Author Archives: awtytravels

Der Himmel Über London.

Posted on March 16, 2019

The sky at night over London is alive. Perhaps not with immortal angels listening in to the thoughts of those down below but very much alive it is. A camera, a tripod and an Internet forum thread with tips on … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, UK | Tagged Aeroplanes, Airline, Airliners, Airplanes, Beacons, Dawn, Dusk, England, Europe, Flying, Landing, Landing lights, Lights in the sky, London, Long exposure, Night, Night photography, Olympus, Planes, Satellite, Stargazing, Stars, Take off, Trails, Tripod photography, UK | 17 Comments

Beyoğlu’s resilience.

Posted on March 9, 2019

I’ve since long harboured the dream of having – or, more modestly, staying at – a house on the Bosporus. Something with balconies abutting the waterfront, or perhaps a terrace with a view of the passing ships, a bottle of … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Turkey | Tagged B&W, Beyoglu, Beşiktaş, Bukowski, Busker, Colour, Dolmabahçe, Europe, Galata, Galata tower, Genoa, Greatest show, Istanbu, Istiklal Caddesi, Karaköy, Music, No ticket, People, People watching, Pera, Police, Turkey, Turks, Vodafone arena, Water cannon | 17 Comments

Faces of Ortaköy.

Posted on March 2, 2019

Today’s a popular day to be in Ortaköy. Day-trippers are flocking to the waterfront. Outnumbered, the locals have made a hasty retreat to the fishmonger’s. Better let the tide ebb away. Only one thing is for sure: tomorrow, they’ll all … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Turkey | Tagged Artichoke, Örtaköy, Bosporus, Europe, Fish, Fish Market, Greengrocer, Istanbul, People, People watching, Photograph, Saturday, Turkey, Urban photography, Water, Weekend | 9 Comments

Vapur abstraction.

Posted on February 28, 2019

There’s a concept I sometimes hear from my software engineer chums: abstraction, or the process of removing all sorts of attributes – be them physical, spatial, temporal – to get to the root of something (usually a system, since we’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Turkey | Tagged Asia, Atatürk, çay, Balat, Bosporus, Conscript, Crow, Eminönü, Europe, Eyup, Fener, Ferry, Golden Horn, Istanbul, Karaköy, People, People watching, Platoon, Sea, seagull, Sehir Hatlari, Soldiers, St Mary of the Mongols, tespih, Turkey, Turyol, Vapur, Water, Yusufpaşa | 13 Comments

Istanbul 6 AM

Posted on February 22, 2019

Les travestis vont se raser Les strip-teaseuses sont rhabillées Les traversins sont écrasés Les amoureux sont fatigués Or so sang Jacques Dutronc in his masterpiece Il est cinq heures, Paris s’éveille It’s 6AM in Istanbul, but we’re a couple of … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Turkey | Tagged Aksarai, Ayasofya, Dutronc, Galata, Golden Horn, Hotel, Il est cinq heures, Istanbul, Morning, New Mosque, Night, Paris, Paris s'éveille, simit, Street, Suleymaniye, Turkey | 17 Comments

Treading lightly – or how I offset my 2018 CO2 emissions.

Posted on February 13, 2019

Unless you’ve taken up a flatshare with Bikini Bottom’s Patrick Star, you’ll have heard about CO2 trading. In the EU version of the thing, a cap is set on specific emissions, which is also constantly lowered year after year. If … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Business class, Carbon offset, Climate change, ClimateCare, CO2, Co2 emissions, Cost of flying, First class, Flying, One planet | 28 Comments

Porteño portrait.

Posted on February 6, 2019

There’s only a way to define my desire to describe a community of 13 million people after visiting it for a mere handful of days: preposterous. Still, this is what I’ll attempt here. This is my final tribute to Buenos … Continue reading →

Posted in Americas, Argentina | Tagged America, Argentina, Buenos Aires, Evita Peron, Homelessness, Humanity, Kindness, Latin America, Lucha, Luchamos, Lucia Perez, Machismo, People, People watching, Peronismo, Peronismo militante, Photography, Politics, Porteño, Portrait, Poverty, Pueblo, Resistance, Riot, San Telmo, Santiago Maldonado, Street photography, Tourism, Travel, Travel literature, Urban photography, Violence | 17 Comments

On the market.

Posted on February 1, 2019

Non è da signori. This was a veritable leitmotiv of my youth. It’s a phrase hard to render properly into English, non è da signori. I doubt is very much in use these days; from my point of view, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Americas, Argentina | Tagged Argentina, Bazaar, Billingsgate, Billingsgate Market, Buenos Aires, Chorsu Bazaar, Cusco, Dushanbe, Food, Green Market, Isfahan, Market, Osh Bazaar, People, People watching, Photography, San Miguel Market, Shopping, Souk, Street photography | 17 Comments

Room with a view.

Posted on January 25, 2019

Vista más bonita, said one review of my Buenos Aires hotel. On a late afternoon on the day of my arrival, I couldn’t but agree. But the real stunner came the following morning, at dawn. Habitación con vista indeed.

Posted in Argentina | Tagged Balvanera, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires skyline, Congreso, Dawn, Habitación, Hotel Grandview, Puerto Madero, Silhouette, Skyline, Sunrays, Sunrise, Sunset, View, Vista | 8 Comments

A fire in Balvanera and other stories: a brief glimpse into Buenos Aires.

Posted on January 18, 2019

Something is burning on Avenida Rivadavia. White smoke is rising in thick plumes from a shop on the south side of the road, cutting the perspective like a curtain hanging from the trees. Flames fan out intermittently and passers-by scatter, … Continue reading →

Posted in Americas, Argentina | Tagged Amazonas, Andes, Argentina, Avenida Rivadavia, Balvanera, Buenos Aires, Café, Feira de San Telmo, Hummingbirds, Immigration, Latin America, Palermo, People, People watching, Plaza Dorrego, Policia, Policia de la ciudad, Porteño, San Telmo, Summer, Urban photography | 18 Comments