A Link to Album
 |
| Santander Spain |
SunSet Through Volcanic Ash
April 17th, 2010, posted in All PostsFifteen years ago I was flying a single engine Cessna from Nevis to Antigua when Monteserrat Volcano was in full eruption. I have never quite fogotten the colours and majesty of that one sunset over the Caribbean that evening. As an Icelandic Volacano threw dark talcum plumes into the European sky I remembered the sunset.
I headed out to the northernmost tip of Zealand island in Denmark to a little harbour names Gillelej.
Map of North Zeland and Gillelej. The plavce offers a great vantage point to see sunset over the norther ocean.
My proper camera kit is locked away in my car in Madrid to I only had my Fuji Finepix S700 with me.
Here are the results. Love and enjoy the sunset over Gillelej. What I do not know is if the colours of this particular sunset are owed to the volcanic ahes over the area. What I do know is that its just beautiful.
As with all my pictures, feel free to use them anywhere without any credits or limitations.
<
Sailing 2010
April 17th, 2010, posted in All PostsI am looking forward to the sailing season this year. Rungsted and Helsingor harbors are biking distance from me. I checked out the boats at Rungsted and I am itching to go to the sea. I have been on the stable ground too long.
A Snow Storm of Epic Proportions
February 8th, 2010, posted in All PostsSnow storms are nothing new or shocking to me. 15 years in Russia mean I have seen enough snow and sub zero temperatures. It is so “life goes on” kind of a thing.
But a snow storm in the US or UK is an adventure of a different kind. It is a fascinating experience watching a city of a county having a complete and collective nervous breakdown. Snow in the US is most important story of the week. And here I was right in the middle of an American breakdown.
I arrived in Philadelphia just as snow moved into Washington DC. The airports closed down and the airlines were unprepared to deal with passengers arriving on international flights. Airlines obviously know nothing about trains or buses – they just get passengers out of their way. I managed to get on the last Amtrak from Philadelphia to Washington that everyone at airport and hotel thought was “no way” running. Who wants to spend the night ( or three ) in a third rate hotel with no bar license in Philly anyway. I would rather live in a shelter for the homeless. But here I was on Depression Express, the Amtrak regional that plies between New York and DC.
DC was already a ghost town 60 minutes into the snow but Metro was still running.
Beautiful endless flakes of snow were coming down with consistency of Monsoon rain.
A brave man with a front wheel drive Volvo gave me a ride to a friend’s house navigating through 6 inches of snow. It was already biblical for many Americans. Electricity went out as I entered my friends house. The usual breakdown of electronics and appliances that my electromagnetic waves cause had started. Outside people were abandoning their homes. Suburb was turning into a ghost town.
The snow continued through the night and then the whole morning. By now roads were un-navigable. Phones were out. Blackberry kicked in and out. Fireplace was running out of logs. Streams of people were leaving with bags and pets for hotels. No repair trucks or utility vehicles could be seen. I was wondering when Barack Obama will call the National Gurard. He did not and it reconfirmed the view of many that he only cares about the people of Haiti.
In the morning a man driving a monster truck through the snow pulled up next to me and promised to fix my jaw. My crime, I thought loudly that pedestrians had priority on snow roads but he was clearly suffering Shackleton complex — “I am blazing a train through the snow here and you are in my way.” I profusely apologized to retain my jaw.
People equipped like Astronauts with enough gear to go to war on Alsaka dug their cars out from under 3 ft of snow. A realization hit me that is not something an iPod app can do. How terrible.
The snowstorm of February 2010 was a thing of beauty and brought home realization of how beauty of natures scares the beast in man.
I took some pictures to save this amazing and rare site of a Washington suburb buried in snow. Enjoy.
World’s Worst Train Company SJ or Ghost Trains Sweden
January 8th, 2010, posted in All PostsOn a freezing day with temperatures 20 below, I took a train from Helsingborg in Sweden to Goteborg. The journey takes a little over two hours. I bought the ticket at the ferry terminal from an automatic kiosk. The next train was leaving in 8 minutes to I bought the ticket and was on board just in time.
Thirty minutes out a rather pleasant woman in her forties came to look at the ticket. ” But you have the wrong ticket,” she said. “Does this train go to Goteburg?” I asked. “yes, but you are on the wrong train. We are two train companies now.”
OK, I said, now that I am board can I buy a new ticket? Is it transferable?
No No No, No. But there is a station stop half way up and a train should follow in 20 minutes from the other company.
So, I was allowed to get off without a penalty a station in the middle of now where and the temperature was well below 25 here. I rushed into the waiting room, looked at the display and noticed that the next train was not supposed to come for three hours. I rushed back. The train was still at the platform.
“The next train is in 3 Hours, why dont you just wait and I will buy a ticket in a second at the machine…”
“No No No , No. I know. There is a train in 20 minutes. I know. I was with the Other Train company before.”
Fine.
I reached Goteborg a full 6 hours later. A journey that should have taken 2 hours took over 7.
Back home I still cannot find out which train company it was. Was it Hogwarts’s Express? A Ghost Train I got on? Type in Sweden Train and you still come up with SJ Trains of Sweden. There is no other train company. And if there is, why dont you guys start writing in front of engines which company it is and which way you are headed !
When Heaven Goes to Hell
December 8th, 2009, posted in All PostsFrom Being the Hippest, coolest place in India Goa has gone to being a dirty, noisy unsafe dump.
True, western hippies, hookers, addicts and general western trash tourism still flourish in Goa and the expectations are really low but this is no holiday resort of any distinction by any measure.
Since the tourist rush began a whole five decades ago, no infrastructure has been built, no cleanliness , no security, no traffic management, no quality control over travel industry – nothing has been added to preserve the area and its natural, cultural attractions.
Goa is, plainly put, going to hell. The tourism industry, civil servants and political leaders could not be less bothered.
Here is a photo essay on Goa. It was once a city of great charm and beauty. It still is a city of cultured and friendly people. But mismanagement, abuse and neglect by stakeholders has turned it into trash dump.