Hugs and blessings :)

November was wet

December is cold

Our favourite is red

together with gold. :)

Hello all! I now thank all those that during these years have visited and followed this blog. As mentioned in the previous post, "Villa Emilia" will continue as private. Let me know your email address, if you want to receive an invitation (and remember to check your spam folder! :)).

EDIT: Due to technical reasons, I have abandoned the idea of ​​a private blog. We'll continue together, as before!

In these photos, the lake is covered with ice and the ice is covered with water. :)

Taking photos of red items is so very difficult. These pillows look rather pretty in reality...

...and so do these cards. :)

Wishing you all a happy Advent and a very merry Christmas!

Ihanaa adventtiaikaa ja rauhallista joulua kaikille!

(Tähän postaukseen ei voi jättää kommenttia.)

In the UK: Memories from the travel

Hello all! After my short trip to the UK, as is my wont, I now put together some photos and thoughts. Thank you for your comments... I need to add that I really don't travel often - and I never travel for a vacation, but only to meet family members or to attend a ceremony, sometimes a funeral, sometimes a happier event.

(From the cover of  the Degree Ceremony Brochure)

This time I had a pleasure to attend a graduation in one of the most fascinating buildings used for University ceremonies, the Sheldonian Theatre, in Oxford, built in the 17th century after a design by Christopher Wren and named after Gilbert Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of the University at the time.

"If good come in, if wicked by no means"

Dining with family and friends is always fun. I wouldn't have chosen to eat at a Chinese restaurant... but I must admit the food was tasty. :)

Sitting at a coffee shop... and listening to Christmas songs! :)

Without the Canon I normally use, I wasn't able to take good photos in the dark...

... but turning the photos black-and-white helps a little. :) These "snow-covered spruces" (at Broadgate Circle) were so pretty!

The hotel room was comfortable, the view from a corner room was great, and as I wrote earlier, the breakfast was really good.

(This is not a sponsored post. The opinions are always my own and all expenses were paid by me or by a member of my family.)

The photos are all in black-and-white also because the colours of some of them really didn't fit together. This photo, however, should have been in colour. The handsome aeroplane tails are of course cheerfully blue, red and white. :)

The flight from London back to Helsinki was much better than the outward flight. There was more space between the seat rows, I was sitting near a window and with two jovial Swedish passengers next to me. :)

From the sunny London I was flying towards the evening and the full moon (the tiny spot in the photo) in the pink clouds... In my final destination, in Eastern Finland, it had been and was snowing (much) and we needed to circle around for about 20 minutes waiting for the runway to be cleared, mechanically and with some chemicals. Fortunately, there's a lot of SnowHow in Finland. :)

The airports had decked out the terminals... and indeed Christmas is less than a month away. :) Have a happy new week!

PS I'm planning to turn the blog open to invited readers only. 

Let me know - in the comments or via email: sara(dot)villaemilia(at)gmail(dot)com - if you are interested in following it. :)

😊

Flowers of November... in London

 

(Comments are disabled.)

Have a lovely weekend!

Marraskuista Lontoota - London Cable Car and Royal Docks

Terveisiä Lontoosta! :)

Takana on muutaman päivän pikainen käynti Lontoossa ja Oxfordissa. Lontoossa liikuttiin erityisesti kartan kuvaamalla alueella. Majapaikkana oli O₂ Arenan vieressä sijaitseva InterContinental.  Tämä ei ole sponsoroitu postaus, mutta tällä kertaa mainitsen hotellin nimen, koska olin erittäin tyytyväinen - varsinkin aamiainen oli aivan ihana. :)

Yksi pääkohteemme oli Royal Docks -alue joen toisella puolella. Greenwichistä pääsee sinne hauskasti Emirates Air Line -köysirataa pitkin. Matkan voi maksaa lähimaksuna ihan suomalaisella pankkikortilla, kuten Lontoon muussakin joukkoliikenteessä. :)

Köysirata kulkee korkeimmillaan 90 m korkeudessa.

The O₂ Arena ja taustalla finanssikeskus Canary Wharf, josta löytyy aurinkoisempia kuvia tästä postauksesta:

In English: Last weekend I paid a visit to not one but two of my favourite cities, London and Oxford. I didn't have my good camera with me, the weather was grey and everyone in a hurry, but of course I tried to take some photos...

Thank you for your comments already in advance. Unfortunately, also this time, I will be slow in visiting you. 

Tässä kuvassa taustalla näkyy Thamesin tulvapato hieman kauempaa.

Wikipedia kertoo, että Thames Barrier ulottuu Thamesjoen yli kohdasta, jossa joen leveys on 520 metriä. Padossa on 10 teräksistä porttia, joista jokainen painaa 3300 tonnia. Viisikerroksisen rakennuksen korkuiset portit voidaan nostaa ylös tulvan uhatessa. Pato valmistui vuonna 1982, se vihittiin käyttöön vuonna 1984 ja tähän mennessä tulvaportit on suljettu 186 kertaa suojaamaan kaupunkia.

Hitsi, minä olisin kirjoittanut Thamesjoen "Thames-joki", mutta niinhän se Kielitoimisto muistuttaa, että yksisanaiseen paikannimeen lisätään tarvittaessa selittävä jälkiosa suoraan ilman yhdysmerkkiä: Thames ~ Thamesjoki. :)

Royal Docks (ja Silvertown) -alueella on paljon vastavalmistuneita kerrostaloja...

... ja kaunis, vuonna 2000 avattu Thames Barrier Park. Sen mielenkiintoisin osa on pitkä, "aaltoileva" Green Dock, jonka kunnossapito vie varmasti valtavan paljon aikaa ja rahaa... ja olen lukenut harmitteluja siitä, ettei rahaa ole alkuvuosien jälkeen ollut riittävästi.

Public Spaces Protection Order... Onpa veikeä kyltti. Kuusi koiraa on kyllä aika monta... :) Onko suomalaisissa puistoissa rajoituksia siinä, montako koiraa saa olla mukana?

Sää oli aika harmaa. Marraskuu onkin Lontoon sateisin kuukausi. :) Puissa oli kuitenkin vielä vihreitäkin lehtiä, ruoho viheriöitsi kauniisti ja seuraavassa postauksessa näkyy lisää kukkia.