Tag Archives: Travel

York, 2006

Well, we did the “between our birthdays” trip to Winchester so it was only right that we did something near the real thing too. Plan “A” was to be Bath but for reasons that I now forget we ended up heading up the East Coast Main Line to York. It’s only an hour or so from my parents place and it’s a city that I’d been to a number of times previously but not in the last ten years.

York Minster Outside York Minster The Shambles, York York City Walls

Although I don’t know the geography of York very well, it’s easy to find your way to the biggest site. The Minster is visible from almost anywhere in the city and, arriving at the time we did, looked amazing bathed in late afternoon light.

York is not a large city. Most of the main areas of interest are inside the city walls and are, therefore, near the Minster. Also near the Minster are a large number of cafes, one of which we dove into to get something to eat. It’s late and we’ve not had anything since breakfast!

Next stop after a refreshing cappuccino is The Shambles, a narrow, old street that used to be where all the butchers hung out. There’s not much evidence of that now and most shops sell various forms of tourist tat.

From here we wander back over the Ouse to the hotel. Realising that there are few remaining hours of daylight left we go back into town almost straight away. Rather than take the exact same route we hit the cities Roman walls.

We head pretty much all the way around, stopping to look at the Minster from all angles and well as finding some strange audio/visual exhibit in one of the bars (gates).

Whip Ma Whop Ma GateAnother feature of the city are the street names. Whip Ma Whop Ma Gate is perhaps the longest name you’re likely to find on such a short street. In fact they had to lengthen the street just to accommodate the sign. Actually I made that bit up. We also found Mad Alice Lane (subsequently renamed Lund’s Court, which isn’t nearly as interesting).

There are also a lot of bars. I was disappointed when I eventually found out that these are just gates to the city and do not serve alcohol. All the “gates” in the town are just streets, after the Viking word. Very confusing.

St Mary's, YorkThe plan for Sunday was to meet my family in the afternoon, which left the morning for us to fill. After breakfast we headed into town and stopped off in the Yorkshire Museum Gardens. We found St Mary’s there, looking amazing in the early morning light. It’ll be really nice when they finish it. (Sorry, the old ones are the best, no?)

Overall, a great weekend. Looking forward to heading back to Yorkshire again soon.

Cuba, 2004

The way I saw it, Cuba had to be visited before Castro dies. And then, two days before I fly, I see headlines in the Evening Standard: Castro has fallen and has been hospitalised. Did I get the timing wrong?

No it turns out. He’s still alive and well, locals still talk about him with a hushed reverence normally reserved for religious leaders. The other bonus of arriving in late October is that the flood of winter tourists has yet to start and it’s still in the high twenties.

Overall it’s very varied. We covered quite a distance, everything from the grandeur and squalor of Havana, to the colonial delights of Trinidad to sleeping outside a hacienda half way up a mountain in the South East and the limestone pillars in the West. Exhausting but worth it.

Havana is one of those cities with shady squares and twisty back-street that you can happily aimlessly wander around for hours. Those 50s American cars you see in the pictures really are there, although once inside you realise that the romantic imagery doesn’t quite match up to the practicalities (they’re noisy and uncomfortable).

The smaller towns were more aesthetically consistent and the locals more friendly. It was difficult going for a drink without finding yourself being dragged onto the dance floor. They just don’t believe you when you say you can’t Salsa…

In the mountains we saw Fidel and Che Guevara’s hide-away and a spike shoved up a pigs bum for our spit-roasted dinner. In Viñales we saw limestone columns, red-clay soil and tobacco growing in the fields.

Click the small pictures below for a full size version. All the full size pictures are optimised for a 1024×768 display and are in 24-bit colour. All images are copyright and my permission is required for any use.

All pictures here have been taken on my EOS300D with the 18-55mm lens. Many of the outdoor pictures were taken using a polarising filter. If anyone currently in Cuba finds my skylight filter can then please return it!

If the pictures have piqued your interest, there are a few resources that you might want to have a look out for:

  • Switching allegiances this time, I bought the Rough Guide to Cuba. While having less pictures, the text was significantly more detailed.
  • I only found the Cuba Portal on my return but it has lots of information on places that I visted.

Poland, 2004

I’ve never been the kind of person who just likes to sit on beaches, soaking up the rays. I always burn and I always think that I might be missing something, an amazing sight, some unusual food or a classic local beer.

Sometimes however, I think that I try to over-do things. My recent trip to Poland certainly had the potential. The plan was to fly to Warsaw, try to take in Gdansk, an obscure part of Russia called Kaliningrad that is surrounded by EU states and then nip into Lithuania for a swift look around Vilnius.

