The Bishop's Stone

Too late home to blip yesterday so here is a back-blip.
A varied and highly enjoyable day with friends Robert and Finola who took us to see this huge standing stone and a nearby ring-fort - and had arranged for a rainbow to appear! Then after a delicious meal to Bantry House to hear sonatas for Violin and Piano performed by Catherine Leonard and Hugh Tinney. I am not a classical music buff and this was, shamefully, my first live classical experience ever. I enjoyed the location in the library of Bantry House and the performance and virtuosity was undeniably impressive but not sure that the music was quite my thing.

- The Beethoven was clever and complex but the original harpsichord may have been more to my taste.
- The Brahms was suitably dark and dense
- The Fauré was romantically energetic.

But I found my thoughts wandering...
- How do they make the curved parts of a Steinway Grand?
- What does the middle pedal do?
- How do you get the legs off and how is it transported?
- Is there local piano-tuner or do they have to be shipped in?
- Is the violinist's strapless dress a wise choice? She has to hitch it up after each movement to avoid a costume malfunction.
- How did they make those huge marble columns so perfectly shaped and smooth? Is it done with chisel and hammer or is there some kind of super-lathe?
- Is the Corinthian capital added afterwards and what's it made from?
- How do they light (and extinguish afterwards) the real candles in the ornate chandelier? Does it come down on a pulley or do they need a step-ladder? No butlers nowadays, so whose job is it?

A bit of Lightroom processing in the image - I'm still on the lower gradient of the LR learning-curve!