Bicycle with roses, Hanoi

One of joys of wandering the streets of a new destination is what you chance upon in your meanderings.

This is very true as a photographer as much as a general traveller.

Asian cities house a plethora of sights, smells and experiences.

Yeah sure like in all cities some of the sights and smells leave a bit to be desired but that’s to be expected when the city has grown over centuries.

Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is a wonderful old city. At different times in its history it’s been controlled by the Chinese, the Japanese during the 2nd World War and then the French not to mention the various ethnic groups that now go to make up the present Vietnamese state.

One of the things that I like about the Vietnamese is that they are survivors. It is 35 plus years since the Vietnamese War, or as the Vietnamese themselves refer to it, the American War, but there is little sight or hint that a major conflict ever happened in their country. Most wreckage has been completely removed, most likely cut up for scrap. They are a very positive people and their country is moving forward at a rapid rate, or seems to be, on the surface.

While walking the streets this particular morning we came upon this bicycle, with its basket of roses, on a major street in old Hanoi. The street was packed with the usual comings and goings of any Asian city but as I got to the bicycle, turned, framed the shot and took this photo, there was no one there. It looked like I had set the shot up and stopped the traffic. Within seconds the street was again packed. You just know that you’ve captured a beauty.

This could be in a lot of cities in the world but looking closely at the picture there’s a map of Vietnam on one of the buildings across the street.

I can’t wait to go back. There is so much to see and do and photograph!

See more photos of Vietnam on:

www.stickelsimages.com

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanoi

Hot chocolate at Notre Dame

"Guilty of the crime of murder!"

Well murder of the French language, at this cafe in the shadow of the most famous Cathedral in France!!!

Sacre bleu!!!!

There you see I've done it again!!!!

Having learnt French as a language 7 million years ago at secondary college & never spoken it since, I mean you remember a word or a phrase here or there and throw it into a conversation, to all of a sudden be in THE country where it is THE language and trying to dredge up what is dead and buried is doomed to failure!!!!

Well after an early morning wander around Notre Dame, before the tourists, and still in that dazed, awestruck space from having been in a special place. Not talking, almost meditative, my beloved and I became overcome by a need, on this cold morning, for hot chocolate.

This was the cafe that suffered from my surreel attempt at language. Ordering 2 hot chocs and croissant just put this humble voyager into fits of laughter as I attempted to order and be put in my place for murdering the cafe owner/workers language.

Guilty as accused your honour!!!!

Travel memories: Barcelona

Today begins a series of blogs talking about certain photos & what I was thinking etc when I took them...
The hows, whys and wherefores.

This is a famous archway in the Barri Gotic area of Barcelona. One of many walkways between buildings above the streets.

I first went to Barcelona when I was 24 years old and hadn't been back.

When my beloved and I were planning our visit to some parts of Europe in mid this year 2010, Northern Spain was an option. Well we were originally going to Barca to a friends wedding to a local girl. Alas the wedding and the relationship didn't survive but we already booked to go there.

I had taken a photo of this archway when I was first there but alas the slide it came from I no longer had.

My beloved and I had a hotel right on La Rambla, the famous boulevard that really is the centre of Barca and all tourists go to. As we wandered this area of Barca some sights triggered old memories and I remembered that I had stayed not too far from La Rambla all those years ago.

There is a lot to be seen and experienced away from the main tourist haunts, including cheaper restaurants and bars, and the Barri Gottic triggered another memory, one that included a headache and being very unwell the next day!!! Cheap red wine didn't sit well in the stomach in those days especially when consumed in great quantity and one wasn't used to it!!!

But I realized I was in the right area to find this structure.

I had forgotten so much from my earlier visit there and couldn't remember where this particular archway was until one day on La Rambla I saw a postcard with it on it with its address.

We were leaving  the next morning and had a taxi booked to take us to the airport at 10 am. Up at 7, packed and out the door with the camera. I was only a 10 minute walk from the archway.

There it was...  and here it is, again. In el carrer del Bisbe in Barra Gotic.

Le Marais, Paris

 Le Marais quartier was one of the poorest areas of Paris. It is now a sought after residential address and home to Paris’s oldest Jewish sector and has a thriving gay community.

 Le Marais used to be an uninhabitable marshy area used for market gardening but was eventually drained and built on. Most of its pre-Revolutionary architecture has been well restored and the narrow cobblestone streets hide small squares and gardens, cafes and bars, galleries, boutiques, and some notable museums, such as Musee Carnavalet and Musee Picasso.

Le Marais is best experienced on foot.

Saturday, the day we were there, is the Jewish Sabbath so it is not   overcrowded but not all the shops are open either.

Don’t think that Le Marais can be seen in a quick visit.  There is so much that grabs your interest and as I was taking photos the whole area is very photogenic. Much fun was had.