Not all went to plan, but we did put plenty of miles in! Most of the distance was covered on roads that had been completed (concentrating hard on the directions, we missed a diversion sign and ended up driving down a partially completed highway) and much was within the speed-limits. We got to the Kaliningrad border only to be told “No” by the border guard. Whether he meant we couldn’t go through or was just replying to the implicit question “Do you speak English?” we’re not sure. The hire car company thwarted our efforts to drive into Lithuania and the bus and train timetables conspired against us, so we never got to Vilnius either.

We did get to see Warsaw, Gdansk, Malbork, Suwalski, Bialystok and much more! I think you’ll agree that that is a lot of ground to cover in one long weekend!

One final note: some Polish words have characters I can’t find on this keyboard (or for use on the web). The main one is an “l” with a line through it, as in Bialystok. My apologies to Polish speakers; I did try to spell it all correctly!

Click the small pictures below for a full size version.

All pictures here have been taken on my EOS300D with the 18-55mm lens. Many of the outdoor pictures were taken using a polarising filter.

If the pictures have piqued your interest, there are a few resources that you might want to have a look out for:

Tuscany, Italy, 2004

I’ve been to Italy a few times over the years, but I’ve somehow managed to avoid Tuscany which is, perhaps, the most favoured of areas with photographers. This Easter I managed to correct that situation with a short walking holiday.

Starting in Pisa, we took a taxi to San Gimignano and walked to Colle di Val d’Elsa. From here we wandered along to Siena, stopping off at interesting looking places and sampling the local food and wine — it’d be rude not to! On the way back, we stopped in Pisa but managed to avoid taking amusing pictures of us propping up the leaning tower. (If only everyone else showed such restraint!)

Also see my older pictures in Milan and around Lake Garda.

All shots were taken with my EOS300 film camera — they would have been on digital, but I have a lot of unexposed film left! I’ve used Fuji Sensia II slide film and many of the out-door shots have been enhanced with a polarising filter.

If the pictures have piqued your interest, there are a few web Sites that you might want to visit:

  • The itinerary and hotels were all booked by a tour company. Still, the Insight Compact Guide to Tuscany (UK or US) was very useful for filling in some of the background information on the area.

Miscellaneous Pictures, 2003

Like most people I take the majority of my pictures while on holiday. But that’s not the only time. Here you’ll find some odds and ends, places I’ve been where I was only there for a short time or where there are only a few reasonable ones!

The first batch are from my month-long stint at my companies Malta office (actually at the tail-end of 2002). There would have been more pictures, but it rained for much of the time I was there! Not encouraging weather for sight-seeing!

Next are pictures from closer to home. One from a friends wedding in sleepy Southwold, the next few from my “flight” on the London Eye, then a couple from Norfolk and the last two of the UK are in the Peak District. The last few are from my time in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Click the small pictures below for a full size version.

The bay near St Julians Looking over Valetta View of Malta from Mdina This tower is visible almost anywhere on the whole isla
Beach huts in Southwold, Suffolk London Eye pod View of Charing Cross from the London Eye View from the London Eye
View from the London Eye View of the London Eye Near Burnham Deepdale, Norfolk Seals on the Norfolk coast
The Peak District near Edale The Peak District near Edale Charlotte at dusk Charlotee from just out of the centre
Charlotte sky-scrapers Charlotte sky-scrapers A park in uptown Charlotte Classy Christmas Decorations

The last few pictures (the colour ones of Charlotte) are taken on my D300. All the others here have been taken on my EOS300 using Fuji Sensia II ISO100 film.

Hungary, Romania and Croatia, 2004

This one came up at pretty short notice. A friend (that I know from my time in Norway) was working in Budapest and suggest that I come and visit. Not an opportunity I was going to pass on!

It was too cold to spend all my time sightseeing outside in Budapest, so we hired a car with the intention of driving to Dracula’s castle in Romania. Unfortunately that was a bit too far away, especially when it started snowing, so we switched plans and decided, instead, to see some of the less well known parts of the country. In the end we also got to see a little of Romania and Croatia too!

Click the small pictures below for a full size version.

View of the parliament building Another view of the parliament building The chain bridge across the Danube Close-up view of the parliament
The Main Street in Arad, Romania By the river in Arad Building in Szeged, Hungary In the centre of Szeged, Hungary
Osijek, Croatia Church in the centre of Osijek View in Pecs, Hungary Another shot in Pecs

All pictures here have been taken on my EOS300D with the 18-55mm lens. Many of the outdoor pictures were taken using a polarising filter.

If the pictures have piqued your interest, there are a few resources that you might want to have a look out for:

It’s also worth noting that I was preparing to use a joke based on lack of food, goulash and the country name. You’ll be pleased to hear that I restrained myself.