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WOMAD '09

A couple of weeks ago WOMAD took a place in Abu Dhabi, I put some effort to make it and to meet up a couple of my good friends. . and it was so damn worth it..

We were in the front line, and there was this dude between us and the stage.. he did not look like a security guard nor like an organizer.. he was just put there to confuse people maybe?


Kamal Musallam, a Jordanian guitarist based in Dubai, and his band were the first to launch the festival (I guess?) .. I arrived in the middle of their show. They had a local band featured with them, it's called Sokoor Al Magabeel. Both bands mixed some nice music actually.. I found this rehearsal clip on youtube. Checkout it out ;)

nice juxtaposition by a young lady who was standing next to me..


he got really excited through the show..

The only okay frame I managed to get of Kamal Musallam.. not too bad I guess for it was my first time to shoot in a concert.. and i only had my 50mm lens, and no flash.

and I wasn't as lucky as some who got media access.. closer to the stage.

The show was a good warm up.. for the real thing next. Souad Massi, and if you don't know who Souad Massi is then go and do your homework (I must admit I did not know about her until shortly before the festival). We were in the front line when she first came out for the setup..

along with her band..

and then she was presented to kick off her show..

The music.. the performance.. the everything.. was awesome..

he played some fantastic tunes too..

but our dude here had to keep reminding us he is around..


Souad got so much into her music she managed to turn his head..

and the chaps met Souad and took typical fans photos with her too ;)

she is someone worth being a fan of.. for real

we weren't that close to each other physically

Across Europa

back to Bochum.. with my 5D this time, quite fascinating to travel with this fullframe monster.. too bulky for street photography, but a tool is a tool..

We travelled last month like mad between Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Holland with a total of 11 cities visited in three weeks.. There is over 150 photos in this post, which is not quite user friendly but its the only way to cover most of the trip with not too boring photos.. I hope?

I was in Bochum last November, nothing much has changed since then, except there was no snow this time: [link]

it was still cold despite the lack of snow..

after a couple of days, we flew to north-eastern Italy. Duino was our first stop for four nights in a cosy hotel with a nice view of the Adriatic.

the main piazza of Dunio has nothing but the United World College (right) and bus stop in front our favorite dining place, the Mickey Mouse bar (left).

and then to Grado..

Diving Highly Dangerous in Grado..

knock knock..

WALL-E?

a typical touristy staged photo of nice young lady..

and then back to Duino..

a bench, a flipped boat and a cat starring at me

and a photo of me that i like since a long time.. 

the following photos are of sunset on the Adriatic in Dunio.. not a single shot was put through post processing in photoshop or any other editor.. pure raw shots from the camera. It's all about capturing the right moment.

i think this was in Monfalcone.. 

and then to Trieste..

too much map reading..

Italian pigeons are real slackers.. they walk down the stairs instead of flying..

Trieste had a Roman Theatre too

some street photos in Trieste.. photos of people.. 

Italian laundry..

inside El tram de Opcina..

funky italian graffiti..

he shared the seat with us, didn't speak any english but he was very young in the heart despite the look.. he is a grandfather of a few.. he offered us some sugar-free caramel candies.. 

The Matrix..

ridiculous number of scooters.. i was told in the hotel renting scooters in there is very difficult.. how ironic

this is how you should name your business to attract attention these days..

very italian..

mister james joyce..

and more scooters..

I think these signs were too many to read..

a view from the Rilke path in Dunio.. I wished we discovered this place earlier than our last evening.. it was heavenly.. 

and this is how my sigma 10-20mm lens spool photos on a 5D full frame body.. funny

we visited "tetka" Gordana, Deni's aunt, and her lovely family in Slovenia.. this railway was the separator between Italy and Slovenia.. we technically walked from Italy to Slovenia.

we went for a short walk and i saw this chainsaw, the first thing came to my mind seeing this whilst being in Slovenia was the movie Hostel.. and human body parts ;)

and slovenian laundry..

some uber wicked sculpture..

