Valerie Inspects a Greek Column

 

The slide was marked as Segesta, so obviously that means that Valerie and Debbie are visiting the Temple of Segesta, a remarkably well-preserved ancient Greek temple built in the Doric style around 430–420 BC.

Located in north-western Sicily, the temple is notable for being built by the Elymians, an indigenous people of Sicily, rather than directly by Greek colonists.

It is considered an unfinished construction project, as it lacks a naos (inner chamber) and was never given a roof, possibly due to conflicts with the neighbouring city of Selinunte. The structure consists of 36 Doric columns made of limestone, measuring approximately 61 meters long and 26 meters wide.

Which is nice to know.  

Bonus - A guy shows up at his local bar with a black eye. 

"What happened to you?" asks the bartender.

"I complimented my wife on her new pants. I told her the sunflowers on the ass were very pretty."

"So?" asks the bartender. "What's wrong with that?"

And the guy says, "Turns out they were daisies."

Oh! ANOTHER historic church that we saw on our guided tour.

The image features the Oratory of San Bernardino in Perugia, Italy, a notable Early Renaissance building.

Façade Artistry: The colorful marble façade is decorated with bas-reliefs sculpted by Agostino di Duccio between 1457 and 1461.

Iconography: The central lunette portrays the Ascension of Saint Bernardino, while the tympanum displays a blessing Jesus surrounded by angels and seraphim.

Location and Context: It is located on Piazza San Francesco next to the Basilica of San Francesco al Prato and is considered the city's most important Renaissance monument.

Bonus - People who think stupid fictional characters are unrealistic or badly written have never worked in customer service.
 

Last Day of the Winter Olympics

 

Yes, final day at the Milan 2026 Winter Olympics.

And a chance to see the remarkable training facility that the Chinese Winter Sports Department built in preparation for the event/ This image above is of the facility in Yunnaan, and features at 91% scale model of San Ciascian, the Italian village considered most suitable for the chinese athletes. The facility was built inside a disused airship hangar, and that mountain in the background....is a painted backdrop.  Rather than snow, that's shredded iMac casings. Recycling !

Bonus -  

Where In The World? Quiz 738

 

Yes, it's a tricky one today.

Still, this slide from 1963 does seem to predate the "Hordes of numpties for the cliche'd "Holding it up" " image.

Thank heavens.

Yes, it is  the campanile of Pisa Cathedral.

Bonus - Either a lying bag of shut, or a dementia riddled buffoon.

Meanwhile, in Italy

 

After a slide involving death and celebrity politicians, today lets celebrate the life of Bery Blood (not pictured this time) and her jet set life of late 1960s.

This was in the "Italy" box, but no other info. Obviously, that is Portofino as a backdrop.

Bonus - 

Almost The End Of Summer

 

It's the last Saturday in August, so summer is almost over.

Hope that you, dear reader, have had a pleasant time, and  enjoyed your holidays. Maybe heading somewhere as restful as shown above. The slide only said "Summer 1988 Italy", but it's not difficult to recognise Sirmione, Lake Garda. Here

Bonus - 

Beryl Hits The Beach

 Another images from the Beryl Blood collection (as seen of TV !), here we have the presumptive Beryl Blood hitting the beaches of Italy in the sixties (I guess)

Some rather bold fashion choices there, notably the raffia work waste paper bin repurposed as a sun hat.

Bonus - FessHole - Your ideal place to anonymously confess what's on your soul.

An Italian Getaway

 

From the Beryl Blood selection of slides, this is from Box 10 - Italy.

No date, or location, but from the fashion .... and the ridonculous sun hat... I'm guessing early 1960s.

As for location - I think Portifino. It hasn't changed much. 

Bonus - Scientists Identify Fungus Turning Spiders Into “Zombies” in Northern Ireland

Hotel Sole

 

The view from my bedroom...

...I wish.  

If you are tempted .... try here

Bonus - For those who missed it Superb Owl Sunday

Tedious Tuesday, Live From ... Somewhere.

