Archive for 2008
You are currently browsing the Mark's Notes On The Go blog archives for the year 2008.
30
Dec
2008
Costa Rico – Day 3 – Liberia
Yesterday morning we had an early start to get on a local bus to Liberia. Four hours of fast but largely not so scary driving. I think some others thought it was a bit hair raising, but maybe it was good I zoned out with my iPod.
Arrived in Liberia about 11am and made our way to the Hotel. Actually quite nice. Air conditioned room (personally barely need it) and the most gorgeous blue pool about 5 feet from my door. The weather here is just perfect. Warm, a bit of an ocean breeze even though about half an hour from the coast. Really precisely what the doctor ordered after weeks of gray and/or damp weather.
In the afternoon, we all took a van together to the beach. Saw two but the best was unquestionably Playa Hermosa. I still have to give the edge to the gulf coast beaches, but this was still very nice. Pretty crowded but I had a good time wandering with the camera. I love beaches, but not that concerned with swimming not laying and baking. My skin has two modes, burned and not-burned.
In the evening, the last of our wayward travelers showed up with air line horror stories and we all went out for dinner. The staple dishes here revolve around rice and beans. After three days of rice and beans, I´m beginning to get a little desire for variety, so I had a chicken sandwich. Nothing over chick-fil-a. It was more like sloppy joe made with chicken. Not what I expected but not awful.
This morning, the bulk of the crew got up to go to Palo Verde, a national park to take a boat trip. A couple of others went hiking. I figure there are plenty of chances to hike. I had an awesome time on the boat. We saw iguanas, a couple of different monkey species, and crocodiles. The monkeys came on top of the boat and I hope, hope, hope that I got some cool photos of them. They were just so cute.
Afterwards, another authentic lunch of rice and beans with chicken. There was a little pork this time just to throw me. Very good, but hoping that I can find something else for dinner. At least breakfast has been peanut butter sandwiches thanks to the supermercado down the street!
I went out and took sunset photos, gorgeous old decaying buildings here, truly what I was hoping for already in the trip. Hopefully much more to come!
Tomorrow morning, we leave Liberia bound for Nicaragua. Apparently it takes awhile to cross the border, as we ren´t going very far but expect to take 4 hours to get there. There for two days, including the ringing in of the new year. Expecting to take a sailboat trip on new years day if things go according to plan. I think the internet is less of a sure thing in Nicaragua so the blogs may be sparse or non-existent. Even here it´s bloody slow!
Enjoying life, catch up as time permits!
28
Dec
2008
Costa Rica Discovered
Exhausted but here! I drove back to the ATL late Saturday and still had to pack. The result is next to no sleep to make 6:45am flight and minimally a forgotten Spanish phrase book. Oh well!
Flight to Houston was late and full. Literally ran to next gate and into line to board. No layover whatsoever! Not feeling so good about the hour I have between flights on way back!
I found my ride to hotel an napped!!! A true rarity for me. Walked around a bit before meeting group. We did all the admin stuff. Six so far. Two more arriving late tonight and two more had flight issues and will meet us in Liberia tomorrow.
Dead on my feet and early morning tomorrow for four hour bus ride so time foe beauty sleep!
26
Dec
2008
England Is Past
I guess England is well and truly over for now. I dragged it along with me for months now, but for me, a trip is well and symbolically complete when I finish going through all the photos for said trip. I think the UK will always take me longer just for the fact that there’s a bit of sadness when it ends. None the less, I had to push myself through the last of the photos to clear the way for Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
The England Album is complete now. You can check out the new photos starting here. And I’ll post a few highlights below.
Second Lives - Tate Modern Turbine Hall
I spent an afternoon exploring the Tate Modern. In the end, I think the building spoke to me more than anything else I saw. No dig on modern art, just that the lines of the architecture were a bigger hit for me, but I still enjoyed the whole thing.
St Albans Cathedral
I’ve happiily spent many happy tourist moments with London Walks. On this trip, just two outings with them, but both were explorer days out of London. The first was to the little city of St. Albans, about a half hour by train from London. Quaint and somehow more mundane all at once, but well worth the outing. My fav shots are all of the cathedral in all its romanticized victorian grandeur.
The Gherkin - 30 St Mary Axe
One of several photos I took of London’s famous Gherkin, 30 St Mary Axe, a Norman Foster design. I only had a little time one late afternoon and never really found that perfect angle I longed for but I’m still fond of the shots I got. If I had more time to spend in the old city, I’d definitely work on finding my own angle for this piece of fab architecture.
London Chrome - The Lloyds Building
A Richard Rogers design, The Lloyds building was built with its mechanical equipment, stairs, and elevators all on the outside of the building. The inside is supposed to have a lot of wide open spaces as a result, and the outside is a work one part futuristic and one part modern art.
