Tag Archives: historic

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Travel

Piazza Grande, Arezzo

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Piazza Grande, Arezzo
“Piazza Grande, Arezzo” — Buildings along the perimeter of the Piazza Grande, Arezzo, Italy.

During the summer of 2023 we went on a 10-week ramble though (mostly) Southern Europe. During the latter part of the trip we made a circuit through portions of Italy over a period of about three weeks. We made a point of visiting a few smaller places like this town of Arezzo. It isn’t entirely devoid of tourists, but it is nothing like the big, popular places. The photograph comes from the “Piazza Grande,” or grand square, in the upper part of the town.

It is a fascinating place. One signature feature of the square is that it tilts. It is built near the top of a hill in this high part of the town, and the slope is quite impressive. The square is surrounded by buildings that are hundreds of years old. We were there a couple of times, but on this afternoon we got there just before a thunderstorm arrived. and we quickly took refuge in a restaurant beneath a portico on the piazza as the storm began.

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: Architecture, Photographs: Scotland, Photographs: Travel

Light Beam, St. Giles Cathedral

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Light Beam, St. Giles Cathedral
“Light Beam, St. Giles Cathedral”— Light from an upper window forms beams inside St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh.

We concluded our three weeks in Scotland earlier this year with a few days in Edinburgh. This marked one extreme on the continuum of our visit, with the opposite end defined by a week spent walking the quiet trails of the Great Glen Way. Edinburgh, of course, is not just a rather large city, but it is also a place that attracts crowds of tourists, even when we were there before prime tourist season. Since it was our first visit to the city we had to, of course, visit some of the famous sites.

On the day we arrived by train we checked into our little hotel, located on a quiet side street less than a half mile from the famous Edinburgh Castle. After getting settled we set out on foot, walking toward this landmark at the upper end of the Royal Mile. We had not done much research, which means that we got to be surprised by “discovering” places like St. Giles’ Cathedral, the subject of this photograph.

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: Scotland, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Central Station, Glasgow

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Central Station, Glasgow

“Central Station, Glasgow” — The Central Railrway Station and underpass, downtown Glasgow, Scotland.

The Scottish railway tracks reach this station via a nearby bridge over the River Clyde, and the tracks are still elevated here. Above we see a glass roof designed to light the interior, while below we see… an underpass between two sections of Glasgow’s downtown. Because rail transportation is common in the UK and Europe we see many more railway stations than we are used to in the US. There are some very modern stations, but many of them are more utilitarian and feature older architecture.

Although we arrived in and left from Glasgow by rail, we never made it inside this station. We came upon it near the end of a very long walk that took us from downtown Glasgow to the West End and then following the River Clyde. We turned into the city when we arrived at the railway bridge over the city.

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: England, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Shambles Market

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Shambles Market
“Shambles Market” — The Shambles Market on a cloudy June morning, York, England.

You probably know the feeling. You are in an unfamiliar town. You want breakfast. You head out looking for just the right place, like we did on this morning in York. You think of a particular area where you want to look, but when you arrive you discover that not much is open yet — it is a cloudy morning and still too early for the tourist onslaught. You look at one place but think you’ll look around a bit more. You wander past the little coffee shop, but it looks funky. There are some food trucks, but they don’t have whatever it is you want. So you wander back where you started and enter a little place like this one.

The possibly-contrived cuteness of the place might have initially put me off, but once inside the scones looked good, the bakery smells were anttractive, and they seemed to have the right kinds of coffee. We ordered and went upstairs to wait. When you see this photo of the storefront imagine that it is wider than what you see only by the width of the entrance doorway out of sight to the left. It was a tiny place — barely enough room on the ground floor for two of us to stand at the counter and order. But in had many floors, each equally compact.

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.

Blog | About | Instagram | Flickr | Facebook | Threads | Post | Email

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

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