Day 143 – Balcony in Downtown Sanford FL

Baclony in Downtown Sanford Fl

Sometimes it is really worth looking up in the air when you walk through the streets of historic Sanford. Even though I would rather not see the bike there (sorry dear bike owner!) it does add something authentic to the picture.

I love how all the colors are in harmony and how the red of the balcony ceilings is repeated in the red fruits of the tree next to it and in the brick wall below it.

Those cute wrap around balconies are beautiful architectural features that make Sanford so charming!

Day 136 – Sunset in Clermont Florida

Sunset over lake in Clermont FL

This must have been one of the most beautiful scenes ever, I had to kick myself for not bringing my good camera. The picture was taken with my phone, still tunred out ok, but oh, if you could have only seen the real life scene… We were out showing properties in Clermont, FL (I know, kind of far from Sanford, a good 45 minute drive) and drove by this lake on our way home. I had to stop the car and get off to capture the beautiful, romantic silhouettes created by the setting sun… Next time I’ll make sure to have my camera with me

Day 130 – Building in Downtown Sanford in January Dark Blue

Building on Park Avenue in Sanford

It’s amazing how crisp and clear the sky looks this time of the year. I really like the strong contrast this almost dark blue sky creates in this shot. The combination of grayish white, orange (of the fire stairs which I love by the way), green and dark blue makes the picture perfect for me

When you’re downtown next time look up into the sky and notice how absolutely beautiful the buildings of Sanford look against it. This building is located on Park Avneue in downtown Sanford.

Day 126 – Our New President in the Sanford Herald

President Obama in the Sanford Herald

Wow, that was quite a day yesterday! I was able to see the inauguration live (well, who wasn’t…as far as I heard many companies had viewings over lunch) and was impressed by the huge amounts of people in the streets of Washington D.C. You could feel what a historic moment this was. I’m excited to see what comes next and happy for all of you!

Walking by this newspaper machine on First Street today I couldn’t help but take a picture of this historic headline. I love how the red brick background makes the machine and newspaper pop. I really like this shot a lot

Day 112 – Great Day in Bogota and where you can find Colombian Food in Lake Mary

La Candelaria in Bogota

Bogota is a beautiful and interesting city and I got to spend a wonderful day here today.

Our city tour (I had Jose and his mom Gladys as my personal tour guides) lead us to the oldest part of town first, the so called “Candelaria”.  This is probably the part of town where you will see the style of homes you’d expect from Latin America, the Colonial style homes with tile roofs. Very nice is the view of the mountains in the background.

Bogota is 2,640 meters above the sea level and you can tell: first of all it is rather cool in this city (temperatures are always in the 60s, at night they can drop to the 30s) and second, when travelling from a lower hight city you can feel the exhaustion in the first couple of days. Nevertheless, we were in for a good walk today, and luckily we got to stop a couple of times, first for lunch, then for “candelazo” (a warm drink made with Aguardiente, the national liquor) on top of the city’s mountain “Monserrate”. Also luckily, we decided to pass on climbing up the mountain and took the “teleferico”.

Botero

Our tour also led us to “La Casa de la Moneda” where we saw a great art exhibition – my peronal highlight, I LOVE art and miss it a lot in Central Florida; hopefully we’ll soon  have a bit more opportunities to see art in Central Florida. Not only works by internationally famous artists like Monet, Renoir, Picasso, Matisse, Klimt, Miro or Dali were exhibited, but also by the most famous Colombian artist, Fernando Botero. He is known for his very distinguishing style of painting “large people” with exaggerated proportions. I love his work and was happy to be able to see such a vast selection of works. The picture I am posting here (one of many) is one of my favorites because of the doors that frame the scene. It adds even more interest to the picture itself. Only better would be to see the painting by peeking through a key hole…

We ended the day at Monserrate where we took in some breathtaking views of Bogota. I noticed though that, with exception of the moutains that surround Bogota, there are relatively few green areas in Bogota. I would like to see a bit more nature in this city, it would certainly cheer everything up a bit. Especially since some parts of town seem rather grey and colorless.

Jose and Claudia above Bogota

Colombian Food

Food wise we did well, too. The picture here shows a Bandeja Paisa. This is not the typical food for Bogota though. A bandeja paisa consists of meat (in this case ground beef, but it could be steak as well), rice, beans, plantains, avocado, an egg (sunny side up), chicharron (fried pork skin) and an “arepa“, a typical Colombian rice bread.