 Greetings Slide-Fans.

Yes, it's the first Tedious Tuesday of 2025, and it's not very interesting.

As usual, there's zero information on the slide, but that's never stopped me. In a matter of hours, I'd identified this as being Sacro Eremo di Camaldoli. Does this look familiar? From WikiMedia  and More Info

Bonus - 

Silly!

Off to my modest cabin for the weekend

Yes, I'm off to my little shack (pictures) to commune with nature, live on Acorn Frittata, hug trees and
dance in the morning dew.

And the evening will be spent, wolfing down Pepperoni Pizzas.

Damn this crappy formatting.

Bonus - 

Meanwhile in Italy

 

Sigh.

Looks idyllic.

Looks like Urbino, 

Bonus - 

I can do that

Meanwhile, in Italy...

 ThHe only info on this slide was that it was part of the Beryl Blood selection, in "Box 9 - Italy".

But that wasn't too tricky to work out. It looks very Italian Coastal-ish, and some simple digging conforms that the background is in Portofino.

In fact, this seems to be it 

Bonus - The 280m-year-old fossil reptile that turned out to be a forgery

It's the weekend

 

Pull up the drawbridge

Repel all outsider

Settle down, and do whatever you fancy.

The slide - only info was "Summer, 1988, Italy"

So, I reckon this is the Castello Scaligero in Sirmione. Also known as the Scaliger Castle or Scaligero Castle.

Bonus - Man with world's longest tongue uses it to paint

Meanwhile, in Limone sul Garda

 

I know what you're thinking ... "Isn't that Helmdale, in Northern Scotland, on the fabled NC500 route?"

'fraid not. There's no info on this slide, but it didn't take long to figure out that this is Limone sul Garda, in the northern lakes of Italy. 

In fact, a little searching tells me that this is Piazza Garibaldi

Bonus - Dennis Feldman’s Guide to Hollywood Boulevard’s Fantastic Weirdos, 1969–72

Statue of some dude.

 

From a monumentally dull set of slides, marked "Cultural Trips To Europe".  And it was full of art, and architecture, and scenery and ... yawn.

Before you start decoding the clues in this sculpture, let me just say "Achilles Innocenzo Ferito Fraccaroli 1805-82 Milan "  was written on the slide.   So that answers the obvious question.

Bonus - sorry. can't be bothered

Architectural Guesswork

 

As per usual, no info on this slide, but that gives me a chance for guesswork and supposition.

Italian is my guess.

Probably some sort of monastery.

Hopefully, someone will comment with more info.

Might be unfair to class this as suitable for Tedious Tuesday.

Bonus - How we made The Draughtsman's Contract.

The R_pe of Polyxena

 

Something a bit different today. A bit of Culture, and the slide says

Pio Fede 1866 R*pe of Polyxena  Loggia des Lanzi

So, that's nice.    More info here, if you want it.  Yes, I did censor the title of this post - Google can get funny about certain words...

Bonus - Getting a Handle on Sales: Shopping Carts Affect Purchasing by Activating Arm Muscles

Lakeside Hotel

 

I know it's only been a couple of days since I posted a Now & Then slide pair, but...it's just happened. 

This 1988 slide caught the eye, perhaps due to the "Ukrainian Flag" colours painting of the mooring posts. Probably not in anticipation of Russia's idiotic invasion, but who knows.

Only info on the slide was "Summer 1988, Italy", but using only my genius and a small tin of sweetcorn, I identified this as being Riva del Garda, on Lake Garda.

And Google Streetview provided a similar view from 2014

Bonus - 

The Familiar Made Unfamiliar.

 

It may take a couple of seconds to realise it, but this is one of the most famous artworks in history.

Being subject to an in-situ (naturally) conservation. This is probably a section of the 1978-1999 major restoration.

Since the painting of the original, there have been many parodies, copies, derivative works and inspirations. My favourite occurs quietly in the film M*A*S*H

Bonus -