adventures in *

My first attempt at a slideshow, Microsoft Live Movie Maker made it pretty easy. Just add photos and music, it’ll do all the transitions and make the images fit within the song length.

I grouped the images in somewhat logical order, trying to keep a theme (location, subject, composition, etc) between sets of images. Starting off with the Metro station at Madrid-Barajas airport – the beginning of my adventure. Next, the Roman aqueducts of Segovia and brick wall topped with shards of glass in Toledo.

In Madrid, a fountain in front of the Royal Palace and Plaza de Cibeles with Palacio de Comunicaciones in the background – which you’ll see again towards the end of the slideshow.

A glass window in the Alcazar of Segovia, looks relatively modern for a castle built in the 1400′s, although it was rebuilt in the late 1800′s after a fire so maybe it came from that era.

The memorial to the March 11 2004 Train bombings in Madrid’s Atocha train station is next, then a few modern office buildings in downtown Madrid.

The Giralda tower, part of the Catedral of Sevilla follows, with some pictures from the inside and the tomb of Christopher Columbus ending the set.

Some examples of Muslim and Christian architecture are next, then a picture of the RENFE train that took me to my next stop, Cadiz. A couple random shots from Sevilla and Tarifa, then my pictures of Morocco, Gibraltar, the Alhambra in Granada, some more random shots.

The last set is from La Noche en Blanco, an all night art-music festival that took place in Madrid. The ‘Night in White’ festival started in Paris some years ago to bring art-music culture to the general public. Interactive art displays, live bands, museums were open all night, until 6am for all to enjoy. I walked around until 3am checking things out. The final picture, marking the end of my adventure, the Metro station with a balloon I received during La Noche.

I’ll be posting more images sets in the following weeks.

My Tanger experience wasn’t all bad, I was walking along the northern flank of the kasbah when a lady I passed started speaking to me in arabic. I had no idea what she was saying and continued on. A couple minutes later, some kids came running after me and told me in broken english not to go any further because of cartels. They pointed at my camera and from what I gather, there were some unfriendlies that might try to rob me. So I thanked the kids and turned around. I passed the woman again and thanked her. She made a hand gesture which looked something like pulling a knife from her side then a slicing motion. I’m glad the locals are looking out for the tourists and keeping us out of harms way. Getting stabbed and robbed would have put a damper on my vacation.

Since arriving in Tanger, I’ve been greeted in half a dozen languages. I’ve read that the local ‘guides’ will swarm on foreigners like mosquitos. My experience hasn’t been too bad, most of them approach me to say ‘You from Japan? Arrigato!’

They then ask if I need help finding a hotel, want to go to a shop or restaurant. After telling them no a few times or pretending I’m deaf, they give up.

Tanger has been described as the Tijuana of Africa, I’d say it’s pretty close. Dilapidated buildings, the smell of raw sewage and rotting garbage, and crazy traffic. It took me a few hours to find my hotel, although in hindsight, a taxi would have been a wise choice. The lack of street signs and Googlemaps data makes navigation a bit of a challenge.

doing some light reading this weekend to prepare for my trip.

My next adventure begins on September 4th, I’ll be going to Spain and Morocco for 2 weeks.

I hadn’t really thought about visiting them until a few months ago. I’ve been toying with the idea of visiting all 7 continents before I turn 30. This trip will cover Europe and Africa, as for the remaining 2 countries, Asia and Australia, I’ll have to figure out how to fit those in before February.

Here’s my itinerary:

Madrid
Segovia
Toledo
Sevilla
Cadiz
Tarifa
Tanger
La Linea
Gibraltar
Granada
Madrid

This time I’ll be packing a lot less photo gear, since I’ll be traveling by bus and train and will be doing a lot of walking. My main interest is the historic buildings and structures. In Segovia, just an hour north of Madrid, are the 2000 year old Roman aquaducts. The port city of Cadiz, is the longest inhabited city in Europe, dating back to 1104BC, amazing. I’m not quite sure what to expect in Morocco, I don’t speak any French or Arabic, it’ll be interesting.

Gear list:
Canon 5D Mark II
24-70 f2.8L
70-200 f4L
Zenitar 16mm fisheye

Panasonic LX3

Slik Sprint Mini II
TC80N3 remote timer
Sandisk Extreme III/IV CF cards
PNY Optima Pro SDHC card
Circular polariser
UV filters