DISCOVERING JAPAN

Japan is a country which you never stop discovering; every corner in any big city, in a tiny garden or even in an immense green mountain makes you want to know more about the whole culture and their people. It is also a plus that Japan is such an easy country to travel around, everything works so well, and people are so nice and helpful!

I was really amazed by Japanese society and how they respect each other in public spaces, I would say that they think more as a group that we do in our western culture…

I cannot finish this post without talking about their amazing food, so fresh and tasty! Yummy!!

I love travel photography and Japan was the perfect spot for it, please enjoy some of the pictures I have taken during my travels 😊

All photography copyright reserved to Farandulas

STREET ART

Sharing with all of you the amazing street art I found in Toronto! Enjoy!

HAPPY PASSPORTS

If you love travelling (as I do) you will enjoy this great blog of a friend of mine:

www.happypassports.com
THE HAPPY TRAVEL BLOG

Enjoy the reading, loads of tips and experiences!! 

I could only say: WANDERLUST!!

BELLA VENEZIA

Venice is one of those places that every single bit of it is worthy to see. Each street, canal, corner, neighbourhood deserves a visit.
I went to Venice last week and I could not stop taking pictures of every piece of it. It is the most picturesque place I have ever been. If you like photography do not miss Venice! January is the best time to go as it is not too busy and if you are an early morning person you will be able to take some pictures without tourists. The weather was just perfect, really cold but sunny!

Enjoy the pictures!

All pictures are copyrighted, if you want to use them please contact me.

CUBA

Cuba is an iconic country full of history, amazing landscapes, beaches and people! I have been so lucky to be there this year and I did enjoy the most of it!

 If you are going to Cuba I will recommend you not to go just to La Habana or Varadero. If I was you I will travel around the country to know the real Cuba.

La Habana is an amazing city but it could be a bit touristic for some travellers; too many Cubans trying to sell you tours, cigars or even to try to get a 'trago'(drink) from you.

Varadero is simply not the real Cuba; it is a peninsula full of hotels and touristic places…in my opinion: strongly not recommended. We just went to rest for a couple of days and it was good, we did rest but apart from that…

The rest of Cuba, it is just amazing! Their people are more than happy to share their lives with you and their kindness is superb.

I could get into politics and give my opinion about communism vs capitalism but I just think you should go and see it by yourself! Enjoy Cuba if you have the chance!

GREECE

It is such a good feeling to discover a new country; its people, traditions and food.

This time has been Greece ( Santorini  & Athens- to be more precise) and the experience has been just amazing. I strongly recommend you to go there, probably May is a good month as the places are not too crowded and the temperature is perfect!

Santorini is a small island on white and blue where each corner has its charming. Santorini’s beaches are all completely different from each other: the red , the white, the volcanic and many more.

I did not spend much time in Athens, but my first impressions were that the Capital of the old Greece is full of life and art!

Greek people are extremely friendly, open and kind and, I insist the food is really good, fresh  and tasty.

I just can say Ζήτω η Ελλάδα! (Long Live Greece)

OLD SOUNDS

Not long ago I was on a train when I took the last picture with my old SLR camera. Automatically the film started to rewind – an action that takes up to ten seconds and gives this specific sound recognized by many of my generation. There were a young girl and her grandfather in front of me; she looked at my camera with a surprise gesture on her face. I looked at her thinking than probably this was the first time she heard that sound and I wondered what was she thinking: what is that noise for?  Is the camera broken? She kept staring at my camera waiting for the sound to finish. Then I opened the camera and removed the film roll. Without knowing it, I gave to that little girl a small lecture of photography history and a bit of a technical knowledge.

The reaction of this little girl to a new sound (or noise), make me wonder how many sounds have disappeared from our lives, some of them have just vanished and we cannot even remember. 

This is the last picture I took from that train with my SLR camera.

Curiously, this image brings back another sound from older generations of mine, the magnificent noise of a steam train-probably that sounds brought the grandfather‘s girl a good bunch of memories!

NOTTING HILL

If you are going to London, cannot miss Notting Hill and its market in Portobello road. The place just took me by surprise; I was not expecting to see such a lovely area with colourful streets, music, food and a huge market that never ends. The market is like a museum full of antiques and second hand objects which I enjoyed very much. I am fond of old objects and Notting Hill market is the place for it, you would find thousands of items with its own life and past. In some way Notting Hill reminded me of Montmartre; it gave me the same good feeling when I walked around the streets. Definitely if I was living in London, Notting hill would be my place!