Ivan Meštrović

So, our cruise was stopping in Split, Croatia and we had to select something to do as an "excursion" on shore.  I personally knew nothing about Split, but my wife was thrilled that we were stopping there, as she knew something that I did not.  Split, was the home of the famous sculptor, Ivan Meštrović.  And, she was a lover of sculpture and loved his work.  Here is his Wikipedia entry. 

One of the tours featured, among other things, a visit to his home which was also his gallery.  It is majestic and overlooks the Adriatic sea.  His work is scattered around the grounds and the interior of the house is the primary gallery.  It was interesting to imagine the world of Mr. Mestrovic.

Rainy Illusions

StreetObservations.com - Through the bus' window in a rainy Corfu, Greece, these images seemed to create a dreamy impressionistic quality. 

Acqua Alta

Venice has a problem.  At certain times of the year and during certain tidal periods, it gets wet.  It's not technically flooding, it's high water.  Called Acqua Alta (Italian for High Water).  Since the Piazza San Marco is on a low spot geographically, despite its popularity, it becomes filled with water.

People get around it by walking on platforms constructed over the wet spots.  This is what it looks like:

Cafe Gaga

Sometimes with a little bit of imagination, a crappy crooked out-of-focus picture can be repurposed to be presented as an arty impressionist photo.  Sometimes it is universally appreciated, sometimes not.  But, I find the effort of changing the shot and improving it to be a creative activity.  

Here's an example:

This is the original, taken in Split, Croatia, I noticed her coming out of the alley holding her coffee firmly.  I rattled off a shot but as you can see it is nothing close to being a good photograph. 

So, I straightened it, cropped it, lightened the exposure, add some fill light, boosted the color, and removed some of the "noise" (although I did experiment with adding grain also). 

And, this is what I ended up with.  I like it, but some people... maybe not.  But, it is certainly better than the original.  By the way, you can now make out the letters GAGA on the awning behind. Thus the title "Cafe Gaga".

Hotel Panorama

So, it was three years since an "exotic" vacation.  I chose the itinerary for this trip to allow a chance to expand my photographic horizons, so to speak, by going to beautiful places.  It was primarily a cruise vacation, initially departing from Venice, then heading to Split, Croatia, then four stops in Greece.  All beauties when viewed through a lens (or an eyeball). 

We left 6:30pm from Newark and landed in what would be late the next day in Venice.  Then, it was a boat ride to our location of rest, the Hotel Panorama.  It is positioned on the island of Lido, overviewing the lagoon with a vista that includes St. Mark's square across in Venice itself.  Part of the hotel selection process, besides the view, was that the boat let us off directly across the street from the hotel. 

Our room was located on the corner of the building with the excellent primary vista, and the second view was looking towards the boat terminal. 

Since the island is well populated by bicycles and their riders of all ages, it was an interesting perspective to look down into the square and watch the commuters out the south window.   Also the interactions and activities down below were fascinating.  A busy-ness that, in a way, reminded me of the activity in New York.

 

After our two day stay, we took another series of boats to reach our big boat which was departing through Venice at dusk.  We could make out the yellow hotel as we passed by, headed out to the Adriatic Sea.