Happy Holidays from Gargoyle Girl

This fall, I haven't kept up with posting new photos each week. Having a book out is more work than I anticipated! The response to Artifact has exceeded my expectations, so I've chosen to focus on writing above photography for the moment. I'm going to continue with the Gargoyle Girl blog in the new year, but in order to finish revisions on the next book in the series on schedule, my photo posts may be less frequent. But I've got a lot more mysterious photos to share, so I'll be back!

This is one of my favorite photos from my fall vacation: 

a father and son in front of street art in the Marais neighborhood in Paris. 

Happy holidays!

Prague's Architectural Details Up Close

My husband was a great sport while we were in Prague. Every few steps, I was in awe of some new architectural detail I wanted to stop and admire. Below are examples of three buildings from afar, and then their ornamental details shown up close.

The buildings seen from our hotel window in New Town. 

A building where I found an ATM machine to get Czech Korunas (crowns). 

New Town Hall. 

The Gargoyles of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague

St. Vitus Cathedral sits atop Castle Hill in Prague. The Gothic structure dominates the Prague skyline and is often thought to be Prague Castle itself, but technically it's just one of the many buildings inside the Prague Castle complex. Cathedral construction began under the rule Charles IV in 1344, designed by French architect Matthias of Arras, then German architect Peter Parler. It took six centuries to complete.

It was a stormy October day when I walked across the Charles Bridge and up to the Prague Castle complex. A perfect day for visiting the gargoyles perched high on the cathedral.

--Gigi

Mysterious Prague

I'm back from a trip to Prague and Paris. There were so many gargoyles and other mysterious settings that I'll be spending the next couple of months posting photos from those cities.

To kick things off, here are a few photos of Prague that give a sense of how there are beautiful mysterious details just about everywhere you look.

View of gorgeous architecture out the window of our Prague hotel.

Closeup of the building across from the hotel.

Views of the city. 

An architectural detail outside the H&M in Wenceslaus Square.

Getting lost one afternoon, we stumbled upon this church in a beautiful square.

A gargoyle on the church.

The top of New Town Hall. 

Next week, I'll begin a more in-depth look at specific locations in Prague, including Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral, the Klementinum (national library), Vysehrad, and the stunning Art Nouveau architecture that spans the city.

--Gigi

Cleveland Architectural Details

I was in Cleveland for the Bouchercon mystery convention. The city has some gorgeous architecture.

 

 

—Gigi

Dunnottar Castle, Scotland, Overlooking the Setting of ARTIFACT

My debut mystery novel, Artifact, goes on sale this week. There are links to buy the book in the side-bar of the blog, but since this is a mysterious photography blog, I'm going to keep things related to photography! (You can read more about Artifact here.)

The setting for the book was inspired by my travels to the Highlands of Scotland, especially the Dunnottar Castle ruins. The site of the ancient fortress is a chunk of land on cliffs that stretch out into the North Sea, only accessible by walking down a steep path and up another one. It's no wonder the site was used as a fortress beginning in the Dark Ages and played a role in Scotland's history throughout the centuries.

In ARTIFACT, historian Jaya Jones travels from San Francisco to London to a Pictish archaeological dig in the Highlands of Scotland, piecing together the secrets of a lost Indian treasure that are hidden in a Scottish legend from the days of the British Raj.

 —Gigi

New York City Gargoyles, Part X: Lions

Wrapping up a look at New York City architectural details with some lions. Except for the second image below (which is Gramercy Park), these are all in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

 

Yes, that's a dragon in the foreground in the above photo, but the two lions from the previous photo are in the distance.


—Gigi