Postaday – Page 8 – Chasing Butterflies

Travel Theme: Texture.

I search for the realness, the real feeling of a subject, all the texture around it… I always want to see the third dimension of something… I want to come alive with the object. Andrew Wyeth.

So it´s that time of the week again, Ailsa´s travel theme time and what a great theme this week: texture. This week I´ve taken my inspiration from both the area my family lives in and nature. For me, the best examples of texture can be found in nature. So I hope you enjoy what I have found!

Theme one: By the seashore.

Theme two: Plant life.

Theme three: La Cadena, The Chain.

To see other bloggers interpretations of the theme check out Ailsa´s blog here.

As always, thank you for reading,

Until the next time,

Giana

xoxo

How lovely: Look what´s come round again!

2012-06-17_1617 — A big thank you to Eva over at Healthy Glow Nutrition for my second nomination!

It´s happened again, one more thing to remind me how great the WordPress community is. It´s hard to believe that I only started this blog a few months ago; I´ve made so many new friends through the community that it seems I´ve been here so much longer!

I have to say one of the best things about blogging, apart from being able to record my life journey, is the other bloggers. When I started this blog, as I mentioned before, I did so for myself; to help me remember all the key moments in my life and to share them with others.

Now; my blog is so much more to me. My blog not only helps me focus on the positives in my life but has also opened so many doors for me, it´s introduced me to so many amazing people all over the world who, without the blog, I would never have met. So thank you, my new-found friends, for your constant encouragement and support, it means so much.

Thank you to Eva over at Healthy Glow Nutrition for kindly nominating me, it´s an honour to receive a nomination from such a lovely person. I´ve only just come to know Eva but, from what I´ve read in her blog, she is a very talented blogger and, with Eva nominated, I´m in good company with my nomination.

Seven things about me:

Number one: I´m addicted to taking photos. I´m not a very good photographer, nor am I lucky enough to have a good camera. I´m still dreaming of the day I hold a cannon digital SLR in my hands, any model will do, I´m not fussy – yet! But I love photos. I spend my whole life taking snaps, mainly because I have a terrible memory and fear I´ll forget but also because it brings me so much joy, it relaxes me. So; amateur and untalented as I may be, it makes me happy and I´m afraid I won´t give up happiness for anything!

Number two: I´m a book-worm who forgets everything I read! I´m afraid books are most likely wasted on me. I absolutely love reading, always have. I spend hours reading but sadly, I also spend hours forgetting. I wish I was one of those people who was able to retain everything I´ve read, I do try to train myself. I know my favourite books, I´ve read them over and over in an attempt to retain the content but still fail to retain it all. I will give you the jist of books but never retain the detail!

Number three: I´m a teacher. Most of you will know that but those of you who are new to my blog may not. I teach english as a foreign language: yes I´m aware that I should have a better grasp on the English language than I do, seeing as I teach it, but I´m getting there! Life is a constant learning path, what knowledge I lack now I will gain in the future but I´ll constantly be learning, nobody is perfect, nobody knows everything!

Number four: I dream of travelling the world. It´s always been my biggest dream to travel the world and some day I will! I have started in the most beautiful country so there´s no stopping me now!

Number five: I love dogs and miss mine so much! All through my childhood we had dogs, four dogs in total. Sadly they are no longer with us and I miss them so much. I wish I could have dogs again but sadly, with my lifestyle, it would be cruel to have a dog. I live in an apartment, spend a good twelve hours a day at work and at weekends I´m never at home. To have a dog you need to have time to spend with them and space for them to run about. So, for now at least, my doggie dreams are on hold but, hopefully, some day I will have them again!

Number six: I believe that you should treat everyone with the same respect you would like to be treated with yourself. Put yourself in the other persons shoes, how would you feel? If you wouldn´t like it, then why expose someone else to that kind of treatment. I´m not perfect, I´m not an angel but I do try my best to follow that step.

Number seven: I miss my friends. The only thing I would change about living in Spain is the distance between my friends and I. I´m blessed to have some great friends who always encourage and support me, especially in difficult times. So thank you for always being there for me, especially lately, you are amazing.

The blogs I have chosen to nominate:

Seeing as this is my second nomination, I have already nominated 15 blogs that I felt were worthy of the nomination, I will leave the link to the previous post here so you can see them.

Since my last nomination I have discovered some new blogs which I, for the want of a better word, stalk. However, most of these have been nominated several times for this award and feel like I would be plaguing them by nominating them again.

I have decided to mention a few, in no particular order, who have not received the award before but really do deserve it. So, if I have not mentioned you but you know I stalk you, that´s why; you already have the award!

Pseu´s Blog : a blog that has been nominated for several awards but, as of yet, not the “One Lovely Blog Award”.

What´s (in) the picture:a beautiful photo blog run by a photographer, Chris, who has the most impressive list of cameras I´ve read in a while. I´m not sure if Chris has been nominated before, I´m a new follower but admire his work.

Another day in paradise: a beautiful blog, run by a very caring woman, which has received numerous awards but, from what I can see, has yet to receive the “One lovely Blog Award”.

