A walk in the wood...again!

Had a second walk in the wood over the weekend because i did not want to lose the chance to enjoy the serene view of Jesmond Dene in snow. Another great walk in the morning with the birds singing along the white path and i wish that i can freeze the time and immerse myself with the beautiful surrounding. How i wish i could do that...this time walk brought me to the beginning of the stream literally, then i walked down the stream, passed through a few cascading water and bridges along the way...a few wild ducks just swimming happily in the cold icy water and once a while dunked their heads into the water to something for breakfast...

...the small waterfall near the old water mill...

...a few small rapids to tame the stream...

...the sub-zero temperature managed to freeze the water flowing down the cliff...

...aarrggghhhh, another great weekend walk...

A walk in the wood...

A great time walking in the dene (valley) for a refreshing day after heavy snow...Jesmond Dene, a strip of three kilometres park, blanketed by snow...what a view!

...walked alone towards the end of the dene...

...a reflection on the cold stream...

...an old water mill before the waterfall...

Let it snow...

This year's winter is colder than previous winter and yesterday lowest temperature was minus five in Newcastle and i still wonder why that i did not have any long john...the snow remained on the ground since last december 23 and we are waiting more snow in the following days/weeks with the cold wind from Siberia to hit the British Isles sooner, and this will result more snow...yeah, the snow changes the landscape to beautiful white and i hope this weekend i can take a stroll at Jesmond Dene, a beautiful 3km stretch park in Jesmond...

this picture i took with my iPhone..

...i like the area at this particular junction in Fenham...and i won't miss to snap a few pics every winter...

Eksmes brek...

Hhhhmmm...another great Xmas break, ooopppss...as Bender said: eksmes...in the sun and sand...

December 22 - 30, 2009

so, i need to buy extra battery, a few SD cards...

and later a bang of 2010 New Year!

Waiting for winter...

I can see my winter...

2009-10-08

2009-10-22

2009-10-22

2010-01-20

2010-01-20

2010-01-20

Lonely Planet - ALONG THE BOSPHORUS

Just another fantastic views along the Straits of Bopshorus, a heavy traffic waterway connecting the Sea of Marmara to Black Sea...

...the lavish and expensive palace that crumbled the Ottoman Empire...

...there are few palaces along the straits on both sides...

...one of the fishing villages...

...highly shipping lane traffics across the straits...

...the bridge hopefully will be eased a little bit when the underwater tunnel across the straits is completed...

...was part of the city wall from the Topkapi Palace...

Lonely Planet - ICONIC ISTANBUL

Blue Mosque

...no blue paint/colour from the outside, but the interior was decorated with blue tiles, that's the name came from..

Hagia Sofia Basilica (Church)

Galata Tower

...this view from the harbour...

...from the Tokapi Palace...

Suleiman Mosque

...from Tokapi...the mosque was closed for restoration works, only small section opened for people to perform their praying...

...another rival masterpiece from the prodigy of Blue Mosque's architect...

...view from a cafe across the road...the mosque was built on top of a hill, two kilometres away from the Blue Mosque...masjectically can be seen across the straits...

Tokapi Palace

...once the official palace for the ottoman sultanate but now as a museum, so no pics for the displays...