Photography & travel

EGYPT – Cairo

Do you remember the candyfloss pop song ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’ from the Bangles in 1986? Well they should make one about the insane driving skills in Cairo.The road markings to indicate the lanes are a waste of paint in Cairo. If three lanes are provided, the drivers will make it four, or five. Depending on their driving skills. Many roads lack dotted lines, but that is not a problem. Navigating from left to right w/o using indicators feels even more organic. Call it orchestrated chaos. Every Uber driver we had played it along masterfully.And to top it all off, …

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EGYPT – GEM#1

The Grand Egyptian museum or GEM is indeed a gem in capital letters. Designed by Heneghan Peng Architects from Ireland and constructed by the Belgian based company Besix together with Orascom Construction PLC based in Egypt.From the outside the building is massive but once inside it doesn’t feel that way.The atmosphere feels intimate and airy, thanks to the triangular alabaster window at the top of the entrance that transform the bright sunlight into a satin-like glow.First thing you notice when you enter the Grand Hall is the red granite statue of King Ramesses II. Weighing 87 tons and with a …

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WIEN day#3

Our third and final day in Vienna, a trip which isn’t complete without a visit to the Wiener Staatsoper. We did not attend a performance, but enjoyed a guided tour of the opera house itself. Our guide did a wonderful job.When you wander through the corridors, you automatically start to imagine what it must have been like at the opening in 1869. Everyone dressed in late 19th-century fashion. Woman in wide skirts and large sleeves with their waist constricted in a restrictive corset. Men in beautiful wool costumes with exquisite tailoring and refined details. Maybe we should go back and …

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WIEN day#2

Our second day in Vienna and it’s a sunny one. Perfect for exploring the city at our own pace, walking.I forgot to note down the #steps we did that day. But if you start the day at Margareten, walk to Belevedere 21 & Belvedere Schloss, continue to Hundertwasserhaus and follow the Donau canal-Wienfluss with a lunch break at Plachutta Wollzeile, enjoy the view of Domkirche St. Stephan, next Peterskirch, Hofburg and Marie-Theresien-Platz with a quick stop at Wiener Secession, a drink at Naschmarkt and continue on Rechte Wienzeile to our hotel, this means more daily steps than what is prescribed …

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WIEN day#1

Are you fascinated by history and do you love Baroque architecture? Do you enjoy classical music? Do you like to catch an opera now and then? If you answer ‘yes’ it sounds like you might be a culture vulture. That’s exactly what our family friends thought, which is why they gave us a gift voucher from Music & Opera so we could pick one to our liking. The big question was: “which opera should we go to”? Actually, it wasn’t a difficult choice: to the cradle of opera, of course. Vienna here we come! After we stored our luggage at …

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ITALY – Puglia – Ostuni

For the best reading experience, please go to the first blog post about Puglia. ‘If you go to Puglia, you should definitely visit Ostuni, la città bianca’. Famous words from our Italian neighbour.Looking back, it’s not just Ostuni that’s white, but most of the villages we visited. Every year, the municipality requires the residents of Ostuni to whitewash their houses. And that’s not the case everywhere.As the village is located on a hill, you can see it shining in the sun from afar. Here, too, there are numerous charming alleys and after every corner there is a surprise waiting for …

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ITALY – Puglia – Polignano a mare – Monopoli

Do you like singing? Or do you like diving?I know the place where you can combine them all, Polignano a Mare. Here, you can experience it all, carried by the wind.It was actually by coincidence that we saw the statue of singer Domenico Modugno, winner of the Festival di Sanremo in 1958. Just following our instincts, curiosity and a group of Belgian tourists led us towards the sea. And then suddenly you see people with arms open wide shouting “Volare” in front of a statue. Taking the steps down to the rocky terrace gives you a perfect view over the …

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ITALY – Puglia – Alberobello

Is Alberobello an architectural gem or a hype? In any case, this village has also been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996, like so many other places in Italy. There are various theories as to why these typical houses were built in this way. One of them resonates with me because of its simplicity and logic. While working their fields, the farmers regularly encountered rocks in the ground. Because they did not feel like moving them anywhere, they used them to build low walls around their land. As more stones were surfacing, they were stacked in circular shapes that …

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ITALY – Puglia – Martina Franca – Locorotondo

Nowadays, Andrea Roggi’s bronze sculptures can be seen popping up all over Puglia. And in Martina Franca, his works are present in abundance. Turns out we would see more of his works in Locorotondo and Cisternino.We first saw his work in a gallery in Moltepulciano in 2017. Often, it is an organic globe with an olive tree or tree of life on top, inspired by nature, letting olive branches grow out of love.The tree trunks are human figures, entwined in an intimate embrace. Their arms raised towards the sky grow into magnificent olive tree branches, while their roots reach deep …

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ITALY – Basilicata – Matera

Matera, the city of caves. Not located in Puglia but just outside it in the province of Basilicata. The Puglia administration would very much like it to be part of their region. But that is a political matter.Matera is famous for its so-called Sassi or cave houses. Since 1993 it is named an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and rightly so. The story goes that the rocks on the site where Matera now stands have served as shelters for monks who fled the Byzantine Empire since the eighth century. They started carving cave dwellings into the lime stone cliffs. Some parts …

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