Category Archives: Landscape

Sunrise over the sky

I enjoy morning flights and especially the ones that give me the possibility to watch a full sunrise over the clouds. At sunrise, blues and greens usually scatter more strongly, leaving mostly orange and red hues out of the white sunlight. However, as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh once said: “You don’t need somebody to interpret for you what a beautiful sunrise is like.” So here it is:

Reflections of reality

Also reflections are part of our life, we often take them as reality and, consequently, we act as we have seen it. What is reality and what’s merely a reflection? Sometimes it’s easier to guess, sometimes it’s harder, just like in the pictures bellow.

Sunsets of Crete

Photos taken on Crete’s north coast, a place of whitewashed stones surrounded by sparkling Mediterranean blue waters. Nearby, the traditional Cretan village style architecture is spread around colorful gardens from where sunset views may captivate your senses.

Retro-style Mediterranean cruise ship

Cruise ships are not always organized like floating hotels, with a complete hospitality staff in addition to the usual ship’s crew. Within the calm Mediterranean waters (Southern Greece – Northern Africa) you may find some retro style jewelries like the one bellow sailing over sparkling waters.

I just couldn’t resist the temptation of capturing reflections; I used no filters or digital processing for the sparkling effect, just my old loyal camera and the calm mediterranean waters.

Spinalonga – the Venetian “long thorn”

The Venetian cartographer Vincenzo Coronelli mentions that, in 1526, the Venetians cut down a portion of the Kolokitha peninsula and thus created the island Spinalonga.

Because of its position, the island was fortified from its earliest years in order to protect the entranceway of the port of Ancient Olous.

The island was subsequently used as a leper colony, from 1903 to 1957; the last inhabitant, a priest, left the island in 1962. You may see below the remaining walls and the Christian church from inside the island.

Sunrise at “Chott el Djerid” salt lake

The salt lakes of North Africa are a very curious feature. They stretch with only two short breaks in a line from the Mediterranean at the Gulf of Gabes to the Algerian frontier, which they penetrate for a considerable distance.

The French term “chott” is a transliteration of the Arabic shat, a term for a broad canal, an estuary or lake. These shats however are, strictly speaking, not lakes at all at the present day. They are smooth depressed areas (in the case of the one I photographed, the Shat el Jerid, lying a few feet below the level of the Mediterranean), which for more than half the year are expanses of dried mud covered with a thick incrustation of white or grey salt. During day light, this salt covering gives them at a distance the appearance of big sheets of water.

Tossa de Mar – resort of medieval flavour

Tossa de Mar is located on the Costa Brava, about 100 kilometres south of the French border. Sometime in the 12th century the mediaeval town was walled off and a castle was built on the highest point of Mt. Guardí, this castle was to be subsequently replaced by a wind mill, and this in turn by a lighthouse which is still operational.

Contrary to popular belief that Tossa has traditionally been a fishing town, in mediaeval times and until the arrival of tourism, the local economy was mostly based on agricultural production, principally Grape vine and cork (material). There was a thriving export market of the latter (in the form of cork taps shipped to the Americas) during the 18th century and early 19th century.

Fishing has traditionally been a relatively minor contributor to the village’s economy, although it has consistently provided an alternative source of income in times of economic crisis. A small fishing industry is still active as of 2005 and occupies a few members of local fishing families. Most of their captures are sold to local restaurants and in the fish markets in neighbouring Blanes and Sant Feliu de Guíxols.