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Author Archives: awtytravels
Elegy for gentrification. Yes, you read it right.
There are a few words as laden with meanings, almost entirely of negative connotation, as gentrification. Say it and your mind will conjure images of invading toffs, an irresistible volkswanderung of genteel professionals with no fear but for white carbs, descending … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, UK
Tagged Amazon, Britain, Canal, Canal boat, City of London, Decay, Europe, Gentrification, Harry Potter, Houseboat, JK Rowling, Kings Cross, KX, London, Photography, Platform 9 3/4, Pollinator, Punk, Renovation, Review, Skip Garden, Sky, Station, Street photography, Summer, Toffs, Tourism, Train, Travel, UAL, UK, University, Urban decay, Urban photography, Waitrose, Wimbledon
13 Comments
A good day to be in America.
Waking up at silly o’clock in a corporate hotel room (describable by the colour “beige”) on the 25thfloor of a Magnificent Mile high-rise in Chicago, I felt a genuine, good-spirited sense of excitement. It was a cocktail, I decided as … Continue reading
Posted in Americas, USA
Tagged Andersonville, Bronski Beat, Chicago, Coffee, CPD, Electric Six, Gay, Gay Pride, Great Lake, Hate, Homophobia, Inclusion, Lake, Lincoln Park, Music, Navy Pier, North Chicago, Parade, Pride, Religion, Skyline, Straight, Sun, Sweden, Urban
16 Comments
And the bumblebee buzzes by.
There’s a mammoth-sized hydrangea bush sprouting on the street we normally take on our way to the tube; think an explosion of pink and green caught in the moment of deflagration. As we passed it we heard an ominous buzzing, … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, UK
Tagged Bees, Bumblebee, Butterfly, Buzzing, EU, Flower beds, Flowers, Honey Bees, Insects, Lavender, London, Macro photography, Micheal Gove, Neonicotinoids, Oregano, Pesticide, Pollinators, Rosemary, Roses, Save the Honey Bee, UK
8 Comments
Beirut people watching.
Humanity is the best spectacle, in this city where gated communities rub shoulders with bombed-out, charred shells. Pneumatically-enhanced bimbos and babes driving Dodge Camaros on one end of the spectrum and ragged Syrian children tapping on their rolled-up windows for … Continue reading
Posted in Middle East
Tagged Art, Beirut, Corniche, Hamra, History, Mediterranean, Middle East, People, People watching, Phoenicia, Phoenicians, Sea, Street, Syria
12 Comments
You Were Filthy But Fine.
“You were filthy but fine” sang James Murphy in that LCD Soundsystem jewel that is New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down and I, for once, think that it could very well fit to Beirut. Spotless, it certainly … Continue reading
Posted in Lebanon, Middle East
Tagged Antiques, Arabic, Armenia, Armenia street, Art, Cedar, Dust, God, Graffiti, Lebanese Civil War, Lebanon, Middle East, Murales, Photographer, Protests, Stencil, Street, Street art, Writing, You Stink
12 Comments
Remembrance for scatterbrains.
Landing takes place at night. We descend into the warm Mediterranean air, those of us sat on the left-hand side being treated to a royal view of the entire city of Beirut lying, invitingly, beneath us. Here is Ras Beirut, … Continue reading
Posted in Lebanon, Middle East
Tagged Alawite, Architecture, Asia, Beirut, Beit Beirut, Christianity, Civil War, Demarcation Line, Druze, Green Line, Hamas, Hezbollah, Holiday Inn Beirut, Iftar, Iran, Lebanese Civil War, Marina, Maronite, Martyrs' Monument, Middle East, Nightlife, People, Photography, Ramadan, Religion, Skyscrapers, Street photography, Taif, Travel, Urban photography, War
18 Comments
Approaching Beirut.
Beirut, Paris of the East. Beirut, mother of laws. Beirut, the city that can be Rio, Miami and 1943 Stalingrad all within the same block. Beirut, the filthy. Beirut, the ironic (another French legacy I suspect). Beirut, you’ve got the … Continue reading
Posted in Lebanon, Middle East
Tagged Beirut, Cedars, Civil War, France, Graffiti, Holiday Inn Beirut, Lebanon, Mediterranean, Middle East, Phoenicia, Rubbish, Sunset
17 Comments
Songs for the Road 7 – Now with even less sense!
The hot season is definitely upon us (at least, as much as it can be for London) and the poor algorithm that chooses the Your Mix selection on Youtube must be excused to be thinking that the heat has made me … Continue reading
Posted in Music review, Odd ones out
Tagged Acid Arab, Bomba éstereo, Cantaloupe island, Cem Yıldız, Cenotes, Cumbia, Dave Brubeck, El Búho, France, Herbie Hancock, La Haine, Latin America, Les Sages Poètes de la Rue, Lulacruza, Mexico, Minimal, Music, Music for the road, Music recommendations, Neşe Karaböcek, Norway, Rave, Shanghai, Smilla, Spanish, Stil, Take Five, Techno, Todd Terje, Turkey, Youtube
12 Comments
To the last city.
No, that’s a misnomer. Tashkent was, if anything, Uzbekistan’s first city, at least in the modern sense of the term. First one to be occupied by the Russians, first one to be reached by a railroad, first to host all … Continue reading
Posted in Central Asia, Uzbekistan
Tagged Asia, Central Asia, Christianity, City, Cityscape, Cycling, Earthquake, Food, G55 AMG, Hotel Uzbekistan, Islam, Islam Karimov, Karimov, Kazakhstan, Korean, Kosmonavtlar, Lenin, Marx, Mercedes, Mirobod, Soviet, Soviet Union, Street photography, Urban photography, USSR, Uzbek Koreans, Uzbekistan
9 Comments
Looking up in Uzbekistan.
Remember shoegazing, that 1980s genre? Well, had any of those musicians been in Ulug Beg Madrasa, in Samarkand, they’d have missed this. Sometimes it’s useful to be walking with one eye to the heavens and one to the floor. Especially … Continue reading
Posted in Central Asia, Uzbekistan
Tagged Amulet Hotel, Bazaar, Bibi Khanum, Bukhara, Chasma Ayub, Chorsu, Chorsu Bazaar, Cupola, dOMES, GoPro, Hero, Islam, Job, Madrasa, Madrasah, Mausoleum, Religion, Samarkand, Tamerlane, Tashkent, Ulug Beg, Uzbekistan
15 Comments
