On the last day of the weekend we decided to leave Spain and travel to Gibraltar. I had never been to a British Overseas Territory before and it was quite strange seeing so many familiar sites, such as the road signs and the high street shops, set against the blue Mediterranean Sea and palm trees in the beating equatorial sun. We took a tour of the Rock of Gibraltar where we could see Spain to the north and Africa across the water to the South. We saw Gibraltar’s famous Barbary macaques, the ships in the sea, the city around the... Continue reading

Some good friends invited me to join them for part of their holiday in Spain. We stayed in an amazing villa on top of a hill about an hour’s drive into the mountains from Malaga near a town called Alozaina. We spent the first day making the most of the pool and barbeque at the villa. On the second day we went for a 5 mile walk on a route called ‘Henderson’s Railway’, which follows the railway and river leading out from the town Benaoján in a valley between the hills. The walk was very scenic and a great opportunity... Continue reading

Today we visited the Sea Life Sanctuary in Hunstanton. I've finally got out with my camera again. I found it difficult to get some good shots, but I guess it's been a while and I'm out of practice! It's a nice place to visit. The green sea turtle and the seals were espcially cool to see. Continue reading

To briefly explain, I had a weekend in Wales with some friends to celebrate one of their birthdays. I stayed in Bettws, but also visited Lly Clywedog. During a walk around the lake, I took a few collections of photographs and have processed them into very large panoramic images. Continue reading

After a meeting, a colleague and I found ourselves with a few hours in Toulouse to kill before a flight. As part of a strike the taxis were not going into the city so we took an equally long journey in a taxi to a train station where we caught a light rail train to the city centre. We found ourselves outside the Capitole building where and hung around for a bit. We didn't realise at first, we'd had been in the square outside the Capitole building the night before when we had been looking for a bar (in the... Continue reading

This morning it felt like the first real day of Spring. Not only was it a little sunny, but, for the first time in ages, it was as warm as it looked. Kelly and I decided to stretch our legs at Overhall Grove, a local Wildlife Trust area. Continue reading

I find the American Cemetery and Memorial in Cambridge a moving place to visit. There is a great sense of both pride and loss, which makes me grateful for the stability I enjoy. It was interesting to visit it in a new season. I didn't get great photos because I ran out of battery power at the beginning of my visit. Continue reading

Wimpole's Folly (the ruins) at Wimpole Hall where built to resemble medieval ruins and there is a lot of nice countryside around it to walk in. Wimpole Hall and the farm at Wimpole Hall are also both good to visit. What better to on a sunny but frosty day in January? Continue reading

I stepped outside earlier today to get some air and I took the chance to have play with my xmas presents, a tripod and polarising filter. The pond was frozen and it was fairly picturesque. When I got back in and saw the images it was interesting to see the difference between the photos with and without the polariser. In many cases the photos with the filter were better. Certain parts of the images, like the trees in the middle of the images below, seem to have a warmer glow. However, I've also noticed some kind of lens flare just... Continue reading

On our way to Norwich, we made a quick stop to take photos of the Elveden War Memorial. Continue reading

Phil mentioned he was going to London to pick someone up and suggested that we could make use of the trip by having a wander around London first. We did a lot of walking and I got some good photos around the financial district and Canada Square. Continue reading

After battling through every set of road works around London, Kelly and I were relieved to meet up with Tim for a pub lunch near his place. Afterwards we all decided to have a look around a place called Bird World as it was quite near by. Annoyingly every bird was behind shiny glass (I didn't own a polarising filter at the time) or fine wire meshing, so it was quite hard to get good shots, but still it was great fun and quite a few came out OK. After Bird World, Tim took us up to Old Winchester Hill... Continue reading

Highway One and Santa Cruz On Sunday, our last day of holiday, we decided to go out of San Francisco again and head in the direction of Santa Cruz. I got up early and went to the car rental place. As it was only for one day I went upmarket and got a convertible Ford Mustang and fortunately, as it was a 24 hour rental, I could drive it to the airport in the morning and drop it off there. I picked up the others and we sped off. As cheesy as it sounds, it was awesome to be driving... Continue reading

