When it comes to taking pictures I like doors, statues, balconies and washing lines, Kim on the other hand likes people pictures so I thought I might share a few of them with you.
This one was taken on the Greek Island of Folegandros. The woman seems to have drifted out of the conversation, maybe the men were talking football?
Posted in Arts and Crafts, backpacking, Beaches, Cyclades, Food, Greece, Greek islands, Greek Taverna, History, Literature, Postcards, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Folegandros, Greek Beaches, Greek Food, Greek islands, Life, Photography, Travel
When it comes to taking pictures I like doors, statues, balconies and washing lines, Kim on the other hand likes people pictures so I thought I might share a few of them with you.
This one was taken at the Roman City of Volubilis in Morocco. While I was busy taking pictures of the ancient Roman city Kim spotted this party of local tourist women with a tour guide…
Posted in Africa, History, Marrakech, Morocco, Natural Environment, Postcards, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Culture, Fez, Life, Meknes, Photography, Travel, Volubilis
When it comes to taking pictures I like doors, statues, balconies and washing lines, Kim on the other hand likes people pictures so I thought I might share a few of them with you.
This one was taken on the Greek Island of Folegandros…
What a fabulous island Folegandros is and completely relaxing and charming and in my top five list of personal favourites.
We first visited in 2007 and the village squares were colourful, vibrant and bursting with an eclectic energy that spilled into the streets from the balconies and terraces of the bars and restaurants.
It was an enchanting place with picturesque settings plucked straight from the pages of a travel book, pretty squares with restaurants under trees where visitors were struggling to make menu selections next to local people just sitting and talking and passing the evening away.
The streets were alive with friendly people and there was an unspoilt ambience that drew us down twisting side streets and through narrow alleys that led always to even more clusters of inviting tavernas that made choosing a dining venue very difficult indeed. Eventually we selected a table at the side of the main square and we enjoyed excellent food and amused ourselves people watching as there was a constant stream of local people and holiday makers moving continuously through the pretty square.
Posted in back packing, Cyclades, Food, Greece, Greek islands, Greek Taverna, History, island hopping, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Folegandros, Greek Ferries, Greek Island Hopping, Greek islands, Milos, Photography, Travel
In 2012 I went on a two city touring holiday in Russia.
This is a statue of Peter The Great which has the distinction of being the eighth highest statue in the World and commemorates three hundred years of the Russian Navy.
I thought it looked rater grand but perhaps a little unfairly this statue has been included in a list of the World’s top ten ugliest statues.
No doubt embarrassed by this, in 2010, Moscow offered the statue to Saint-Petersburg – who promptly turned it down.
The other nine in the top ten ugly statues list were…
Peace and Brotherhood Statue, Turkey (now demolished)
Kim II-Sung, North Korea
Victory Arch, Iraq
Tear of Grief, New Jersey USA
Michael Jackson, Fulham FC, UK
Rocky Balboa, sebia
Patient Zero, Mexico
Yuri Gagarin, Moscow, Russia
Johnny Depp, Serbia
Frank Zappa, Lithuania
St Petersburg didn’t need the statue because they have one of their own…
I am coming to the end of this project now. This one is from Corfu in the Greek Islands…
Posted in Age of Innocence, back packing, Cyprus, Europe, Greece, Greek islands, Greek Taverna, History, Literature, Postcards, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Corfu, Gerald Durell, Kalami, Laurence Durrell, Life, Photography, Travel, Washing Day, Washing Line Challenge
When Lenin died in January 1924 he was acclaimed as ‘the greatest genius of mankind’ and ‘the leader and teacher of the people’s of the whole world’. Time Magazine named him one of the one hundred most important people of the twentieth century (Albert Einstein was first and Mahatma Ghandi and Theodore Roosevelt close runners-up).
According to the article in Encyclopaedia Britannica: ‘If the Bolshevik Revolution is, as some people have called it, the most significant political event of the twentieth century, then Lenin must for good or ill be considered the century’s most significant political leader… he has been regarded as both the greatest revolutionary leader and revolutionary statesman in history, as well as the greatest revolutionary thinker since Marx’.
