The Cardinal tweets

Happened to be in Columbus (Ohio) for three days and spotted a Northern Cardinal on the very first day (a first for me)

I just managed to click one shot and he flew away.

On the third day when it was time for us to leave Ohio, one of them made a special appearance for me and was even ready to sing for me. I quickly managed to capture her performance with a hand held camera (so you will have to excuse the slight shake in the video)

It is said that both the male and the female sings together while nesting.Northern Cardinals live for about 13 to15 years which is pretty impressive for a bird. They are the state bird of seven states. Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, North Virginia and North Carolina. The airbnb that we stayed in,  was located in an Italian  community, and it was a peaceful place.

The green and red leaves formed a good canopy for the house

It was good to see early morning joggers passing by waving out with a smile.

I even spotted a vintage car parked in front of a house.

There is a Roman Catholic church (St John the Baptist) within walking distance and we could attend the Sunday morning service at this church.

It is said that this church is more than a century old and functioned  as a hub for the Italian speaking community who migrated here. A sketch of the church when it was built in 1898

The previous day when I passed by the church, a wedding just got over and the photo session was in progress.

On Sunday evening we went to the topiary park. The topiary figures are several varieties of Taxus, commonly known as yews.

The figures are trimmed and tied each June after their main flush of growth.

They are also trimmed through the summer to maintain their appearance. The beautiful gardens filled with perennials and annuals are planted and maintained by volunteers of the Friends of the topiary park.  If you are near the Convention Center, don't miss the bronze sculpture of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Before leaving that area we made a stopover at Jeni's for icecream

Had to wait in line for about 15 minutes but it was worth the wait.

The cones are hot and crisp, maybe because it is made right there in front of you.

Among the famous quotes, here is one from Clark Gable "I am just a lucky slob from Ohio who happened to be in the right place at the right time" .............. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Windmill at Keukenhof

Was always fascinated by windmills right from the time I read about Don Quixote and de la Mancha in school.  So I decided that I had to see this one.

The Windmill in Keukenhof, (built in 1892) was originally a polder drainage mill. It was later shifted to this place and donated to Keukenhof  in 1957

You are allowed to climb to the top and the view from there is really great especially of the tulip gardens.

Its rows and rows of one colour

The inside is all solid wood and one can see the gears (wooden gears) engaging each other to transmit the power to the vertical shaft. It can be seen in motion in the video. 

I did look up for some more information on the net and found it very interesting to know how windmills helped in the good old days.

Anyone wanting more information about windmills and how it works, can get it here.

This tree with the white leaves caught my attention from the top.

The boat takes you around where you can have a closer look at the tulips in their farms.

The other side is streaming with tourists and all of them would like to have a picture clicked in the large clogs.

I wonder if this little guy is waiting for his turn to jump into the clog

Talking about the little guy, I saw many dog lovers who came with their pets.

National windmill day will be celebrated on May 10^th and 11^th  of 2014.

 By the way Keukenhof  covers 74 acres and is the largest garden in the world.

More on it in the next post, meanwhile here are few pics as preview:

Painted Ladies

They said that the Painted Ladies is one of the “must see” sites in San Francisco. So we thought why should we miss it when we were so close to it.

These Victorian era structures got their nickname because of the number of colours used to decorate their exteriors. Frankly speaking I was not taken in by what I saw.

I found the surroundings more interesting. Like the park in front of it. Liked this water fountain with spouts at different levels to suit all age groups.

This guy in the park was engrossed in his creative work.

He chose this spot as he had a good view of the city.

There were these dog walkers who were enjoying a sun bath while the dogs basked and frolicked with each other.

One of them decided to take a stroll all by himself. He too (like me) was not impressed by the “painted Ladies” as he was walking in the opposite direction.

We were back on the main road.

While we waited for the “Big Bus”, the change over conductor (who was also waiting for the bus) gave us some tips about how to travel in the Hop on Hop off Bus.

Graffities on the wall break the monotony of the plain walls.

Some 45 RPM records in a shop window. About four decades ago this area thrived when the Hippie culture was in full swing.

Noticed this eating joint

And a few shops next to it was another one.

Lombardia Street had some lovely houses.

The tiles on the roof of the house. Even though they were decorative, they reflected the light well to give a good contrast against the green leaves.

I found these combination standpipes at the entrance of many buildings. These standpipe systems are designed to deliver a prescribed amount of water at a prescribed pressure to the top most outlet. This one was well polished.

Ending this post with this lovely house which I managed to frame and click when the vehicle stopped momentorily.