Tag Archives: People watching

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

Behind the wall.

Posted on 17/02/2020 by awtytravels

It takes a while for me to get the hang of Checkpoint 300. Eventually a corridor in nude concrete and steel, half prison half abattoir, delivers me in a street cul-de-sac’d by the wall. Closed shops and scraps of paper … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel, Middle East, Palestine | Tagged Abu, Aida, Amman, Arafat, Army, Art, Asia, Banksy, Bethlehem, Bibi, Camp, Concrete, Flash bang, Graffiti, Hamas, Hezbollah, Holy Land, Islam, Israel, Jesus, Manger, Middle East, Nasrallah, Nativity Square, Palestine, Peace, Peace in the Middle East, People, People watching, Photography, Rachel, Rain, Refugee, Religion, Road, Roadblock, Security Wall, Segregation, Settlement, Skunk water, Sponge granate, Stencils, Stinger granade, Street photography, Terrorism, Tomb, TWA 840, UN, Urban photography, Wall, Walled Off, Walled Off Hotel, Yassin, Yitzhak Rabin | 41 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

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

El misterio vive: Rapa Nui journal, Part I.

Posted on 01/06/2019 by awtytravels

Some trips are born in the heat of the moment. Others come from way back, originating from yellowing books, B&W films or stories told by elder relatives a lifetime ago. This is one of them. But yet again, it shouldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Americas, Chile | Tagged Animals, Bird Man, Chile, Easter Island, Hanga Roa, Horse, Manutara, Migratory bird, Moai, Motu Nui, Ocean, Orongo, Pacific, People watching, Photography, Rano Kau, Ranu Kau, Rapa Nui, Sky, Tangata Manu, Travel, Trekking | 17 Comments

Beyoğlu’s resilience.

Posted on 09/03/2019 by awtytravels

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 | 19 Comments

Faces of Ortaköy.

Posted on 02/03/2019 by awtytravels

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 28/02/2019 by awtytravels

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

Porteño portrait.

Posted on 06/02/2019 by awtytravels

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 | 19 Comments