INSPIRATION: FROM EUROPE

With just one full day left in London and our schedule looking full, I suddenly realized my digital camera storage disks were completely full - and we brought extra... going through them to delete duplicates and fuzzy images and free up a little space, I found that I am completely but happily obsessed with doors, windows and other architectural details...

like this amazing stone gateway



Burton on the Water - in the Cotswolds
wrought iron and stone column



or this limestone and mortar wall

Bibury - the prettiest little town in England

in the Cotswolds

I also have quite a collection of doors - this one from the Royal Courts of Justice, London

London

and this one from Bath

more amazing Bath architecture

Bath was a happy surprise for me.

A uniquely beautiful town, with beautiful architecture all in

this lovely golden Bath stone (limestone?)

a church's gothic doorway near the Roman Baths, Bath

Most of the architectural details in our homes (if we are lucky enough to have them) have their roots in antiquity.  I loved all the glorious details of centuries old buildings and architecture we saw everywhere in our travels...

Beautiful medalion in Bath at the Roman Baths

stately columns at the ancient Roman Baths

beautiful arched ceilings, columns, moldings and plaster details
entrance to the Roman Baths

fluted stone columns and dentil molding, Roman Baths

Roman Baths

Out in the country, it was a different kind of architecture - adorable stone cottages from the 1500's in the Cotswolds

Bibury, ancient stone, slate roofs, mullioned windows
can you say 'charm'?

the Swan Inn in Bibury

In Burford, also in the Cotswolds, a wonderful gothic doorway and mullioned windows

Medieval architecture in the ancient city of Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh's Royal Mile - the medieval era part of this city is still intact - this gothic church and doorway were stunning

a smaller church on the Royal Mile - with unique roof peak and circular window

Tower of London

Door with Pediment - Queen's Residence

Tower of London

If these details look familiar to you, they should

details like these were passed down from ancient Rome and Greece

borrowed from the Saxons and the French

and still used today, though seldom as elaborately, in our more traditional homes and architecture

elements such as paneled walls

mullioned windows

moldings and trim

Often, we try to capture the charm of olde England, or France or in more recent times, Tuscany, and see homes and whole subdivisions echoing architecture from those regions

Still, its quite remarkable to see the real thing.  Up close and personal.  It's amazing to see the moss of ages growing on the slate roof tiles in the Cotswolds,

or growing on the stone walls of Edinburgh

 It's even more amazing to walk among the stones at Stonehenge and know that some were there nearly 4000 years ago. 

And the moss and lichen and stuff of the ages is on them as well.

it makes you feel like a tiny blip in history...

So it was a treat for me to walk down the street in London and look up at 300 and 400 year old buildings with intricate architectural details,

St. Paul's Cathedral

or down the boulevard in Paris with its uniform Housmanian architecture and iron balconies,

or at a tiny weavers cottage in the Cotswolds from the 15th century....

its no wonder I ran out of room on my digital photo storage disks.!

We had such a wonderful adventure

but its also good to come home

Best Wishes,

Claudine