I love the sunny, calm Autumn days that we can get. The crisp air and the blue sky really awaken the senses and make a walk in the park quite wonderful.
Perfect Autumn day
Reply
Tag Archives: colours
Umbrella street
Who doesn’t love an umbrella street? This one in Camden town market certainly brightens up the place and perfect for upcoming wet Autumn days.
Fiery colours
I love the changing shades of autumn, the reds, oranges and yellows, the colours of fire but without the heat. The ArcelorMittal Orbit in the bright sunlight fits right in with it red exterior.
Artfest
This summer my local town celebrated colour and so they invited talented street artists to come and do some artwork for the public to enjoy. These were my favourite ones and I think the artists did a great job.
Fiery Sunflower
I love this fiery looking sunflower, not sure I’ve seen these reddish colour petals before, and it seems that I’m not the only one that loves it, the bee in the middle is in his element.
Local Street Art
Some street art has been commissioned by the local government to brighten up our streets. It was great to see the artwork coming into shape and the end results I think are brilliant. The artists are very talented and I will enjoy looking at their pieces when I pass them by.
Best of 2024
We’ve come to the end of 2024. It has been an eventful year for me personally and on the world stage. I was lucky enough to travel to lots of different countries as well as spend time with family and friends and doing my part in calling for peace and justice in the world.
Wars also still continue, in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and other parts of the world. They have taken a toll on me and many others and I pray that an end to these come swiftly and permanently.
Here are some of my best and favourite photos of this year, as I prepare for the next. Happy New Year to everyone and may it be one that is calmer, more peaceful and positive one for us all, with plenty of adventure.
Athens, Greece
I’ve read about some of the ancient civilizations in books and stories since my childhood, but hadn’t had the chance to visit the remains of places, until now when I was lucky enough to visit Athens the heart of Ancient Greece.
I visited the Acropolis, an ancient citadel where there are ruins of temples, the most famous being the Parthenon, built in ancient Greece for the goddess Athena in 438 BC. Another temple I saw was the Temple of Nike. On the way up was the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a stone Roman theatre structure, and also the Theatre of Dionysus, the world’s first theater and the birthplace of Greek drama.
The view from the top of the Acropolis was pretty amazing, even with the grey and looming clouds, that then dropped it’s load and drenched everyone!
On the second day we decided to take a ferry to the nearby island of Aegina. Being off season, lots of the shops were closed but we were still able to look around and explore. We found a pretty umbrella street and then visited the archaeological site of Palaiochora of Aegina with a temple and then the Holy Monastery of the Holy Trinity. We bought some souvenirs, pistachio being grown and harvested on the island as a must buy, before heading back to Athens.
On the final day we visited the Acropolis museum, and then looked around the Plaka neighbourhood which had some pretty lanes and houses. We then visited the Roman Agora and Hadrian’s Library, both architechural ruins. We then ended up in Monastiraki square and found a great rooftop view with the Acropolis in the background.
I had a great time in Athens and the nearby islands, there was so much to learn and see. Amazing to think that these structures were built centuries ago and that we can still see some of them intact and still looking grand.
Algarve, Portugal
I had the opportunity to go to the south of Portugal recently. We went to the Albufeira area of Algarve for a few days. While the Algarve is known for it’s sandy beaches there is also an Islamic heritage, with the names of places beginning with ‘al’ once being Arab. Albufiera in Arabic means ‘castle on the sea’.
We did a jeep tour, visiting a farm and and small villages. It was great to see how homes had been created in the slopes of the hills and I loved seeing all the creative artistic touches that were dotted about everywhere. We stopped in a cafe to enjoy Portugal’s signature dessert pastel de nata which was sweet and quite delicious.
The tour guide also pointed out the famous piri piri chillis that was fun to see. At the top of one hill was a swing to take in the rural landscape which was great. We also passed many orchards of oranges but also saw lots of pomegranate, olive and cork trees which I was delighted to see.
On another day we went on a boat ride to look for dolphins but sadly they didn’t appear. We did move on to look at the Benagil caves though which were quite beautiful.
I enjoyed my trip to Albufeira, learning about it’s history and seeing what delights it held. It’s a scenic rural and beachy area and a great place to unwind and experience something new.
Northern Lights
Like many I’ve always hoped to see the auroras boreales or Northern Lights as they are known. People usually have to travel north to countries like Norway or Greenland, but this year there’s been a lot of solar activity and the Lights have been visible all the way down to London. They were visible earlier this year but personally found them hard to make out. Back again in Autumn, they were much more visible, to the naked eye and through a lens. I found it such a magical phenomenon and feel lucky to have experienced it.
everyphototunity 