Barcelona in November

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What a place! We just came back from a week staying in an apartment in the Gothic Quarter – easy walk to the Metro and many of the sights.

I took lots of pictures – I’ll post them as I get them processed. But if you get a chance, it’s the most wonderful mix of beaches, restaurants, architecture, town planning, art and culture.  We visited Gaudi’s buildings, saw the Picasso and Miro museums, and explored the shops and restaurants. It was warm enough for the boys to swim (not me!).

I was a bit surprised to see everything in both Catalan and Castillian – the two languages seem quite similar to me, although of the two, Catalan seems more closely connected to French (not surprising, I guess…).

We took a day trip to Tarragona – on the coast south of Barcelona. I had wanted to go to see where Dali lived, but it proved difficult with public transport, so we went to explore the Roman remains at Tarragona instead.  There’s a Roman ampitheatre dating back to 200AD, and a cathedral from the 12th century. Most of the city walls are also still in place. The town is quite spectacular, set up on a cliff above the sea.

We’ll be going back – I don’t know when, but we will.

Three days in Dorset

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When my family first came to England (I think at the end of 1959?) we lived in a small coastguard cottage in Swanage. Last week we visited Swanage for the first time in many years, and showed our children where I lived when I was younger than them.

On this trip, we stayed in a beautiful cottage – a restored mill cottage with history going back hundreds of years.  With us were my parents, and Marina’s parents, visiting us from California.

We also went to Lulworth Cove – an extraordinary formation where the sea has broken through the coastal rocks, and hollowed out an almost perfectly circular bay.  I was aware of the cove from reviewing coastal charts, but had never had the opportunity to visit.

Budapest

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I had been to Moscow once, but the rest of the family had never been to any country that was once part of the USSR until our trip to Budapest. It’s an interesting mix. Still lots of Soviet-era buildings, but the people have removed all the statues reflecting the brutalist style of the Soviet years. The city is now being re-vitalized, with great shopping and restaurants.

Of course they have always had their own culture, based on their own language, music, and theatre.It’s a good city for walking – up to Buda with its castle and museums; down and along the banks of the Danube; through the tree-lined streets. And of course good restaurants and pleasant bars along the way for refreshments.

We found the people friendly and relaxed.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures, but here are a few.

Mountain School Family Camp

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It’s a long time ago now. When the boys were small, they attended a wonderful pre-school just up the hill from us in Los Gatos. The characteristics of the school were an outdoorsy, robust approach to life, with lovely nurturing staff.

But one of the main things was that it was all about parental participation. We would attend with our kids, and watch, learn, and join in with their activities which included cooking, digging, lots of art, walking and climbing, learning about the local plants and animals.

Every year we’d all go into the Sierra Nevada to a YMCA campsite around a lake, where we’d spend a long weekend together, sailing, fishing, cooking, reading and walking. These are a few pictures from the camp of 2002.

Integrating my photo blog

I have maintained a separate page and blog for my thoughts about digital photography, but it’s hard to keep more than a couple of sites active and interesting, so I’m going to incorporate my comments on photography in this blog. The first thing I’ll do is re-post the old articles here, and then in the future any thoughts I have on the subject of photography will be posted here as part of the normal flow.

I’ve also added a new topic labelled Photography, that you can use in the sidebar on the right to find all the photography-oriented posts (as opposed to posts about pictures and the photo gallery).

The old photo blog was published by blogger.com and was available from Blogspot at http://tim-photoblogs.blogspot.com. It will probably will stay up for a while.

Cornwall pictures up

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I just posted the pictures of our visit to Cornwall. This was a birthday present from Marina – a big secret, well kept. We dropped the boys off with my parents, and took off westwards. It was a real thrill to find ourselves right out on the point of St. Andrews, finding our way down a narrow path on a windy night, and arriving at a beautiful lighthouse, with fantastic views out over Falmouth Harbour and towards Brittany.

We also spent time in Padstow (yes, we did eat at a couple of Rick Stein’s places, and in fact we stayed at a hotel he owns: the St. Petroc’s). We also visited the Eden Project, as well as spending a few hours enjoying a cup of coffee and a snack at an excellent coffee / antique shop in Exeter down by the river.

Marina found the lighthouse through Rural Retreats. If you haven’t stayed in a lighthouse and you love the sea – you must.

China and France pictures in the gallery

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Just re-posted the pictures of my trip to China and Hong King in 1986, and our 2006 trip to France: Paris for the marathon and Disney World, and a taste of Brittany and Normandy – our first visit.

The trip to China took place just before I moved from England to California – it was part of a round-the-world trip that began in England, and continued to California, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong/China, and finally back to England.

I enjoyed Hong Kong – especially all the water, and the opportunity to explore some of the islands around Hong Kong. I really liked Lantau, but I am afraid it must be very much changed now that there’s a road bridge and of course the new airport on the west side.

So far I can’t find any pictures from that part of the trip. I have a lot of negatives and slides filed in boxes somewhere…

Paris, Brittany and Normandy

A spring trip to France, taking in the Paris Marathon, Euro-Disney (yuk!), and a few days exploring Brittany and Omaha Beach and Bayeux in Normandy.

Paris by Eurostar

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I love Eurostar. It’s so much more convenient than flying. We can take the train in to Waterloo Station in London, and walk across to the Eurostar terminal in the same building. Through security, and then onto the train, which whisks us into the centre of Paris – the Gare du Nord – from where the Metro quickly takes us to our hotel. It’s not quite that easy – because we’re using public transport we end up with a taxi from home to the train, and then a bit of a walk between Gare du Nord and the Metro because of the line we’ve chosen – but still, we get it done with kids and luggage and no disasters. Continue reading “Paris, Brittany and Normandy”

Lots of new photos

Africa and Scandinavia: I’ve finished the galleries for these two trips.

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You can access them from the links at the top of the screen, or go there directly.Our trip to Scandinavia took place early in 2006, right in the middle of winter, and we expected everything to be very dark. In fact, we found that with the snow reflecting any bit of light there was, we could see quite well, even very late at night.

We especially enjoyed Oslo. It sits in a perfect location, well inland, but on the top of a fjord. Hills around, a safe harbour, and quick access to sailing, skiing, and tobogganing (in winter). The town centre is quite small and seemed friendly. I’d spend a lot of time there, but it is a very expensive place to visit.