Posts Tagged With: photography

In Situ

One of the many great things about taking lots of photos when one travels is that we get to revisit them when we’re back at work.  During our whirlwind tour of Barcelona we were taken on about a two hour or a bit less bus tour of the highlights of the city.  The tour itself would likely have been better if it were an open top double-decker type bus and I were riding in the top because taking pictures through bus windows is, well, lame.  As the tour started we were told we’d be going to the 1992 Olympic stadium and pool which I found exciting…….until we whizzed by it.  My disappointment at flying by the Olympic facilities was abated somewhat when we stopped at a vista point overlooking the city shortly after the Olympic drive by.  From this vista we could see pretty much the whole city which is, I guess, why it’s a vista point.  The view was great n’ all but as we headed back to the bus I glanced down and saw some cool mosaic.  I’ve always had an affinity for mosaic and the effort that goes into creating it; I’ve attempted a few, very few because they take so much work.  Anyway I found the mosaic on the ground much more interesting than the view of Barcelona and seeing it caused me to forget the glancing of the stadium.  Speaking of the effort it takes to make mosaics I was blown away by the one I saw in the Vatican Museum.  I wanted to take more pictures but our tour leader was rapidly fading off in the throng of people at the museum and I had to sprint to catch up; totally worth the photo I snapped.

Categories: photography, Spain, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Palacio Real

While the exterior of the Palacio Real was impressive, I enjoyed the interior more but photos inside were not permitted.  What amazed me was the amount of decorative detail in each room, I could have spent hours staring at the tapestries woven with  gold and silver threads, or the inlaid wood floors, the floor mosaics, and statuary; I could definitely do without the porcelain room, I mean I appreciate the artistry but, um, it seemed like a big bathroom.  I suppose lots of money allows one to do silly things with porcelain.

Categories: Geography, photography, Spain, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Sagrada Familia

Guadi was simply amazing.  To translate his visions into such awesome structures.  Yet another place I could’ve spent at least one full day admiring; I’m almost certain I would have gotten lost in the details and been able to ignore the throngs of people.  Truly amazing, gorgeous structure.

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Never Trust your Pisa Picture to Someone Else

When we arrived at Pisa I was excited to take my gratuitous, “Look at me I’m holding up the leaning tower of Pisa!” picture.  I had the setting fixed in my head; perspective was everything.  I was supposed to appear larger than, or near the same size, as the tower with my hand holding it up.  I handed my camera to my friend to take my picture and she said, “No, we need to be closer.”

“But…”  Then our tour guide whisked us off somewhere.  Shit.

Later on we had some free time and I handed my camera off to another “friend” who took this picture:

Damnit! Not only is the top of the tower chopped off, but I’m miniscule and appear to be merely pointing at the bottom of the tower.  “Trust” and “double check” have important new meanings for me.

Anyway, here are some more Pisa pics for you to enjoy:

Categories: Italy, photography, Travel | Tags: , , , | 4 Comments

Carcassone

This was one of the many places I wanted to stay and explore longer.  I was stunned an amazed by the architecture and craftsmanship especially in the cathedral.  The gargoyles on the outside were a little creepy, but they were balanced by the beautiful stained glass windows.  It was really difficult to get photos without people, or the random car, but I managed to take a few.  I think the place is normally a little crowded, but apparently Marilyn Manson was going to be putting on a show there that evening so there were a few extra peeps walking around.  Anyway, enjoy 🙂

Categories: France, photography, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Streets and Alleys

Upon returning from a trip I’m amazed by 1) how many pictures I took, and 2) the number of said pictures that are similar.  I mean really, just how many pictures of streets and alleys do I need?

Pisa:

 

Madrid:

 

 

 

 

 

Florence:

 

 

The antennas caught my eye:

 

as did the satellite dish:

 

Avignon/Palace of the Popes

 

Zaragoza:

 

Montecatini Terme

 

 

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Uncategorized

One thing that surprised me about Spain, at least the places we visited, was the amount of graffiti; there was a lot.  I’d venture to say there was even more than I’ve seen in Oakland or L.A.   I appreciate graffiti as an art form but the amount I saw in Spain was borderline too much.  On our walk to the old city center of Florence I came across something a little scary and Santaesque:So I stood next to it.

