GrauGeist's Photos

[GrauGeist]

Thanks guys, glad you're enjoying the tour of Venice!

I'm trying not to load up too many shots of the vacation, so I don't bore everyone...but Venice was just so overwhelming, that it's hard NOT to get carried away sharing the experience!

I know that when others post thier shots from other places in the world (like Vic's recent global foray), I can't help but be captivated at the sights!

Also, a bit of advice to anyone who's considering a visit to Venice with thier better half...there is at least 1,000 shoe stores there. Trust me, I can tell you where each and every one of them is and what all they have. Seriously.
The upside to this, is I also know where all the cafes are that serve a nice chilled white wine. Needless to say, after several stops to the cafes for a delightful (and much needed) glass of wine, the endless search for the perfect pair of shoes became painless. Learn from this lesson.

Now on to Venice Part 2!

We had a real treat while we were having dinner, a couple tall ships sailed past!

There is no way a single day is enough to see everything there is to see in Venice! But there's always next time!

We headed back to our hotel in Mestre and the next day we were off, heading north-east toward Slovenia and the final leg of our journey!

 

[fubar57]

Love the shots and album GrauGeist.

Geo

 

[Gnomey]

Good shots Dave!

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

I absolutely LOVE the shot of the ships with the arch in the background. Your saving me a fortune on this vacation to!

 

[evangilder]

Great stuff, Dave. One of your Venice shots is almost identical to one my mother-in-law took a couple of years ago. My wife and I both did a double take!

 

[GrauGeist]

Well, I am running a little behind here, I sure wish my vacation lasted as long as it's taken me to post the shots here!

Thanks everyone for the compliments!

Love the shots and album GrauGeist.

Geo

Glad you've enjoyed the photos and thanks for stopping by the thread!

Great stuff, Dave. One of your Venice shots is almost identical to one my mother-in-law took a couple of years ago. My wife and I both did a double take!

Well, I'm not surprised, really, Eric! So many people have passed over the same places I have, there's bound to be a few that pop up looking similiar...unless it was the one of Rosi and I in San Marco square!

On to the journey!
So we've left Mestre and are heading back to Sofia, Bulgaria now. To do this, we head north-east into Slovenia.
What a beautiful country!

By late afternoon we're into Croatia which is also a beautiful country

By evening, we've reached Zagreb and will stay for the night before heading through Serbia.
We stayed at the Palace Hotel which was an awesome place and had dinner at a great resteraunt a short walk away at Tesla Square.
The next morning, We walked a little and took some photos. Zagreb is a lovely city with very friendly folks. I'll add that thier prices here are very affordable and I would love to come and visit them one day when I have more time to spend there!

As an observation, almost every single pre-modern building I saw has ornamentation found throughout the structure. The diversity ranged from Birds and angels to mythilogical entities on every nook, cranny and spire of these awesome buildings.

Ancient Roman Statuary in the lobby of the Museum of antiquities (which I didn't have time to visit)

By the way, this happens to be the Japanese Consulate!

And then we were off...passing through Serbia.
I will say that the countryside in Serbia was nice, but not as striking as Slovenia or Croatia. But then again, we were on the motorway and you can only see so much under those conditions.

We're heading through Belgrade here

Just outside of Belgrade, is the Avala Tower (671 feet/204.5 meters)

And you thought there wouldn't be any nature shots, did you?
I will say that the clouds (at least during our trip through) were phenominal in Serbia!

Next stop Sofia and the conclusion of the journey!

 

[GrauGeist]

We've passed from Serbia into Bulgaria, reaching Sofia in the evening. My European journey has gone full circle now, all that's left is to spend my last day with my Sweetheart and then head home from Sofia on Sunday.

But that's a whole day away!

We spent the first part of Saturday visiting some shops (oh yes, must visit shops) and relaxing from the awesome roadtrip!
This was a shot of Sofia from our hotel, Saturday morning.

In the afternoon, we drove up to the ancient (9th century) Boyana church.

After that, we headed over to the old section of Sofia to shoot some photos of the old buildings with thier great architecture!

Run!! It's the KGB!!
(not really, but the car is actually a former KGB Lada sedan - it does weddings now)

This is the Presedential residence when the Bulgarian President is in town...The sentries look pretty sharp
(you could see more of them inside)

In the middle of all this, are Roman ruins and an ancient church

Statue of Saint Sofia that overlooks the town

And finally, at day's end, we had a spectacular sunset that was fitting for the conclusion of the vacation!

And there it is...my first ever vacation taken in 32 years, my first ever visit to Europe and the first time I've ever told off a reckless Italian driver in a Slovenian city!

The trip home had a few snags and many of you were with me over at FB for that debaucle (thanks again for all your support...it was awesome to see encouragement when one is stuck thousands of miles from home) but all in all, it was eventually a good ride home!

I hope everyone has enjoyed this journey!!

 

[evangilder]

Great stuff, Dave! Having photos of the places are great memories preserved. I love the architecture and old world feel of Europe.

 

[rochie]

lovely pictures Dave

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Excellent vacation Dave! Thank you sir! And the shots are stupendous as always!

 

[Gnomey]

Great shots Dave!

 

[GrauGeist]

Many thanks for the compliments, guys...it was definately an awesome experience for me!

I know many folks on these forums do quite a bit of travelling, but I have been so busy for so many years, I just never got the opportunity to go abroad. So my first vacation ever was quite memorable.

I have also been informed by my Sweetheart that next year's vacation has already been planned (London down to Bulgaria)...so I guess we just wait it out until next summer at this point!

 

[ontos]

Ah man, I have to wait another year before I can go on vacation. What a bummer

 

[GrauGeist]

I've let this thread sit for almost a year??

I guess time flies when you're having fun, right? Well...ok, let's just say that time flies and leave it at that...

Anyway, I thought I'd get some life back into this thread with some notable shots taken over the past year

I recently mentioned taking a few pics at a friend's wedding, so here's a few that I captured during that event:

I'm definately not a Wedding photographer...lmao

Here's a moonrise and sunset from the same day (October 28, 2012)

The Cascade Theater here in town. It was built in the 1930's and has been renovated. Looks pretty cool all lit up

A little MACRO action:

One hellova sunrise:

One hellova moonrise:

And one hellova thunderstorm!

Well, that's it for now and as always, thanks for looking!

 

[evangilder]

Great shots, Dave. Love the storm shot!

 

[Capt. Vick]

Love the Cascade!

 

[ontos]

Great shots Dave, I like them all but I'm with Capt. Vic the CASCADE is my favorite. It brings back some found memories of going to the grand movie theaters with the neon buzzing in the night. I wish I would have taken some pictures of them in the day, but photography was the furthest thing from my mind back then

 

[Gnomey]

Good shots Dave!

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Dave, you never fail to amaze sir. I like'em all!

 

[Shinpachi]

What a fantastic place you live, GG!