Posted in Cathedrals, Europe, History, Literature, Postcards, Russia, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Adolf Hitler, Communism, Kremlin, Lenin, Lenin Corpse, Lenin Mausoleum, Lenin waxworks model, Life, Moscow, Photography, Red Square, Russia Waxworks, Russian Revolution, Travel
“The sea’s curious workmanship: bottle green glass sucked smooth and porous by the waves: wood stripped and cleaned and bark swollen with salt…gnawed and rubbed: amber: bone: the sea” – Lawrence Durrell – Propero’s Cell
After a gap of about five years, maybe even more, this week I returned to the Driftwood Boat project, found my old sticks at the back of the shed and set to to build a boat.
This is a box of driftwood and other bits and pieces that I collected on various holidays to the Greek Islands and brought home in my hand luggage. Interestingly I never once was stopped at airport security or UK customs and asked to explain my unusual cargo.
So, it has been carefully assembled but now comes the tricky bit – negotiating with Kim on a place in the house to display it.
A year or so ago and two thousand miles from the Greek Islands I was in a seaside fishing village in Northumberland called Seaton Sluice.
Not an especially attractive name I agree but it turned out to be a delightful place with a working port full of fishing boats, wonderful rugged coastal scenery and a curious gaily painted blue shed.
A timber treasure house full of riches washed up from the sea and fashioned into wood carvings, trinkets and what you might generously describe as exclusive souvenirs by the hippie owner/artist with grizzled beard and wild hair. He might easily have been washed up from the sea himself. I thought immediately of Hemingway’s ‘Old Man and the Sea’ and Norman Lewis’ ‘Voices of the Old Sea’.
Here I am looking for inspiration…
Click on an image to scroll through the Gallery…
“The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach—waiting for a gift from the sea.” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Posted in Arts and Crafts, back packing, Beaches, Europe, Greece, Greek islands, Greek Taverna, History, Literature, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Amorgos, Greek Boats, Life, Model Making, Northumberland, Photography, Seaton Sluice, Travel
In my A to Z, W and X were difficult and Y has been no easier. This is a hotel balcony in Segovia in Castilla y Leon in Spain…
We were staying at the Sercotel Infanta Isabel and we had one of the best rooms in the hotel on the second floor with a perfect view of the Plaza Mayor lined with cafés and bars and with the Cathedral directly opposite.
As it went dark it was nice to sit and watch the square melting from afternoon into evening with plenty of sociable activity. There were lots of Segovians walking out in families and we joined them in the busy streets and looked for somewhere to eat.
Click on an image to view the Gallery…
Posted in Cathedrals, El Cid, Europe, History, Hotels, Literature, Postcards, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Culture, Life, Photography, Roman Empire, Segovia, Travel
When it comes to taking pictures I like doors, statues, balconies and washing lines, Kim on the other hand likes people pictures so I thought I might share a few of them with you.
This one was taken whilst on an early morning walk on the Greek island of Rhodes…
We woke early and went to the Street of the Knights because this is one of the best preserved/restored medieval streets in Europe and we wanted to get there before the crowds. As soon as the cruise ships arrive and discharge their guests onto the quayside hundreds of people make straight for this place and it immediately loses its atmosphere and its charm.
The man in the picture had set the tables and was waiting for the tourists to arrive.
Welcome to my new Project – Washing Lines
Today I am back in Portugal, back in Porto where there is a pletora of washing lines.
the Ribiera district which used to be the commercial centre of Porto but is now an up market tourist centre with gaily coloured houses, quayside restaurants and the highest prices in the City.
The riverside apartments rise steeply from the pavement and the rusted iron balconies are permanently decorated with fresh laundry.
It is a Challenge, feel free to join in…
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Europe, History, Literature, Portugal, World Heritage
Tagged Life, Monday Washing, Photography, Port Wine, Porto, Ribiera, River Duoro, Travel, Vila Nova de Gaia, Washing Lines
