Tag Archives: europe

Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Portugal, Photographs: Travel

Overlooking The Duoro

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Overlooking The Duoro
The Duoro River winding through Porto, Portugal on a hazy afternoon.

You would be wrong if you thought that I had shared all of the photographs from our 2023 Europe travels! I came back with more than 5000 image files. I’ve traversed the full set a few times, and there are a lot more photographs there for me to finalize. This one comes from our stay in Porto, Portugal, on a warm late afternoon when a random walk took us past this viewpoint above the Duoro River, at a park where the locals were hanging out.

We wander quite a bit when we travel. In fact, just plain walking around and discovering things is probably our favorite activity. This has some downsides — sometimes our approach means that we miss important things. But there are benefits: we see things that folks on the usual tourist itinerary may miss, sometimes we end up talking to people, and we have an experience that is closer to discovering (rather than being led to) things.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Apartment Facade, Porto

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Apartment Facade, Porto
“Apartment Facade, Porto” — A building full of tightly packed apartments, Porto.

We visited Porto, Portugal last summer during our travels though (mostly) Southern Europe. We spent a week in Portugal, split between Porto and Lisbon. We had heard good things about Porto, and it is clearly a city that combines history with modernity. That, in fact, seems to sometimes lead to some (typical urban) conflicts as older areas transition to incorporate expensive real estate, and you’ll sometimes see juxtapositions of wealth and poverty.

I saw this building on our very first walk in Porto. We headed toward the historic Ribiera district, which features densely packed buildings on a steep, hillside landscape alongside the Duoro River. The building in the photograph is not, as far as I know, any sort of historic treasure, but it is a visually remarkable structure. . It appears to be very dense apartments of some sort, and I can only imagine wh=at it must are like inside.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links: Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Info.

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Photographs: Architecture, Photographs: Night, Photographs: Portugal, Photographs: Travel

In the Shadows

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In the Shadows
“In the Shadows” — A couple walks though Donostia-San Sebastian at night.

This photograph comes from our visit to Donostia/San Sebastián this past summer. We were there for a few days, coinciding with the Tour de France ending a stage there and then passing through the town a second time the next day. Needless to say, that added a bit of extra excitement. Aside from its other attractions, the town is known for its “pinxtos” cuisine — a sor of Basque tapas tradition — and on this evening we were out to enjoy this wonderful food.

While portions of this area of San Sebastián can be quite lively at night, around the fringes there are some surprisingly quiet corners. This scene was at the edge of a square surrounded by closely-spaced buildings, and I had initially stopped to photograph the arches when this couple strolled through the scene.

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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him. Blog | Bluesky | Mastodon | Substack Notes | Flickr | Email

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Photographs: Europe, Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Three Windows, Florence

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Three Windows, Florence
Three windows with green shutters on a weathered wall in Florence, Italy

Three Windows, Florence. © Copyright 2023 G Dan Mitchell.

Three windows with green shutters on a weathered wall in Florence, Italy

This is one of the most prevalent color combinations we saw in Italian towns this past summer — the variations on golden-brown (which can range from essentially tan to dark brown) and the green shutters. I’m sure that not all of the shutters are actually green, but on some days it seemed so. And while I’m listing the typical things, the distressed wall surface needs to be included, as that is very common, too.

The three windows were on a nondescript building in Florence, on a side street a ways away from the bustling center of the touristy historic district. Here the streets were almost empty, and we wandered slowly among buildings, a small park, and portions of a university campus. I like the combination of the symmetry of the three windows with the distances of the open window at the left.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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