Anne's Short Musings

I woke to a watery sun creeping through the window. Yesterday, I’d looked over terracotta rooftops and onto an Umbrian countryside so classic as to be breathtaking. Now Assisi lay hidden by mist. Spires and steeples appeared and disappeared at the whim of a cold breeze, and every noise came as if from far away. Water dripped from the roof and onto the windowsill beside my hand.

Nothing quite prepared me for these giant trees. I've seen so many images of them (and yes, we've all seen the movie) but to actually wander through the temples and see trees sprouting from stones is an eerie site.

The laneways in Melbourne are famous for their street art. It is a constantly changing world, where few images stay for long but while they are there, their voice is strong. A snap shot of today, to be buried under more layers of paint. May be one day rediscovered, but essentially ephemeral. Which is what gives the art is poignancy.

Kurashiki is an old canal town in Japan. Like most other places calling themselves 'a little Venice', the canals were once important routes between the port and both warehouses and merchant houses. During the Edo period, Kurashiki rose to prominence as a place for storing and redistributing rice. In the Bikan Historical Area, these canals flow back to a more gentle past, lined with weeping willows,  and with the occasional swan drifting past.

I found Prague's famous astronomical clock impossible to photograph. There is simply so much to take in, which I couldn't collect into one photograph. Every hour, starting at 9 am and continuing until 11pm, a parade of characters move above the clock, peering out to world as they pass a small window. To one side a rooster crows and flaps his wings as a skeleton rings a bell. Unfortunately, it's all over in some 30 seconds, until the next hour strikes....  I was lucky, for our guide had found us a perfect place to stand. The Old Town Square is perennially crowded, no more so than when the hour approaches. The only time I saw the square empty was on an early morning walk as I set out to photograph Charles Bridge before all the tourists arrived. Perhaps because it was 3 degrees C the square was almost empty. Installed in 1410, Prague's clock is the third oldest such clock in the world, and the oldest astronomical clock which still functions. The dials sh

You have to look hard to see him. These fairy penguins return each night to nest in the rocks along the St Kilda boardwalk in Melbourne. They come in after dark, and leave again before dawn, and are best spotted with the aid of a red light which doesn’t distress them. Indeed one penguin often performs to the crowd (there were at least a hundred people gathered on a mid-week summer night). He hops up on the platform and waddles along to his nest among the rocks, repeating the performance a few times to make sure every one sees. Others are more shy, reaching their resting spot without being spotted. Afterwards, a walk in the failing light to one of the many restaurants Melbourne has to offer. Like my photos? - if you feel like contributing to my coffers, please click the link to buy my photos from the micro-stock site  123RF.  Cheers!