It’s not the best photo ever, but I love it. Evening. A busy street in Thessaloniki. A woman enjoys some time out by dragging a chair out – not onto the pavement, but into the road itself. Well, why not? Streets were for people long before they were used by cars.
For Debbie’s One Word Sunday: Seating (well, 44 words in my case)
Our journey to Spain begins. Four and a half hours to cross London yesterday – ’nuff said. But today, a calm crossing from Dover to Calais, with (relatively) almost nobody else on board. And beneath us … only sea.
For Debbie’s One Word Sunday
Poor Algernon (if I may be so familiar). I abandoned my Major General last month as he planned further destinations in a trip to invigorate him in his old age. He’s my stooge as I attempt to complete Paula’s Pick a Word Challenge. The five words Paula offers us are intended to be a stimulus to us to choose five appropriate photos: I decided a bit of verbal silliness would add a little extra difficulty. Not ‘alf. These are Paula’s chosen words: distinctive; floating; fortified; playful and saddle. Make something of that, Major General!
In case you’re not familiar with him, this is how his saga began …
A retired Major General from Hove with the moniker Algernon Gove said ‘Before life unravels I must finish my travels.’ And forthwith he made plans to rove.
But it gets worse …
His next plan was to go pony-trekking. He booked something in Wales without checking. It might be quite a chore ? He could get saddle-sore? Oh dear no - there’s a plan that needs wrecking. Our old chap nursed a long-term ambition to explore sites with years of tradition. A castle, he voted, fortified, or deep-moated. He’d find one - he'd make that his mission. Perhaps all his plans were restrictive? He should aim now for something distinctive. Something playful and fun. ‘Cos when all’s said and done to enjoy life should just be instinctive. He knew he’d no taste for long trips that took him o’er oceans in ships. But he’d go in a boat floating nowhere remote - while enjoying some fresh fish and chips.
You can have a playful time on London’s South Bank, and at the London Eye. But it’s more distinctive to discover pastures new – at the evening fair in Gdansk, perhaps.
WP is being very irritating today. It won’t let me centre some of my photos, or alternatively to align all my shots to the left, whatever I try, and however loudly I shout at my laptop. So I have to admit defeat.
Five random words. Paula, over at Lost in Translation posts five different words every month, and invites bloggers to choose five different photos to illustrate them. Well, I decided I’d join in. But I thought I’d have even more fun if I wrangled those five words into a piece of doggerel to accompany my images. Here we go…
The five words are …
FAMILIAR, SELECTED, NAUTICAL, REFRACTION, SPLENDID
A retired Major General from Hove with the moniker Algernon Gove said ‘Before life unravels I must finish my travels.’ And forthwith he made plans to rove. He selected some places to stay: His first port of call was Norway. He thought he'd get bored with a trip round a fjord. But he found it quite splendid, if grey. . Thereafter, he thought the romance Of a yacht sailing slowly to France Would just do the trick. But the poor chap was sick. What nautical mis-happenstance! Dry land seemed a safer idea. Get his plans and his thoughts into gear. The familiar? Go home? Or a day-trip to Rome? Or ditch the whole plan till next year? He mused - and looked up at the sky Which was sulky and grey - though now dry. And saw the attraction Of a rainbow’s refraction It was time to bid drifting ‘goodbye’. So what did the old fellow do then? It needs planning, the where and the when. But I’ve got a hunch That after his lunch He’ll announce an adventure. Amen.
Before he retired, the Major General was commanding chaps like the fellows shown in the featured photo.
A rainy day sailing from Dunkirk had us hiding away from the open decks.
Not a great deal to see until the first sight of the White Cliffs of Dover.
Still a little rainy …
And then the rain stopped, and sunshine welcomed us back to life in a busy port … and England.
For this week’s Nature Photo Challenge, Denzil demands that we cheer ourselves and our readers up by serving up some Pictures in Pink.
I’m going for the obvious here. Flamingos, flowers – and firmament (or sky, as it’s more prosaically known).
Flowers first …
Finally, firmament:
Click on any image to see it at larger-than-postage-stamp size.
The best way of travelling hopefully? Let’s see.
A bus can be fun, but that’s strictly for local exploring. Unless you can get yourself to India and hitch a lift in God’s Own Palace … Though you’re much more likely to be catching the long-distance bus whose driving seat I feature here …
Air travel has lost its sheen, since Airport Security and Queuing became a A Thing, not to mention those CO2 emissions of which we’re now so horribly aware. Even so, there is something thrilling about watching the changing landscapes of the earth far below, and cloud formations too.
You could take to the water, and sail to your destination near or far…
Car travel gives you the opportunity to please yourselves and follow your noses, and even to get off the beaten track, but again … all those emissions.
My own favourite way to get from A to a distant B is by train. I sit, I watch the world go by. I read. If I’m lucky, there may be coffee on offer. And the journey eases the transition from home to away by gradually introducing fresh landscapes, fresh outlooks. There’s something discombobulating about leaving – say – foggy England by plane and arriving two hours later – say – in sunny Spain. Here’s the TGV from Barcelona to Paris. It says it all …
Station architecture may be inspired, whether from the Golden Age of Steam, or assertively twenty first century.
All things considered, I can’t agree with the disconsolate boredom of this particular passenger. By the way, you, get your feet off the seat!
Or … there’s always the motorbike … as spotted in their dozens and dozens outside Mysore Station.
All the same, modern travel with all its advantages can seem busy, stressful. Sometimes, we might just want to exchange the traffic jam for something rather simpler.
John has provided this week’s LENS-ARTISTS CHALLENGE #215 – Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, and the places they take you.
This is turning into a Sunday Thing. Experimenting with different types of poetry. But with added photos. Always with added photos. This week, as my contribution to Tanka Tuesday‘s task – to write a 4-11 (the clue is in the name: 11 lines of 4 syllables each – last line repeats the first) I thought I’d focus on summer travel.
Summer travel
was always fun.
But now passport
control (Brexit!);
Covid control;
train strikes and queues;
airport queuing –
make journeys long
and so irksome.
Worth it though – for
summer travel
And to prove that travel’s always worth it, here’s my photo gallery. There’s just one problem. Most of these photos were taken in January, in February, in March … you get the idea – any month but August …
… Should have travelled by elephant …?
PS – the header photo was taken at l’Albufera, near Valencia, Spain.
Well, Thessaloniki has a long and distinguished ancient history taking in Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman civilisations. And what do I show you first? Street art – and one graffito. From the sublime …
For Marsha’s Photographing Public Art Challenge
… and a suitable swan song for my postcards from Europe. This was taken on the TGV train from Barcelona Sants to Paris Gare de Lyon the day before yesterday, somewhere north of Lyon.
For Brian’s Last on the Card, May 2022
From Pyrenees to Pennines 
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