Shadow Shot Sunday 221 - Nice

Happy Easter everyone!! Here is the view from the balcony of my apartment here in Nice where I have lived for almost three years, but I am on the move again.....After a decade of continuous living overseas first in Mexico City, then in Nice, and at least two decades of globetrotting, living and working in Canada, Australia, and travelling extensively through Asia, North, Central, and South America, Europe and Australasia, I am going HOME - yes moving back to LONDON in JULY 2015. As I am also planning to give up teaching after over three decades at the chalkface and search for a new direction, the big word for 2015 is CHANGE. Here is a shadowy corner of my apartment here in Nice which will only be my corner for the next three months.....

What changes are you planning for 2015?? Plus a question for bloggers - how easy is it to blog from your own hometown?? In the meantime check out other shadow shots from around the world by clicking HERE for Shadow Shot Sunday. Enjoy!!

Shadow Shot Sunday 220 - Pietrasanta, Italy

Why might you want to pause and take a seat on this street??

Well this is the view!! Pietrasanta a stunning find not far from Pisa in Tuscany - understated and little visited, it is a beautiful spot with many studios, galleries, and art exhibitions.....and this grand piazza. For more shadow shots click HERE for Shadow Shot Sunday. Enjoy!!

Shadow Shot Sunday 219 - Pietrasanta

Where can you find these intriguing shadows??

Cast by the rather spectacular equine sculptures that form the exhibition "Lapidarium" by a Mexican artist in the central piazza of Pietrasanta,Tuscany in Italy. A tiny place where Michelangelo and other heavyweight artists cast their amazing sculptures with fine marble quarried from the nearby Carrera hills. Today there are also bronze casting foundries for artists like Columbian Fernando Botero who also has a studio here. And looking at the sheer beauty of the place who can fail to understand their choice off location??

For more shadow shots, click HERE for Shadow Shot Sunday. Enjoy!!

Shadow Shot Sunday 218 - Saatchi Gallery, London

Strong sunlight in February hits the facade of the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea where currently a fascinating exhibiton "Pop Art : East meets West" is currently displayed. Don't miss it if you are in town!

Back blogging after a broken wrist - head over to Shadow Shot Sunday for more shadow pix. Enjoy!

Shadow Shot Sunday 217 - Paris

Inside the funky UNESCO building, Paris where I recently accompanied students to a Model United Nations conference....

As well as the amazing exterior of retro architecture and stylish James Bondesque interior....

....Check out the view from the canteen on the seventh floor where we ate lunch every day!!

For more shadow shots this week, click HERE for Shadow Shot Sunday - Enjoy!

Shadow Shot Sunday 216 - Nice

Shooting straight into the light in the Paillon Park, Nice creates some dramatic shadows on a November day when the sky was the bluest of blues......For more shadow shots from around the world, click here for Shadow Shot Sunday....Enjoy!

Imperia - A day out at the olive oil festival

 Autumn is the time for harvesting the olives and November is the time to celebrate that harvest and the riches it produces down on the Ligurian Coast in Italy. The streets are full with stalls selling olive oil and other delicious Italian specialities and there are marquees for tasting sessions, as well as restaurants putting on gourmet menus for the day. Mid- November in Imperia is a lovely festive day out at the start of winter......

Don't hesitate to visit if you get the chance - it is only one hour from Nice by car, or 40 minutes on the train from Ventimiglia....Enjoy!!

Shadow Shot Sunday 215 - Vernazza, Cinque Terre

You can always rely on Italy for an endless supply of photogenic washing lines complete with shadows......for more shadow shots this week, click HERE for Shadow Shot Sunday. Enjoy!!

Shadow Shot Sunday 214 - Sant Angelo - Rome

A shadowy corner in the old Jewish Ghetto Quarter in Rome - Sant Angelo - which proved to be a delightful and charming neighbourhood to wander and browse....for more shadow shots this week, click here for Shadow Shot Sunday - Enjoy!!

Shadow Shot Sunday 213 - London

Late afternoon shadows lengthen across the lawns of Marble Hill House in London - along the river between Richmond and Twickenham. For more shadow shots visit Shadow Shot Sunday - Enjoy!

Autumnal Afternoon....Breil-Sur-Roya

Last weekend I was still sitting on the beach and swimming in the sea, but this weekend the weather is starting to change, so I decided to head for the hills and look for some Autumnal beauty....