Coastal Walking On Saturday morning, as she was feeling under the weather Kelly decided she would to take it easy back at Mart's, whilst Mart and I went off for a walk around the North West side of the peninsula. We went from the Golden Gate Bridge, along the coast by Fort Point, across China Beach, up to some houses at Sea Cliff, around Lands End and around Lincoln Park. The weather was a little foggy, but not so bad I couldn't get some good photos. Along side beaches, the occasional interesting set of houses, cliffs, forest and ocean, we... Continue reading

Being hideously unprepared for snow, my journey to work was epic and gruelling, but I made it in alive! At lunchtime most people stayed inside, but Phil and I headed out with our cameras. The virtually deserted and undisturbed snow covering made the science park very picturesque. Continue reading

I'd been promising Selvan I'd show him around Cambridge for a long while and a day came when we were both free to meet. Good fortune had it that Tim was keen to do something that day too and once we were in Cambridge I managed to get Zahari to pop out to join us too. After meeting we had a wander around town and then a look around King's College. After seeing just about everything there was for tourists to see of the college we found our selves standing on a bridge thinking what to do next and watching... Continue reading

I went to Colchester with Mart on the Friday for a night in the pub with our old friends living in and around Wivenhoe. The next day we staggered onto campus for a wander around Freshers' Fair and to see how Rock Soc is doing. It's reassuring to see that Essex Uni has hardly changed! Continue reading

In the morning we went into Cambridge for some breakfast and found a strange place called The Clowns Café. It’s full of clown memorabilia. There isn’t much more I can say about that. After that we wandered all around Cambridge and ended up at The Granta for a pint of Leffe by the river. On our way back to my place we went via the American Cemetery and Memorial. It's a sad, but dignified and beautiful place. It was lightly raining and a bit dark, but some photos came out OK. I had a go at a 360 degree panorama,... Continue reading

Palace of Fine Arts, Haight St and the Strybing Arboretum Friday started a little like the day before. Kelly and I took public transport up Market Street and then up to the marina. We wandered along the coast towards the Golden Gate Bridge and ended up at the Palace of Fine Arts. We considered going into the Exploratorium, but decided we'd missed more important things at Golden Gate Park so we went off hunting for a bus. We stopped in Haight for a while to look around the hippy shops. I found a shop that was wall to wall with... Continue reading

Alcatraz We met Mart with just enough time to get on the boat. We found a starboard place to stand on the side outside as the boat road out for a clockwise spin around the rock before docking there. Upon disembarkation everyone leaving the boat was issued with an audio guide and told that they must be back in time for the one and only boat back that day. We were led inside and the three of us started our guides playing. We were led from room to room being told the stories of the prison of Alcatraz as we... Continue reading

Kelly and I met Martin in London and then cought up with Kathryn and Gavinder in Baker Street. It was really good to catch up with old friends. Sadly it wasn't a great day for photographs. During the day it was very windy and overcast. In the evening I forgot to get a photo of us all before Kathryn left. I asked someone to take one of the rest of us, but it looks like they didn't actually take any because the battery went. I replaced the batteries and Kelly took one in the street outside the bar. Continue reading

Kelly, my Mum and I decided to meet in London to celebrate my mother's birthday and to take advantage of a surprisingly warm and sunny autumn day. In the morning we went on a London Walks guided tour of "Subterranean London". We did not go underground, but we were taken all around Whitehall and Westminster and told about underground civil engineering works, the tube, and (previously) secret government and royal tunnels. After lunch and then chocolate cake in the cafe in Foyels Bookshop, we took a boat ride down the Thames to Greenwich via the Thames Barrier. I will resist... Continue reading

On Saturday we went to Wimpole Hall & Home Farm to the Wimpole At War event to make the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War 2. There was an exhibition of items and costumes which gave an important glimpse into the lives of the British people behind the war effort. It was also fun wondering around the farm and taking photos of the animals. Continue reading

Fisherman’s Wharf and Pacific Heights We started Thursday by having a look around the shops in Market Street, in particular a friend of mine said that Old Navy was a good place to stop at so we did. Kelly who had bought some kind of tourist bus pass took advantage of a voucher for a boat tour around the bay and I decided to go for a walk around Pacific Heights. I walked past St Paul and St Peters, Washington Square and the fireman Monument (another Coit legacy) and then up Russian Hill. I had seen some of Tales From... Continue reading