Even just a few days in New York is fun. It's a fabulous city with numerous areas to explore. We fell in love with the Meatpackers district; the boutiques and street art/graffiti there are the new Soho cool and the high walk is a great extended aerial garden. Love it!
There are the theatres and galleries. The McQueen exhibition is exquisite, it's a shame we weren't allowed to take photographs, that would be a whole new photographic genre. But it was fabulous to just see McQueen's clothes in the flesh. His cut and sense of theatre was truly sensational. Something he said really sticks in my mind, he said he designs for a woman from side on, that way he sees her real and very individual shape. Makes perfect sense.
Hadn't realised just how many wonderful glass buildings New York has. On one day there were fantastic clouds and of course these were reflecting in the glass of the skyscrapers. So Julie has now become a cloud fanatic, always on the lookout for some great clouds and glass.
And the other good thing about New York, you know you're always going to be well fed....
Here's a really short YouTube slideshow:
http://www.youtube.com/user/shutterspeedtravel#p/a/u/0/oNoQVX1ZPDw
Julie and Adam
June 2011
New York, New York - June 2011
A Stroll Around The City of London - May 2011
With the nicer weather upon us and no chance of getting away for an African adventure until July, we discovered it was possible to get a photo fix walking around the streets on our own doorstep. So just in a few hours grabbed after a day in the office, Julie and Sarah took to the streets of the City of London and took some shots of some of London's stunning architecture.
Take a look at our facebook page to see the selection taken on that day. in the meantime, this is the Lloyds Building. We probably need to photograph more of London, OK there are no wild animals but we have some pretty fine buildings and The Shard is coming along nicely!
Remembering Cuba.....
On a wet bank holiday here in London we looked back at "Soulful Cuba" ... and created one of our musical slideshows recording some of our best memories. Cars, Music, Cigars and Rum. What is better!!!
Enjoy
Julie and Adam
India: Holi and Varanasi - 22 May 2011
It has taken a little while, but we managed to put together our slideshow from our earlier India expedition. Again, India tops all your senses. Colour, sound and smells! Absolutely fantastic.
Julie and Adam
Salsa, Cigars and Che in Cuba: May 2011
Cuba is a fascinating destination for a short break or up to 2-3 weeks. There's quite a lot you can do on this small island although we think it's better to try not to do much at all! You could for instance have a great holiday not even leaving Havana, and just sleeping in til late, get up for lunch and a walk around the streets of the old town, taking in a daquiri or two, the street performers and some daytime music, before heading back to bed for a siesta and then up again for dinner and a late night of music and dancing at any one of a great number of venues. You could have this sort of break in Santiago as well.
Alternatively, you could tour the island, taking in some of the tobacco factories and the wonderful countryside and seeing some of the historical sites that tell the story of Che and the revolution.
Here are our impressions in a snapshot:
+ outstanding music on pretty much every corner, music is in the soul of the people. There are fantastic late night venues for live music which includes traditional (Buena Vista Social Club, rumba, samba, cha cha etc), reggae, reggaeton, rock, jazz, hip hop.... - all superb, live, and you will want to be up dancing irrespective of your ability.
+ warm, friendly people. It feels very safe walking around in the evenings. You are warned about pick pockets and some hustling but if you are a seasoned traveler and/or just keep your wits about you will find it much less threatening than walking around most other places in the world.
+ if you're a car buff, and even if you're not, there are all the great old American cars to look at and drive around in.
+ cigar officianado? No better place to visit. The tobacco countryside is beautiful and the tobacco factories fascinating. Prices are excellent for the real Cuban cigar if you buy at the factory shops themselves. Don't be tempted to buy from the touts who nick cigars from the factories, along with the certificates and packaging as these cheap cigars are bitter and sub-standard, you can easily taste the difference. You get what you pay for and the prices of the real deal are already very good so don't be tempted.
-/+ the food isn't great at all in the government owned restaurants which are the majority. It's typically a choice of pork, fish or chicken served with rice and beans and it's all very greasy. In some countries this would be good food, but not in Cuba. Having said that, before you go, look into the paladars and make reservations at these. They are privately owned restaurants, often in a block of flats so they're typically quirky but with really excellent and memorable food.
-/+ you wouldn't go to Cuba for the quintessential Caribbean island beach holiday but for a cultural fix, the people, music and dancing are really wonderful and for an insight into the communist regime it's worth going. As long as you don't overdo it - guides will want to show you absolutely everything there is to see and know about the revolution, which may be more than your level of interest, however it is truly fascinating to get an understanding of how the system works with its strengths as well as weaknesses and how people live on a daily basis.
+ the architecture. Really terrific buildings abound which is why UNESCO have listed some of the cities as World Heritage.
For additional images, please click onto our FaceBook page (on this site.)
We are definitely going back. See you in Cuba!
Julie and Adam
May 2011
Celebration and Mourning - March 2011
We made it into the Jaipur Times again this year! Caught again celebrating Holi at the palace in March. Sadly though, the maharaja died this week so from Holi celebration in March, Jaipur is now in mourning.
Holi, Varanasi and Just One Tiger, From a Distance - March 2011
Back from India to the glorious London sunshine. Our Indian trip was terrific. As expected, Holi was incredible fun, Bandhavgarh surprised us this time and Varanasi was fascinating, despite having what Julie considers the smelliest old town we have visited, due to the numerous cows in the narrow alleyways.
Holi, celebration of the harvest, of Spring, of colours. We played with colours on the streets, inside the palace grounds and at friends' homes. Even the Elephant festival in Jaipur had a touch of the colours, some people decided to get started early. Mostly with affection, but as the day progresses it becomes a bit more playful and boisterous, and the water pistols come out. We were getting around in an open World War II jeep which added to the hilarity. A serious hose down in a back garden was required at the end to get rid of most of the dye, some took a little longer to fade! A really fabulous couple of days.
Then a mad overnight train to get to Bandhavgarh where we were surprised with how difficult it was to get a tiger sighting. We managed to follow one tiger on one of our days but it was from some distance so the photography was poor. This was a big contrast to our last visit to this park when the sightings were very good. We were told a new female tiger had wandered into the territory, fought one of the adult females and eaten her. Unsurprisingly, this had disrupted the resident tiger behaviour. One thing that hadn't changed a bit was the bureaucracy of the park, that remains evident in abundance. Not to worry. We made the most of being in a rural area and spent a bit of time with some of the local school kids and teachers and we visited some of their homes and saw just how self sufficient they were, living communally in extended families, growing quite a range of crops, with the surplus dried and stored as future supplies.
Then on to Varanasi where the activities of the locals and the pilgrims down at the ghats along the river were fascinating to watch, in particular the evening aarti and sitting on a boat drifting along the river at sunrise was serene and photographically superb. Lots of interesting bathing and prayer activities and the light on the water was outstanding, presumably it's the accumulation over the years of flower petals and other debris in the water which creates the magical colours. 
All too soon another fabulous insight into Indian culture was over. Where to explore next time....?
Some of our photos from this trip have gone on to our FaceBook page and before Easter we would hope to have some high resolution images up on this site in the Slideshow section.
For those of us in London, let's hope this superb weather holds out! Oh, and to the lady below, I hope you have managed to sell that vegetable. It's a dangerous weapon in your hands!
Julie and Adam
April 2011