Our guest host is from “down under.” Brian, the Australian known as Bushboy graciously accepted our invitation to host the challenge this week. His challenge is called “Fragments” which he introduced with this statement: “What has been happening recently is a bit of fragmentation around the world, a disconnect. But we always have been made up of pieces. What I would like to see is some of your fragments.” You can read his entire challenge post here.

In October 2022, Lynn and I made our first trip to Europe to board a cruise ship. We sailed from Southampton, England to Rome, Italy. Cruising is an enjoyable way to visit other countries, but we’ve learned that with one-day port stops, we receive a fragmented view of the places we’ve visited. How can we know the essence of a continent or even a country, by a single-day visit?

My first fragment photo features the ceiling of our hotel room in Rome. As an employee of a public school district, I’ve been accustomed to the economics of mid-level hotel stays as they fit our budget. In Rome, we picked a hotel chain we use regularly in the United States. I can say we’ve never had such a beautiful ceiling as this one in the room of our hotel in Rome.

Even though we had extra time in London and we stayed within a stone’s throw of the Tower of London, we didn’t venture inside. Instead, we walked the exterior and learned fragments of information from the placards placed nearby.

Traitor’s Gate is an entrance to the Tower of London originally built in the 13th century as a private gate for King Edward I, but it came to be used as the main entrance for prisoners who arrived by boat. It was renamed Traitor’s Gate in the 16th century and was the entrance used by Sir Thomas More, Anne Boleyn, and Sir Walter Raleigh, all executed within the tower walls.

When we stopped in Portugal, we selected a tour bus excursion to take us inland. One of our stops was the Castle of Guimarães. I created a stylized view of the castle with three images in a cylindrical panoramic mode in Lightroom. With multiple sites in multiple towns, even though the castle admission would have been free, there was only enough time on our tour schedule to view the exterior.

Europe is known for iconic castles, but probably as well known for medieval churches. We were allowed interior views of this beautiful Catholic church in Braga, Portugal. The cathedral, the oldest in Portugal, was founded in the 11th century and has been rebuilt and expanded several times over the centuries. I was especially fascinated by the beautiful organ built in an archway. The image features a fragment of the organ as the other half of the organ is on the other side of the arch. Could this organ have been the first stereo sound system?

I admit to not being a fan of wine, but my wife and several of my family members enjoy the fruit of the vine in bottle form. As a result, we visited more wineries than I care to admit. This image features but a fragment of the wines I dutifully tasted and then listened to the opinions expressed by my wife and my niece as we sampled each product. My verdict: I’d rather have a Diet Coke.

Our only stop in France found us in the playground of the jet set on the French Riviera at Saint Tropez. We wandered the narrow streets of the old town and walked along the waterfront to admire the luxurious boats docked there. On our walk, I captured this image of an outdoor cafe.

Our first stop in Spain at the port of Cadiz found us boarding a tour bus to Arcos de la Frontera. The tour guide was excellent, but the walk was long and quite uphill to get to the top to visit the church that is “known for its beautiful architecture, its religious significance, and its many works of art.” As we approached from the side, I turned around and captured the narrow walkway and a fragmented view of the cathedral. What they didn’t tell us was that the church’s main entrance facade was “marred” with scaffolding and no admittance was allowed due to a renovation in progress.

In London and then in Rome, our arrival and departure cities, we flew each way with a two-day buffer partly to see those cities, and partly to allow for not missing the cruise because of flight delays. Still, our sight-seeing in the foreign lands was really only a few hours longer than any other port.

With an extra day in Rome, we walked a lot and rode a hop-on hop-off bus that turned out to be less than ideal. That story will come in a future post. Rome is known for its fountains. Probably the closest one to our hotel is the Triton Fountain located in Piazza Barberini. According to an Internet search, “The fountain is a large, free-standing sculpture of a Triton, a sea god, blowing a conch shell. The Triton is surrounded by four dolphins, and the fountain is topped by a large shell.” Of course, there are plenty of coins in the fountain. This fountain is not the Trevi Fountain of “Three Coins in the Fountain” fame, which is about a 10-minute walk from Piazza Barberini.

It seems only fitting to end this post with a fragment of the lyrics of the 1955 Academy Award-winning song from the movie of the same name;

Three coins in the fountainEach one seeking happinessThrown by three hopeful loversWhich one will the fountain bless?- Lyrics by Sammy Cahn

All of the images processed for my post are available for viewing in 2K HD on my Flickr album here. Thanks again to Brian for his guest post this week. Next week, Tina hosts the weekly challenge. Look for it at noon Eastern U.S. time on Saturday. For more information on joining the challenge, check here.

John Steiner