Italian Dream

I've been reminded on Facebook that it's a year since Gail and I visited the Italian region of Tuscany.

We went on a ten day holiday with six other people and visited several places like Florence, Arezzo and Siena.

It was a bit of a road trip and brilliant fun it was too. We were in two minibuses, and we shared ours with two other photographers. Which was great, as they perfectly understood why I was taking a photo of a rusty lock.

This castle is in the small town of Radicofani. You get some great views of the area from the top. We also got to meet the mayor of the town and had a group photograph by the statue of Ghino di Tacco, who was their version of Robin Hood.

Arrested By The Rain

A friend at work told me today, that there would be some live archeology work going on at the castle today.

So being a fan of Time Team, I decided to pop up and take a look. Sadly there wasn't any activity at the dig. Possibly because it was lunchtime. Anyway there was no sign of life, so I took a walk up to the castle itself to see some more of the artworks on display.

There are two main exhibitions on at the moment, one of digital works by Gordon Cheung, and well drawn etching by famed painter Evelyn Gibbs.

I then went outside and noticed how dark and misty it was getting. There's a storm brewing. How right I was, as the heavens opened, and so I dived inside the castle again, as I didn't have a coat with me, as it was very warm.

Not missing a photo opportunity, I snapped this couple who were doing the same thing. They make nice silhouettes I think. The rain then stopped a bit, so I made my way down to the entrance, but had to stop there, as the clouds hadn't quite finished emptying their contents.

"Look, I'm Sure The Castle Is Around Here Somewhere?"

"Yes ladies, it's right behind you!"

I was out for a photography stroll with a workmate at lunchtime today, as he wanted to have a go with my Olympus EM-1, as he is thinking of getting one. He currently uses a Fuji X-10, but he says that he's not happy with it.

So we had spent some time in the Old Market Square, where he took various pictures and had a feel of how the camera feels in his hands. He was quite impressed. We had made our way to the castle area of town, when I saw these two ladies, standing with possibly the biggest map of Nottingham that I've ever seen. I know the city centre is quite big, but I don't think you would need a map that big to see where all the streets and attractions are. It is hardly London or New York.

Fortunately I had been given my camera back by the time we got to the castle, so I was able to capture this scene for today's blog post.

I wonder if they ever found what they were looking for?

Cheers

I don't know what Tintin is celebrating, but Snowy looks like he can't wait to have some of that champagne.

This rather cute model is in the window of a shop near the castle that sells a lot of the boy detective merchandise, created of course by Herge.

I just hope he drank the fizzy wine after he had ridden his motorbike, and not before.

Reach For The Sky

Walking across town after the book launch yesterday, I came across this big machine not far from the castle.

It looks very similar to the one that I saw near the Victoria Centre the other month. I believe it is used for pumping cement into areas where people can't normally get, such as possibly behind these two buildings.

Be interesting to see the machine in action, or even the guy who has to climb all the way up to the cab, high in the sky.

Castle Colours

Although I never made it to the castle to see the lights there, I took this photo from the top of the multi-storey car park, which isn't too far from the castle grounds.

The coloured lights on the trees look quite effective, while the castle is just bathed in light from the inside, which was open, so you could look round and see the new exhibition that's on at the moment.

And with that final shot, I jumped into my car and drove home to some fish & chips and review what I had just taken.

Castle Colours

Cardiff is of course famous for it's castle.

Sadly I didn't get to go inside, as it was closed by the time that I had got there. So I had a walk around some of the perimeter wall. Not all of it, as the castle takes up a lot of space and I didn't want to get lost. Besides which it was cold and raining.

Here's a shot of the Norman Keep, which has twelve sides and is the best example of a Keep in Wales.

Beeston Castle

Well, the weather certainly has been a bit topsy-turvy today. This morning it was coldish, wet and generally a bit miserable.

There were reports of possible hailstones and even tornadoes, but thankfully all we got was rain. But by three o'clock it had stopped and the sun came out and warmed & dried everything.

Walking along the High Road, I noticed how lovely the clouds looked. Mainly wispy, and certainly a lot different from the ones earlier. Or should that be one, as the whole sky was a solid grey colour.

So here's a shot of the tower from Beeston's main church, as sadly Beeston doesn't have a castle. But if it did, I'd like it to look a bit like this.

The House On The Hill

Here's a shot of the castle. I took it from the top of the multi-storey car park near the railway station.

I took it with our new Olympus 75-300mm lens, which we got from the Photography Show at the NEC in Birmingham earlier in the month.

I wanted to give it a go, to see what range it has. I think it is about half a mile away, so I don't think it's done a bad job.

I'm not quite sure how much we will use it, but it's a great addition to our camera kit bag.

Blowing Up The Old Year

New Year's eve and Gail and I went to the castle to see the annual end of year firework display. This year they had opened the castle grounds. There was also some bands on and some stalls. By the time we got there, the ABBA tribute band that we had seen earlier in the year were on in the bandstand, and the crowd was singing along to the such well known songs.

As midnight approached, everyone stood and waited for the chimes of midnight to start and the firework display to begin.  The display went on for about 15 minutes. In fact I was beginning to wonder when it would stop. I took quite a few of the fireworks exploding in the sky; of which many were of course either blurred or had hardly anything in them.

So I turned my attention to where the fireworks were coming from, and waited to see if anything exciting would be happening. I wasn't really disappointed, as I like this shot of the people watching a line of fireworks igniting and making for a good display.

It now just remains for me to wish everyone of you that has visited my blog, and especially those that have been kind enough to leave a comment or two, a very happy and healthy 2014.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Inn of The Seventh Happiness

The Trip to Jerusalem is Nottingham's famous pub and is situated at the base of the castle.

