M & JL, M's father. Madrid Feb 2007.

Madrid

Madrid seems to be growing more rapidly than any city I've ever known. Blocks and blocks of new apartment developments, the main motorway into Madrid diverted into a tunnel under the ground with the river diverted, a huge new airport, new Metro lines, new motorways, new everything. It's very car dependant and maybe this is why I can't help from photographing the motorway signage over and over again; I just love it. Here is a subdued example:

One bar

M's brother O has just opened a bar in Madrid, with his friend R. M and I spent a few nights there over the weekend.

Their motto is:

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.

www.one-madrid.com

To chain or not to chain.

There were times on the roads in the Tatra mountains that I thought, I wonder if that truck should have tyre chains on this snow covered road going up a mountain. Then I just kind of hung onto my seat and shut my eyes.

Not many people put chains on their tyres. Lots of people slid all over the road.

Train station, Poprad, Feb 2007.

Home hog slaughter specialty

When I saw on the menu, Home hog slaughter specialty I said , "That's the dish for me." Apparently they cook every little last bit of the home slaughtered pig although why it's served in a funny little wooden bowl I'm not sure. I said to L, my Slovakian friend, that I didn't think "slaughter" was the most appropriate translation of whatever it's called in Slovakian and she said that no, it was entirely appropriate as that's exactly what it is. Okay then.

It was delicious. It's a Slovakian thing, apparently.

A good head.

It would be rash to say, "Everybody who pulls a beer in Slovakia generates a big head." But it's not far from the mark. Some people might like a big head on their beer - no doubt it's the custom in Slovakia - but it reminds me only of the scum that builds up on the beach when the ocean's in a chop. And that's never been something that I wanted to drink. Nevertheless the beer was cold and palatable, even if you had to give yourself a milk moustache to get at it. Just the thing you need after a day on the snow (the beer that is, not the tash).

(Poprad, Feb 2007)

The brain.

When I was a boy I read a picture book that explained the workings of the human body. The bit I remember in particular detail was a drawing representing the internal workings of a person's brain. I studied it because I loved it. An enormous transparent head filled the double page spread. The head had several levels and staircases leading to different rooms, each of which contained various libraries and training manuals, computers, mechanical devices and other such functional ephemera. In each of these little rooms there were little people busying themselves reading, turning cranking wheels, operating various machinery and shouting orders into telecommunications devices. It was meant to show a busy brain at work operating the body and keeping everything under control. When I look out the window at work towards the office building opposite, seeing all the workers scurrying around filing things, tapping away at computers and generally busying themselves, this is exactly what I see.

In a hotel lift in Bratislava...

I want to begin a story, "In a hotel lift in Bratislava I took a picture of M." But that's as far as I get.

In a hotel lift in Bratislava I took a picture of M. We left the hotel and wandered the chilly streets looking for signs of life...

Bad Design

Whilst in Vienna I came across the company that drew up the plans for our bathroom:

(And that is why I don't do puns). I know, crap joke, crap photo. But I can't resist the inevitable language misinterpretation you get when you're travelling, so here it is. (Vienna, Feb 2007)

Flying

The trip we've just come back on was great. I'll post a few thoughts and images as I scan stuff and where I can fit it in. Next weekend it's Madrid again, so hopefully I'll manage to post a few more things before then otherwise I'll fall even further behind. These photos are of M on the way to Vienna. For some reason she always manages to bag the window seat...

Waiting at the airport

It has taken me a while to get back to the blog after our trip to Vienna, Slovakia and Hungary. The last week has been exceptionally busy. And, not too many photos have been scanned yet from the trip away. Here are a few, waiting at the airport. I'm quite a fan of airports, especially empty ones. A few images from Stansted a few weeks ago:

Austria - Slovakia - Hungary

I'm going for a week to Vienna, Bratislava, Poprad and Budapest. So the likelihood is that the blog will take a back seat for the week, unless I can find an internet cafe in the snowdrifts somewhere.

I'm hoping for some scenes not unlike these ... (near Segovia, Spain, a few years ago)...