/**/
4/18/2008

Okay, here's the PLUS

Blogger is STILL being a bit ticklish about putting up pictures, but I managed to upload these this evening. These are the ones I tried to upload yesterday - which means I am now a day behind schedule. That said, I guess it just means there won't be a Haiku today, but at least I can finish Bath.

The day BEFORE yesterday, I mentioned the the round temple in the foreground of one of the pictures was probably located under the 16th century Abbey that stands next to the baths. I found the Abbey to be a very interesting building.

As we got off the bus in Bath, we approached the Abbey/Roman Bath complex from the rear of the Abbey, so this is what we saw first:



Pretty. Darn. Impressive. This building also shares an important architectural feature with another impressive stucture - Notre Dame in Paris. That feature is flying butresses, which you can see in this photo:



And then, of course, we worked our way around to the front of the building - the view, of which, is also very impressive. And it has an interesting feature I hadn't seen anywhere before - ladders:


So there are ladders on either belltower. And there are figures on the ladders, both climbing and at the very top of the ladders. But look at the next picture. In fact, click on it and pop it out so you can see the figures clearly. Do you see anything curious?



Did you notice that the third figure from the top is going the wrong way? Curious. And something I'd really like to explore - the symbolism involved. Just what does that mean? Another time, perhaps. I AM going to research the Abbey at Bath.

So, that was Bath. The Roman Baths and the Abbey. And now, as Zachary stands in the doorway leading to the exit, we will leave Bath. On Monday, we will go to Oxford. We won't get smarter, we're just going to go there.

UPDATE: There is a new update to the new painting here.


11 comments:

Julie said...

I have several photos of Il Duomo in Firenze that are similiar to your first one -- it just looks like a big pile of marble and spikes and arches and windows.

I stole the photo of the ladders with the upside down figure -- I even labeled it as your photo (if you don't like the idea I will delete it. let me know...) It's a great photo of one of my favorite things -- I love the statues and gargoyles and carvings on the buildings.

And now I really want to go to Bath.

Julie said...

Dude, we were posting comments at each other's blogs at the same time!

Yeah, I assume there's some logical explanation for the ceiling light coming on by itself, but it was freaky, since I was feeling all weird from the dream.

Anonymous said...

Dude, the upside down guy looks like he has a surfboard. That's messed UP.

Unknown said...

OH! I love a good conundrum.I have 2 theories:

The guy at the top of the ladder St Peter with his check list. The ones going up the ladder are the good ones who get "in". The one on his way down... was sent back "down".

Or The one at the top of the ladder may be God. The ones on the way up the ladder...angels. Going up to work for God? The one on the way down "fallen angel".

When you find more via your search, PLEASE post your findings!

Unknown said...

And by the way...that guy on the way down the ladder looks like that creepy little guy on The Lord of the Rings, which I never actually saw but saw the movie trailer. Gollum-something-or-other?

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I am thinking fallen angel too.

But these guys have wings so what do they need a freaking ladder for?

storyteller said...

I’m relieved to know I’m not the only one having difficulty with Blogger uploading pictures! Yours are a wonderful visual reminder of my own visit to Bath decades ago. Some things don’t seem to change ;--)
Hugs and blessings,

Anonymous said...

Great shots Lou. DIdn't notice the angels climbing the bell tower before. Thanks for that (and the encouragement on the GrandView)
Mike

Anonymous said...

hi ya, I had computer troubles for a few days but all fixed now - I think. So I haven't been here much this week.

I wondered why they would need a ladder as well, if they had wings. And yeah, maybe the fallend guy is Lucifer. Either that or he's a retarded one and has no idea what direction he's going in

Elizabeth said...

"On Monday, we will go to Oxford. We won't get smarter, we're just going to go there."

I'll appreciate that. Getting smarter is starting to get tiresome. ;) Great photos, as usual. I love the detailing in the architecture.

Anonymous said...

Awesome building and pictures.
That thing is impressive indeed!

Reminds me of the Dome in Cologne.