This week Johnbo challenges us to focus on Tools of Photo Composition. I have decided to use lighting as part of this composition. I am keeping it simple and only including elements that are relevant to the story I am telling. So this is my story… and this is Venice at night in 2016. At…
Category: Travels 2016
Windows in Ilocos
“Beauty exists not in sameness but in difference.” – PCoelho As part of our road trip, here are some olden style windows all found in Ilocos, the northern part province of the Philippines. Metal Grillwork on stone structure These are the traditional Capiz on wooden sliding windows. What is a capiz window? Capiz (Kapis) shell…
Roadtrip
“Discover how beautiful our country is and how wonderful our people are. Time to fall in love with the Philippines.” – Tony Meloto A few years ago, my husband and I went with my family on a road trip to the northern part of the Philippines. And that was the last time I have visited…
The Scottish Highlands
“The best dreams happen when you’re awake.” – Cherie Gilderbloom One of the places that was high in my bucket list is Scotland and more specifically, the Scottish Highlands. Whenever I look at Instagram photos, I can almost feel the calmness of the place. And here we were, hubby and I and also with my…
Tulloch Castle: Is it really haunted?
“Whenever I wander, wherever I rove, the hills of the Highlands forever I love.” – Robert Burns It was nearly sunset when we reached our destination. This was the view from the parking lot. My cousins took us to the Tulloch Castle and this was where we stayed the night. Tulloch Castle is a 12th…
Musee du Louvre
“My favourite thing to do is go where I’ve never been.” – Anonymous It was a free day because we didn’t go with the optional excursion. We decided to go to Musee du Louvre for our last day in Paris. The Musee du Louvre or just plain the Louvre is one of Paris’ most iconic…
Around Paris
With an early morning wake up call, we got ready for a city tour aboard the Cosmos tourist bus Still some awesome view from inside the coach window around the main city. Next, we went down for a guided city walk On the left hand side is the Palais de Justice, a beautiful building, which…
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles is perhaps the most opulent and beautiful palace in Europe. This was once home to kings and queens of France. It is one of the most important places in France and is now recognised as a world heritage site by UNESCO. This is the golden entry gate to The Palace of…
A Day in Paris
“Paris is always a good idea.” – unknown Aside from Disneyland, Paris is the only other place that was in my bucketlist when I was a lot younger. I thought to myself that when I find a boy, Paris is the place to be, because it is the City of Love and Romance. But several…
Poitiers
“A breeze, a forgotten summer, a smile, all can fit into a storefront window.” – Dejan Stojanovic The city of Poitiers is a French city located west of France. We passed this city on our way to Paris. Here are some narrow and almost empty streets with old houses when we ventured further from the…
The doors and Seats of Château d’Amboise
A place of residence for French kings from the 15th to the 19th centuries and is linked to the history of France. These are some of the outdoor benches and doors that can be found in the Chateau d’Amboise in France. Inside the castle you can find countless doors, hallways, staircases all leading up to rooms…
Arches
“An arch consists of two weaknesses which, leaning one against the other, make a strength.” – Leonardo da Vinci This is a building in Melbourne CBD which is the former General Post Office of Victoria, known as the GPO. It is now a shopping centre and before pandemic was a bustling area with cafes, shops…
Bilbao and its Public Art
“The ‘EARTH’ without ‘ART’ is just ‘EH’ – unknown Aside from this beautiful building, the centre of Bilbao is full of amazing public art. And this is what I want to feature this week for Photographing Public Art Challenge – PPAC. Here are the many architecture, sculptures, statues and murals of Bilbao, Spain. Bilbao is…
Burgos
“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta As we continued on with out European tour, we arrived in Burgos, which is a town in northern Spain and is about three and a half hour drive from Toledo. The first that we saw upon arriving was this… isn’t…
Public Art in toledo
“I do not insist,” answered Don Quixote, “that this is a full adventure, but it is the beginning of one, for this is the way adventures begin.” – Miguel de Cervantes This is the third and last of my series about Toledo. That shows how much you can see and do in this old and…
Toledo in Spain
“Live life with no excuses, travel with no regret”– Oscar Wilde Toledo is one of the oldest and most unique cities in Spain and is the former Spanish capital before Madrid. It stands beautifully high up on a hill above the Tagus River and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. From the Mirador del Valle, you…
