Archive
Prague in the Wintertime
On the occasion of my wife’s birthday we decided to head for an impromptu 3-day city break to Prague. This was a bit of a risk in February as chances were good that we could suffer an ice-locked endurance trial of a city break – as had happened to me and my sister in 2006 – but fortune smiled upon us and we were blessed with clement and mild weather for most of our visit. We had a grand time and hope to make it back sometime in the summer.
More photos from this trip can be found over on Flickr.
Swans on the Vltava and the Charles Bridge
St Vitus Cathedral
John of Nepomuk Brass Plaque, Charles Bridge
Statues of Charles Bridge
Seagulls, Charles Bridge
Wenceslas Square
Grand Hotel Europa, Wenceslas Square
Tesla Radio Stained Glass
Statues in Franciscan Garden, Nove Mesto
Night View of the Charles Bridge from Mala Strana
View of the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle by Night
January Snow in Queen’s Park
Snow is a rare(ish) thing in London, so when it arrives, two things happen. The first is that all transport systems immediately fold under the pressure at the first snowflake. The second thing is that everyone, yours truly included, rushes out to take pictures. Here are mine.
I will resume normal Japan-trip service shortly.
Winter in Berlin – Photo Report
Howdy everyone, hope February’s treating you well. Just this past weekend I travelled to Berlin for my girlfriends’s birthday celebrations and lugged my camera along. I love Berlin, it seems to be right at the centre of Europe’s respective cultural and political maelstroms and it’s a vibrant, ever-shifting and fascinating place to spend a few days. Of course, by choosing to travel there in early February we more or less guaranteed that it would be viciously cold, and we were not let down on this front. One (late) morning we discovered that the reason we’d felt especially cold at 4AM was that the temperature had dipped to -18C (0F). I’m from South Carolina and not even 12 winters living in London meant I had experienced that kind of cold. But, as they say, there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad preparation. Fortunately both of us were well kitted out with thermals, glove liners, toe warmers etc and still had a whale of a time. Anyway, the photos below show a rather abstract outdoor view of Berlin and don’t reflect the sheer amount of time we spent warming up indoors. But then again, once you’ve seen one blurry picture of a bar you’ve seen them all…
Reichstag Dome Reflection
Berlin Abstract
Berlin Holocaust Memorial in Winter
Berliner Dom and Fernseturm
Museum Island, Winter Light
Sony Centre Roof, Potsdamer Platz
Berlin Wall at Topography of Terror site
Gate of Babylon, Pergamon Museum
Jewish Museum Staircase
Anti-ACTA (Piracy Bill) March, Mitte
Moon and Fernsehturm, from Mitte
Roa Mural, Kreuzberg
Astronaut Mural by Victor Ash, Kreuzberg
As usual, more photos from this trip can be found over on Flickr.
A sunny winter’s walk along the South Bank
The weekend before last contained that rarest of things: a sunny, mild day in the midst of a London February. It would have been rude not to start the day with a chorizo sandwich in Borough Market and ruder still not to continue on the time-honoured South Bank stroll up to the Hungerford Bridge. I have done this walk so many times I could do it in my sleep, but I never get tired of it. Any excuse, as they say, and I usually bring a camera along because there are always interesting subjects, from the market, the river activity, the South Bank buildings, the other strollers, to street performers, the kids in the Undercroft and always a bit of randomness at some point in the trip.
Winter hits the UK with a wallop (Photos)
A little bit of snow and the whole place goes to pieces… but at least the white stuff is camera-friendly. These shots are from London and Cambridge, and are from the same winter storm which left 3-4 inches of snow across the Southeast of England and managed to utterly paralyse much of the area's transport network.
Mortal Coil 