Wandering around Florence occasionally I’d see posters like this:

I know this isn’t ‘graffiti’ per se, but it is wall art and graffiti is often pained on walls…so…I guess this can be graffiti.  Anyway, I thought, “Hmm, these are a little odd.”

…And a tad disturbing.  Apparently they’re some part of a larger narrative:

Other graffiti I saw around Florence:

Never did find the beginning of this story; maybe it’s related to the other one above that looks like a group of soldiers.

Walking to the Palace of the Popes I found Scarface

Some sort of autograph wall

And President Obama.

Ok, this is obviously not graffiti, but it is street art; right?  Ok, I just thought I’d include it.

One last shot of some more conventional graffiti from Madrid:

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Gaudi

There were many times on this trip that I wished I was not on a package tour.  The tour was good for showing a plethora of amazing places in a short amount of time and for infecting our students with the travel bug, but there were numerous times I wanted to sit, appreciate and absorb where we were.  One such place was Park Guell designed by Antoni Guadi.  (BTW anyone  know how to add umlauts or accent marks to text with WordPress?)  I was stunned and amazed that #1 he had the visions for this park in his head and #2 he was able to translate those ideas into a tangible place, a place that ebbed and flowed though the structures themselves did not move.  I especially enjoyed the mosaics.  I’ve dabbled in mosaic and can appreciate the time and effort put into constructing the ones in the park.  I wish we had had more than an hour and a half…..

Categories: photography, Spain, Travel | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

Assisi

On the day we visited Assisi I was feeling a little under the weather so I only took a few shots.  Assisi is a beautiful walled city with lots of narrow streets and passageways to explore and is surrounded by a gorgeous landscape which people associate with this region of Italy.

 

 

One of the interior courtyards reminded me of others I had seen like the cathedral in Toldeo.  I really enjoy the arches and stonework.

As with many of the centuries old treasures we visited reminders of how far we have progressed (insert sarcasm here) were not hard to find.

 

This is my favorite shot from that day:

Categories: Geography, Italy, photography, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Schema

One of my goals as a teacher is to help my students embrace their ignorance.  Too many of them are afraid to participate in class discussions because they’re worried they’ll be wrong, or worse they feel they don’t know anything.  I try to emphasize that not knowing things is okay, it just means there is more stuff to learn!  To make them feel better about their own ignorance I teach them about the concept of schema.  A person’s schema is everything they have learned over their lifetime.  People use this accumulated knowledge, or schema, to make sense of and interpret new situations.  Since everyone’s life experiences are different we all have different schemas.  I know a LOT about geography and history but much less about science and math.  I encourage my students to think of their schema as a library they can reference when trying to understand new things.  I demonstrate this concept by having them interpret things like this:

One of the students saw this sign and observed, “Hey, they messed up that sign,  one leg is shorter than the other on the people.”

“Well, that’s to indicate they are walking.” I replied.

“No, I think they just  messed up the sign.”

“Ok, I’ll buy that, then that means they messed up all of the signs we’ve seen like this in each of the countries we visited.”

Silence.

This next photo I took over 10 years ago in Spain and show it to my students every year.  I ask them to use their schema to tell me what they think it means:

“Illegals running across the border!” Is a typical response I get every year, I’m still not sure how they get that from this.  I point out the briefcase held by one of the figures and say it indicates a school crossing.

“Ohhhhh.”

This year I’ll show them this one which is more clear:

I wonder what my students schema will tell me about this one:

Every year my students complain about our school dress code, so I’m looking forward to showing them this photo from the Pantheon

Travelling through France, Spain and Italy I was struck by the number of signs that had no text, just images or caricatures like the first photo I posted here.  I started to wonder why there were no words, then I realized, duh, there’s like a gazillion different languages spoken in Europe, pictures are easier than having every translation on a sign.  So if you’re travelling to the Museo de Prado with your dog you’ll know what this means:

Another teaching goal I have is to encourage my students to travel.  Many of them are hesitant because they don’t speak another language.  I tell them not to worry, with their schema they’ll be just fine.  Finding food for example:

A pleasant place to eat….

Or a bathroom…(a little fuzzy, I was in a hurry)

or a place to buy souvenirs…

I’m not sure how well myself or my students could have navigated medieval Carcassone though, even with our schemas.  Without a proper frame of reference, this makes no sense:

Here’s a close up, any ideas what this indicated?

Categories: France, Geography, Italy, photography, Spain, teaching, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

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