hdr – Page 4 – Notes from the Cape

Published November 1, 2012

Old trailer

I almost got chased by a farmer on a tracter when shooting this shot. I was driving down a back road near Puigcerda in the Pyrenees when I saw some old and broken down farm buildings.

I had to stop and investigate, and was promptly confronted by a farmer in a huge tractor demanding to know what I was doing, no doubt on his land.

Once he realized I was a crazy foreigner with a camera he decided I was not a threat and just drove off (or perhaps he went to get reinforcements; I never did find out).

So I took a few shots as quickly and got out of there just in case the reinforcements were on their way. I like this shot of the trailer, and while it still looks pretty serviceable, I like the colouring the late afternoon sun gives to the shot.

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Published October 30, 2012

Sagrada Familia

The Sagrada Familia is an astonishing unusual church to visit. On the outside, it is a confusing collection of both modern and old biblical images (pics to follow soon), and on the inside a combination of really old gothic pillars, with modern electrical lighting and modernism finishing all over the place. It reminds me of the old tie-dies shirts from the 60’s, lego blocks and a little world of warcraft throw in for good measure.

It can get a little crowded (and the queues to get in are long), but it is really worth spending the time to visit this Basilica. The architecture is astonishing (and the museum is not bad either).

Sagrada Familia

Here are a few more pictures.

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Published October 29, 2012

Casa Batlló, Barcelona

Casa Batlló, Barcelona. This door is one of the landings in this very strange house built by Gaudi. I like the details in the wood, and the almost cartoonish feel to the picture.

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Published October 26, 2012

Santa Maria del Mar

Another view of the grand columns of the Santa Maria del Mar in Barcelona, a lovely basilica build in the late 1300’s.

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Published October 24, 2012

Barcelona Cathedral

Our apartment in Barcelona was in the Gothic Quarter, literally about 200m walk to the cathedral. We quickly got used to sleeping through the bells ringing every hour throughout the night, and to be honest I now kind of miss hearing the bells at night.

Like many churches, visits were free and you could walk in anytime for a moment of quiet contemplation, or of course to take photos. The cathedral has wonderful cloisters, with several side-chapels around the edges. It is a classic example of gothic architecture, complete with gargoyles, crypts and long dark columns. I suspect that Anne Rice’s vampires could have fun here.

The facade is also quite amazing. There is so much detail in the sharp and intricate edges of the building. You could sit outside one of the many cafe’s outside the cathedral, drink a sangria, admire the facade and listen to traditional Catalan music.

While we were there, it was the Barcelona Festival, and one of the many festival stages was directly in front of the cathedral. At night they lit up the cathedral in different colours. The stage was used for traditional dancing, local music and concerts (the other stages had rock and folk music).

Finally, something that you have to see from inside is the stained glass windows. From the outside they are just windows, but fulled with coloured lights as the sun shines inside and lights them up.

You can view the gallery below.

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Published October 18, 2012

Barcelona Cathedral – the cloisters

Another view of the benchmark of Gothic architecture, Barcelona cathedral. This is the vaulted roof of the cloisters. The cloisters are (slightly) less busy than the main cathedral, but there is a lovely fountain flowing into a pond, in which about 10 really noise geese live. I believe that there have been geese living there for many hundreds of years.

There are also many side-chapels, but most of them are closed off so you cannot really get nice shots of them.

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Published October 4, 2012

Roman Arch

The Arch of Septimius Severus marks the entrance to the forum in Rome. Completed in AD 203, it is an impressive arch to stand under.

I have been reprocessing some of my Rome photos, probably because I am excited about my upcoming Spanish trip, so I hope you are enjoying them!

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Published September 20, 2012

Lifesaving clubhouse

This beach cabin as as brightly painted as the beach houses on Muizenberg beach. It is used by the life-saving club as a base, and although it looks a little dilapidated, it is still being put to good use.

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Published September 4, 2012

Roman Church

I love the old buildings in Europe, especially the Churches with such care put into the lovely architecture.

I don’t know which church this it (if you know please let me know), but it is somewhere on the bus route between the station and Vatican City in Rome (no it is not the Basilica). I particularity love the marble-like clouds framing the dome of the church.

Update: Thanks to Cristina for telling me about the church, it is the Santa Maria di Loreto, built in the 16th century.

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Published August 15, 2012

Kalk Bay Harbour

My previous shot was of the drying snoek. There is a fair chance that the snoek was caught off a boat that left from this harbour early in the morning.

Aside from the fishing boats, the harbour wall still has many line fishermen using the harbour wall to fish from. While it looks like this fisherman was taking a break on his phone, you can see his fishing rod pushed into a whole made for the purpose, and there is a line cast in the water.

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