Lonely Girl Travels: A fantastic read, a newly discovered blog but instantly loved it, a great writing style.

Truantry: Another new add to my reading list but a good one if I do say so myself.

Have you ever received a blog award? What do you think of them?

As always, thank you for reading,

Until the next time,

Giana

xoxo

Weekly Image Of Life: Discovery

One Day At A Time: Gran Alacant.

During the week I made a shocking discovery. Jennifer over at My Sardinian Life, a great blog which you should check out, asked me where my favourite place in the world was. Automatically I answered: my favourite place is where my family is. This fact wasn´t anything new to me, I have always been one to say that but, what was new, I discovered I have never really shared my favourite place with you. I spend all my time talking about all these fantastic places that I have visited yet failed, apart from the odd photo, to share the most important place in the world to me, shocking! So when I saw that the weekly image of life theme, on Island Travelers blog, was discovery I thought this was the perfect chance to allow you to discover more about my favourite place! So sit back and relax while I take you on a journey through a magical part of Spain: Gran Alacant.

Having made my shocking discovery on Wednesday night I decided to wake up early on Thursday morning and rectify it by going on a photo mission. I should really learn not to make plans; when I woke on Thursday it was raining! Good intention gone out the window, not one to let things get me down, I made the most of the day and spend it indoors relaxing with my family. That´s one good thing about Spain, rain will never get you down because you know it will never last too long!

I was right, I woke this morning to find the sunlight dancing through my bedroom window, fantastic! I told P and J my plan for the morning, I thought it would be a nice break for P to get out and about and the route I was planning on doing is one of his favourites, before he got sick he used to walk this beautiful route at least four times a week! So we made a morning of it!

Seeing as the route isn´t suitable for wheelchairs we drove, stopping every now and again to soak up the atmosphere and take some snaps on my phone, I feel I have been neglecting Fotoroom since I got it so figured I´d make the most of it today!

Gran Alacant is a beautiful area, it has everything going for it, with the best of both worlds: beach and mountain. If you want a commercial holiday its newly developed area has a variety of bars, restaurants, shops and nightclubs to satisfy all your needs. However, if you are like me and prefer something a little more original, then its protected area is what you’re looking for!

I remember when I first came to this area, thirteen years ago now, it was nothing like anything I had ever experienced before. As we drove down this extremely narrow roadway, the scenic road from Santa Pola to Gran Alacant, I must have caught at least a hundred flies with my mouth, it was so wide open with surprise. It´s called the scenic route for one very good reason; its views of the mountains to your right and the sea to your left are like something out of a movie. As one of my family members has said about the area: it´s like stepping into a wild west movie, and that´s exactly what it is. Miles of unspoilt, preserved beauty. Something that´s very hard to find nowadays here in Spain.

What I love about it is, even after thirteen years, every time you explore this area you discover something new. Its got a number of little grottos and churches dotted along the roadway, some fantastic pants and trees, dunes, cliffs, the sound of the waves crashing off the rocks and the odd few paragliders who make their way from the cliff tops by the lighthouse to the wide open areas by the sea. As I said it´s got everything!

Another fantastic thing about this area is, for all those birdwatchers and animal lovers out there, the natural reserve which is home to many endangered animals in this area. It is an area where birds, snakes, and other animals are left to roam safely in their natural environment without cages. What more could you ask for?

So much has to be said about nature. All the fabulous architecture in the world can´t compare with areas like this. I could spend hours in this rugged area admiring its natural beauty, in fact, I have spent hours there. To me, the best thing about it is that it´s wild, untouched and always will be. No one has put a stamp on this area apart from nature.

One thing that I will never understand about people who visit Gran Alacant is why they never explore this route. The majority, not all, of the people who visit here don´t even know this area exists. It remains a hidden treasure, one that is only appreciated by locals and a few cyclists that visit the area. To me this adds to its beauty, the fact that it´s undiscovered, that it´s a secret!

I feel I´ve done enough rambling for today’s post. My words are most likely ruining the beauty that I am trying to convey. So without further delay I will leave you with some photos which should show you, better than my words can, what I love about the area. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, so why ruin this area with any more of mine, I´ll let the pictures do the talking instead! Enjoy!

To see other bloggers interpretations of the theme check out Island travelers blog here.

Have you ever been to Gran Alacant? What did you think?

As always, thank you for reading,

Until the next time,

Giana

xoxo

Weekly photo Challenge: Near and Far.

I have to say I´ve really stretched the most I could out of this weeks photo challenge but to be honest, I couldn´t help it! It was such a good title that I couldn´t resist. You´ll be happy to know that this will be my last post on the challenge, is that a huge sigh of relief I´m hearing? Thank you for your support for the last three posts I featured and I hope that you enjoy this one just as much!

Today my family and I were lucky enough to visit Cartagena, a beautiful marine city located in the province of Murica in the South of Spain. It was another trip on our new adventure, One Day at a Time. In anticipation of my post tomorrow I decided to share two images with you that are perfect for the theme near and far. So without future delay, in other words before I start rambling too much and bore you to death, here are the images!