American Cemetery - Cambridge - Fields of the Lost
My last day in England included my last London Walks tour, a day out in Cambridge. Our first stop after the train ride was the American Cemetery and War Memorial a few minutes out of Cambridge proper. I had not heard of the place before, but there are around 3,000 Americans who lost their life in WWII buried there plus the names of the missing war dead memorialized. I really felt this image was a powerful comment on the loss of life.
Streets of Cambridge
This really captures Cambridge for me. The bustle of people, the grand old buildings, and the ubiquitous bikes. Cambridge is worth far more than a day trip. I hope to get the chance to spend more time here one day.
King's College - Cambridge
Our last group activity before we all scrambled back to the train was a punt down the river Cam. It was an optional thing, but I don’t see how a trip to Cambridge would be complete without it. The views along side the river were all pretty much like this. Incredible old buildings were intermixed with lush landscapes. If you ever find yourself in Cambridge, indulge in some punting.
City in Motion - Big Ben
Got back into London in late afternoon. By the time I dropped by the hostel and picked up my gorilla pod and ball head for some night shots, I’d lost most of the dusk. I got a few shots around Parliament before heading up to Piccadilly Circus for some last shots and dinner. I didn’t do nearly the amount of night shooting I should have done but I believe there will be more trips to this grand old city. Even though I have no concrete plans, I’m sure I’ll see more of the UK.
But next up is two weeks in sunny Central America – sorely needed after the alternating cold and gray winter thus far. Fair warning what type of phots are coming next, sunny beaches, tropical plants, and spanish-influenced architecture.
10
Dec
2008
On The Horizon
I’m still working on photos from England in September and my next trip is literally on the horizon. I’ll be in Costa Rica just a few days after Christmas, and in Nicaragua when the New Year rolls around. I’ll accumulate more photos, so I really have to buckle down and finish with London already! I know, harsh life I lead! You all really have no idea how thankful I am that I have had the opportunity the last few years to see more of the world. It’s still only a taste of that wide huge world, and I hopea subset of many travels, but it’s more than many will ever get to do and I do appreciate that.
A couple of months later, and I already feel nostalgic looking at London photos. A few minutes ago, I was looking at photos from Egypt, just now closing in on a year old, and the I felt the longing to see those places again. It feels like a decade, not a year.
The trip to Costa Rica & Nicaragua is shaping up to be promising. GAP Adventures has a web site with forums where one can post to chat with others on your trip. So far, only three of us have posted, all into photography. That spells awesome to me! Hope I’m not jinxing myself by saying that!
Anyway, on with some photos from the London album. The new ones since the last post start here at the bottom of page 10 and there are many. So, please check out the gallery for more.
London Vogue - Millennium Foot Bridge
This shot was taken on the Millennium foot bridge over the Thames. It’s viewed from the direction of the south bank. Iconic Saint Paul’s Cathedral dominates the skyline while. I knelt here for a bit and took several shots, waiting for someone to hit the mark so to speak. These two really made this photo for me, my favorite of the lot.
London City Hall
This was shot with my fisheye lens, which is exaggerating some of the lines a bit, but believe me, this is an impressive modern building. You might expect London’s city offices to be in some centuries old building, but this is new millennium stuff here. It’s a Norman Foster design and truly shows that London is still a city willing to take chances with the fabric of its ever growing and changing city.
Uniquely London - Tower Bridge
I took a ton of shots of Tower Bridge bathed in the afternoon sun, but this is my favorite, the one where I had the good fortune of seeing a plane coming into view in the sky above. This was the icing on the cake.
Crossing Over - Saint Pauls Cathedral
One more from the south bank, this time another shot of St. Pauls, but this time I used my 50mm lens and went for very low depth of field throwing all the people crossing the millennium bridge ahead of me out of focus. Only the dome is in focus. I was trying to get something that was a little edgy and a little classic in shape. I like how it turned out.
I do hope you’ll all check out the gallery and updates as I skipped a ton of shots, like one of Tower Bridge in the up position. I had to laugh, 4th time in London and I had never seen the draw bridge up. In one trip, I saw it no less than 3 times. I was so jaded by it,I’m not sure I even took a photo the last time. Also more red phone booths, London City Hall, Tate Modern, and the Millennium bridge.
9
Dec
2008
Calendars for 2009
As the year is rapidly winding down, I thought it would be a good idea to point out that I have a couple of calendars up for 2009 using shots from England this past September and from Egypt at the dawn of the now passing year.
I’m particularly proud of the England calendar which really captures my love of that place.
London & Southern England 2009
Clicking on the images will give you a link to the calendar where you can see all the images used for the months.
Egypt - Inheritance of the Ages 2009
Both calendars are available through Redbubble. If ordering as a Christmas gift, you would need to order by December 14th in the USA and Australia. For other parts of the world, the date to order by for Christmas has unfortunately passed.
This is the second year that Redbubble has produced these calendars but the first they have provided a mechanism to sell them. Last year I gave a handful of calendars to family members who were quite taken with them.
