Tag Archives: Europe

Ashes and blue skies: a Palermo travelogue.

Posted on 01/10/2020 by awtytravels

Warm air rushes in to fill the plane. We disembark by row, adhering scrupulously to the new socially-distant orthodoxy, ditching jumpers and jackets as we do: summer might be a distant memory where we left off, washed away in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Italy, Sicilia | Tagged Bangla, Borgo Antico, Bread, Cathedral, Church, Duomo, Europe, Granita, Immigration, India, Italia, Italy, Kalsa, Koran, Maqueda, Market, Med, Mediterranean, Mosque, Old town, Palermo, Pane, Panelle, People, People watching, Qoran, Rubbish, Sea, Sicilia, Sicily, Ucciardone | 30 Comments

Postcards from the city at the edge of the island.

Posted on 20/09/2020 by awtytravels

This place is ancient. Countless generations lived here; even more passed through. Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans. Then Vandals, Goths, the Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Spaniards. Germans and the Allied forces. All left a piece, a memento of their passage. This is … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Italy, Sicilia | Tagged Arabs, Buildings, Carthaginians, Cathedral, Europa, Europe, Goths, Greeks, hoenicians, Indulgence, Normans, Palermo, Post office, Postcards, Poste, Romans, Sicilia, Sicily, Spaniards, the Byzantines | 14 Comments

Locked down.

Posted on 14/05/2020 by awtytravels

Day whatever of lockdown. As of this week we’ve moved from “Stay home” to “Stay alert”. Face masks may be worn in some shops and on public transport, but it’s only a suggestion. A fourteen-day quarantine for overseas travellers might … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, London, UK | Tagged Art, Boris, Bus stop, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Doors, Europe, Fiat 500, Holodomor, Hugh Grant, I worry for the NHS, Kids, Lockdown, London, Mask, Milk, Milkman, Monkey, NHS, Photos, Stay alert, UK, Urban photography, W3, W4, West London | 32 Comments

EOY Reviews, NY objectives.

Posted on 26/12/2019 by awtytravels

If you’re employed in a company you’ll be familiar with this period of the year: ’tis is the season when CEOs are wheeled out of their offices to recite a speech outlining everything that you minions have delivered and to … Continue reading →

Posted in Random memories, Reflections | Tagged 2019, 2019 in pictures, Asia, Atacama, Central Asia, Chile, China, Crimes, Desert, Driving, Easter Island, End of Year message, Europe, Hitch hike, Hitchhiker, Iceland, Kamaz, Kyrgyzstan, Milky Way, Mountains, Offroad, Orcas, Photography, Rapa Nui, Recap, Road Trip, Sary Tash, Sea, Snow, Summary, Travel, Travels, Turkestan, Whale watching, Winter, Wrap-up, Xinjiang | 22 Comments

無月

Posted on 19/12/2019 by awtytravels

After ten years of repeating that Budapest had potential I arrived in town for a solo night – my first – to discover that, yes, the old gal has done it. Realising it, I mean. And ain’t that a surprise. … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Hungary | Tagged Bridges, Buda, Budapest, Citadella, Danube, Duna, Ernő Rubik, Erzsébetváros, Europe, Hungary, Magyar, Magyarorszag, Margit híd, Murales, Murals, Panning, Panning photos, Parliament, People, People watching, Pest, Photography, Street photography, TARDIS, Tram, Travel, VII Kerulet, Windows, Winter | 33 Comments

Swindlers’ Market.

Posted on 19/11/2019 by awtytravels

On a square dedicated to the saint patron of needleworkers and television, behind the convent sanctifying the memory of the protector of orphans and widows, Lisbon’s lady thieves are having their weekly gathering. Make of that what you wish. For … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Portugal | Tagged Antiques, Book, Church, Cloudy, Convent, Europe, Feira, Feira da Ladra, Flea Market, Food, La Tabernita, La Tabernita Lisboa, Lisboa, Lisbon, Lisbon Flea Market, Market, Morning, People, People watching, Photography, Portugal, Santa Clara, Sellers, Street photography, Sunday, Tourism, Travel, Urban photography | 20 Comments

À la recherche du bar perdu.

Posted on 13/11/2019 by awtytravels

There was a bar, once. A weekend away with friends. An April escapade with mates from high school, an occasion to appreciate how much we’ve grown – cancel that, how much we’ve aged in the last years. There were calls to girlfriends, … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Portugal | Tagged Ascensor da bica, Bairro Alto, Bar, Beer, Bica, Brazil, Drugs, Europe, Intendente, Lisbon, Music, Night, Night time, Portugal, Samba | 29 Comments

I was looking back to see if you were looking back at me to see me looking back at you.

Posted on 16/10/2019 by awtytravels

Grounded. I guess you can say this is my status at the moment. A new job with no duty travel means not many occasions to fly the nest. All there is left to do, then, is to polish up your … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, UK | Tagged 3D, Avocado, Book, Canal, Cyclists, Dal Naja, Dirt, Dog, East London, Edgy, Editor, Europe, Evening Standard, Fixie, Grand Union, Grounded, Hackney, Hipster, Islam, Literary agent, London, Massive Attack, Murales, New Job, Niqab, Old street, People, People watching, Photography, Represent, Restaurant, Safe from Harm, seagull, Shoreditch, Silicon Roundabout, Software, Spray paint, Street photography, Tech, Tech boys, Tourism, Tricky, UK, Urban photography | 28 Comments

Travels in Italy’s 11th most-visited region.

Posted on 06/10/2019 by awtytravels

There are twenty regions in Italy (or perhaps it’s only 19; Molise’s existence, much like dark matter, is still a matter for debate); together in 2018 they hosted a whopping 429 million tourists, half of them foreigners (of whom at … Continue reading →