Nigel Borrington

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Circus Maximus, Rome

Circus Maximus
Rome
Nigel Borrington

During the Christmas and New year holidays we visited Rome, taking time to revisit some of this great cities history.

The Circus Maximus is just one of these many locations, today it has become one of Romes many city parks as much as a sports Stadium. However talking a walk around it’s still existing race track you can clearly imagine what it was like here some two thousand years ago with all the spectators, horse and chariot racers.

Circus Maximus, Rome

The Circus Maximus (Latin for greatest or largest circus, in Italian Circo Massimo) is an ancient Roman chariot racing stadium and mass entertainment venue located in Rome, Italy. Situated in the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire. It measured 621 m (2,037 ft) in length and 118 m (387 ft) in width and could accommodate over 150,000 spectators.[1] In its fully developed form, it became the model for circuses throughout the Roman Empire. The site is now a public park.

Posted by nigel borrington | January 19, 2016 | Categories: Cityscape, Gallery, Nigel Borrington, Rome, Travel Locations | Tags: Circus Maximus, horse and chariot racing, italy, Nigel Borrington, Roman History, Rome, travel photography | 2 Comments

As evening falls

Irish Landscapes
Kilkenny
Nigel Borrington

As evening falls,
Beauty of nature she calls
A warm orange glow does surround us
Casting a magical light all around
The sky like a fire does glow
Rippling water like flames do flow
Then as the sun dips behind the trees
And daylight reluctantly flees
Night does now appear
Yet its darkness do not fear
For in the inky dark sky
A new beauty is up high

The moon glows its mysterious light
While stars glisten and twinkle in the night.

Micron

Posted by nigel borrington | January 18, 2016 | Categories: Gallery, Kilkenny Landscape images, Landscape, Poetry Gallery | Tags: Evening, Kilkenny, Micron, poems, poetry, sunset, The end of the day | 3 Comments

Life along the river Tiber , Rome

Life along the river bank
River Tiber
Rome
Nigel Borrington

I have often wondered what life would be like living on a house boat ?

This House boat is located on the river Tiber in Rome and just by taking a quick look at the image, you can see exactly the life style that its owner much have.

For example you can see the way they get to work by bicycle using the cycle path that runs the full length of the river as it winds its way through the city.

Posted by nigel borrington | January 18, 2016 | Categories: Cityscape, Comment, Rome, Solo images, Travel Locations | Tags: Cityscapes, house boats, Nigel Borrington, river life, River Tiber, Rome, Street photography | Leave a comment

Ghost House, Robert Frost, 1874 – 1963

Ghost House
Robert Frost, 1874 – 1963

I dwell in a lonely house I know
That vanished many a summer ago,
And left no trace but the cellar walls,
And a cellar in which the daylight falls
And the purple-stemmed wild raspberries grow.

O’er ruined fences the grape-vines shield
The woods come back to the mowing field;
The orchard tree has grown one copse
Of new wood and old where the woodpecker chops;
The footpath down to the well is healed.

I dwell with a strangely aching heart
In that vanished abode there far apart
On that disused and forgotten road
That has no dust-bath now for the toad.
Night comes; the black bats tumble and dart;

The whippoorwill is coming to shout
And hush and cluck and flutter about:
I hear him begin far enough away
Full many a time to say his say
Before he arrives to say it out.

It is under the small, dim, summer star.
I know not who these mute folk are
Who share the unlit place with me—
Those stones out under the low-limbed tree
Doubtless bear names that the mosses mar.

They are tireless folk, but slow and sad—
Though two, close-keeping, are lass and lad,—
With none among them that ever sings,
And yet, in view of how many things,
As sweet companions as might be had

Posted by nigel borrington | January 15, 2016 | Categories: Gallery, Kilkenny Landscape images, Landscape, Poetry Gallery, Story telling gallery | Tags: Ghost House, Kells, Kilkenny, Nigel Borrington, poems, poetry, Robert Frost | 6 Comments

Tower Houses of Medieval Kilkenny

Tower House
Kells, County Kilkenny
Nigel Borrington

Tower Houses of Medieval Kilkenny, Ireland

The Landscape of County Kilkenny is full of history that covers many different era’s, including the Medieval period from around the 5th to the 15th century.

Just some of the reminders of this era are the great Tower Houses as detailed below.

A tower house is a fortified medieval residence of stone, usually four or more stories in height. Like most of the surviving monuments of our medieval past, the majority of Irish tower houses are in poor condition, with collapsed walls and ivy shrouded exteriors reflecting centuries of neglect. Yet these ruins, the remnants of a major medieval building industry, provide a valuable source of information on life in Ireland during the later Middle Ages. An increasing number are being restored through both private and state initiatives, while there has also been a marked upsurge in academic interest in recent years.
The buildings were regarded as castles by their occupants. This classification continues today and tower houses are regarded as a species within the castle genus. Their evident defensive strength should not, however, overshadow their residential nature, for tower houses were primarily the defended homes of a wealthy landowning class and were erected by both Anglo-Irish and Gaelic families during the period from circa 1400 to circa 1650.

Ref : Tower Houses

Posted by nigel borrington | January 14, 2016 | Categories: Gallery, irish history, Landscape, Nigel Borrington, Solo images, Travel Locations | Tags: Ireland, irish history, Kilkenny, Nigel Borrington, Tower Houses | 3 Comments

Three Moments on the Streets of Rome

Moments on the street
Rome
Nigel Borrington

Posted by nigel borrington | January 13, 2016 | Categories: Cityscape, Gallery, no comment, Rome, street photography, Travel Locations | Tags: Nigel Borrington, no comment, Poeple, Rome, Street photography, travel photography | 4 Comments

A breeze at Dawn

“The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.”
– Rumi

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
– Marcus Aurelius

Posted by nigel borrington | January 12, 2016 | Categories: Irish coastline, Landscape, Poetry Gallery | Tags: Dawn, irish landscape images, Marcus Aurelius, Nigel Borrington, Rumi, sunrise | 7 Comments

The First Snow Of Winter, Slievenamon Co,Tipperary

Winters First Snow
Slievenamon, Co, Tipperary
Nigel Borrington

The last two days here in Ireland have brought the first Snow of this winter. The local Mountains including Slievenamon have been covered at the highest levels and its a great sight to wake-up to.

Posted by nigel borrington | January 8, 2016 | Categories: Landscape, Slievenamon | Tags: Caha Mountains, Co. Tipperary, Galway bay Nature Photography Nigel Borrington, Irish Landscapes, Slievenamon, snow, winter | 6 Comments

Light of the Sun – through the Windows of St Peters , Rome

Light of The Sun
St Peters
Rome
Nigel Borrington

St Peters Rome

The Light of the Sun

Over the Christmas Holiday 2015/16 we visited Rome a city I love very much for among many things its amazing buildings.

On visiting St Peters Basilica, a must do ! , the weather was just amazing for the time of year. Along with the stunning architecture and art, the one thing I could not help but notice was the light from the low December Sun flooding through the many windows located high on the walls around the many domes and chapels.

I spent a lot of time doing my best to capture the effects that this Sun light was creating and here just wanted to share a few of my attempts.

Rome is a city of outstanding churches, none however can hold a candle to St Peter’s (Basilica di San Pietro), Italy’s largest, richest and most spectacular basilica. It is Built atop an earlier 4th-century church, it was completed in 1626 after 120 years’ construction.

Its lavish interior contains many spectacular works of art, including three of Italy’s most celebrated masterpieces: Michelangelo’s Pietà, his soaring dome, and Bernini’s 29m-high baldachin over the papal altar.

Light of the Universe – A Gallery