Flashback

Aunque quedan zonas del centro que no son accessibles, el área se ha reducido con respecto a lo que era hace seis meses. Esta foto está tomada en la misma calle que ésta en Junio del año pasado. (desde una perspectiva diferente). Lo que antes eran edificios en ruinas a la izquierda de la imagen ahora es un descampado...

En un país muy muy lejano...

At the end of my walk on the first evening, I spotted this van parked in front of a backpacker´s hostel. I could not help smiling at it, as I was really feeling far far away (from home), and it was no fairy tale.

Tirita

Knox Presbyterian Church

With so many buildings demolished, there are many businesses with a simple yet eloquent message trying to attract the passersby´s attention: "We Are Open!"


Round the corner, this church has the following one: "Yes, we are open for (God´s) Business".

You don´t have mail

Art vs Destruction

While in Christchurch, I got to flicker through a very good book of Banksy. This one reminds me of him and a bit of googling reveals this. 

El reposo del gigante

Christ Church

There are so many things that you can plan in such a trip. And then there are those that you cannot plan (the fun bit). This was the first picture I took, the day after I arrived, when going in the late evening for a walk around the city center. Of all pictures, it happened to be a church with a statue of (maybe) Christ. Sort of appropriate for Christchurch, don´t you think?


The one thing that got my attention was the general half demolished state of the building that can be perceived through the trees. Many churches accross the city have been severely damaged, with many a tower standing on the ground these days.

Waimakariri River

By the time I took this photo, it was early afternoon in Christchurch, i.e. around 4am my inner time. I had been travelling for 36 hours and one of the ladies in the cabin crew mentioned I looked quite fresh for such a long flight. So I must have been done something right trying to adapt to the new rythm.


It is difficult to appreciate the sheer size of the river banks, and it would be great to see it in Spring when all the snow water in the Southern Alps melts down.

Sydney

It can hardly be seen, but it is there, the Opera House, the well known landmark from Sydney. I took another shot on the way back, which I will show in due course.


I would not have minded at all to have a couple of days stopover to visit Sydney.

Bangkok - Waiting area

One the joys of travelling, waiting areas!

Bangkok

Changing flights so often is a bit of a pain. On the other hand, it is the perfect excuse to stretch the legs and take a photo here and there.

Dubai

The airport at Dubai is the busiest one I have ever seen. Even the lounge was packed with people. I got a glimpse of Burj Khalifa during approach and then again from the lounge while waiting for the next flight. Not easy to spot through the glasses, but it is there in the background.

Full Moon over Baghdad

This photo has as much noise as you can ask for. And more. But there it is, I don´t fly over Irak every other day.

Berlin - Munich - Dubai - Bangkok - Sydney - Christchurch (and back)

The map is an actual photo I took in a travel shop in Christchurch, with my route overimposed. As you can see from the title of this post, it takes a few take-offs and landings to get there. Total travelling time was around 40 hours door to door (each way!).


NZ is actually the antipodes of Spain, with Christchurch and A Coruña being pretty much aligned to each other, i.e. I could not have gone any further even if I had tried.


The first batch of posts is now scheduled, with a daily post until the end of the month, which just covers the trip and the first evening out in Christchurch.

Graffiti complutense

Pato Donald

La verdad es que a mí el "pato" no me pega mucho dentro del conjunto arquitectónico del Palacio Arzobispal de Alcalá. pero si está ahí, alguna razón habrá.

Oratorio de San Felipe Neri

Fuimos a dar un paseo y aunque no se podía entrar, se podía ver a través de una puerta de cristal (aunque traté deevitarlo, se puede ver un pico de un reflejo arriba a la derecha).

Curiosamente, tras muchos años de vivir en Alcalá, nunca había visto este sitio. Es lo que tiene volver casi de turista.

Parque del Buen Retiro

I actually took this photo not because of the composition, but because of the nice reddish colour of the sky on a beautiful sunset in Madrid. But, fast forward six weeks, here I am thinking it actually looks better in black and white!

Puerta de Alcalá (de Henares)

There are absolutely loads of photos in the pipeline waiting to be published. I´ve done my fair bit of travelling in January, as I spent almost two weeks in New Zealand and brought back some nice shots I managed to take in between a very busy work schedule.


But for the sake of keeping it orderly, I will start with a few I took during the Xmas break and take it from there.


Please feel free to +1 any photos you like, new or old :-)