backstreet that ran behind the Roman basilica, the site the minster sits on.
The work in the undercroft is part of the £10.5m York Minster Revealed project due to be completed in May 2015.
It is the first time for 40 years that archaeologists have been permitted to work at the cathedral.
Patched and repaired
Ian Milsted, lead archaeologist at the trust, said: “It’s a huge privilege to be revealing pieces of the past in such an iconic building, all of it contributing to our picture of life in ancient York.”
He added the street, probably part of the Via Quintana, would have been used for several centuries and appears to have been frequently patched and repaired.
Roman York (Eboracum) was founded in AD71 and remained a major military and economic hub in Roman Britain until the early 5th Century.
The Dean of York, the Very Reverend Vivienne Faull, said: “While it was not as grandly paved as the main streets of Roman York, you can imagine that this backstreet, situated as it was between the Basilica and the Praetorium, was exactly the kind of place where the real business of the empire was done.
“It probably even witnessed the very first Christians on their way to worship.”
Archaeological analysis of all that York Archaeological Trust has uncovered during its work, including human remains found in March, will be published in February 2013.
16 Comments CherryPie on Dec 15th 2012
This weeks prompt was:
So, what’s cooking? What meal do you start the day with? What ingredients do you lovingly assemble to create a nourishing meal? What holiday treats are you making or indulging in?
Maybe you’re NOT cooking, but admiring and enjoying a meal or treat made just for you?
I have not done any cooking worthy of a photograph lately, but…
On my recent visit to Attingham I enjoyed this kitchen table loaded with traditional Christmas fair, it brought back many happy memories 
14 Comments CherryPie on Dec 14th 2012
…shining through the mist.
The dome by J. Hardouin Mansart, built between 1679 and 1706 magnificently crowns the building. It is the finest dome ever built in France and its 107-metre-high lantern was regilded in 1989 for the bicentenary of the French Revolution. Twelve kilos were needed for this operation. From the outside you may admire the facade with its two orders (Doric and Corinthian) of architecture. Statues of Charlemagne and St Louis by Coysevox and N Coustou decorate the niches of the lower levels; on the level above stand _Strength_, _Justice_ and _Temperance_ with _Prudence_ by Coysevox. Inside, beneath the dome is the recently restored large fresco by Charles de la Fosse depicting St Louis handing his sword to Christ. The Dôme Church became a military burial place. It houses the tombs of Turenne, Vauban, Foch, Lyautey as well as those of Joseph and Jérôme Bonaparte. In the crypt itself is the tomb of the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte I fashioned out of blocks of red porphyry standing on a socle of green granite from the Vosges region.
This photo was taken from the viewing platform on the first level of the Eiffel Tower on a misty morning.
12 Comments CherryPie on Dec 13th 2012
No matter how carefully you stored the lights last year, they will be snarled again this Christmas.
Robert Kirby
17 Comments CherryPie on Dec 12th 2012
On the day I chose to visit the Eiffel Tower during my recent weekend in Paris, the tower was partially shrouded in mist. The mist was a bonus, it meant there were no queues and we were able to go up the tower without any delay. As I looked down from the tower along the Champs De Mars I noticed two rows of statues, which I thought were people. I decided to go and investigate when I got down from the tower…
My investigation revealed that they were statues of bears not people and that they were an artwork project.
16 Comments CherryPie on Dec 12th 2012
