Category: Europe
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Bird’s-eye view (1)
Bird’s-eye view (1) As you can see, I was particularly interested in the black-and-white pattern of the floor in this courtyard. It consists of small round stones, a kind of simple mosaic that you can see in some places in Greece. This particular courtyard is located in the Panormitis Monastery on the island of Symi.…
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Like a dream in transit
Like a dream in transit Aeroplanes came and went. Lost in thought, I watched the loading and unloading taking place right outside in front of me. Suddenly, the figure of a young woman glided into my field of vision and lingered there, an arm’s length away. She stood with her back to me. The contours…
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The universe in a forest
The universe in a forest I took this photograph in the same woodland as last week’s picture. I was fascinated by the illuminated green specks – leaves and reflections of leaves – in the middle of this very dark pool. But it was only when I looked at the photograph on the screen afterwards that…
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Primeval forests
Primeval forests Streams and pools in deep, dark forests heighten the primeval atmosphere. It takes my thoughts back to ancient times, hundreds of millions of years ago, when life first emerged on our planet; life that has since evolved slowly. In the right-hand corner of the photograph, part of my own shadow can be seen.…
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Coincidence
Coincidence I walk under an archway, towards a square, and see a tree. The archway frames the tree beautifully. A woman crosses the square and something I cannot see catches her eye. She slows her pace, stops and takes a photo. My gaze, the woman, the tree: three points on a straight line. And I,…
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ENOIKIAZETAI
ENOIKIAZETAI In the spring of 2013 I happened to stay for a day or two in Livadia, a medium-sized town in Greece, in the vicinity of Mount Parnassos. I had time to explore the city and it struck me that the cafes and terraces were teeming with people, young and old. “They don’t let themselves…
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The time trail
The time trail At the start of this millennium, the Swiss city of Neuchâtel created a trail through time in the nearby woods – Le Sentier du Temps. The starting point was intended to mark the formation of our planet Earth, and the end point our present day. Each one-metre step represented one million years,…
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Statues of horses
Statues of horses Statues of national heroes on horseback – I’m not much of a fan. Not of the statues, and not of the heroes either. They usually make me yawn with boredom, or at best, prompt me to mock them. So when I saw this equestrian statue in Vienna, I felt the urge to…
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Kind-hearted nationalism
Kind-hearted nationalism Swiss alpenhorns are relics of the past. Just like the smoke signals of Red Indians, they once were used to communicate swiftly with inhabitants of nearby valleys and mountain slopes, long before the invention of the telephone. But their main purpose seems to have been for herdsmen to call their free-grazing cattle back…
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Ah … Holidays!
Ah … Holidays! Sometimes you receive a picture postcard – although less and less in this digital age – that arouses deep inside you an instant longing to be there; to see the scenery with your own eyes; to take it in with all your senses. That is of course the whole purpose of a…
καιρός remembered 