A Personal Amateur Photography Blog
Springtime in Argentina means the flowers are in blown, as are the spectacular purple Jacaranda trees! A good day to spend in the parks of the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires.
The Washington National Cathedral is the second largest church in the country, and serves as the church for many state funerals, among other activities.
Because of Washington’s unique building height restrictions it is the 4th tallest building in the city, despite only being 300′ high.
The day we visited they were having the annual Flower Mart. As part of this event there were a number of group performing, including the choir from the nearby St Alban’s School.
The main section rises to the aforementioned 300′, with a length of nearly 500′ making it an impressive space.
State flags line the cathedral. Despite the name it receives no money from the government.
There is a significant amount of carvings throughout.
The organ was built by Ernest Skinner & Son Organ Company. It was completed and installed in 1938, with over 10,000 pipes.
A closeup of some of the carvings.
The church suffered significant damage in a 2011 earthquake, and they have been raising money ever since to complete repairs. By selling Lego bricks at $2 each, they hope to raise the final $19 million to finish the repairs. The bricks are to build an exact replica of the cathedral.
A statue of George Washington was sculpted in 1947 and placed in the church. It is said to represent Washington not as a soldier, or president, but ‘just a man’.
As noted previously the Flower Mart was occurring on this day. As part of this celebration the country of Ecuador flew in fresh roses and was giving each lady a rose, presented by a representative of the embassy.
Many countries had floral displays, none more unusual that Switzerland’s rose cow.
Many lined the nave, with the stained glass windows providing backdrops.
The arrangements were very well done.
The Washington Cathedral is a stunning building, and the Flower Mart display added to the experience.
Early June found us at the historic Fairfield County Fairgrounds for a car show. This was a great place to host the show as the walkways were paved, there was lots of shade, and the backdrop of the old barns added to the atmosphere.
The featured cars this year were station wagons. A couple of the participants even had travel trailers that matched the wagons. Other highlights included the Model A club.
Later that afternoon we came back into town, to the near west side for the Franklinton Bike Races. The afternoon of racing included both men and women’s races.
The setting gave great views of the racing as well as the skyline of Columbus. In addition, the course took them through a couple of railroad underpasses, adding to the various angles of the racing action.
As we returned home we stopped at Whetstone Rose Gardens, as we had heard ‘the roses were out’. Apparently most of the photographers in Columbus had heard this as well, as about 2/3rds of the people there were taking pictures. While at first we had fun taking photos of the roses I quickly got bored and had more fun taking photos of people taking photos of roses.
The day was a lot of fun, and really showed the diversity of events available in the area, with motor heads, bicycle fanatics and photographers.
Youngstown, Ohio is a tough old steel town, with a soft side. Mill Creek Park is a very nice park that runs throughout much of the south side of town. Included in this park is Fellows Rose Gardens, an oasis in the city. First planted in the early 1960s, the gardens continue to this day with an impressive rose display,
