Flamborough Head
On a map of the UK, it’s that little spur that sticks out about half way up the east coast. Because it sticks out, there’s a lighthouse there, and I’m quite a fan of lighthouses.
10.156 ¡Adios!
I’ve had two completely lazy days at the villa, spent a couple of days racing and hiking around local high points, looked down on Benidorm, encountered a snake, visited Xàbia and its beautiful, modern church (at a more leisurely pace), spent time on the beach and seen some amazing sunsets. And all the while, the weather has been glorious. But now it’s time to go.
10.155 Action packed
The last full day of any trip for me always seems to be the most frantic. I spend half the time mentally noting things I must do, places I must see before the end of the trip, then suddenly it is the end of the trip and the mental checklist remains.
10.154 Stormy sunset
Sunsets can be so difficult to photograph, at least in any way that does them justice, but I think the added cloud cover and the moisture in the air added such an extra dimension this evening.
10.153 Xàbia
One thing that truly stood out in Xàbia – initially like a sore thumb – is the church near the port. Rising slightly above its neighbours, built of plain concrete and adorned with what appear at first to be spikes, Our Lady of Loreto church could not possibly be more incongruous.
10.152 Sierra Helada
The path became a climb, rising steeply for about 15 minutes where it seemed that the crest was forever just out of sight, until, suddenly, it just stopped. The ground levelled out for all of about 2 metres, and then fell away, hundreds of metres to the ocean below.
10.151 Alfresco dining
Completing the alfresco ambience, there’s a picnic table, with umbrellas for when the sun’s too bright. It’s fantastic. Did I mention it’s next to the pool?
10.150 Lazy Sunday
So… not a great deal was done today. This photograph, taken as the sun started to fade at the end of a very hot day, pretty much illustrates the focal point of today’s activities.
10.149 ¡hola!
I’ve rented a friend’s villa for the week, near the coast roughly half way between Valencia and Alicante. I’ve been here before and will doubtless come again, as it’s just perfect for short escapes.
10.148 Bottled Victory
Despite living in London for many years, I’ve never really taken a lot of notice of the empty “fourth plinth” in Trafalgar Square. Built in 1841 to hold a statue of William IV, it remained unused owing to a lack of funds. And has remained empty pretty much ever since.
10.137 Greenwich Park
Greenwich Park – one of London’s Royal Parks since 1427 and open to the public since the 18th century. I paid just a brief visit early this morning en route to a meeting, but wished I could have stayed a while longer.
10.136 Public hanging
With just a small nod to my previous employment, I thought the juxtaposition of a noose with the offices of Canary Wharf seemed to quite nicely illustrate the ongoing “public debate” about those dastardly City bankers…
10.133 Elephants in London
The registered charity Elephant Family has organised a campaign called Elephant Parade London 2010, whereby hundreds of brightly decorated elephants are being installed in all manner of places around the city for a couple of months, to raise awareness for the endangered Asian elephant.
Testing, testing…
Well, it has taken somewhat longer than I’d hoped, but I think it’s almost done! The new site’s “gone live” (otherwise you would not be reading this…) and just needs a few tweaks here and there. Right. Breathe out… breathe in…
10.102 Windsor Castle
It’s by no means cheap, but well worth it to experience the sheer sense of history, the splendour of the interiors and of course the chance to simply have a nose around a lavish, intact and fully functional royal castle.
10.65 Runway 29
There’s not many seats on a plane where you’d get to take such a picture without the wing pretty much filling the frame so I couldn’t resist. It’s almost “pilot’s eye view”. Moments later we were over the Mediterranean and looking forward to dinner.
10.64 Spring flowers
More signs that Spring is on its way here in Cyprus, this time in the form of tiny white flowers in the garden. This one small tree has hundreds of them, each no more than 1-2cm across (these photographs were taken with a 100mm macro lens), with lots more in bud.
10.63 Tomb tourists
Had a few spare minutes this afternoon for a quick look around at the Tombs of the Kings, situated on the coast just north of Paphos.
10.62 Outdoor life
In the summer, with leaves on the trees, this is probably a great spot to sit and cool off, watching the world go by (I’ll have to come back and see). Looks a bit bleak in winter, though.
10.61 Spring lizard
Yes, spring has officially kicked in, up here in the hills of Cyprus! One of our resident lizards – an agama Laudakia stellio, for those interested – was out sunning itself on the large concrete pipe in the garden.
10.60 Cyprus yellow
Well, it’s the beginning of March, and “yellow month” is already well under way in Cyprus. Almost everywhere you go, the countryside – normally quite brown, or more recently greener during the rainy season – suddenly and rather dramatically turns yellow, due to several varieties of yellow flowers all appearing at once.
10.59 Airport beach
OK, so it isn’t really a beach in the Cyprus-as-popular-summer-tourism-destination kind of way, and certainly won’t be featured in the guide books any time soon, but it’s a shingle-strewn strip of land adjacent to the ocean so it should technically count as one.
10.58 Flying geese
Flying geese. Above the clouds! And no, I was not airborne myself while taking this shot, although it really does look like it.
10.57 Waiting for summer
I did think that these straw sun shades looked quite funky, and the stacked deck chairs rather forlorn. Just think, in a few weeks from now, people will be fighting over these…
