Tag: Cities
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Canal towns
Canal towns Amsterdam, the Venice of the North as it is sometimes called, isn’t the only city in Holland that can boast of its beautiful canals. Canals in historical cities like Alkmaar, Haarlem, Leiden, Delft and Utrecht definitely have got class as well. The canals in Utrecht are very special indeed, because they are different.…
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Leonardo between the Sunday painters
Leonardo between the Sunday painters Krakow is the proud owner of a real oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci: Lady with an Ermine. So maybe it shouldn’t surprise us to find a copy or reproduction of it in this open air stall in Krakow. It’s hanging there in the middle – even in duplicate -,…
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Bird’s-eye view (3)
Bird’s-eye view (3) Just as in the previous two posts, we are once again looking down at the cobblestones, this time on the most important historic square in Siena, Italy. But now the bird’s-eye view is so high above the ground that we can only make out the people below as tiny little figures. We…
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Bird’s-eye view (2)
Bird’s-eye view (2) Both of these pretty ladies have chosen to dress in black, which stands in stark contrast to their fair skin. One is sitting relaxed on the kerb. The coffee cup beside her suggests she works in the gallery behind her and has stepped out for a breath of fresh air. The other…
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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 Pachinko temple
The Pachinko temple During my walks through various neighbourhoods of Kyoto, as I made my way from one beautiful temple, garden or palace to the next, I would occasionally come across buildings like the one in the photo, and I wondered what sort of place this was and what went on inside. One afternoon, I…
