Beautiful Venice

I'm always delighted when I hear that friends are about to visit Venice.

Just one trip there last year was enough to wish I could return again soon. However, rummaging in the special deals for places to stay reminds me of how travel is increasingly expensive and the thought of just staying home is quite attractive too.

Working on last year's photos is a pleasant form of virtual travel...

Photography Links

Readers who come across this blog by chance may not know that I also have a photography blog called "Short Sights at Noon".   There is a link further down the page here directly to some past posts there.


I continue to send little pieces round to friends and now that Boards.ie seems to be back on an even keel, I'm happily posting some comments there as well.


Blogging continues to bemuse many of the over-fifties, but gradually the value of combining snappy pieces of writing with a photo is gaining popularity with my friends.   It would be excellent if they took to blog writing as well as it's such a painless way of keeping in contact with those living far away.




Not travelling abroad this year has turned out to have many benefits, notably the time available to organise photo archives and think about projects for Summer.   I continue to wish I could visit Italy more often, it is such a beautiful place.

http://shortsights.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-08-30T10:02:00-07:00&max-results=7

Back to Base

It's a joy to be back in my own bed.
Despite all the excitement and exposure to new people and places, I find travel quite demanding. It's not as dramatic these days as when I used wander round France, even hitching on a motorway once, which is against the law. I must have an over easy-going face. The family relation who, so much in a hurry that he could not take time to leave me in a safer place, was seemingly alcoholic. However, even that does not, in retrospect, seem an excuse for putting anybody out on the side of such a busy road.

All water under the bridge now... The air-bus system from Melbourne to Singapore and then, two days later, from Singapore to Heathrow, was actually comfortable. Sleep is essential on a thirteen hour flight and we managed to get in six or seven hours, though sometimes it is difficult to work out if one is actually asleep.

We made new friends in Ballarat, looked down on a clouded landscape above Bright, trawled the Melbourne streets for more local colour and urban images.

This photo, taken on Sentosa Island during the Chinese New Year is a favourite.
Happy memories...

I've Been Around...

the World for sport again.

Co-incidentally, we had booked a ferry crossing from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead months before the ash plume played Molly Bawn with air travel, so it was reassuring to get to visit family without any obstacles.

Hours on the motorway is part of the package, but the anticipation, as usual, turned out to be worse than the real event.   Several years ago I got hit by a truck (twice within moments) while driving in England.   Everybody emerged without a scratch, due in no small measure to the fact that I had rested every afternoon for days, in anticipation of the journey and was in top driving form.

However, although I did not in any way lose my nerve, my co-driver is now so traumatised by the memory that I have not been invited to drive again...

This has many advantages... notably it leaves time for taking photos of interesting sights along the way.

The best way to travel in England, however, is by train.   We took the slow train from York, through Harrogate, stopping at every tiny station along the way and even catching a glimpse of the gorge at Knaresborough through a misty window.

Our first trip to Leeds was a great success.
The chocolate cake in the Art Gallery restaurant, an ode to the tilers craft, was top notch.

Can't wait to go back again soon...