Monthly Archives: April 2011

Monumental

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Brian

The Washington Monument in numbers: built 1848-1888; 555 feet high; 90,854 tons in weight; 36,000 pieces of marble and granite; 897 steps to the observation deck; and 50 surrounding flag poles. Photo: Washington Monument 21st April 2011

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Topdeck

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Brian

Bus travel comes with a sightseeing tour if you ride on top. Photo: Citi 3 bus, Cambridge 18th April 2011

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Primesight

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Brian

A Big Issue seller and a local bypasser help two Japanese visitors with directions. Photo: Station Road, Cambridge, 18th April 2011

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Wordfest

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Brian

Cambridge Wordfest 2011.  Roger McGough: ‘Don’t grow too big for your roots’; ‘The clash of opening times and bed times’; ‘Born in a street, they died in a road’; Alzheimer’s, ‘Howling at the Scrabble Board’.  Andre Mangeot: ‘The real music … Continue reading →

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Mani 7

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Brian

Kambos: Patrick Leigh Fermor is very dismissive about the village and things haven’t really changed. Photo: Kambos, Mani, Greece, 16th June 2010

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Mani 6

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Brian

Lazy afternoon, the main square, Kardamili.   The Greek flag hangs limply by the memorial. Cicadas call, cars growl by, the fountain murmurs.  The whine of a motor bike, the faint cooing of a dove.   Clean smell of pines in the heat. … Continue reading →

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Arles

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Brian

At the end of a wet afternoon two worried passengers wait in the booking hall at Arles station. Photo: Arles, France, 12th March 2010

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Mani 5

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Brian

South to Trachila.  Very quiet: two people at a harbourside cafe; men working on a building; three fishermen messing with their boats.  There are old and new houses, some dereliction and some conversions and rebuilding.  Holiday homes?  The church is … Continue reading →

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Mani 4

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Brian

Pano Kardamili, the evocative remains of a Maniot clan stronghold.  Superficial echoes of a medieval castle in England, yet the later buildings date from the early 19th century, four or five hundred years after English barons last fortified their lands. … Continue reading →

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Mani 3

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Brian

Vathia, high above the sea, amazing and extraordinary as though carved from the living rock.  Who owns it or is responsible?  It ought to be a World Heritage Site. Photo: Vathia, Mani, Greece, 17th June 2011

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Palm & Pond

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Brian

The Tropical House, University of Cambridge, Botanic Garden. Photo: Botanic Garden, 9th April 2011

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Mani 2

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Brian

Mulberry trees found growing in some Kardamili gardens are left over from the silk industry.  Silk was produced up to the 1960s and sent to Kalamata.  ‘Morea’ come from the mulberry – the Morea was the name of the Peloponnese … Continue reading →

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Green Street 2

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Brian

See post 22nd December 2010.  Three and a half months later the ghosts of a business remain and no entrepreneur comes along to clothe the nakedness of the recession. Photo: Green Street, Cambridge 7th April 2011

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Mani 1

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Brian

Agios Spiridon, Pano Kardamili; the walls incorporate megalithic blocks from ancient fortifications Photo: Agios Spiridon, Kardamili, June 2010

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Glove 2

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Brian

Modern British Sculpture, Royal Academy 22 January – 7th April 2011  Making Do and Getting By – a Selection of Everyday Encounters 1970-85, Richard Wentworth, includes photographs of gloves on railings  Shoe Waste 1970-2005, Marc Camille Chaimowicz, uses/shows a trail … Continue reading →

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