london and more...

Rain & shine in Venice

ujtravels — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:50:16 +0000

Campanile San Marco

I finally made it to Venice again (never been there during my Milano years!). It was as beautiful as expected, but very cold – even a little bit of snow left at the airport and in shady spots.

Piazza San Marco

Carneval this year from Saturday 6. Feb to 16th – this was the week before with not too many tourists around. Gorgeous light with many picture opportunities on the first two days

Piazza San Marco at night

: Procuratie Vecchie, Piazza San Marco in rain

Xcaret – theme park in Mexico

ujtravels — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:32:02 +0000

Not sure how to best describe Xcaret, one of several parks near Playa del Carmen that were created to entertain tourists, but are also popular with locals (at a much reduced price). Xcaret means “small inlet” in Maya. Originally it was an important Mayan port and ceremonial center in the Yucatan Peninsula – now it’s a combination of water park, zoo, botanic garden with various displays of Mexico’s cultural heritage. Others have more adventurous features like zip-lines high up in the trees and real cave diving. This one had a 2h evening show – I liked the first part best – see photos below (some are blurred, but I’ve put them in for atmosphere). In any case, a nice change of pace from the days on ‘my’ beach.

view of Hacienda + coastline from the observation tower

entrance to 'Jungle Trail' and 'Paradise River'

Paradise River floats

one of many Iguanas along the river

church - part of Mexican folk art exhibition area

Underground river - where my underwater camera drowned, while I was floating in 24 C cool water

if you swim the underground river all the way...

... it ends up here - 8,406 km away from winter in Alemania (and UK)

snorkel inlet

I love hammocks

archeological site with Maja ruins

real live Jaguar, posing nicely

mono monkeys

black panther (same spots as jaguar) - big yawn

St. Francis of Assisi Chapel

Mexican Cemetery (replica)

Fiesta Mexicana - rodeo tricks and singing on horseback

getting ready for the big evening show

Leader's Parade

"Mexico Espectacular" - show with about 300 performers

Burning Ball Game

the really big guy (some kind of wizard from pre-hispanic time)

The Evangelization

Regional dancers

Carnaval de Veracruz

musical solo

Tamborileros de Tabasco

Papantla flyers (bird men) app. 30m above ground

...circling down from the top of the universal tree

Lasso tricks

Drive to Key West

ujtravels — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:06:32 +0000

150 miles from Miami to Key West

When I drove down the keys (from cayos) back in the ’80s, it rained all the way. Time to give it another try.

This time it did not rain, and it was a nice leisurly drive, but to actually see a sunset in Key West it will need another attempt!

going south

first stop - Lazy Dayz beach (MM 80)

Channel 5 bridge (MM 70)

on the road

old bridge at Bahia Honda (parts of Flagler's railway bridge?)

Seven Mile Bridge (mile marker 40)

MM 0 - arrival in Key West

southernmost point of continental US

southernmost beach....

Hemingway house

Rent Me!

Shipwreck lookout

almost a sunset!

Sunset (?) cruises

Customs house at night

Sloppy Joe's on Duval Street

Pier House resort

Merry Xmas Miami – butterflies, birds and alligators

ujtravels — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:02:38 +0000

Miami Beach sunrise - seen from North Bay Village Dec.19 about 7am

On the way back from Mexico, a stop-over in Miami (only 1 h flight from Cancun) seemed a good idea. Due to Mexicana flight delays and long lines at immigration it took a lot longer to finally get there – straight into a Latin Xmas party!
Although a cold-front arrived about the same time as I did, I still enjoyed every minute of it – especially when comparing the temperatures (Miami 20 C – London 0 C!).

with my compact camera I had some difficulty focussing, so having them feed on bananas helped

some very pretty birds too - I believe this one is Australian

Hummingbird

Saturday visit to Butterfly World at Coconut Creek with Charles and Claire

a few days later - some very sleepy alligators at Everglades NP

enjoying the sunshine

this little guy didn't even blink...

thanks to zoom, I did not have to get too close to this (razorback?) snake

Anhinga?

Xmas deco on Ocean Drive - 15 min later we were in the water kajaking

On the beach in Mexico

ujtravels — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 01:01:54 +0000

my very private beach at Villa del Mar

After all the city tours this year, I needed some time in the sun and in Puerto Aventuras I found the perfect place for this.

Entrance to the Puerto Aventuras community - a few hotels, hundreds of condos...

view of Villa del Mar garden + pools from my very nice living room/balcony

with the beach right in front - and a nice cooling breeze at 30 C

the horse-shaped complex around two little used pools

I spend most of my time with this view of beautiful white sands and turquoise ocean

some entertainment in P.A. - the very popular dolphin show

training the next generation of dolphin trainers

Manatee + baby feeding on salad leaves

lonely vendor at the Omni hotel next door

swim-up bar at the Omni hotel

Eastern Inlet (on the other side of Puerto Aventuras) around 5pm

entrance to the large Marina (lots of sport fishing boats)

Pelican portrait

the other side of Puerto Aventuras - not yet developed

La Caleta - inlet with very clear water and a little Majan ruin surrounded by mangroves.

what it probably looked like before tourism came...

I actually left P.A. once during the 12 days, to go to this themepark - see separate blog Xcaret

Sunrise on the last day

Marina entrance at sunrise

sunset over Villa del Mar beach

Madrid in October

ujtravels — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:44:05 +0000

Having just come back from 5 wonderful days in Madrid with >200 photos, this is an attempt to put links to some Picasa albums with a selections of my favourites. It looks like every link takes you to the shopping album, but from there you should be able to access all my other web albums

found these 'greetings from London' in a Madrid shop!

