Libations & Explorations

Streets of Loano (Canon P/Ilford Delta 400) We live in a world of social media, where life can be presented however one wishes.  Digital technology and AI has recently taken things to the next level; we are bombarded with entirely fictitious places and people that don't exist in the 'real' World.  So where is the authentic?  Where is the genuine?  I found it in Italy. For me, something becomes painfully inauthentic when it is a performance.  This is why I have no desire to go to Epcot in Walt Disney World (actually, anywhere in Disney World sounds like a nightmare to me). Epcot presents an interactive performance and says to you, "This is what life is like in Italy".  But, if you have never been to Italy, how would you really know?  You could look at pictures online I suppose, but that doesn't tell you what life in that place is really like. Fiat 500 in Florence (Canon F-1/Ilford HP5) I have been to Italy twice traveling through Lombardy, Tuscany, Vene...

The Caldera (Canon A-1/Kodak Ektar 100) The window seat next to me was empty on my Aegean Air flight from Athens to the island of Thira (Santorini) in the Greek Cyclades.  Even though the view was beautiful, I did not move to the unoccupied seat as it would have reminded me of the person I was supposed to be on this holiday with, and who had unceremoniously dumped me via text two days prior to our departure.  My boss at the time asked if I was still going to go; of course I was!  He thought I was crazy. After an extremely aggressive right hand turn to land, we taxied to the very 1970s Thira International Airport.  As every romantic couple on the flight waited for their luggage, I took my lone carryon bag to the car rental desk.  I chose to rent a car because it was recommended on a completely spurious website that I am pretty sure was paid for by the Santorini Car Rental Association.  The little Peugeot was completely useless, unnecessary, and never left it...

  Mt. Marcy (Canon F-1/ Kodak Tmax400) Sitting in the 'High Peaks Wilderness Area' of the Adirondack Mountains, Mount Marcy is the highest point in the state of New York.  With an elevation of 5,343 feet, it is miniscule compared to western American mountains.  However, because of the forested and rocky terrain, it can be a very challenging hike...as I would learn. Mount Marcy is most famous for it's association with Theodore Roosevelt.  When President McKinley was shot, Vice President Roosevelt rushed to his side.  However, when it appeared the President would recover, he decided to go hiking in the Adirondack Mountains as not to be a distraction for the media. Returning from the summit of Mount Marcy, he saw a suited man in a top hat running through the forest waving a telegram: McKinley had died and he was now President of the United States. I made a massive error in my assault on Mount Marcy; I got drunk the night before. I hadn't consumed alcohol for a whil...

  Rotterdam (Canon F-1/ Kodak Ektachrome 100) After two days in Amsterdam, our threesome of sojourning cocktail-consumers took an intercity train to Rotterdam.  Founded in the 1200s, Rotterdam got it's name from the 'Dam of the Rotte River' which drained the land the city is built on.  Rotterdam is now an industrial center and has Europe's largest seaport. I didn't expect much, but in the end I absolutely loved this city. Upon arrival, Svetlana suggested we visit the ‘Rotterdamse Centrummarkt'. An open-air market in the center of town, you can purchase anything from fresh off-the-boat fish to watches and electronics.  Svetlana was insistent, in spite of my questioning, that we should purchase a bottle of champagne at the nearby ‘Albert Heijn’ (the largest supermarket chain in Holland).  She has excellent foresight… Rotterdam Architecture (Canon F-1/ Kodak Ektachrome 100) Adjacent to the market is the ‘Grote of Sint-Laurenskerk’ (Saint Lawrence Church).  The...

  -Part II of a lone traveler’s journey through Northern Hindustan   27/3/23   New Delhi train station at 10 o'clock in the morning is an experience one never forgets .  Outside the station it is a sea of taxis, tuk-tuks , and buses bringing people in and taking them away. I came early as I was expecting a very long line through security. Turns out there was no line as no one was operating the x-ray machine. I also stepped through a metal detector which was switched off. I felt safe.    The inside of the train station looks like something out of a film. Everywhere there are people (many sitting on the floor), baggage, crates of produce, and animals. Good news though: there is a waiting lounge! However, it’s nothing more than benches in an area that has fans (no air conditioning ) and anyone can sit there .  I did see a sign for a women-only lounge, but God knows what that was like .  The toilet situation is simply too horrific to put into prin...