Wed 06.oct.2010
Walnut Creek, Calif.
Refresher
I've posted these three before, but not as part of this regular series.
![Reflections a la Monet reflections in river of trees on far bank](pix/2010/1430600-r1-024-10a.jpg)
![From the Mars Hotel Receipt from Mars Hotel, Paris](pix/2010/img_0001.jpg)
![Berlin Hauptbahnhof Escalators, shops, and a glimpse of a train](pix/2010/img_0441.jpg)
Vintgar, Slovenia § (2004) Reflections in a river of
the surrounding woods, mostly on the far bank.
Paris, France § Check-out receipt from the Mars Hotel, near the Champ
de Mars. (1990's)
Berlin, Germany § The shiny
new main train station. (2007)
OK, the rest are from my recent wanderings, not previously posted.
![Piran Harbor Rows of yachts, Venetian buildings along waterfront](pix/2010/img_1128.jpg)
![Piran South Shore Rocky breaakwater along Adriatic](pix/2010/img_1182.jpg)
(2007)
Piran: Slovenia's gem on the
Adriatic. From the tip of its little
peninsula, you can see northward along the coast to Italy and south
across the bay to Croatia.
![Piran Reflection Tan colored building reflected in inner harbor](pix/2010/img_1296.jpg)
![Piran Small Square Small plaza, tree, silhouette of bicyclist](pix/2010/img_1318.jpg)
I think that all of the picture taking I have been doing the last
couple of years has been teaching me something. At least, when I go
back to these 2007 photos with my current eye, very few look fit to
show. How can I have spent the day in so picturesque a maze of twisty
little streets, and have so little to show for it? What the hey, it is
a good excuse to return there in the future. (Piran is also a popular
day trip from Venice, and vice-versa.)
Leaving Piran, an absurdy meandering bus ride
down the coast brings us to...
Rovinj, Croatia, (2007).
Another former Venetian gem on the Adriatic.
![Rovinj Rocky Point Limestone spit in clear shallow waters](pix/2010/img_1413.jpg)
![Lobby, American Hospital Plastic cow in lab coat with stethescope, in modern lobby](pix/2010/img_3821.jpg)
![Shop Front Modern shop front, sign in Turkish](pix/2010/img_3827.jpg)
*poit*
Forward to 2009. The cow with a
stethescope greets you in the front lobby of the American Hospital
in Istanbul. The shop window
is in a near by part of town that could pass for a modern neighborhood
in
any capital in Europe, except for the language. Even with the language,
it could be parts of Berlin.
![Lamps and Handbags Colorful shop window with touristy hanging lamps](pix/2010/img_3959.jpg)
Looking out over the Sea of Marmara from near Topkapi palace, you could
almost swear you were in San Francisco.
The old, but kind of touristy,
Sultanahmet neighborhood has color and character. I made it my
base in Istanbul.
![Hamburger Lion Stone Lion, in sphinx pose](pix/2010/img_4501.jpg)
A bit of wisteria in the lane between Topkapi and Aya Sofia.
*poit*
Suddenly, without warning, we are in...
Hamburg, up near the North Sea,
looking at a very regal stone lion. There is a bad joke in here
somewhere about big cats making good Hamburgers, but
naturally I have far too much dignity to think of such a thing.
![LSD Store Shop Sign, "LSD Store"](pix/2010/img_4598.jpg)
And in that case, it would be downright foolish to riddle the
paradux
of a pair of duck Hamburgers.
In the Hamburg main station, something you couldn't make up, though come to think of it, somebody must
have made up this shop name. That is not a little butane lighter; it is a big
sign.
What do they mean by such a name? If I knew, I probably would not admit
it publicly.
![Athens Lunchtime Line of outdoor tables, some with a customer](pix/2010/img_9735.jpg)
*poit*
again to Banska Bystrica,
central Slovakia (2009).
Then
*poit*
and we are in Athens. (2009)
I finally learned more about these
brown stone churches that are so ubiquitous in Athens. They are called Byzantine churches, and I assume
that is exactly what they are.
![Corkscrew Tree Spiralling bare tree branches](pix/2010/img_9749.jpg)
![Athenian Palm Side-lighted palm trunk, detail](pix/2010/img_9899.jpg)
So there we are: a fistful of photos to fill in the hiatus.
Next departure is planned for Friday Oct 22nd, unless the medical folks
come up with a persuasive reason not to. Destination? Probably straight
to Rhodes for the winter.
up!! ĦĦumop
ĦĦhasta luego!!
Contents Copyright 2012 Jeff Bulf