Could this alée be in Calais?

I'm pretty sure the next photo session took place in Calais, France, which was the ferry embarkation point for Dover, England.

The alée has a fountain hidden at the back. I have a feeling this was taken on a Saturday or Sunday. There are a lot of people strolling about.

 

Now what is this structure on which the ladies are sitting? In the distance it almost looks like you can see the sea. And, our fourth lady is back, but heavily veiled. Grandmother seems to have lightened up considerably.

 

There is no trace of the building below, probably because it may no longer exist. Most of Calais was destroyed in World War II. If I had been one of the ladies in the next picture, I wouldn't have included it in this album!

 

Here are two of the ladies, bundled up against the chilly air for their crossing of the English Channel aboard Le Nord Calais. The other photo could either be the White Cliffs of Dover or Cote d'Opale, depending on whether they were looking forward or looking back.

 

Ahhh, back in jolly old England!

The skyline of Dover perhaps?

 

Walking among the ruins of a castle?

 

 

Tudor rowhouses.

 

And now, I am worn out from all this travelling, and the ladies and I just want to go home to America.

Some decadent layabouts living it up on the high seas. And I do believe our Junior Miss is looking just a bit more stylin' that when she arrived in Europe.

 

This journey has ended. The ladies and I do hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have. Arrividerci, adieu and cheerio!

Canals, windmills and wooden shoes

Even in the early years of the Twentieth Century, canal boat rides in Amsterdam were popular with tourists. These boats appear to be carrying mostly dry goods and supplies, but I'm sure there some which carried passengers. You can take a look at the modern version here.

 

Yes, our next stop is Holland. The church on the right is Nieuwe Kerk, or New Church , which wasn't so new, even then. The building in the picture on the left is a wonderful example of "stepped gable" architecture which is from the Dutch Renaissance style. I'm sure it's a famous building and statue, but I couldn't find it.

 

A typical windmill scene and a harbor scene with sailboats and houses.

 

Harbor scene with shops or houses.

 

Little Dutch girls and boys.

 

And large Dutch girls and boys. Those outfits sure didn't do the women any favors, did they?

 

 

Next post the ladies take a ferry ride.

There has been a delay.....

......in our northern sojourn.

First I have to show you these mystery photos. I have looked in Rome, and Venice, and then Florence and they are nowhere to be found. I'm hoping that someone with Italy on their dance card will come up with names.

The building in the background has a fairly distinctive architecture. Just for fun, when you enlarge it, there's a gardener on the right using a waterhose and slightly in the foreground is, I think, a manual lawn mower.

 

The ladies are having tea in the garden with another lady. The lady on the right is trying to catch a little shade from the ornamental tree.

 

And now, for the most mysterious scene of all.....

 

What the heck are those crazy women doing? Some weird ritual in an almost empty room? Is it a room in one of the buildings in the other picture? And, they're all dressed in black, including the new one. Curiouser and curiouser. All theories are welcomed.

Next time, we're heading north, for sure.

A mystery gentleman appears

Have we found our photographer? Can it be this dapper gentleman wearing a boater hat? He looks to be the same age as "Mother", so he could be "Father", or perhaps Mother met up with a gentleman friend along the way.

The statue in the pool behind them is also a mystery as is the building. It is nowhere to be found in Rome or in Venice, our next stop on the tour. If any of you lucky world travelers recognize it, please enlighten me!

 

I wonder if the gondoliers sang romantic songs to their passengers in those days. If they did, I think it would probably be a popular aria from their favorite opera.

 

We make our way to St. Mark's Square and several points of interest.
The Doge's Palace is Venice's most famous and recognizable building. Although I didn't recognize it and had to look it up. On the website, it appears the canal has disappeared, or are we looking at the palace from the other side? In the other photo is St. Mark's Campanile, the famous bell tower of San Marco.

 

On the other side of the piazza is the Gothic masterpiece, the Basilica of San Marco.

 

It appears to have been a windy day and the pigeons outnumbered the tourists, which leads to the next photo of the ladies feeding said pigeons. Apparently, the government of Venice has now outlawed that tradition.

And it seems they got their pictures a little out of sync. On their gondola ride they snapped a photo of the Rialto Bridge

 

The Bridge of Sighs

The name is an invention of Romantic literature; legend says that from this bridge one could hear the sighs of the condemned as they were being led to prison.

One can almost hear the sighs of the mystery ladies as they come to the end of their days in Venice.

 

The ladies leave you with a mystery picture, the large estate on the left and the very nice closeup of Mother and Grandmother seaside. Between the two chairs on the building in the distance is a sign hanging askew. The three visible letters are LGA. I would love to know what the rest of that sign says.

 

Tomorrow we head north again, way north.

Rome wasn't toured in a day

What wonders were still awaiting the mystery ladies and their camera? They were certainly busy. I keep wondering where they ate. Were there restaurants? Were they staying with family or friends? Were they highly ranked enough to reside with royalty? Was there royalty in Italy? Or did they rent a villa and hire a local woman to cook and take care of them during their visit?

Could they be strolling the grounds of their temporary residence?

 

First stop on the tour bus is Castel Sant'Angelo or Hadrian's Mausoleum.

 

St. Peter's Basilica, of course named for the first Apostle and the first Pope and leader of the Church.

 

The Pyramid of Gaius Cestius (some sources have it spelled Caius Cestius)

 

The legendary tombstone of English poet, John Keats, in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. The inscription reads:

This Grave
contains all that was Mortal
of a
Young English Poet
Who
on his Death Bed
in the bitterness of his Heart
at the Malicious Power of his Enemies
Desired
these Words to be engraved on his TombStone

"Here lies One
Whose Name was writ in Water"

Feb 24 1821

 

And finally, the piece de resistance, the Trevi Fountain, made famous by three movies...La Dolce Vita, Three Coins in the Fountain and Roman Holiday.

 

And a little treat for the eyes, courtesy of the great Anita Ekberg.



The lovely Dorothy McGuire and Jean Peters.



I couldn't find a scene with the Trevi, but here are Audrey and Gregory at Piazza di Spagna.



Tomorrow the mystery ladies will take to the waterways in a gondola.

When in Rome

The mystery ladies, having made their way by train from Lucerne to Rome, immersed themselves in the local ancient tourist traps. We aren't very much different today, are we?

Their first stop seems to be Piazza di Spagna, or The Spanish Steps. In the seventeenth century, it was called Trinita dei Monti after the church sitting at the top.

 

Piazza del Campidoglio where a statue of Marcus Aurelius stands. The website says that it is a replica and that the original stands in the Palazza Nuovo. I wonder if this is the orginal.

 

The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina was built in 141 A.D. and was transformed into the Church of San Lorenzo in Miranda in the Middle Ages. The ladies are having a look at the gardens.

 

 

Next on the tour was The Coliseum whose real name is Flavius amphitheatre. They also viewed the Arch of Constantine.

 

It is amazing to me that the ruins of these fabulous structures seem to be at the same stage of decay as they were a hundred years ago.

Tomorrow the ladies will continue their visit to Rome.