Category: streetscape

Fountainbridge Branch

Fountainbridge and Lothian Road, Edinburgh

Where we went we say lots of the grand Edinburgh architecture (see below) – even the decrepit premises betrayed the elegance of their former occupants. Click any of the pictures below to see them bigger (if viewing in email or social media you may need to click the post title first to see on the web site).

Edinburgh Old Town

To the side of St Giles Cathedral is Parliament Square and buildings that now serve as courts with a statue of King Charles II; also a view looking down from South Bridge. Click on any picture (and maybe the post title first) to see them enlarged.

For the Django Fans

All of these were shot at the Place de Brouckere in Brussels, shortly before we left. I’m guessing it looked rather different in Django’s time. Click any image to see them bigger (if you’re seeing this in email you may need to click the post title, above, first).

Some Ghent Street Scenes

Some of the architecture and people we saw on our day in Ghent. Click any of the images above to see them all enlarged (you may need to click on the post title, above, first if you’re seeing this in an email).

Box of Trees

Rue de Musée, Brussels

Every time I see two rows of squared-off trees like this (there are some in the Tuileries in Paris as well) I’m reminded of a painting that’s stuck in my mind as a Magritte. However, even though we were on our way to the Magritte Museum and, despite searching arduously on the Internet multiple times I’ve never been able to locate it so I have no idea what I’m misremembering.

Grand-Place, Brussels

Here are examples of those de rigeur snaps one feels one has to take but that you can easily buy better postcard versions of or look up in a guide book. Needless to say, my casual travel zoom (16-55mm or 24-83 equivalent) was not up to the 360º challenge, nor was I carrying a tripod or a gimbal. The first picture uses the panoramic sweep feature of my camera to get about 180º. Even trying to fix the perspective in post proved quite a challenge on several of these. The Grand-Place, or Grote Markt, as the Flemish call it is a magnificent, historical square that has been a UNESCO world heritage site for the last 25 years. Read all about it on Wikipedia. Click any of the pictures above to see them all at full-size (if you’re seeing this in an email you may need to click the post title above to get to the web-site first.)

Palais de Justice, Brussels

The immense Palais de Justice, a building that looks like something out of Gormenghast, has been undergoing renovation for some time. We took an elevator from Rue des Minimes up to the level of the Palace, took a quick look and walked out onto the Place Poelaert which gives a tremendous view across rooftops of the area below. Click any picture to see them all full sized (you may need to click the post title, above, first if you’re seeing this in an email).

Hotel Room Views, Brussels

We spent last week in Belgium as tourists. We walked around Brussels for a few days, then took a train to Ghent for a day, a train to Ostend the next day and Bruges the day after that. Then we shifted to Antwerp for a few days. Lots of pictures coming up, many of them just touristy snapshots and postcard images. I will attempt to weed out too many you could just see in a guidebook and focus on those with a slightly more artistic or, at least, I hope, interesting perspective. As always, click on any image to see them all full sized (if you’re getting this in email you may need to click through to my site first by clicking on the post title, above).

St Ives, continued

St Ives is a charming, if tourist-crowded, town of beautiful alleys and surprise views. We also visited a number of galleries and open artists studios and had a few good conversations with working artists about their work, always inspiring. If viewing in email, click the post title to click into the images and see them larger.