Penelope was there too..

a foreign object got stuck in his eye..

in Luka and Mirko's school..

bird view of the Solkan Bridge

bungee jumping must be a fantastic experience off this bridge..

it was really nice to spend time in Nova Gorica with tetka and her family.. next we had to take a train from Gorizia..

to Quarto d'Altino.. our next destination.. 

and there was our next hotel.. 20minutes outside Venice

Venezia-Mestre station.. the most crowded station i've ever stopped at in europe..

and here comes Venice, a city like no other.. a floating collective masterpiece of art.. 

it's fascinating how are transportation means are water based in this city.. even the cops float.. 

we arrived to Venice around 4pm the first day, it was a bit late so we decided to take the vaporetto (water bus) all the way to San Marco square.. a fantastic cruise in the main converted S shaped canal of the city, upon arrival we entered the maze of narrow paths behind the main piazza until we stopped at one of the restaurant to grab a bite.. we had this sign next to our table, it was a but confusing.. and there were no waitresses

and then it got too late.. the street scenes were saying so..

and back to the hotel stopping by Venezia-Mestre station once again.. 

the next morning, we decided to "catch the day from its beginning" so we arrived to Venice around 9am. and we decided to go San Marco square again.. walking this time tho.. 

Venetian laundry..

a venetian point of view

its funny how boats are parked underneath houses, just like cars anywhere else.. 

strawberries weren't very expensive.. unlike everything else in this city..

we found a huge antique and second hand market whilst walking thro the city.. they had awesome stuff.. we bought a lot of cool junk from these two nice folks.. 

this old man was sitting and the doorsteps of some hospital building (yes, this was a hospital and not some church or museum) and was reading whatever he was reading for over an hour.. 

and the we found the most beautiful bookstore in the world.. 

seemed to me more like a military walk.. 

needless to say the quantity of pizza we had in those days.. 

and even in Venice, there must be some irish pub.. with some dude smoking at the door with pine in his hand.. 

from san marco bell tower.. 

San Mark's Basilica.. wanted to enter this place but the queue was too long.. and at end of the day, you can't do and see everything in Venice in less than two days..

wearing the tourist hat.. feeding pigeons in the square.. and having my photo taken too - what an experience..wohoo!

Venetian masks..

and the last scene of San Marco square.. San Marco and San Teodoro Columns

a postcard-style Venice shot..

back to gloomy Bochum.. already missed the sun from our first day back..

it must've been very tempting..

in our favorite glass cafe downtown.. their chicken and spinach dish was very good. hungry..waiting..

a couple of days later, we took the train to our next destination.. Amsterdam

we spent four days in one of my favorite cities in the world.. the trip was a very heavy dose of pure art starting with Rembrandt's house..

this is where the masterpieces were born..

he was quite a collector..

part of the house museum.. it was a good warm up to visit the house before spending over three hours at the Rijksmuseum the next day.. The Night Watch might have been the most famous drawing of Rembrandt, but both the Jewish Pride and Jurmaia paintings were somehow more appealing to my taste.. the museum is highly recommended (duh) and never estimate the audio guide in such places..

trying out iso3200 late at night.. low street light, actually i think this shot is over exposed, i was amazed by the focusing in low light..

and we discovered La Place restaurant just off Spui stop in Amsterdam.. it became our destination for breakfast, lunch and dinner.. and we always preferred the just under street level seating next to the window.. the following street photos were all taken from the same spot inside the restaurant..

we visited Richard, my friend and colleague, and his family in their hometown Bodegraven.. it was nice to meet them all again and we all had some typical dutch dinner prepared by Els, Richard's wife after we went for a walk in typical dutch countryside.. and in one of the fields we met this little puppy which was looking for some attention..

it was quite thrilling to see photos of Luuk, Richard's son, a couple of months earlier skating on this lake!

We went back to Amsterdam early evening.. it was that night when Scotland and Hollands national football teams had their game which resulted in the dutch winning 3-0 or so.. Amsterdam was packed with them scotsmen in skirts that week..

we watched Milk in Tuschinski theatre that evening.. it was our last evening before heading back to Germany.

Great if you have made it to this line, tried to post as less photos as possible. 

Ciao, Shady