In case you ever feel like trying Colombian food, there is a Colombian Restaurant in Lake Mary. It is called “La Antioquena” and they serve Bandeja Paisa among many other delicious and authentic dishes. They are located at 3861 Lake Emma Road and can be reached at 407 829-2532.

Bandeja Paisa

Day 99 – Christmas by the Beach

Daytona Beach on Christmas Day

This is a first time for me, too: Christmas by the ocean. Since we celebrated the “main event” already last night (in good old European tradition), we decided to drive to Daytona Beach this morning. So my parents, my sister Gabi, Jose and I all drove up to the beach to enjoy some sun.

Me, Ma, Jose, Gabi at Daytona Beach

We had to wait a bit for the rain to pass though, but in the end it turned out to be a rather sunny and mild day.  We even drove our car on the sand, something we usually don’t do because of the usually rather crowded beach. There were still more people at the beach than expected though. The picture above shows me in a pink shirt and standing next to me my dad. I like the scene, it has something so peaceful to it.

Day 81 – Stop War Sign

Stop War

Came across this special stop sign when shopping today at Office Max on 46 in Sanford. This sign is on their parking lot, right in front of the store and as I walked by it I couldn’t resist and just had to take a picture of it. Kind of sends a clear message, doesn’t it?

I love the contrast of the crisp blue sky with the red of the sign!

Day 40 – Historic Sanford Pavers

Pavers in Historic Sanford

Walking through the streets of Historic Sanford we often overlook those beautiful pavers, so why not take a quick shot of them and maybe next time you walk through the streets you look down as well. Makes a great background texture for any type of art project, too.

Day 20 – Visiting Veranda Park in Metro West

Italian Flair in Orlando - Veranda Park in Metro West

Today business brought me over “to the other side”, of town at least that is…I drove down to Metro West, or to be more concrete, to Veranda Park, the project that has become Metro West’s main “attraction”.

Metro West is an attractive area that has unfortunately gotten some negative press. However, I still think it is absolutely beautiful there and you are in a great location: relatively close to I-4, 408, Florida’s turnpike (to Miami or Ocala), Universal Studios and the Mall at Millenia. The lifestyle in the area is more urban, lots of condos and town homes, but also apartments.

I think when first moving to the area, it’s a great place to start your life in Orlando because you get to enjoy everything Orlando has to offer. But believe me, with exception of some dear friends, most everyone I know has gotten bored of that lifestyle after the first year or so. After you have been to the parks many times and gone out on I-Drive, driven to Miami for the weekends or been shopping to the Millenia Mall every weekend, you may feel kind of overwhelmed with the traffic this area receives. It is and will most likely always be right next to a major tourist area. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think that is wonderful because not too long ago I was a tourist too and I myself LOVE traveling. So if you are ok with that Metro West is still a wonderful area to live in. But if you are looking for a more quiet, private lifestyle that is less busy, I would definitely recommend other areas.

But now, more about Veranda Park: Having been to Italy many times, I have to say, even though the complex seems a bit “fake” at first sight, it really does capture some of the Italian Flair you might expect. I love the paved driveways and the colorful buildings. You can see immediately that a lot of attention has been given to little details that add a lot to the charme of this project: lots of columns, archways, extensive use of tile and so much more. Besides the local businesses and shops, there are also nice restaurants and coffee shops where you can spend some relaxing time.

Italian Flair in Orlando – Veranda Park in Metro West

Veranda Park – Beautiful inside and out

When I first moved to Orlando, I used to live in Metro West and remember riding my bicycle along Hiawassee Road (Metro West is kind of bike friendly). Whe we now see the huge Veranda Park complex was, as in so many other sport in the Central Florida area, a big field of nothing. Just in that time Veranda Park was started. An ambitious project that was supposed to be completed quite soon. But we all know what happened then, the real estate boom came to an end, investors disappeared and prices were simply to high to buy at Veranda Park. From what I have heard they did run out of money and had to face some issues, but are apparently back on track now, only a lot slower. That means it will be another while until Veranda Park can be seen in its full beauty. Please correct me if I’m wrong though! Just wanted to share some of the pictures I took today, on another beautiful sunny autumn day in Central Florida

Veranda Park - Beautiful inside and out

Day 15 – More Art in Sanford outside Gallery on First Street

Outside Gallery on First Street in Sanford

Not only inside the Gallery on First Street in Sanford you will find great artwork. This shot was taken outside the gallery and displays art work “inside” the wall. Beautiful detail and unique indeed. Walk by the gallery and take a close look next time you’re downtown.