A concert in heaven

Posted on March 20, 2020 by valanzo

For someone who loves the mountain so much just by looking at it, it comes as no wonder when I say that some things on my bucket list are elevation-related, that being a winter or summer activity,

I was in awe when I found some brave souls who wanted to join me in a fantastic adventure that included:

leaving at midnight, direction Alps.
trekking at around 4 am in complete darkness and below-temperature

All of this, to witness something magic: A concert of classical music at the top of the mountain. It started right before the first rays of light hit the bare rocks, at the top of the Dolomites…

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And then it’s there, the music starts, everyone snuggles up in the cold and enjoy the music, in silence. Not a single word is spoken, just listening to the sound of music.

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“Great things are done when men and mountains meet”, says Sounds of the Dolomites‘ motto. I can only agree to that.

This is one of the part of the concert, a special memory that will stay forever in my heart.

Amen to that.

Wish you were there? You can find more info about the beautiful area we were, in Trentino, Italy >>> MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO PINZOLO E LA VAL RENDENA

Brocante du Dimanche à Bordeaux

Posted on October 23, 2017 by valanzo

The aesthetics provided at a flea market is something exceptional.

When I visited Bordeaux back in May I wasn’t expecting to meet on my way such a colourful display of objects, their lives intersected with the sun rays and people browsing around Saint-Michel.

How many people come to a flea market to hunt bargains, and how many simply to discover and be amazed by second-hand stuff, that at times is only junk, at times treasure.

Things are scattered on the pavement, or hang along the church and its bell tower; sometimes they are displayed with a pleasant order, sometimes with a pleasant chaos. What strikes in taking a picture there is how crucial is what you frame, and from which angle. When here is definitely too much to look at and show, the game becomes to select & shoot.

As an old James Bond movie says all of these photo exercise is ‘Rien que pour vos yeux’ (For Your Eyes Only).

E28 Tram Lisbon: tourist jam

Posted on August 3, 2017 by valanzo

If you do the most touristy thing ever, chances are there won’t be any place to sit.. or to look outside and take the most charming pictures of the day. I took tram line 28 in a sweaty afternoon of July and I found myself fighting to stand, in such a cramped space that reminded me of a New York subway afterwork.

Bar the annoyance of the first minutes, I started enjoying the fact I could not see the beauty and uniqueness outside and started taking pictures of my fellow tourists lucky enough to look outside.

The result is this photo album, enjoy.

Frankly the best stopover of my life: Lisbon

Posted on July 19, 2017 by valanzo

If you take in consideration the amount of times I mention my melancholic soul, or when it clearly shows up in my words, you might understand how much I was longing to visit Lisbon. But then money, time, flight routes didn’t align. Until recently. I had my little slice of Lisbon, on my way to Spain, and it felt like I was finally reunited with myself.

It might have been the many houses crowded in the hills facing the sea, the churches and palaces popping up like flowers at every corner.

It might have been how the black and white stones on the pavements, the arches and main squares interact with the wind.

It might have been the sun peeking through the window of its trams, or the shadow created under the gigantic bridge in Alcantara.

It might have been, maybe, the city talking to me, while I thought I was spending the day only with my very own inner voice, bad jokes included.

In less than 24h I kept moving, so did my mind. I came up with new stories, galvanised by the constant ocean breeze. I didn’t see much, mainly because I didn’t plan on a stopover-experience overkill, anyhow I felt a lot and that mattered.

I can’t wait to come back for more, Lisbon, wait for me.

Parklife – French edition

Posted on May 30, 2017 by valanzo

I have been so silent lately, it is like I’m lost in words.

That is why I decided to post again, starting with a special edition of Parklife, a beloved subject of mine (as previously seen in England and Germany on my blog).

This is a b/w edit-free edition that signs my return in a quiet, non-invasive way: I am usually a bursting-with-colours-and-wit blogger, bar the times I taste the sweet taste of a Ricoh (like in London few months ago) yet I need a change to start with. The result? Some nice pics, some overexposed ones and its opposite. But I kinda feel the need to keep them like that, it must be the influx of my new polaroid.

So, enjoy ‘Parklife – French edition’, shot with LX100 at the Jardin Public in Bordeaux, merci.

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[Brackets] Blurry Dots

Posted on February 21, 2017 by valanzo

Hey, I am back.

I come with good and bad news…

I can devote some time this week to work on pictures from my big trips to Cambodia, Thailand and Taiwan (end of 2015 and 2016, I know, long due) so.. yay! Expect some new blog posts bursting out very soon.

The bad news though is that my beloved camera, heavily featured on this blog since 2015, is currently sick and the focus won’t work. And for me, as it was for The Smiths, it’s like having a girlfriend in a coma, and I know I know, it’s serious.

I have been nonstop travelling in January and February, and getting blurry images that, far from perfection, are interesting the same in my very humble opinion.

Vienna