2809 - summer goodbye

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f4.0 | ISO100 | 1/800 | silver efex pro for lightroom

swimming in the ocean at the end of september isn't an usual activity for us. so today's vacation farewell trip to tellaro, a village in the south of la spezia that belongs to the most beautiful villages of italy on the initiative of the associazione nazionale comuni italiani, was something very special. 25 degrees in the shade and eight hours of sunshine, wonderful beaches, a refreshing sea and a terrific view along the high shore over the golf of la spezia across to portovenere and the isola palmaria really made a great surrounding for the last day of our holidays in italy.

a funny peculiarity of the most of the beaches of liguria is the fine pebble. tina really liked the very fine stones tickling her back. and they are good-looking, too.

cu, trshptr

2309 - zigzag

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f8.0 | ISO100 | 1/100 | lightroom 4.1

yesterday i told you that we're already feeling at home in the region of liguria and also in our cottage. today in the morning we saw people that have to be at home on the go. stark contraries.

la spezia is supposed to be the ugly duckling of the region of liguria. wrongheaded architecture and dirty suburbs are supposedly defining. despite the fact that la spezia is the second biggest city in liguria with 90k inhabitants, the visitors should steer clear of la spezia. so much for tourist theory. today i've got to know liguria as an interesting and authentic town with a great harbour. because of napoleon who realised la spezia's strategic location, still today the italian military and the local economy use the harbour for their purposes.

one of them are the fishermen who are very special people. in their cases a hard life and working conditions on the sea are paired with being constantly on the go and a minimum of comfort in the duty. although i'm very interested in their work and despite the fact that i'd willingly like to participate in their doings for some days or weeks i wouldn't be prepared for the very challenging peculiarities of the attending circumstances.

in the afternoon we were swimming in the sea at the beach of bonassola, one of the few big wave surf spots in italy. so today was really no up and down like the zigzag of the changing cubicle design but a straight and steady increase.

cu, trshptr

0307 - sea level from above

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f8.0 | ISO100 | 1/800 | lightroom 4.1

before we leave the algarve towards lisbon besides surfing a bit of landscape exploration had to be done, too. after we visited the north of portugal with the regions around porto, aveiro, figueira da foz and peniche whilst the second of our last year's surf trips with their long and flat beaches for this year we expected a rocky and mountainous shore and more clayey soil.

and we weren't disappointed by the south of portugal: along the seaside we were walking for round about three hours from porto de mos to dona ana. it was a constant up and down with the view of beautiful postcard pictures.

despite everything i was especially taken with the special angle of the view on the things on the sea level. it was a bit like flying over the shore and observing the activities from this special position.

cu, trshptr

3004 - s-curve

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 18mm | f5.6 | ISO100 | 1/640 | aperture priority | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4

today and tomorrow are fortunately still non-working days, at least for me. tina had to work today because diseases aren't directed by the calendar. so i had decided already at the weekend that today should be a bicycle day for me.

while my excursion i was cycling through three countries: of course germany with its regions baden and wuerrtemberg, austria with the vorarlberger land and finally the switzerland. at romanshorn i took the ferry back to friedrichshafen. at the end of my tour i had driven 120km by bike. not that bad, besides my butt i feel fine. you can comprehend the whole route here [click].

one special thing attracted my attention: after the very modest, peaceful and contemplative holidays in sardinia i was really shocked by the prosperity tourism and the conceited high society that i had to see today. it was a scenery like a disney land for pensioner. huge mercedes benz with gold decorated ladies inside were parking in front of showy golf and yacht clubs. barf!

cleanliness, perfection and wealth - these things were hard to take for me today. fortunately the surroundings were getting more authentic in the switzerland. i saw construction zones, suburbs and eventual more normal people than tourists. finally i found the gangplank shown in the pic above near rohrschach, where ornithologists had arranged themselves for the observation. moody chill out area.

cu, trshptr

2504 - insights

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 18mm | f11 | ISO100 | 1/100 | aperture priority | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4

okay, it's an idyllic shot. but you would have been impressed, too. please enjoy the view over baunei, a beautiful mountain village to santa maria navarrese and the tyrrhenian sea. the altitude difference between the site of capturing and the sea amounts round about a half kilometre. really stunning.

2104 - nothing but energy

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 28mm | f8.0 | ISO200 | 1/800 | aperture priority | raw files cropped, aligned and processed in lightroom 4 

i'm back from my holiday trip to sardinia, italy. what a great island! sincere persons, delicious food, beautiful mountain villages and not least an impressive shore. the picture above was shot on last saturday at a beach south of bosa.