Tunisian Odyssey

Just back from a superb trip to Tunisia which packed an enormous amount into 11 days.  From the verdant North, where wheat fields wave and wild flowers bloom, to the sand dunes and salt flats of the South, we saw it all: from ancient Carthaginian harbours to Roman amphitheatres, Arab medinas and  Star Wars sets.

From traditional Berber hospitality to pick pockets on the Tunis Metro, and couscous and traditional briks we soaked up Tunisian hospitality as we toured the land in a Coaster bus, Land Cruisers, camels, horse-drawn Caleches and on foot.

And the Mosques, medinas and people provided plenty to photograph.

The tour was with Explore led by a terrific tour leader, James Connery, who made sure we got the most out of it.  And a great load of new friends were made.

I've put a selection of photos on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/diomedeacoaching/sets/72157623622035469/ .

I hope you enjoy them.

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Back from Malta

Finally some time to write about our time in Malta and some of its highlights.  We last went to Malta some 30 years ago.  This time it wasn't until we went to Mdina and Valletta that I could remember much of it.  But one thing hadn't changed - the driving.  Drivers fitted one of two categories.  Either they were Nervous Nellies and drove at 15mph, unconcernedly holding up huge queues of traffic, or they drove like Italians on weapons grade coke.  Either way their antics were matched only by the absolutely appalling state of the roads.  Combined with the general run down appearance of the island one could be forgiven in thinking that Malta was a developing country rather than an EU one.

And the Malta buses:  colourful, scary and ancient.  One driver told us that the oldest in the fleet was built in 1944!  But they are British engineering at its best: agricultural, unreliable but able to be fixed by any blacksmith with a hammer and a forge, and probably designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.  We don't build 'em like we used to...thank God.

But if this is negative the counterpoint is the History starting with the temples 1000 years older than the Pyramids.  Veryan kept complaining that they didn't tell you much about them or the people who built them and we soon realised after a visit to The Malta National Museum of Archaeology  that was because no-one has a clue!

Malta has seen waves of invasion and occupation: the Romans, Arabs, Knights of St John, Normans, Turks, French and most recently the British.  The Germans and Italians tried in 1942 but failed.

The oil tanker SS Ohio entering Grand Harbour at the end of the famous Pedestal convoy in 1942, battered but unbowed, and lashed to two destroyers.  The Pedestal convoy helped save Malta.  British ships and men lost in Operation Pedestal were about the same as the Falklands' War but the operation occurred over only five days. This image became one of the iconic images of WW2. 





The heroic defence of Malta resulted in a national George Cross bestowed on Malta by King George VI and is still displayed in the upper hoist of the Maltese flag.  To tell the history of Malta in a blog would be both presumptuous and beyond my capabilities so I won't try.  But it's pretty amazing.

And the Roman Catholic Church is pre-eminent.  Malta is devoutly Catholic although there is an Anglican Cathedral, courtesy of the Brits, in Valletta.  The smallest villages have some of the grandest churches.  Huge they are and of a style that looks like a cross between Italian and Spanish Baroque.

Finally you can't talk about Malta without mentioning Valletta and Grand Harbour.  Truly one of the greatest maritime views in the World.

I took lots of pictures of everything with my new Canon Powershot G11 which handles like a compact and shoots like an SLR.  Its low light performance is truly outstanding.  All the interior shots were hand held without flash.  You can see the pictures by following the hyperlinks or go to Flickr.

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Malta Here We Come

Off to Malta to catch some warmth and hopefully sun.  Last went to Malta some 30 years ago so I expect there will be changes.  Loved it last time so I hope I'll love it this time!  Lots of pictures to follow I expect.

Shooting the State Capitols, USA

Edward Crim is a photographer from St Louis, Missouri, who has undertaken to photograph all the State Capitols across the US. So far he has done 39.  This is a terrific project and one after my own heart.  As you'll see from my Flickr photos I am prone to shooting buildings but I'm not in the same class as Edward!  You can see Edward's photos here.  Roll the mouse over each city to bring up the key photo; click on the city to see the set.
And to start the ball rolling here is Melbourne in the early 1990s:

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Back from Italy

Back now from Italy.  Had a great time in the land that invented modern Europe and is the source of all beauty in the West.  Good bits are the architecture, art, cities, trains, food, coffee and plumbing.  Bad bits are the autostradi, drivers, signposting, steep hills and parking in towns.
Took lots of photos which you can see on flickr.

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I'll be back...

Well tomorrow we are off to the Highlands for a week in our motorhome which we call Ajax (because it's so big).  We are venturing into midge country so we leave fully prepared with a large bottle of Avon's Skin so Soft, which Mel Gibson found so effective in repelling midges during the filming of Braveheart and did so much to popularise.  So here goes!


Hopefully like the Terminator "I'll be back".

Ahhh...Venice

My daughter is staying with me, just back from a year in Vienna. She described her trip to Venice this Spring and it brought back wonderful memories of my trip to Venice last year. Venice is truly a magic city and a photographers dream with stunning light and visual complexity. This is one of my favourite shots of Piazza San Marco in the late afternoon on a greyish day. The architecture is as always - brilliant - and provides a frame for the mundaneness of life as the tourists, hawkers and stall owners intermingle on perhaps the most famous urban space on Earth: