Tamborrada

More proof that I am not a Donostiarra: On this San Sebastian Day, I am off to Málaga to soak up some warmth from the sun, see some friends and eat some nice sushi, which means I’ll miss about 14 of the 24 hours of tamborration this year. So since I won’t be amidst the festivities this time around, here are some photos I took last year. I remember all too clearly that I was stuck doing a long and painful translation that day, but I did manage to get out for a stroll around the block…

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Stealth Rainbow

Last Tuesday morning, a not-rainy day, I was heading towards the beach, head tucked into my jacket (wind!). Then I looked up and saw this rainbow, and it was so unexpected I let slip an involuntary ‘oh!’, cracking up the man who was walking past me.

Black and White Fall

I’ve been cooped up of late, nursing a nice chest cold, so yesterday I took myself and my camera out for a stroll on what may be the last sunny and warm Sunday for a while. The sun was bright, the wind was blowing and the leaves were falling, skipping and dancing, making for gorgeous conditions especially suited for some crisp black and white. Here are my choice bits from the day.
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This is my current desktop image as it really does look pretty darn good on my big screen.

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A longer vanishing point.

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The obligatory and ubiquitous bench.

Seagulls

I was out and about on a Sunday during the film festival, about a month ago. It was a blustery day and the seagulls were playing in the wind, flying and floating and circling over the river.

So many birds flying near the Kursaal and the film festival…perhaps Hitchcock sent them as his emissaries?

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Parapluies/Umbrellas

I am suffering a medium case of Procrastination today, lollygagging on Flickr rather than working, exploring via its Last 7 Days Interesting feature. I was pleased to stumble upon GregÔry’s photostream of gorgeous mostly black and white photos, many of them shadows, reflections, and rain and umbrellas, all in Paris. I am all inspired, wishing I could take a day off work each week (I’d settle for every other week) and cruise around town (or even better, Paris) taking photos in the rain, trying to work myself up to GregÔry’s level.

Unfortunately, GregÔry does not allow sharing to blogs without permission, and frankly I can’t be bothered to go tracking people down and asking for their permission to post their photos here, even when spectacular. So instead, here is the link, which I hope you will follow:

Parapluies/Umbrellas

Manchester

I didn’t really have a clue what Manchester might be like, other than I might see lots of boarded up shop fronts given the riots the week before my arrival. But as it was a convenient place to get to from Bilbao via Easy Jet, I decided MCR could be a good place to spend a few days before heading to Edinburgh. I quite liked Manchester and its architecture, and while I wanted to take loads of pictures, I knew that my camera and I weren’t up to the challenge. Nevertheless, some photos did ensue, as evidenced ici:

I love the jumbly, half-grime/half-color look of the Town Hall as seen from the interior courtyard. A tour of the building is well worth doing if you find yourself in MCR.

 

 

Wandering around the city center, I stumbled upon the Wheel of Manchester, an awesome sight on a sunny, mostly blue-skied day, especially from my favorite vantage-point: both feet firmly planted on the ground.

More Manchester pics for the curious to be seen here.

Bilbon

I’ve been to the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao a number of times, and excepting the mangy “living” dog sculpture Puppy (which locals very amusingly pronounce as ‘poopy’), each time I like the museum more. My current favorite thing at Bilbao’s Guggy is Daniel Buren’s L’arc rouge, which sits astride the Princes of Spain bridge and on a clear day shows off its Frenchness in the Basque Country’s largest city.

Click on the red arch to see a slideshow of more pics of Bilbao, the Guggenheim, and Calatrava’s controversial Zubizuri bridge.

Adding to the Past

Voilà, an updated photo set of my visits to Lekuine/Bonloc and environs. The first thirty-many were taken on my first visit, in April 2009. Back then I had my old camera and a city girl’s obsession with all the wild beasts in her path. The last nine pics are from my most recent visit a few days ago, where one may note an evolution both in camera quality and in the photographer’s increased ability to rein in her temptation to take ever more pictures of sheep, cows, horses and other sundry creatures.

Click on the pic below to view.

Musker txikia

On a wander along the back roads near Lekuine a few days back, one of the many ubiquitous little lizards actually stopped long enough for me to zoom in and snap him before he scurried away over the wall.

The Start of Summer

A few nice summer days in SanSe, just in time for some La Concha- and Mount Urgull-centered outings with a visiting friend.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

European Capital of Culture

Our little fishing village has just been selected to be one of two European Capitals of Culture in 2016 (the other is Wrocław, Poland). I am not sure yet how I feel about this–the girl from Los Angeles still occasionally scoffs at the lack of “real” culture around here–but the city has worked very hard to showcase its nicer aspects (of which it has many) and make some rather nice improvements in its bid to secure the title.

So while I will occasionally grumble about the lack of certain “big city” amenities and opportunities, you can never say that Donostia is not beautiful, as my impromptu photo shoot from this afternoon (when I found my camera hidden in the depths of my backpack on my way to the uni) attests.
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Ghosts

Night-time shot of a place I perch during the day once a week or so.

Les animaux domestiques

Let’s just get some of the animal shots out of the way, otherwise I’ll never get to the non-animal shots.

First up, a sad-looking guard dog in some shop in Lyon. It was Easter Sunday and the poor guy was at the door, watching all the passersby. He doesn’t look all that ferocious, which is why I suppose there is the backup video surveillance.

 

 

 

A few days later we came across these kitties in a house across from our hotel in Carcassonne. Voilà, a quintessentially French scene:

 

 

 

Hendaye Plage

Took a visiting friend to the Other Side (France) today to see what we could see.

Office Views

I work in a number of different spots, but I spend most of my toil time in these two places. One has a good view, and one has a bad view. I’ll let you work out which one is which…

Not so pretty (though I do like the lines and shadows that appear on a bright, sunny day), usually less distracting.

Nice and pretty, often distracting.