Round Top and Painted Churches

While Debra and I were in South East Texas we discovered these painted churches while we were just riding around.
The outside of these churches look like many other churches that were built around the turn of the last century but step inside and wow!
Painted Churches in Texas
Cross the threshold of these particular Texas churches and you'll encounter not a simple wooden interior but an unexpected profusion of color. Nearly every surface is covered with bright painting: exuberant murals radiate from the apse, elaborate foliage trails the walls, wooden columns and baseboards shine like polished marble in shades of green and gray. These are the Painted Churches of Texas.
Built by 19th century immigrants to this rough but promising territory, these churches transport the visitor back to a different era, a different way of life. Inscriptions on the walls read not in English, but in the mother tongue of those who built them: German and Czech. The story of these buildings is the story of a people striving to succeed in a new country and still preserve the values and culture of their homelands.
Debra took this photo. I had my long lens on so I wasn’t getting these shots.





The stained glass windows were beautiful



Look at this ceiling!

Our next stop was Round Top,Texas
Round Top is famous for two things. The Antique Festival twice a year where the entire town and surrounding area looks like a giant upscale flea market and for the Festival Institute.
Festival Hill
The 200 acre campus is where students from conservatories and universities in the United States and abroad pursue their musical studies.. While the number of Festival-Institute alumni is in the thousands, the project manages to give each student the personal attention that has been a hallmark of its program: it is both a festival and an institute, where students and faculty perform for appreciative and large audiences. The concerts are broadcast through a yearly program titled “Live from Festival Hill” over public radio stations from coast to coast.
Look at the horns on this bull.

A pretty field of flowers





The Festival area has what looks like old Greco ruins









Lots and lots of flowers


This is where the music happens

Inside the auditorium

Lovely house on the grounds

There are more pictures of Round Top but I’ll leave those for the next blog.
Books I’ve been reading.