Under this link you should find a selection of my other shopping pictures – actually most of it was window shopping, due to the limitations of carry-on luggage (warning: a lot of food!)

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lh/sredir?uname=ujacob&target=ALBUM&id=5398317192969396145&authkey=Gv1sRgCPn41L7Vk-j9aQ&feat=email

Madrid Museums – not as boring as it sounds, I promise. Especially because you’re not allowed to take pictures inside most of them.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lh/sredir?uname=ujacob&target=ALBUM&id=5397944718555363441&authkey=Gv1sRgCIGyzfaigNGpmgE&feat=email

And this link should take you to more photos from the beautiful Retiro Park

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lh/sredir?uname=ujacob&target=ALBUM&id=5397716866312783569&authkey=Gv1sRgCLrZ5u-H2tD6gwE&feat=email

Essential Madrid I was inspired by a guided walk from Plaza Mayor to Palacio Real – organized by the tourist office – that I enjoyed very much, because the guide provided a lot of background info to the sights.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lh/sredir?uname=ujacob&target=ALBUM&id=5398025763338728737&authkey=Gv1sRgCNjjjuGDnuyAdw&feat=email

And this last one covers the other parts of the city – most, but not all, east of Puerto del Sol – which were build later by the Bourbon kings (mostly Carlos III, 18th century).

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lh/sredir?uname=ujacob&target=ALBUM&id=5398052290450812513&authkey=Gv1sRgCL_bs_O12-qU5QE&feat=email

Maida Vale & Little Venice II

ujtravels — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:25:28 +0000

Maida Vale is one of London’s prime residential areas, and the further south you go, towards Little Venice, the grander the mansions become.

Maida Vale, one of the prettiest old Tube stations in late afternoon light. The station building and the staircase mosaics feature in a number of films, for example Alfred Hitchcock's 1927 Downhill,

inside Maida Vale station

Elgin Mews South

The Warrington Hotel

northern part of Randolph Avenue

Randolph Avenue further south

Randolph Crescent

Pineapple deco in Formosa Street

Hotel Colonnade, Warwick Avenue

Welcome to Little Venice

Regent's Canal

the regular Waterbus on Regent's Canal, from Little Venice to Camden Town

house boat with swans

Warwick Castle Pub

Very blue skies and a boat trip to Maritime Greenwich

ujtravels — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:56:29 +0000

Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and as giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).

A bit of history (thanks to Wikipedia): The town became the site of a Royal palace, the Palace of Placentia from the 15th century, and was the birthplace of many in the House of Tudor, including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.
The palace was the principal residence of Henry VII, and his sons, Henry (later the in-famous Henry VIII ) and Edmund Tudor were born here. Both daughters Mary (February 18, 1516) and Elizabeth (September 7, 1533) were born at Greenwich, before Henry VIII moved to Hampton Court.

On the way to Tower Pier: All Hallows by the Tower

leaving Tower Bridge towards the East

old riverside pubs and...

...Canary Wharf

CW Pier + Westferry Circus

Greenwich, a World Heritage Site since 1997. The dominant sight on the south bank of the Thames is the Old Naval College, originally a royal palace, then rebuilt as the Royal Naval Hospital for Sailors by Sir Christopher Wren before becoming a centre of maritime education

Old Naval College (1873 - 1998) from river at very low tide. Queens House + Observatory in back

another domed masterpiece by Christopher Wren

the former college dining room, the Painted Hall -not my style, but impressive none-the-less

Queen Anne of Denmark had this house built by Inigo Jones in 1617 on both sides of a public road - the same where Sir Walter Raleigh (left) had laid down his coat for another queen

Observatory just after the 1pm ball drop. The Prime Meridian passes through the building

Greenwich Nautic Shop

Grand arcade between Queens house and Maritime Museum

inside the Maritime Museum

one more look back at Canary Wharf

Millenium Dome thru palace gates

Several of the buildings are now let to the University of Greenwich and one, the King Charles block, to Trinity College of Music.

a glimpse of Greenwich market and pub...

Around St.James Park

ujtravels — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:34:59 +0000

war time lighting

The weather was unexpectedly beautiful all of last week, so I went on a number of London Walks. This here starts from St. James Park Tube station, through Queen Anne’s Gate (a rather pretty street) and ends on the Mall on the other side of the park.

Royal Household Cavalry

Horseguards clock tower

Queen's Life Guard

St. James’s Park is a 23 hectare park in Westminster, the oldest of the Royal Parks of London. Despite being in a very central location between Buckingham Palace to the west, The Mall and Horse Guards, I had never been in the park before.

view of Royal Horseguards, etc. from bridge over St. James' Park lake

Buckingham Palace in background

Changing of the Guards - marching band

Horseman’s Sunday

ujtravels — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:20:29 +0000

A little know event that I came across recently: at noon on the penultimate Sunday in September, the vicar of St John’s Church in Hyde Park climbs on a horse for a special blessing of all horses in the heart of London. The well established annual tradition known as Horseman’s Sunday began in 1968 to highlight the need to maintain stables along the north of Hyde Park. Horses come from all over London to gather on the forecourt of the church for a blessing, followed by a ride-past and a presentation of rosettes.

clergy and their guards ready for the parade

kids enjoying themselves with horse puppets

St. John's Church at Hyde Park Crescent

Horse statue at nearby Marble Arch