Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu

Happy New Year!

This year marks my second year in Tokyo for New Years. This time I'm lucky enough to be staying at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Shinjuku. Featured in Lost in Translation it is as beautiful and wonderful as shown in the movie.

Here are a batch of my photos. Starting out with a couple snapped at Harajuku yesterday. It's the home of Cosplay - costume play and such a fun place to hang out.





Reflections abound in this city of skyscrapers:


These drink machines are everywhere and sell some very interesting and colourful drinks:


Love this inside neon sign - some things look very different when lit up:


This time I'm finding a lot more graffiti around. Some angry, some artistic and some colourful:




I think this is a old bowling alley sign, the alley is long gone but the sign is still there...


Very strange indeed. There was a whole wall dotted with these signs. Not sure what these guys did but I imagine it wasn't good!

Arrivederci Roma

Proof positive that it is impossible to have too much of a good thing. When one reflection is just not enough, what about four or five?

Today, I walked around Rome for a couple of hours before heading to the airport for flights to London and then CDG in Paris.

I have loved Rome, I really didn't expect to even like it - not sure really why I decided to come here but I certainly left a little piece of my heart here.

So here are todays pixs. First is proof postive that the early bird, if she doesn't get the worm, at least gets the wonderful photo, I loved this tree throwing such a perfect shadow in the early morning light:



This wall is near the Villa Borghese gardens and it really captured my eye:



This statue made me laugh. It looks pretty angry with having to hold up the front of the Westin Hotel - and I'm not sure who the artist modelled it on, but it is a very ambiguous piece!



One of my themes this trip is lights and this morning I lucked out with this perfect shadow - you don't get these in the middle of the day - you have to be up early enough to capture the light coming at just the right angle:



Here's another of the light fittings I shot, they have such wonderful detail and they are so varied:



No great graffiti today, but this snippet caught my eye:



Autumn in Rome, I love how the reflection of the trees has painted this car:



When I was a kid, my brother had this cute little minature train set. This petrol station could have been part of his set. I guess when you have little cars and lots of scooters you don't need petrol stations the size of supermarket parking lots:



And finally, another really old number plate on the cutest Fiat car:

Caesar has cool boots

Julius Caesar gets to wear very cool shoes, I want boots like his.

Today is my last day in Rome and tomorrow I fly to Paris via London. Yes, I know, that makes no sense, neither does it that BA charges $250 for this flight and Air France from Rome to Paris would have been 10x that price. So, I go via London and get to check out the new Terminal 5!

But, today belongs to Rome. The weather was fantastic and I got an early start. The bright sunshine means that reflections abound - here are some I captured:



I am becoming a conniseur of which cars give the best reflections, love the way this one curves around and I promise, that paper was there already, I didn't put it there:



I struggled to find any meaningful way to photograph the Colosseo and the Arco di Constantino. It was frustrating to think I'd come home with the same photos that everyone else had. And then I stepped in this really big puddle of water - hmmmm, puddles, water, reflections - got it! These are the two shots that made my day:





I walked past this church and didn't even notice it - from the ground it looked like any other building. But, as I was checking out reflections, I caught sight of its tower and bells - I would have missed it otherwise. Double glazing in the windows has added character to these cool reflections:





Gotta love this guy, Piazza Navona is full of tourists in casual gear, cameras going everywhere and tons of noise and music and this guy is sitting, very dapper in his tie, drinking caffe and water and working - on a Sunday!



Ok, so this angel might look innocent enough but he is holding a mamoth sword in one hand - angels with swords? It's Rome!



Remember your history lessons? Pop Quiz: a) ionic b) doric c) corinthian?



This is how they fix a horse that split his seams, statue detail, Piazza del Quirinale:



Very old number plate on a very old car:



Today was a little light on grafitti but this one caught my eye:



Statue detail from Piazza del Quirinale:



Finally, the sun sets over Rome's Fiume Tevere:

Falling in love with Rome

I have been surprised at how easy Rome is to walk. On the map it looks so much bigger than it really is. You need to walk it too or you miss so much of the tiny details that, together, go to make the city.

As you look at these photos, insert backing sounds of church bells ringing, traffic and the sirens of the local carbineri and politzia as they whizz around this wonderful city.

Here are some images from the themes I've been shooting. One is roof tops and the wonderful chimney pots and layers in the roofs of the city:







Close ups from statues, churches and fountains is another of my themes. The first is detail from the Trevi fountain and the second is from one of the three fountains in the Piazza Navona:



OMG, there's a pigeon on my nose!





From a church in Orvieto:



Same church, here are the colours of Italy in the door detail:



Another theme is windows, here is one through which you can see to the building behind. It is from the Forum area in Rome:



This window harbours a reflection of a nearby building:









Mirror, Mirror on the wall...



I find that domes are much more interesting in the context of their surrounds, like this one:



Another of my themes this trip is light fittings. I have a huge collection of wonderful street lights and shop lights. This is a set from near the Colosseo in Rome:



As luck would have it, United Colors of Beneton is right opposite the Trevi Fountain. So, with your back to the fountain you can see it reflected in the shop window. Here's the result:







Another morning, I found a map and paper shop with a street light in front. This photo is more reminiscent of a multi shot taken using film and has a collage feel to it - gotta love reflections:



Everywhere throughout Italy you can find religious icons above houses and at nearly every street corner. I have a grab bag of photos of them, this is one of the more elaborate I've found:



Finally, who can resist a market such as the one at the Campo de Fiori, and the wonderful variety of fruit on display:



Or this streetside tie display:



And what is a day without some wonderful graffiti?