Popular with locals and visitors alike, it's one of the places to see if you ever come to Nottingham on a visit.

I've put on a few photos of the actual pub before, so today I thought I would show a close up of the sign, especially as the sun had come out from behind some grey clouds that were passing overhead.

Cheers.

Leaf It Alone

The layers of dead leaves are certainly building up along the walls of the castle, as the road sweepers don't seem to be clearing them as often as they used to.

Maybe it's down to the cuts, as road-sweeping isn't as high on the council's spending plans as it once was, as the money is used for more urgent things like education and Social Services.

In a way, I prefer the leaves to be there, as it makes my photo more photogenic, rather than just seeing grass at the bottom of the picture. What do you think?

Forever Autumn

Despite the continuation of the very welcome sun, the days are generally getting colder now that the clocks have gone back.

The trees are beginning to lose their leaves, although you wouldn't think so by the look of these trees in the castle grounds, which are still a healthy green colour.

Beer Drinkers United

A photo assignment this morning for my folk musician friend Dave Mitchell, who was playing at the Robin Hood Beer Festival at Nottingham Castle, and he wanted me to record the event for posterity.

Dave played for about an hour in the bandstand, while I took some photos of him in action. I was surprised to learn that the sound equipment was being controlled by the engineer on an iPad. No more knobs and dials to fiddle with, just a movement of ones finger on the screen.

Dave enjoyed his gig, but was clearly relieved when it was over, so he could enjoy one or two beers that were available at the festival, from the half pint glass that had been given to him.

I was also given a glass by one of the organisers, and so I decided to christen it by trying the re-introduced Shipstones ale, that has started to be brewed again after some twenty years. I wrote about it earlier this year. Here is the LINK to the story.

Here's a shot of the hand pumps that were dishing out the amber nectar. Although I must admit it wasn't as tasty as I had hoped it would be, and probably won't be buying it again, as I prefer more darker beers.

Desert Strip

On my way to lunch with some of my former workmates yesterday at a pub situated opposite the castle, I saw this army Jeep in desert colours. The sort that are presently deployed in the Middle East.

I don't know why it was there, as there is nothing of a military nature going on at the moment, or shows taking place, so I had no idea why it was parked outside Severns House.

There were a couple of men in khaki, soldiers presumably standing at the back of the vehicle. I thought about asking them why they were there and to pose for me, but I was keen to see my friends and eat; so I left them to smoke their cigarettes alone.

Frozen Stiff

Another cold day, but no snow. Which I guess is a bonus, compared to other parts of the country.

I've thought about taking the Robin Hood statue with my fisheye lens for a little while now, and so I thought today would be a good opportunity. Especially if there was still some snow lying around.

It was a bit of a struggle getting up to the statue, as it was still quite icy in places. I tried taking photos of Robin in various positions. I have put an odd angled one on Twitter, but here's a more traditional one for your delectation

The Writing's On The Wall

A return to the delights of Light Night, as it was a bit of a slow day in town today, and could find nothing worth shooting during my lunch time walkabout.

Gail and I missed this, when we arrived at the castle, but I noticed that some writing had appeared on the wall of the castle entranceway. A chap with a laptop or iPad was standing near the Robin Hood statue and he was using some gizmo to beam writing and shapes on the building.

Sometimes the software itself would find itself shown to everyone. I don't know what the software they were using was called, but it looked fun to use.

Lighting Up Time

Tonight saw Nottingham city centre lit up once again, as it was the annual Light Night festival. The yearly event where buildings are used as cinema screens, strange things pop up in all sorts of places and it is generally very cold.

Well this year was no different. The castle was tonight's backdrop, where a group calling themselves 'Elemental Force' projected a show containing animation, photos and pyrotechnics. It seemed to relay the history of Nottingham, and included of course Robin Hood, lace making and Raleigh bikes.

I was pleased to see that the Daleks and the Tardis were making a return visit. They looked very good last year standing next to the Robin Hood statue, where they were trying to terrify the fabled outlaw. This year they were placed outside the Theatre Royal. I must admit it didn't look so good. Possibly because where they were was quite bright, and so they lost some of their impact, as where they were before was quite atmospheric and darker, so they all stood out more.

Still I suppose I shouldn't complain, as we were lucky to get anything with the continuing cuts in finances and relative poor state of the economy, as it is funding for the arts that always seemed to get trimmed first, rather than say sport.

It's Snow Time

Well we had a little dusting of snow last night, so work up to more whiteness, as it had settled on the compacted snow from the last couple of days.

So here's a couple more photos taken today. Above is the castle. I'm not sure if it the front, back or one of the sides, as the building has no clear demarcation of what side is what. But this is the side that has the cafe in it and the main viewing area towards the west of the city.

Below is a bit of the canal towpath, not far from the Broad Marsh shopping centre. It runs parallel to the road above, although more in line with the castle itself.

Bet He Wishes He Had A Scarf

The weather people said that we were in for a snowstorm today. I and a few friends at work sat and waited for it to come. It seemed to be ages and ages before we saw the first flakes.

Darryl, one of my co-workers kept looking on the Internet for weather updates.

Then at around Noon, it began. Not much to start with. Only tiny flakes, which I called dandruff.

The flakes slowly got bigger into what I would call proper flakes and lasted for an hour or so.

It was still lightly snowing on my way home. I took care on my bike, as it was quite thick in places and possibly slippery.

I stopped at a few places and took some photos for Twitter. I also decided to take some for my blog. Above is the bust of Jesse Boot at Highfields, and below is the sandstone rock that the castle was built on.