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Cinque Terre

I must confess I was not quite sure what to expect on a four day coach trip to Italy’s Cinque Terre region. With a day to get there and a day to return home, the trip would surely be quite stressful. But I needn’t have worried; the coach was very comfortable, the driver and travel guide were both competent and friendly, and we had ample time to explore the pretty towns and villages, both on our own and with the local guides who joined the coach for the duration of our stay.

Rapallo – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP
Rapallo – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

Apart from being a very welcome break, the trip also gave me a good opportunity to try out the Pentax K-70 and 55-300mm lens. Obviously I couldn’t publish all 200 pictures here, but here is a selection of a few of my favourites.

Cast Off – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP
Cast Off – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP
Portofino – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP
Portofino – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP
One of the Five – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP
One of the Five – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP
Portovenere – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP
Portovenere – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

Up in the hills above La Spezia afforded great views of the port. That big boat in the middle is “Harmony of the Seas” and at the time of writing she is the biggest passenger ship in the world……

La Spezia – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP
La Spezia – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

….and she really is impressively big!

Harmony of the Seas – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP
Harmony of the Seas – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP
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Prague

We’ve been wanting to visit Prague for what seems like years, and at last we’ve actually got round to making the trip. I hope to post details of the journey on my web site soonish, but thought I would just mention something about photography here.

One major decision I had to make was which camera to take. Because of the type of transport chosen, I wanted to travel as light as possible. I therefore decided to leave the DSLR at home…  no easy decision! But with a very usable mobile phone and the small, lightweight Lumix DMC-LX2 I was adequately equipped. Of course I missed the Pentax on several occasions, but was quite happy to shuffle along in the crowds of tourists without a bag full of stuff.

Street Scene – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Street Scene – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Charles Bridge – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Charles Bridge – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Charles Bridge at night – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Charles Bridge at night – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
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Seealpsee

Despite only being about an hour away by car, Seealpsee is one of those places that I don’t usually consider visiting. But the weather was ideal, and so we decided to grab a bit of mountain air.
It took us about an hour to walk the steep path up to the lake, but once up there we were rewarded with great views of the Säntis peak. The walk around the lake was very pleasant and of course fairly flat. Taking a different path back down to Wasserauen took us about half an hour longer than the ascent and consisted of many natural steps hewn out of the hillside…. very many steps!

Seealpsee – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Seealpsee – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Seealpsee – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Seealpsee – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Seealpsee – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Seealpsee – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Seealpsee – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Seealpsee – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Seealpsee – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Seealpsee – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Seealpsee – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Seealpsee – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
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Looking for shade

There’s nothing quite like having a weeks holiday when the sun is shining. The heatwave is now entereing yet another week (I’m not complaining!) and the few days spent travelling for the ‘Around the Edge’ project were quite fantastic. I’m now working ‘intensely’ on the project, and hope to publish (at least parts of it) on the site quite soon. I was quite taken with the yellow parasols often found in cafés and restaurants, and although cooler indoors, we were determined to get the most of the good weather.

Parasols in Magadino – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Parasols in Magadino – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Bernina Pass Parasols – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Bernina Pass Parasols – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Parasols at the Viamala Motorway Services– Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Parasols at the Viamala Motorway Services– Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
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A couple of days in Milan

Back in August 2012 we visited Milan ( siehe Blog entry and Travel section ) and vowed to visit again one day. On Sunday morning wife & I sat ourselves in a ‘Euro City’ for a second visit. This trip was never intended to be a photo expedition, but nevertheless it was with enormous self disciplin that I left the Pentax at home. As luck would have it I had succumbed to the allure of a smartphone just the weekend before, so I wasn’t completely without a camera should the urge to take a photo prove too strong…. which of course it did.

Apart from several very interesting buildings and some sort of art in Sempione Park, we found ourselves in the middle of a fashion photo shoot whilst tucking into some delicious pasta in Ristorante Papà Francesco in Via Tommaso Marino…. quite fascinating

I need a bit more practice with the smartphone’s camera, and next time I’ll most likely be taking the Pentax… and I’m sure there will be a next time.

A high rise building with lots of greenery - Sony Xperia Z3 Compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp
A high rise building with lots of greenery – Sony Xperia Z3 Compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp
City offices - Sony Xperia Z3 Compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp
City offices – Sony Xperia Z3 Compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp
Old and New - Sony Xperia Z3 Compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp
Old and New – Sony Xperia Z3 Compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp
Art in 'Parco Sempione' - Sony Xperia Z3 Compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp
Art in ‘Parco Sempione’ – Sony Xperia Z3 Compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp
Photo shoot - Sony Xperia Z3 Compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp
Photo shoot, Ristorante Papa Francesco – Sony Xperia Z3 Compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp
Photo shoot, Ristorante Papa Francesco - Sony Xperia Z3 Compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp
Photo shoot, Ristorante Papa Francesco – Sony Xperia Z3 Compact smartphone. Developed with Gimp
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Summer-fourteen 11

Wife and I had been meaning to visit Bellinzona for quite some time, yesterday was the big day.  With only three hours in the city we just had time for a pizza, a visit to the big castle (Castelgrande) and of course a coffee. Here are a few images.

Belinzona – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Bellinzona building – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Castelgrande-1 – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Castelgrande-1 – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Castelgrande-2 – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Castelgrande-2 – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Castelgrande-3 – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Castelgrande-3 – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
La Collegiata – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
La Collegiata – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Castelgrande-4 – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Castelgrande-4 – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Belinzona buildings – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Bellinzona buildings – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
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Blue and White

Last month we spent a wonderful week in Lanzarote. With its sparse plant life and dark volcanic scenery it’s certainly not one of the most colourful places on the planet. Even the houses are plain white. But rather than appearing uniform or monotonous I found them totally fascinating.

I hope to display more holiday pictures on Vic’s Homepage travel section in the very near future.

Blue and White – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Blue and White – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Blue and White – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Blue and White – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Blue and White – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Blue and White – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Blue and White – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Blue and White – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Blue and White – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Blue and White – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Blue and White – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Blue and White – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
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Seats

My two weeks holiday is drawing quickly to a close and although the weather could have been better, it really was a most enjoyable couple of weeks. Thanks to the weather, various bits and pieces have been done around the house, and this week we even managed a couple of days in the black forest. A splendid place, and on the day of departure the sun shone brilliantly for several minutes. Today’s images seem to sum up the holiday quite well really….  very relaxing 🙂

Seats – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Seats – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Seats_2 – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Seats_2 – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
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Back to the camera

It hardly seems possible, but the last posting on this blog was May 19th. To those who have waited patiently for something new… a gigantic thanks for waiting:-)

Since then I’ve not been idle, well not too idle. At the beginning of June I took a couple of weeks holiday and days were spent barbecuing, slurping glasses of refreshing sangria and a trip or two out and about. Then there were a few very relaxing days in northern Italy. The resulting images will be appearing in the photo gallery during the next week or two.

Sorry, I’m rambling….  On Friday the schools break up for the summer holidays and with luck I will be enjoying half empty trains and warm balmy evenings. After the success of last years holiday project I have decided to be very active on the blog! But for the moment I hope you enjoy this dandelions taken 15th. June.

Dandelions in June – Panasonic DMC-LX2
Dandelions in June – Panasonic DMC-LX2
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Appenzellerland

Pleasant Saturday weather and a short excursion to some higher ground.The dog enjoyed himself enormously as indeed did his people.

Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP