I took this photo in Texas. Can you guess what it is?

 

Lviv Opera House

Visiting the Lviv Opera House for the "Romantic instrumental orchestra” - Ennio Morricone, Richard Clayderman and other famous musicians and their hits. Love the "Lonely Shepherd" song. The Opera House is decorated with 5kg (11 lb) of real gold leaf.

 

The Golden Rose Synagogue in Lviv

The Golden Rose Synagogue in Lviv was the oldest synagogue in Ukraine. Built in 1582 and destroyed by the Nazis in 1942. Only one wall remains today. This synagogue was a gem of the Renaissance architecture. It was located at the Medieval Jewish quarters. The first image shows what it looked like before. (The towers in the background belong to other churches.) The next photo shows what is left...

 

Lviv - again!

Just saw a car with New York license plate in Lviv (how???).

 

St. George Cathedral in Lviv

Many, many moons ago I went there for my good friend's wedding that took place in this cathedral, and fainted right in the middle of the ceremony  I think I was just dehydrated or something. Some guy lifted me and carried me out to the fresh air.

 

 

Cat Cafe in Lviv, Ukraine

Cat cafe again! Love this place - visiting it is like therapy. The black cat slept next to me and the white one next to Jeff.

 

"Coffee Manufacture"

"Coffee Manufacture" cafe I frequent when I'm in Lviv.

Love their coffee mill collection.

 

 

Coffee anyone?

 Lviv. Again.

Florida...

Hurricane approaching... A tree behind our house just fell. Flight cancelled due to hurricane. Nice! Will have to change the date.

 

A good thing is that the most dangerous part of the hurricane seems to not have hit the land, so there would be less destruction.

 

For 10 or so years there was no major hurricane in Florida and here we go - as soon as we moved to St. Augustine, a hurricane has to come and hit it. St. Augustine hasn't been directly hit by a hurricane for over 50 years! It's a law... And we're flying to Europe on Saturday. We might have to change the dates for a day or two later. As long as there is no damage to our house or the airport, we're good.

 

Back home.

Back home in Florida. Spent 10 days in Lviv and loved it so much that I'm going there again in 5 days! This time with Jeff. And we'll stay there for 3 weeks. Yay! 

The Coffee Festival was great. Now we'll be going to the Chocolate Festival and also the Cheese and Wine Festival. We rarely drink wine but love cheese, so looking forward to having more fun!

 

This is the Spartacus Cake, one of my most favorite cakes ever! It has many chocolate layers but very little cream. Yum!

 

 

I got scared at the Chocolate Factory Cafe in Lviv!

I've once seen something like this in my dream (or should I say nightmare?), when the stairs go up, then down, and then up again. And today I saw it in a cafe in Lviv and had a déjà vu. So weird... 

 

But my fave freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and rose petal tea were good! This is one of my favorite cafes in Lviv, called "Chocolate Factory". The first floor is occupied by a small chocolate factory where you can watch them making chocolates. The next two floors are the chocolate store where they sell their products. And the cafe is in the attic.

 

 

Freddie Krueger

 

Why do all these creatures love our house?! Now there's Freddie Krueger living in our yard. Can't kill him... My phone didn't want to focus on him, maybe it was scared...

 

 

 

Spanish moss in Florida

We have lots of live oak trees with Spanish moss here in Florida. They look gorgeous during the day but creepy at night. It takes time to get used to them.

 

Chanterelles

I usually don't post photos of food but today I couldn't resist. I just made breakfast with the chanterelle mushrooms and it was oh so good! They evoked so many memories... When we were kids, each summer our family with many relatives (uncles, aunts, my cousin, cats, dogs...) would gather and go camping for a few weeks at "our" lake. We would pick the chanterelles and other mushrooms in the woods and make meals on the fire. Those were the days... Love camping with a tent!

Switzerland... The one in Florida.

Going to Florida to look for a house. Wish us luck! 

On the photo you can see the St. Johns river. I just found it on my phone, took it during one of our previous visits. Love that place, it's so peaceful. It's located in a town called Switzerland.

 

Griswold, Connecticut

The yellow sea... Sunflower season in Connecticut. And to think that we wanted to go all the way to Kansas for that...

 

Acrophobia, anyone?

 

Angel Trail that leads to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

I hiked down there, and it was one of the most spectacular hikes ever but also one of the most exhausting things I ever did. I barely could drag myself back up, especially being loaded with heavy camera equipment. Never again! When you're unprepared, it's a tough endeavor. I'd definitely train first.

 

St. Augustine, Florida

St. Augustine still has Christmas lights all over. So pretty.

The photos were taken with my phone while the car was moving, so they're a bit smudged.

 

Maho beach in St. Martin and big birdies flying over your head. Literally.

What a fabulous day yesterday at St. Martin! One of the most fun experience ever - planes landing directly over the beach (the airport is right next to the Maho beach).

New Year's Eve in St. Augustine, Fliruda. Testing my new iPhone.

New Year's fireworks at St. Augustine beach in Florida. Honestly, one of the best fireworks I've seen in years.