Madrid
“Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.” – unknown The city of Madrid is a captivating city. Passing through the countryside and even before reaching the main country, we already had a glimpse of how artistic this country was gonna be by seeing all…
Windows of Madrid
Madrid is an exquisite city and can be seen in its grand buildings and of course in its windows, which is the topic of this challenge. The Palacio de Cibeles, formerly the Palacio de Comunicaciones until 2011, is a palace located on the Plaza de Cibeles. What an amazing architecture. El Palacio Real or Madrid’s…
Looking Up then Looking Down
“Look up to the sky. You’ll never find rainbows if you’re looking down.” – Charlie Chaplin For this week, the topic for Sofia’s Challenge is Looking Up/Looking Down. I experimented on the slider using it from top to bottom. This is the St Stephen’s Cathedral and is a landmark of Vienna. It is the most…
Walking Up Petrin Hill
“The best view comes after the hardest climb.” – unknown This was in November of 2018. I read that Petrin Hill is a must see and it is very easy to reach it by getting on a funicular. So on one of our “not too hectic” days in Prague, we decided to go. But when…
Barcelona’s Public Art
“Barcelona is Gaudí’s” –Kamand Kojouri Our second day in Barcelona started with a city tour. The local tour guide took us to the different iconic architecture which were mostly the Catalan Gothic style and the Modernisme. This second one was a cultural movement at the end of the 19th century protagonized by Antoni Gaudi. One…
Windows in Montserrat
“Your desire to be near to window is your desire to be close to life!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan Montserrat is a day trip that we took from Barcelona. Here are some awesome windows that can be found there. Montserrat is a multi-peaked mountain range near Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain. It is known for the…
Montserrat
“The mountains are calling , and I must go.” – John Muir Montserrat is a mountain range in Catalonia, Spain and it is just a day trip away from the more energetic and vibrant nearby metropolis of Barcelona. This is the La Sardana Monument in Barcelona where our tour group met up and is a…
Shoes on the Danube Bank
“For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.” – Elie Wiesel On the banks of the river Danube, just in front of the Hungarian Parliament Building are 60 pairs of iron shoes. The “Shoes on the Danube” is a moving holocaust memorial, which honors Hungarian Jews who were murdered in 1944-1945. It is…
Art in Barcelona
We crossed spacious streets, with building resembling palaces, in La Rambla promenade ; the shops were well illuminated and there was movement and life… I did not decide to go to sleep, even though I wished to, so I could rise early and contemplate, in daylight, this city, unknown to me: Barcelona, capital of Catalonia….
Main Boulevard – Public Art in Carcassonne
On the La Bastide Saint-Louis or the lower town of Carcassonne, we immediately noticed some artistic treasures. Here are some sculptures scattered around the main boulevard, a testament of modern influence to the city. This Square is known as the Place Gambetta. For Photographing Public Art Challenge Sculpture Saturday and 6WS The Place Gambetta is…
Doors & Seats in the Old Town
“If you like the fairy tales, visit the old towns.” – Mehmet Murat ildan Outside the ancient walled city of Carcassonne, France, hubby and I were surprised at how many beautiful doors we saw in just the main strip of the old town of Carcassonne. For Dan’s Thursday Doors Challenge In some hidden corners that…
La Cite de Carcassonne
La Cité in Carcassonne, located in southern France, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the whole country. Millions of visitors come every year to this huge fortified city on a hilltop. From afar, this medieval fort looks like something out of a children’s story book. This castle was decided to be preserved…
Through the Doors of Avignon!
“He who is outside his door has the hardest part of his journey behind him.” – Dutch proverb ____________________ I am sharing this as part of Dan’s Thursday Doors Challenge ____________________ The Palais des Papes or the Palace of the Popes is the most important building built during the Gothic period. I am featuring the…
The Streets and Windows of Avignon
“Still round the corner, there may wait, a new road or a secret gate.” – J.R.R. Tolkien ____________________ I am sharing this as part of Ludwig’s Monday Windows Challenge ____________________ Avignon in France makes a wonderful day trip destination, which really is a combination of the young urban vibe and medieval, old town settings. Today,…