oh canada

Song is "Me and Jane Doe" by Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Larger version on Vimeo here.

zoom zoom

Driving through Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

to cross or not to cross?

Now that just seems intentionally confusing.

palamidi fortress

The Palamidi Fortress, overlooking Nafplio and the surrounding gulf, is by far my favorite ruin. It was built by the Venetians in the early 18th century, and consists of multiple (at least five) bastions. After climbing the 860+ stairs up the hill (that's just to get to the entrance gate; once inside, there are many more stairs, depending on where you'd like to go), you're free to explore the whole expanse of the fortress on your own (and at your own peril).

Wandering around was so much fun (many of the bastions are well-preserved, and still have rooms and tunnels and such to poke your head into) that I made a video for you to join in. Prepare yourself for some jostling; it's quite difficult to keep the camera steady while scampering over 300 year old cobblestones.

greek donkeys

Before they built the cable car in the late 70s, the only way up to Fira from the old port down below was by donkey. Of course, now the donkeys are mostly for the tourists, but even without riders, donkeys still make their way up and down the caldera multiple times a day, bells tinkling. I have no idea what the man says when he answers his cell phone, but it's probably to the effect of, "Oh, nothing. Just riding a donkey."

more maltese buses

Malta's main bus terminal never failed to confuse me. Even when I had an idea where the bus I was trying to catch was, I still ended up walking around in circles before finding it. The "terminal," located just outside of Valletta's main gate, is basically a giant, round parking lot with three concentric circles of (moving) buses radiating from a giant fountain (of Triton) in the center. Presumably the bus numbers work their way around the circle in numerical order, but in walking it multiple times I have failed to find much logic to it. This doesn't mean that the wanderings aren't enjoyable, however, especially when one has an imqaret in hand, a Maltese fried pastry with a warm, date-filled center.

This bus was the last one I rode on Malta. From the outside it looked like the average elderly bus, but the driver must have just recently pimped his ride, complete with leopard-print upholstery and orange skylights, which made the whole interior glow (an effect that is unfortunately lost in this low-quality video). Add to all this the middle-aged driver's spiked hair (which I also did not get in this video), and the new James Bond theme song blasting on the radio, and my last bus ride proved highly entertaining.

l'ombrello giallo

Is it still considered eavesdropping if you can't understand what's being said? Either way, I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I just liked her yellow umbrella.

piedi in orvieto

Caffè break in Orvieto, Italy.

Exciting stuff, this. Guess which are tourists and which are natives.