Back in 2010, Ligia and I had the privilege of seeing a unique collection of vintage and classic cars in South Florida. It was not open to the public, and although we were allowed to take photos and graciously shown around, we were asked not to mention the name of the collection. Instead, we needed to refer to it as “a private, exclusive South Florida organ and car collection”. I abided by those terms all these years, until now.

It is no longer necessary to do so, because in 2012, the Milhous brothers auctioned off the entire collection. Everything went. The entire collection was auctioned off in February 2012 for a total sale price of $38.3 million USD. Since the collection no longer exists and is now spread among various other collectors located who knows where, and it’s been more than three years since the sale and dissolution, the terms of our agreement no longer apply.

This means you are fortunate enough to see immaculately restored cars that few people have ever seen, cars so rare they sell for millions of dollars and for some models, fewer than five exist in the world altogether.

The car that sold for the most money at the auction was a 1912 Oldsmobile Limited Touring. But there is one car prominently featured in the gallery you see here, a car I fell in love with right away, a car I consider to be the most beautiful in the world, a car so special I had to stand at a distance from it and take it all in before I could approach it and touch it. That car is a butter-white 1934 V-16 Cadillac Fleetwood Roadster. It’s a drop-dead gorgeous example of streamline moderne design and it’s a car that will forever hold a special place in my heart.

I truly hope you’ll enjoy these photos. You don’t get to see stuff like this every day.

Part of The Milhous Collection, Boca Raton, Florida. The entire collection was auctioned off in February 2012 for a total sale price of $38.3 million USD.

Places

Cars from the Milhous Collection

Autumn is finally here! I’m glad that long, hot summer is over… If it was up to me, I’d have a long spring, a short summer with temperatures up to 25° Celsius, followed by a long autumn and solid winter full of beautiful, white snow.

Our roses are a constant joy for us. They bloom throughout the three warmer seasons, keep our garden colorful and put a smile on our faces, too. Here are some of our fall rose blooms, photographed less than half an hour ago. I hope you enjoy them as well!

Places

Roses from our garden

A few years ago, I visited the Grand Canyon; more precisely, a portion of its South Rim. It was winter, so the snow provided a nice color contrast to the golden-hued soil and rocks typically found there. I would have liked to spend more time there but our schedule allowed us only a few hours.

Here is a gallery of photographs from that trip. And there’s also video from the ride in the propeller plane that took us there.

Enjoy!

South Rim, Grand Canyon, USA

Nevada desert

Grand Canyon, USA

South Rim, Grand Canyon, USA

Panorama, South Rim, Grand Canyon

South Rim, Grand Canyon, USA

Places

At the South Rim of the Grand Canyon

Day 4 of our Italian road trip took us from Chioggia to Ravenna, Rimini and Grottammare, which is where we stopped for the night. Get a cup of coffee and get comfortable, there are 71 photos for you to enjoy here.

If you’d like to see the other posts from our trip, here are days 1, 2 and 3 (part 1 and part 2); and here’s the overview.

A reed silhouetted against the morning sun. On the road between Chioggia and Ravenna, in the region of Emilia Romagna, Italy.

A Ford C-Max. On the road between Chioggia and Ravenna, Italy.

On the road between Chioggia and Ravenna, Italy

Ravenna, Italy

Rimini Beach, Italy

Rimini, Italy

Looking at a shop window in Rimini, Italy

Rimini, Italy

A large tree without leaves fills the foreground, framing a landscape of distant hillsides filled with trees and orchards. On the road between Rimini and Ancona, Italy.

Plowed land and farms, on the road between Rimini and Ancona, Italy

On the road between Rimini and Ancona, Italy

Ancona countryside, Italy

Grottammare, Italy, as seen from one of the adjoining hillsides

Outside Grottammare, Italy, at night. Can you guess why the branches in the foreground are colored red?

A piazzetta in Grottammare, Italy, at night

Grottammare, Italy

Nighttime above a street in Grottammare, Italy. Headlights and taillights leave streak marks in this long exposure.

Grottammare, Italy

Places

Italian road trip – Day 4 – Ravenna, Rimini and Grottammare

This marks the third year in a row that I publish photos of flowers from our garden. It’s gotten to be somewhat of a tradition. These beautiful flowers are a source of joy for us and I hope that by sharing them with you, some of that joy brightens up your day as well.

This year, we’re particularly happy about our tulips. Ligia loves collecting various tulip bulbs and seeing the beautiful flowers they make each year. You’ll see a number of parrot and ruffled tulips among our photographs. I counted rococo, black parrot, apricot parrot, silver parrot and a very special bloom which I call striped peppermint, which I chose as the featured image for this post.

I freely admit I am a novice when it comes to flowers and botany, so please correct me if I made any mistakes with the names of the tulips.