Such beauty was not hard to find up in the Roya valley in a little town called Breil - a centre for hiking, rafting and canyoning in the mountains. As you can see the setting is very pretty and this is matched by some stunning baroque architecture....

...as well as some pretty coloured houses juxtaposed with some gorgeous weathering and textured walls and doorways...

but the best colours to be found yesterday were the Autumn hues of the foliage - especially that fiery red...

Who can resist photographing Nature's finest in all its Autumn glory??

Breil-Sur-Roya is easily reachable from Nice by taking le Train de Merveilles from Nice-Ville railway station. The journey is one hour plus there are lots of other lovely stops on the line. Enjoy!

Shadow Shot Sunday 212 - Javea, Spain

Is there anything more serene than sitting on a sundrenched beach under a sunshade  looking out to sea?............For more shadow shots click here for Shadow Shot Sunday - Enjoy!

Browsing around Bussana Vecchia....

First founded in 1050AD by one of the Counts of Ventimiglia, prospering as part of the Republic of Genoa from the 13th century onwards, the development of Bussana Vecchia was halted abruptly by an earthquake on 23rd February 1887. The village was destroyed and abandoned....

The new village of Bussana was resituated at sea level two years later and the old village lay deserted and forgotten up on the top of the hill....until Clizia a potter and painter from Turin came here in 1959. He founded the International Community of Artists together with the poet Giovanni Fronte and a painter Vanni Giuffre. Moving mountains of rubble and restoration of the least damaged buildings began, and soon artists from France, UK, Germany, Holland, Italy, and Austria joined the growing community of international artists - even though there was no water, electricity, and sewage.....

Although threatened evictions and stand-offs against the Italian government followed in the sixties, studios, workshops, and galleries were established amongst the ruins and are still present today - although the community is in constant flux with artists coming and going......

The most poignant ruin is that of the magnificent church built 1404 - 1652 and dedicated to St Egidio - over the years it changed from a modest structure to a Romanic church and finally to a magnificent Baroque church with columns, frescoes, stucco, and six chapels and altars built into the walls. Gerolamo Comanedi, a young artist from Lugano, worked there his whole life creating these amazing friezes, paintings and stuccoes succeeded by his nephew.....Now it is a magnificent ruin inhabited only by a magnificent rooster and a few chickens. 

As you can see it is a very photogenic place to visit and I did manage to get there by public transport - two trains to Ventimiglia and San Remo, followed by a bus to new Bussana and then a steep uphill climb of about 40 minutes - Well worth the effort - Enjoy!!

Walking the Thames Path - Tower Bridge to Thames Barrier

The Thames Path is the only walking trail that follows a river from its source to the sea and this summer, I walked the final twelve mile section from Tower Bridge to the Thames Barrier where the path officially finishes....

It is a fascinating section which traces London's riverside history and industry through Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, Deptford, and Greenwich passing by famous London landmarks such as the Dome, Cutty Sark and Emirates cablecar, as well as churches, statues, and classic vistas across the Thames to London Docklands.

Some sights discovered along the way are much more unusual and unexpected such as the beautifully tranquil and serene Ecology Park situated on the Greenwich Peninsula....

and the delightful Surrey Docks farm which is right on the riverside with crops, gardens and allotments as well as pigs, chickens, horses, ducks and goats.....

We were hoping for a full farm breakfast here but unfortunately the cafe is closed on Mondays, but Deptford  stepped in and provided a wonderful pitstop to fuel up on a full English big, big breakfast to keep us going the rest of the way...

After this stop, we had no trouble reaching the Thames Barrier!! and another mile walk brings you to Charlton Mainline Railway Station with fast links back to London. So now I have done one third of the Thames Path (180 miles in total) - the source to Oxford and this final section - now we only need to do the middle 120 miles!!

Check the official Thames Path website for more details. Enjoy!! 

Shadow Shot Sunday 211 - Pisa

Where can you find this rather striking geometric pattern of shadows??

Well it belongs to a bench in an art corner of Pisa.....

opposite a rather delightful jazzy gigantic Keith Haring mural entitled "Life" - perhaps not the kind of art typically associated with Renaissance Italy....

More posts will depict the more typical architectural shots of Pisa, Italy, but in the meantime enjoy the other shots submitted to Shadow Shot Sunday...