You have to look both ways in London for two reasons: One, if you don’t look left and right when you cross a street, you are liable to be flattened by the inexorable hurtling bulk of a big red double-decker bus, a cab, a cruising motorscooter or even a bicyclist, all coming from exactly the direction you do not expect them to. And, two, you have to look both ways because around you you can see not just the imposing history of centuries-old England: the architectural and historical record, the royal hoopla, but 21st-century London, a thriving, incredibly diverse city full of people from the far reaches of the former empire. I visited back in November (thanks Hannah, Ben, Dirk, Steve). Fuji X100F, almost pocket-sized. Click here for a gallery.
Category Archives: Travel
Penn Station, iPhone
NYC’s Penn Station, iPhone 4s.
It’s no secret that newer iPhones take decent pictures. The best part is that a smart phone is a camera you have with you most of the time. It’s a trick to keep the lens clean and clear though. A case helps avoid scratches and a piece of plastic electrical tape can keep the pocket lint off the lens, as long as you keep the sticky part of the tape off the lens and as long as you don’t lose the tape in your pocket, which you will.
NJ Pass Under
What you can see out the window of an Amtrak train between Manhattan and Newark, NJ.
Snow, Wind, Etc.
Just another February day in East Montpelier, although it changed from a sunny, windy one whipping the snow off the barn below to the quiet, overcast scene above in about 30 minutes. Next up: Using a Sony RX100 in a snowstorm.
Stick Season, High & Low
When the fall leaves hit the ground, it’s Stick Season. The reason for the name is obvious but the attractions of this sixth Vermont season aren’t. It can mean raw, gray days with rain and sleet. But it can also be beautiful, as it has been for the past two days, with temperatures in the 60s. At its best, the lowering sun streams through the leafless woods and strobes through the trees as you drive along. People are scrambling to get their fall outdoor work done, but it can still be incredibly quiet and calm, as we wait in that spot between autumn and winter for the seasons to change. Above, Waterbury Reservoir; below, Worcester Mountain.
Biking Croatia’s Dalmatian Islands
Two generations and a Croatian flag in the town of Stari Grad on the island of Hvar in Croatia’s Dalmatian islands. I had the good fortune last week to be traveling there with a Vermont Bicycle Tours group. Tourism in Croatia, on the rise in the 1980s, evaporated with war in the 1990s, but it is booming now. It’s no wonder: the clear, blue water of the Adriatic, a sunny and mild climate (even in September), stunning scenery and cityscapes, architecture that dates to the Roman Empire and earlier, fascinating Mediterranean culture and cuisine and people who are for the most part very friendly, despite the turmoil of the past 20 years. I met these two after following a man hauling grapes in a motorized cart through the narrow cobblestone streets and into his konoba (wine cellar). Below: a view typical of the islands — Pucisca on the island of Brac; a resident of the Brac hilltop town of Skrip, from which the limestone to make Roman Emperor Diocletian’s palace in Split was quarried; VBT cyclists in action; and building with stone on Brac. Limestone is everywhere — there’s far more stone than soil —and everywhere it’s in use, from pathways to walls, terraces, roofs, tiles and virtually every building. Vineyards and olive trees are everywhere too. Lesson learned: It’s not a good idea to eat an olive directly off a tree. Click here for a gallery from the trip.
RAGBRAI 2
More from the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, in all its glory: Above, a mountain bike stunt rider at the bike expo, Sioux Center. Below, they got the color scheme just right at Mid-State Milling in Clemons; sustenance on Day One near Sioux Center — all egg sales to benefit the Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra; and knocked out in Webster City, despite (or because of?) the eggs, the bacon, the pork chops, the multiplicity of pies, the walking tacos and the watermelon. Bottom, buena vista in Buena Vista. If you want to see the world’s largest popcorn ball, the Obama-Romney dunk tank, and polkaing bike shorts in the Czech Village, click here for even more from RAGBRAI! And a RAGBRAI video is here.
Katahdin
On top of Maine’s Mount Katahdin Sunday, Appalachian Trail hikers R.J. Kielian, left, and Jay Knoll celebrate the completion of their five-month 2,000-mile journey from Georgia to Maine. R.J.’s father brought him the suit, all the way from Florida. Jay, who is from Tennessee, bought his for $5 in a thrift shop in a nearby Maine town. They started hiking at Springer Mountain, Georgia, in April. Katahdin is a rocky climb above treeline and it’s beautiful in the fall. For more on Katahdin, including hiking the Knife Edge, click here (mouse-over the thumbnails on the gallery page for captions).
Nice!
The site has been down and on and off for nearly a month with assorted technical problems, including being hacked into, but things seem to be resolved now. So, here is Nice, France, and those blues are why they call it the Cote d’Azur. More pictures from the incredibly varied landscape of the Fifth Republic are here. If you mouse-over the individual thumbnails in the galleries, you’ll get caption info.
Ottawa River story
The Ottawa River and Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario. Come up with your own story to go with the picture. For more from the series, look here.