From home and abroad.
I woke up in Kempten and the first thing I did was to have a cautious peek out the window. Cautious because I didn’t want to see any rain and my room was directly overlooked by a dozen others. I didn’t want to give any unsuspecting guest more than their share of horror this early in the morning. Wait. Sunshine? What? I pulled on the minimum amount of clothes required to be presentable at breakfast and then proceeded to packRead More
I sat eating breakfast with the other guests, less than a dozen people at this time of year. Mostly (if not all) bikers. We watched the rain move over in worryingly heavy and increasingly persistent sheets and tried to plan our escape, all going in different directions. It seemed inevitable that at least one of us was going to have a very soggy day indeed. I packed up, paid up and said my goodbyes and got on the suspiciously dryRead More
During this ‘extended Christmas break’ I’ve been indulging in before I start the new job, I thought I’d take advantage of the unseasonably mild winter weather we’ve been having so far. Take advantage of as in get out on the bike. This decision was also partly brought on by having the wind knocked out of me in mid-December when I got the renewal for my motorbike insurance policy. It’s an awfully large expense for something that (lately at least) getsRead More
What with it being the first of the year and all, I usually get the urge to do something productive, if only in an attempt to prove to myself that I can and in the hope that I’ll continue to try to outdo myself as the week/month/year progresses. Productivity started early(ish) this January 1st with a trip to the gym. Yes, I’m one of those people now. After all that unpleasantness was over, I wanted to get out somewhere localRead More
Since moving back to Cork a few years ago, I’ve started to rediscover some of my favorite local places where I’d go to get out of my head for a few minutes and enjoy the familiarity of the scenery. More often these days, I don’t think to grab a camera before leaving the house, but looking at it another way, I guess I always have a perfectly serviceable camera in my pocket. The photos just very rarely make it anyRead More
Surely there is no better way to spend a bank holiday than with friends, eating & drinking too much and taking in some amazing scenery. This was Inch beach in Kerry, where I rediscovered the wide end of my 24-70. Great light, not too busy and better still, only a short stroll from the house. Not so much with the writing this time around. Maybe next time.
It’s been a little while since we were really in Kerry, not just passing through Kenmare or Killarney on a round trip from Molls Gap or Strawberry fields (a wonderful pancake house near the Kenmare side of Molls Gap). Really in Kerry, like so far west the land stops and the next stop is America. We took an overnight trip down to the land of ‘here be dragons’ beyond Kenmare to celebrate our anniversary and stayed in Parknasilla. Of course,Read More
As per usual, it’s been a quiet few months photography wise. The camera phone has completely overtaken the DSLR as a means of recording events, places, people, everything. The farthest those photos ever make it is to instagram. As a means of delaying the onset of cabin fever as we approach the end of this festive season and indeed the end of the year, we left the house for the first time in days and made it as far asRead More
With the lavender fields, rolling hills of Provence and daily (hourly) thunderstorms now in the rear view mirror, we were off to spend a few days in the Alps. Nothing really new here, they’re just mountains and in previous trips we’ve pretty well covered this ground here. In the French Alps anyway, anything outside France is still very much unknown territory. We were heading back in the direction of Gorge du Verdon and we’d only be on the road forRead More
Leaving Carcassonne, today’s journey was about 350 km. In the name of it not taking all day (and because we had to be at our destination within an hour of a time I’d set with the property owner), today was going to be very much a motorway day. As luck would have it, this also included my favorite piece of French motorway; The ring around/avoiding Montpellier. I’ve sat baking in the heat waiting for the toll in the past soRead More
All the convenience of getting to France, without the pain in the arse of the 3 hour motorway trip from Dublin. That could be a tag line for Cork tourism and a slogan for Brittany Ferries all in one. Now somewhat freshly married, it was finally time to set off for three whole weeks, touring around the cities & countryside of France on a shiny and almost new motorbike that I somehow managed to sneak into the deal. The firstRead More
It seemed that I’d been missing opportunities to get to Kilruddery Gardens left right and center over the years we lived in Dublin. So in the run up to moving, a list was made. Kilruddery was on it. Thats the entire story really. Needless to say it’s a great place, worthy of another visit when/if I should find myself in Dublin with time to kill at some future date. Less words, more pictures. And so on and so on. Ah,Read More
IMMA is and has always been too damn handy. As I have mentioned before, it literally is the neighbours front garden. If it was any closer I wouldn’t have to put my shoes on to walk over there. Quiet neighbours too, never any trouble from them. They have a couple of wild parties every year and a couple of more sedate ones but I’ve never had to go up there and bang on their door to tell them to keepRead More
Or so I thought anyway. Just something to pass off as an update on an otherwise run of the mill ( so far) weekend. About a week ago, I spotted a screaming (i.e. great) deal on B&H for a Canon 60D. Presumably because it’s an old model and due to be replaced by the 70D next month. However, while the 70D will be all the latest gadgets and gizmos, bear in mind that I haven’t bought an SLR since myRead More
After the huge trip to Italy and back (with a lot of detouring in between) last year, holidays this year were going to have to be a little more low key. Don’t get me wrong, I was still all for a week or two in France but wedding savings said no. So instead, we decided on something we’d wanted to do for a long time; go to Cornwall! After all, pasties and cask ale. It sold itself well in advanceRead More
Or “Europe 2012; Part 1” if you prefer. Going over and trying to process the many gigabytes of video shot with my pair of drift HD cameras, I’ve entirely neglected the photos. It took me a couple of days to get into the habit of taking photos during our holiday last August and as a result I’ve come away with significantly less photos than the previous years holiday in France. I think a lot of it was down to theRead More
Wait, whats your name again? It’s only been [counting on fingers] June, July, August, September, October, November; Oh almost 6 months since I last pressed the export button on a batch of photos. I suppose as long as I post once a year I can still refer to myself as a (photo)blogger in the sometimes polite circles of whippersnappers that know about these things. It seems the more cameras I buy, the less photos I take. The less photos IRead More
Julie heard of a ‘Vintage Market’ taking place last Sunday just outside Dublin at the ‘village of Lyons’ near Celbridge. Turns out the place is a wonderful spot, even if the vintage market turned out to be more of an antique fair. However, she did manage to pick up a couple of pieces of interest and while thumbing through some old posters and postcards, I found the below. It’s a postcard from Crosshaven, Co. Cork although I believe it’s beenRead More
Taken an age ago on one of the increasingly less frequent (I know, I know) romps around parts of Kerry that aren’t 1; Molls Gap, 2; Kenmare or 3; Killarney. Back when I was only too delighted to leave the car, throw the tripod & bronica loaded with velvia over my shoulder and go off in search of a tasty foreground rock. Nowadays, Velvia (at least the developing and scanning part of it) has gotten old to the point whereRead More
HD on Vimeo Bealach Na Ba, once the only road into the remote western shores town of Applecross. Now a ‘must ride’ road for those that prefer the two wheeled mode of transport. Think of the road like any country road around Wicklow, except on steroids. Oh and with a perfect surface. Oh and with no cow/sheep/pig shit in the middle of the road just as you carve through a bend at speed. Oh and… You get the idea. I’llRead More