Woman seated on a stool by a brick lattice window
Pick a Word,  Themed galleries,  Travel in general

Gallery: pick a word (December 2023)

December 26, 2023 / 19 Comments

Every picture tells a story

Rod Stewart

But a few words to accompany that picture can help to bring the story to life. Here’s another quote that makes that point rather forcefully:

Whoever came up first with that saying ’a picture is worth a thousand words’ didn’t understand the first thing about either one

Wim Wenders

Each month Paula challenges us to find photos to match her chosen words. Some seem straightforward, to ‘illustrate’, while others present a real challenge. But it’s a challenge I always enjoy!

As always I haven’t stuck only to Paula’s five words, as I like to tell you a little bit about each photo. However I do try to be more succinct for this challenge than for most of my posts!

Last month I stayed close to home, with photos from London only. But this time I want to take you to Bulgaria, Cuba, Guatemala, North Korea and Uzbekistan.

MEDIEVAL

Worn and damaged fresco with images of saints

Church of the Holy Mother of God, Asen’s Fortress, Bulgaria

This small church is built in the Byzantine style, with a crypt on the ground floor and the main church above. The walls of the latter are covered with the faded remains of 14th century frescoes.

PAINTED

Old school bus painted in bright colours

Chicken bus at the bus station in Antigua Guatemala

These colourfully painted buses get their name from the livestock that locals often carry on them, on their way to or from markets. Of course those locals know them by a more prosaic name: la camioneta, la burra, or el bus. They are actually old US school buses, sold at auction to people who drive them all the way down to Guatemala. There they are given a makeover including a paint job, and the brighter the better!

TRADITIONAL

Girl in traditional dress playing a zither-like instrument

Musician on a restaurant boat in Pyongyang, North Korea

Two for the price of one! This young woman is wearing traditional Korean dress and playing a gayageum, a traditional zither-like instrument. This usually has twelve strings but some modern versions have more, with 21 being most common in North Korea.

ILLUMINATED

Woman seated on a stool by a brick lattice window

In the Ismail Samani Mausoleum in Bukhara, Uzbekistan

This small, perfectly square, structure dates from the 10th century. It is built from baked bricks arranged in decorative patterns including basket-weave, checkerboard, and dogtooth. It is pierced on three sides with open lattice ‘windows’ formed from darker bricks, while the fourth side has the entrance. Here light from one of those brick windows illuminates the face of a local woman seated nearby.

SACRAL

Small doll in long white dress seated in a bare room

In the Templo Yemalla in Trinidad, Cuba

This is a house of worship for the Santeria religion, which fuses traditional African beliefs (primarily from the Yuruba religion of West Africa) with those of the Roman Catholic church. Believers venerate deities called oricha which are equated with saints. Each has particular attributes to which their devotees relate. This particular temple is devoted to the oricha Yemayá, the mother of all living things and protector of the oceans.

19 Comments

  • Paula

    January 24, 2024 at 11:37 Reply

    I wasn’t aware of that quote before (thank you). I saw his “Sky over Berlin” decades ago. I am sorry I did not show up earlier. My life got much more complicated than before (and it is likely to get even more, but I am not giving up on this blog posts). Anyway, thank you for inviting me to your virtual photo travelling around the world. It is a joy and privilege. The one from Uzbekistan is touching.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      January 24, 2024 at 16:48 Reply

      Thanks so much Paula 😊 I’ve not seen that film but I’ve liked other Wim Wenders ones, including Wings of Desire (also set in Berlin) and Paris, Texas. It’s good to hear from you and no worries about any delays – life should come before blogging!

  • Mari Nicholson

    December 31, 2023 at 14:52 Reply

    I’ve spent the entire morning, last day of the year, looking for blogs that once arrived in my computer but which have all, alas, disappeared. I cannot even call up the Reader from which latterly I managed to get them. Now, I’m not sure how I got this, but I found it somehow which leads me to think I can find all the others I’ve missed but it’s going to take a long time. Meantime, Happy New Year and good travels in 2024 wherever they take you. I look forward to reading and enjoying the most recent of your posts now that I’ve found my way in. I wonder if the fact that I’m not posting these days has anything to do with it. Is it “You blog regularly or we don’t let you read those you usually follow”. Heigh-ho, I have a problem, as I have to space out what I do, reading for a few hours, then a break, a bit of emails on the computer, another break, more reading etc. Reading is the one thing I can’t give up!

    • Sarah Wilkie

      December 31, 2023 at 17:45 Reply

      Thanks so much for making the effort to find me again 😊 It’s good to hear from you! I’ve found WP does that to me sometimes but usually only for a handful of the blogs I like to follow (one in particular keeps disappearing). I understand completely that you have to pace yourself, but when you’re able to drop by it’s always a pleasure, as are your own occasional posts. Happy New Year to you too 🥂

  • Anita

    December 26, 2023 at 15:37 Reply

    How exciting to be able to accompany you to these different places. Love that painted colorful bus that you found in Guatemala and the photo of the lady playing that tradition instrument is very beautiful. Very clever with the woman in Uzbekistan, illuminated wasn’t the first thing I thought of when I saw the picture. She looks very thoughtful and a little sad, it’s a great photo anyway, both in color and black and white :))

Do share your thoughts, I'd love to hear from you! And please include your name in case WP marks you 'anonymous' - thank you