Prowling my world, camera in hand

13 September 2016

Week 36: infrared neighbourhood, and visiting Cardiff

Filed under: — Administrator @ 06:32

This week’s blog has two distinct parts. My Leica M8 got an outing as an infrared camera during the weekend, which provided the first seven images. And on Thursday morning I flew to Cardiff to visit Monica before going on to Oxford on Saturday to attend a conference. So most of the pictures are from the trip to Wales.

36_1
First the infrared images. I took the M8 with me to my golf lesson. This is the path running along one of the fairways:
L1012739

36_2
A fellow student on the practice range:
L1012748

36_3
Water hazard, hole 11:
L1012756

36_4
I also took it along while walking Cheeta. This is the park where she fertilizes the grass:
L1012744

36_5
Apartment building, corner of Calle Britannia and Calle Enric Valor:
L1012743

36_6
And I also took the M8 to work. Detail of the new building, which I have photographed more conventionally recently:
L1012764

36_7
The outside terrace at the office:
L1012766

36_8
On Thursday I spent a long time waiting to drop off my suitcase at Alicante airport for my flight to Cardiff. The summer vacation season is coming to an end, and the airport was full of Brits and other northern Europeans on their way home:
DSF2032

36_9
This little girl had been provided with seating and entertainment for the wait:
DSF2033

36_10
A few hours later, I was at Cardiff airport and so was my suitcase:
DSF2036

36_11
I made my way to Cardiff centre, checked into my hotel, and then went to meet my daughter when she got off work at 5. Along the way, I took a snap of this lady with a hairdo that made me think of Mickey Mouse:
DSF2038

36_12
Then the happy reunion with Monica. The first order of business was the pub:
DSF2054

36_13
We then walked to Monica’s house. As always, I looked for little details along the way, such as this anti-UKIP sticker near Cardiff Castle:
DSF2048

36_14
Not sure what “organic nursery” means. I suppose it refers to the food being fed to the children:
DSF2047

36_15
Monica in front of the house she shares with a few other young people. The car on the left is my rental; the psychadelic one on the right belongs to a visitor:
DSF2168

36_16
The neighbour’s front door:
DSF2170

36_17
The fridge in the kitchen, with greetings reflecting the international nature of present and past inhabitants:
DSF2046

36_18
On Friday morning Monica went to work, and I drove to the town of Brecon, about 40 miles north of Cardiff. The A470 highway leads through the beautiful landscapes of Brecon Beacon national park:
DSF2065

36_19
This is the footpath to Pen y Fan, the highest peak in South Wales:
DSF2082

36_20
I walked up a hillside and greeted the sheep:
DSF2096

36_21
The view of the landscape:
DSF2087

36_22
I drove on to Brecon and walked around the town. The ubiquitous war memorial outside a church:
DSF2107

36_23
I visited the market hall:
DSF2111

36_24
DSF2114

36_25
On the way back to the car, I happened upon this promising sign:
DSF2103

36_26
I went inside and had a coffee to start:
DSF2102

36_27
The upstairs reading area:
DSF2139

36_28
And the books, of course. I did not leave empty-handed:
DSF2143

36_29
A brief pit stop on the way back to Cardiff and another look at the beautiful Welsh countryside:
DSF2145

36_30
I picked up Monica from work, and we went on another walkabout in Cardiff centre:
DSF2160

36_31
Pikachu outside St David’s shopping centre:
DSF2150

36_32
Selfie:
DSF2152

36_33
Another woman with funky hair:
DSF2153

36_34
Marketing in action:
DSF2154

36_35
Three girls in full flight, outside the Millenium Stadium:
DSF2162

36_36
A pint in the street:
DSF2158

36_37
Educational mural inside the pub:
DSF2159

36_38
We ended up having dinner at Wagamama in Cardiff Bay, one of our usual places:
DSF2166

36_39
Saturday morning was rainy and dreary. I checked out from the hotel and drove to Monica’s place to take her grocery shopping, another thing we usually do so as to take advantage of the rental car. But first we needed our caffeine at the coffee shop inside the large Tesco:
R000199

36_40
Two ladies having their morning coffee:
R000197

36_41
Monica shopping. I love British supermarkets. The choice in a large Tesco like this one beats anything we have in Spain (I am referring to packaged goods; our fish and meat counters are better):
R000200

36_42
The shopping done, we went back to Monica’s to drop off the stuff, ran a few other errands, and finally returned the car at Cardiff Central station from where I was taking the train to Oxford. Before I left, we went for an early lunch in a nearby burrito place:
R000205

36_43
And then we said goodbye, I got on the train and began the journey to Oxford. After crossing into England, the train passed the area around Bristol and Bath, a part of the country I also know well. The rain continued, matching my slightly melancholy mood:
R000210

More Wales pictures can be seen here.

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Leave a comment

Powered by WordPress