Tag Archives: Sea
Coastal escapism.
I needed out. Out of walls, weapons, checkpoints and people convinced of being on first-name-terms with God. I needed a place where bigots were rarer than pandas, alcohol plentiful and the attitude on weed lax. I needed Tel Aviv. Tel … Continue reading
Posted in Israel, Middle East
Tagged Alfa Romeo, AM-PM, Bauhaus, Boulevard Rothschild, Boutique, British Airways, Bus Station, Clouds, Corniche, Independence Trail, Israel, It, Jaffa, Kite, Kite surf, Kite surfers, Med, Mediterranean, Middle East, Promenade, Saturday, Sea, Sherut, Stephen King, Storm, Sunset, Supremes, Surf, Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Wind, Winter, Yafo
21 Comments
North-Western revelations.
Prior to flying there I knew very little about Seattle. Rain and Kurt Cobain, Foo Fighters and Starbucks, Amazon and serial killers. Squashed between a Pacific coastline that looked too tormented to be understandable and the linear dichotomy of the … Continue reading
Posted in Americas, USA
Tagged Alaska Airlines, Amazon, Amazon Spheres, Berlusconi, Cascadia, Cobain, Ferry, Foo Fighters, Food, Food market, Inuit, Lowell's, Marijuana, Night, Nirvana, Olympic, Oyster, Pacific, Pike Market, Port, Rain, Salmon, Sea, Seafront, Seattle, Serial Killer, Sphere, Sticker, Street art, Tech, Tech boys, Washington, Washington state, Weed, West Coast
33 Comments
“Shark Drunk” by Morten Strøksnes, Vintage.
Norwegians are an inscrutable bunch. I’ve got colleagues from up there and, let me tell you, they are a constant source of wonder. Amongst many things, they’ll think nothing of saying things such as “Because you haven’t asked for this … Continue reading
Posted in Books review
Tagged Aasjord, Book, Book Review, Books, Critique, Greenland, Greenland Shark, Havbuka, Hemingway, Lofoten, Morten, Morten Strøksnes, Nordic, North, Norway, Ocean, Sea, Shark Drunk, The Art of Catching a Large Shark from a Tiny Rubber Dinghy in a Big Ocean, Travel literature, Vestfjord, Vintage
15 Comments
Every day is Legs Day if you’re in Lisbon.
“Every day is Legs Day if you’re a dog” once said a philosophy-inclined former colleague of mine. For those of you not familiar with gym logic, he was referring to the fact that dogs, for obvious reasons, cannot skip training … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Portugal
Tagged Alfama, Azulejo, Bridge, Christ, Church, City, Clouds, Cobbles, Dog, Drizzle, Estuary, Every day is leg day, Hill, Hill climb, Intendente, Leg day, Lisboa, Lisbon, Miradouro, Nossa Senhora do Monte, Nova Goa, Port, Portugal, Rain, Rio, Santa Caterina, Sea, Ships, Sun, Suspension, Tagus, The Rock, Tram, Tram of Lisbon, Trekking, Uphill
33 Comments
The quest for the best road.
There are countless articles singing the virtues of this or that stretch of road, claiming it to be “the best in the UK/Europe/world” (delete as applicable). So what’s the point in writing another one? What’s the use of increasing the … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Iceland
Tagged Ólafsvík, Borgarnes, Creedence, DJ Krush, El Búho, Eldborg, Europe, Fortress of Fire, Grundarfjörður, Iceland, Icelandic horse, Kirkjufell, Music, Road, Road Trip, Route 54, Route 56, Route 574, Saxhóll, Sea, Snæfellsnes, Snow, Stykkishólmur, Suzuki Vitara, Tourism, Travel, Video, Vitara, Volcano, Winter, Xica Xica, Ytri-Tunga
27 Comments
The worst-named animal in the world.
As far as names are concerned, few animals have had it as bad as the Orca. Popularly known as “killer whale” – a connotative appellative if ever there was one – they don’t fare much better from a scientific point … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Iceland
Tagged Ólafsvík, Blackfish, Calf, environment, Europe, Fishing, Fjord, Herring, Iceland, Killer whale, Láki, Láki tours, Mammals, Marine Mammals, Matriarchy, Mountains, North Sea, Orca watching, Orcas, Orcinus orca, Photography, Sea, seagull, Snæfellsnes, Snow, Tourism, Travel, Trawler, Westfjord, Whale, Whale watching
27 Comments
Snæfellsnes wide-angle.
The 9-18mm lenses I’ve just bought are, in the words of the photographer who won the chance of endorsing them, “perfect for panoramas”. In a rare astronomical conjunction where marketing met reality and they both shook hands with user requirements … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Iceland
Tagged 9-18mm, Ari Þorgilsson, Íslendigabók, Ólafsvík, Búðir, Beach, Columbus, Cristopher Columbus, Europe, Grundarfjörður, Guðriður, Guðriður Þorbjarnardóttir, Hellissandur, Iceland, Ingjaldshóll, Island, Kirkjufell, Laugarsbrekka, Lýsudalur, Mountain, nature, Neil Young, Olympus, Panorama, Photography, Sea, Sky, Snæfellsnes, Snow, Víðförla, Wide angle
24 Comments
Vapur abstraction.
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
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 Lebanon, Middle East
Tagged Art, Beirut, Corniche, Hamra, History, Mediterranean, Middle East, People, People watching, Phoenicia, Phoenicians, Sea, Street, Syria
12 Comments
