Category Friday Photo
Friday Photo – Santiago de Cuba Cathedral
Santiago is Cuba’s second city and was the centre of attention following the Revolution, as it was here that Fidel Castro announced that they had won the power struggle, in front of enthusiastic crowds. The cathedral dominates the main square where Castro made his proclamation and is a fine example of colonial Spanish architecture.
Friday Photo – Shahi Zinda, Samarkand, Uzbekistan
I visited the wonderful mausoleum complex in September 2018. It seems like a dream right now! Hamish & I were the only Westerners there at the time in fact there were very few men at all with the majority of visitors being groups of women. The colours & patterns you can are typical of the […]
Friday Photos – Haydarpasa Train Station, Istanbul
Haydarpasa on the Asian side of the Bosphorus was my gateway to Syria back in 2009. It has been shut for since 2012, with trains eastwards departing from elsewhere in Istanbul. This meant the 2015 journey I undertook to Georgia started from the suburb of Pendik. It really is a grand old station that was […]
Friday Photos – Baku Architecture, Azerbaijan
Baku, Azerbaijan A year ago I was readying myself for a trip to Georgia and on by train from Tbilisi to Baku. 2020 has given us all a feeling of lost opportunities and a strong desire to explore again. Until we are truly able we have to make do with wonderful memories of past trips […]
Friday Photos – Armenia & Azerbaijan
Nagorno Karabakh Conflict The two former Soviet Republics are in conflict once more over the Nagorno Karabakh region – officially part of Azerbaijan but with a huge ethnic Armenian population. It is to Armenia what Kosovo is to Albania. NK as it is known, declared its own independence in the ‘90s and runs as an […]
Friday Photo – Tashkent Train Station, Uzbekistan
Two years ago today I arrived in the Uzbekistan capital, the culmination of a memorable tour of the amazing country together with its off-beat neighbour Turkmenistan. I arrived with Hamish by overnight train from Urganch, back then the gateway to Khiva. Arriving at 7 in the morning we managed to find a cafe in the […]
Friday Photo – Leaving Istanbul
In May 2009 I left Istanbul to embark on a journey overland to Syria. First up I needed to get out of Europe and into Asia. In Istanbul this is as simple as catching a ferry across the Bosphorus (or under it nowadays through the Marmara Tunnel, by train). You can read about my visits […]
Friday Photos – Barcelona, Spain
Exactly 20-years ago Mrs Wilbur & I embarked on our honeymoon to Barcelona where we stayed in the beautiful Arts Hotel overlooking the Port Olympic area. Here are some photos of that wonderful time. Flowers at Hotel Arts, Barcelona
Friday Photo – Buddhist Monks, Luang Prabang, Laos
LP can be one of the most spiritual places on earth, but is also increasingly on the radar of large touristic groups. I have been twice in 2010 & 2015, with the five year gap making a huge difference in the number of visitors, especially from China. Peace & tranquility is still on offer however […]
Friday Photo – Split, Croatia
My brother and his partner are currently in Croatia, a country that has seen a rapid spike in Covid cases. The U.K. has now imposed a 14-day quarantine for returnees from 4am Saturday. After failing in their attempts to get a bus to Ljubljana or Budapest (both Slovenia & Hungary not allowing entry from Croatia) […]
