Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

This morning TV brought the first images of the devastating powerful earthquake in Italy’s Abruzzo mountains. Epi centre is the town of l’Aquila where Jillian and I spent a full week covering the regions beauty for Dutch travel magazines. The main story was just about to go to press, but developments in the coming hours as the news breaks, will tell us about the state of the emergency situation there. There are no reports at this time about the destruction of other villages that litter the mountains.

The City of l'Aquila in the Abruzzo of Italy before the Earthquake

The Piazza del Duomo, before the Earthquake struck l'Aquila in the Abruzzo Mountains of Italy

200 Kilometers south of l’Aquila we visited Pasetta, a colourful mountain man who is the grandson of the last wolfhunter of the Abruzzo. Based in the medieval village of Barrea he runs a camping La Genziana. When we called him this morning to check after his health he answered: “Everything is OK here, there is no damage in Barrea. I was doing a pipi this morning when the tremour started, It is not uncommon so I went back to bed.”

Pasetta, grandson of the last wolf hunter of the Abruzzo mountains in Italy

I was just browsing through my archive to research some pictures for a magazine publication, and came across this picture from the Egyptian Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey. The bazaar is known for its oriental spices and pastries and sweets. What less people know, is that it also offers a very succesful Natural Viagra! I guess the salesperson is the best advertisement for the product

At the time of taking pictures, I had to smile about the Viagra sign, as all they sell is a jar stuffed to the brim with nuts and honey, according to the Turks a major aphrodisiac. As my eyes panned to the right I suddenly bcame aware of the big belly and a picture was born. Stealthilly I focussed my wide angle on the honey and the unsuspecting woman became the crown on the picture. I think I am slowly discovering the secret behind the large families, some of whom have up to 12 kids.

Istanbul is a vibrant city and I can recommend anyone to come and see it. Check out all the images in this photo gallery of Istanbul, Turkey

The best way to get rid of a jetlag is to dive into the nightlife. And that is exactly what is expected of us. So we scour the clubs on Beale Street for new young talented bands, who compete for the title of ‘Best BLues Band’. In BB Kings BLues club we find a Trio of Poles, named the Boogie Boys, listen for yourself……..The Boogie Boys from Poland

A great performance to get us into the mood for the rest of the trip. This video is taken with Jillians new Canon Powershot G10. Think of the difficult light situation in which this was taken and watch in High Quality to hear the great sound  that comes out of this little cam. I am pleasantly surprised with the overal quality of the camara. Did you see jillian dancing at the end of the vid? Look again!

Finally we are back online with our blog. I spent hours to make this blog fit in with the rest of the site, and off course our Photoshelter archive . The archive came online last november after Digital railroad went belly up.

So now that the archive is online again and the blog is up and running, we can finally start working on the things we really like to do: Searching out the latest adventure, travel, and diving stories for you.

Next week we will travel to the Deep South of the USA. Jillian and I have been invited to cover the Memphis International Blues Challenge. Being a blues buff myself I really wanted to go there, but working mainly for adventure and travel magazines, the question is: how are we going to get any publication guarrantees on the music theme?

After shaking the publication tree we managed within a very short period of time to get 4 commissions in 3 countries. So in the coming weeks you can expect to see our coverage of the Southern US states of Tennessee, Mississippi and Lousiana. We will follow the music from the soul to the rock ‘n roll, via to Mississippi blues to the Cajun and Zydeco music of Louisiana, to end in the music capital New Orleans. There is too much to do and see in too little time, so lets hope that the itineraries for the next 2 weeks work out.

Oh yes and lets not forget the fact that we will also be Canoeing on the Mighty Mississippi River and in the Cajun swamps of Louisiana.