Tag Archives: street

Photographs: Italy, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Four Mailboxes

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Four Mailboxes
“Four Mailboxes” — Four old metal mailboxes on a weathered wall in Orvieto, Italy.

When we travel we do seek out some of the famous, must-see places and things — castles, cathedrals, geological features, markets, and all the rest. But we also like to engage in a certain amount of random wandering when we can. In some ways this gives me a better sense of the character of a place than I would get by checking off all of the Big Important Things. (Don’t get me wrong. Many of those are important with good reason and are well worth visiting.) I made this photograph on one of these wandering days.

We often start out with a very general goal or idea in mind, but what we do along the way is often fairly unplanned. That was the case on this day in Orvieto, a lovely Italian hill town. Being constrained by its location on the relatively flat top of a hill, the place isn’t huge, and you can cover most of it easily on foot. So we were out walking, poking our heads into narrow alleys, looking for interesting buildings, and photographing any little bits of local character we found.

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: Spain, Photographs: Travel, Photographs: Urban/Street

Bar Bistec, Sevilla

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Bar Bistec, Sevilla
“Bar Bistec, Sevilla” — Bar Bistec, a cafe-bar in Sevilla, Spain.

On this morning we crossed the wide canal near the old part of Sevilla where we were staying, and wandered through a newer (less-old?) section of town. After visiting the farmer’s market, we walked through an area with shops and restaurants, then followed streets that paralleled the canal and took us into what one well-known travel writer might describe as “workaday” neighborhoods.

This establishment was in one of those areas. To an American it might seem odd that it was, if my memory is correct, almost next door to a large church — but that’s not so uncommon in Europe. I like several things about this subject, including the arrangement of rectangles, the colors, and the signs. But above all else is that intense daytime light of summer in Spain.

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

Shop Doorway

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Shop Doorway
“Shop Doorway” — A tarp partially covers the doorway to a small shop, Lisbon.

Like big cities everywhere, Lisbon has a great variety of neighborhoods and ways of living. There are the popular squares and avenues, in some places lined with business and expensive stores. There are tourist-centric locations. And there are side streets that you might not see unless you walk and get a little ways from those other spots, perhaps on a walk from one of them to another. We headed down random streets between where we stayed and the waterfront area, and in doing so passed places like this shop.

Not that Lisbon or Portugal are the only cities where you see such things, but there are a lot of little shops here that have this sort of funky, improvised appearance. The elements of this one are striking, including the upturned basket holding open the tarp “door. Inside this shop you could buy wine, candy, and various other little items.

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

East Church of Inverness

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East Church of Inverness
“East Church of Inverness” — Two pedestrians pass the facade of the East Church of Inverness with its striking purple doors.

We spent only a single night in Inverness on this trip, a decision I think we regret a bit. (One challenge with travel, of course, is there is never enough time to do everything.) The main focus of the first part of this trip was hiking the Great Glen Walk between Fort William and Inverness, so in our minds Inverness had become simply “the place where the walk ends” and not necessarily a place of interest on its own. In any case, we did get an afternoon and a morning to wander the town before we headed south, and this beautiful stone church with its striking doors was one “discovery.”

One other Inverness story: The Great Glen Way is pretty easy to follow and, on balance, relatively easy walking. There are hills and a few steep sections , but nothing like what we’ve experienced in the Sierra. The trail is well-marked. But on the final day we managed to get off-route at the very end. Rather than coming into Inverness on the Great Glen Way, we sort of ended up taking the… Great Wrong Way. It rained for the final few hours, and I think we were so focused on getting to our destination and out of the weather that we overlooked a critical trail sign at one point. We soon found ourselves wandering along a canal and through boat yards thinking, “This can’t be the trail!” it wasn’t, but we finally found a round-about route to central Inverness to finish the walk. Our reward? A pub was right across the street from the trail’s terminus!

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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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.