This way.

A large neon arrow made up of a red pointed end and white tail, all mounted on a white wall.

An Algarve morning.

A old bench with a jar full of water and some green leafed branches in it. Beside is a small cup and saucer with coffee in it. Beyond is a low gate between white concrete walls looking out to grasses and bushes.

This is one way to protect your car from the heat of the day.

A car parked on a cobbled street with terraced houses on both sides. The car is covered in a sheet to protect it from the heat of the sun.

Shapes and shadows by a pool of water.

A clear pool of water with water falling in from a small spout. Shades of blue and shadows

Yesterday’s exhibition. Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira at the Gulbenkian Museum. He is so prolific, even into his 90s, that I found the exhibition exhausting. Fascinating, inspiring, but exhausting.

A white background with the name SIZA in capital letters

Church, Vila Ruiva, southern Alentejo.

A black and white photo of a simple white church, a round tower on one side, steps leading up to it and a curved wall below and on the right

Spotted while driving through Vila Ruiva is southern Alentejo today. A little bit of searching online revealed this information on the insect zoo.

Cartoon drawings of insects on a wall, pointing to an insect zoo

I found this cage with Budgerigars in the Center of Alcácer. Next to it was a similar cage with pigeons. I don’t know what or who they were for? It has obviously been there for a some time - though how long, I don’t know?

A concrete hut with a caged front full of Budgerigars

I miss maps, old paper maps that you could spread out over the floor to plan your route. That you could fold up to hold on your lap with the section of the map that you were traveling through. I loved looking over them to see all the details they hold - thinking here especially of the British Ordinance Survey maps. Maps that you could stick pins in of places visited and draw out roads traveled.

A variety of maps stuck over a wall and ceiling

The Sado estuary.

Calm river estuary water with a post sticking out of the water, grass to one side and blue sky

Another photograph of Cais Palafitico da Carrasqueira, the ramshackle, zigzagging, interlocking piers on wooden stilts, near to Comporta in Portugal. There have been other photographs of the same area here on my website. It’s a very photogenic area.

A colourful hand made wooden cabin with three child like drawings on the side and two life jackets

Barrosinha, Alcácer do Sal.

Barrel standing alone in a courtyard

Images of Design Week in Lisbon.

A collage of four designs from Lisbon Design Week. An ornate lampshade with white strands hanging from it, some cloth hanging down, a small white ceramic bowl, a wooden stool shaped like an owl

Some of welcome relief from the hot sun yesterday afternoon in Lisbon.

A cobbled sidewalk in shade with speckled sunlight and the feet of someone walking

Checking out the wine.

Drawing on a wall in a restaurant of a woman eying a glass of wine. A double light shines above

Monsaraz - one street of maybe two.

The wall of a house painted white with a small, mature grape vine growing against it, a cobbled road disappears into the distance

At Barrosinha nr, Alcácer do Sal

A flat metal statue of a black cat standing on concrete against a red door

A hotel lobby greeting.

A full size statue of a chimpanzee

The Story Behind The Photograph: Two Boys Playing Cricket

Two boys playing cricket on a remote highway in the mountains of Pakistan
Two boys playing cricket just off the Karakoram Highway

While traveling the Karakoram Highway through Pakistan I stopped in Passu for three nights. My memory of Passu in July of 1989 was it just being made up of a small collection of houses. Nothing else. One of those was the guest house that I stayed in. This was run by a lovely man who use to be in the Pakistan army. Because of his military career, and despite what the isolation of his guest house might suggest, he had a good knowledge of the world outside of the mountains where he now lived. I remember his son playing with a pen knife that I was carrying and asking how much it cost? I mentally converted the UK Sterling price to Pakistan Rupees, and told the young boy. The price would have seemed ridiculous in that small isolated world, and he could not believe what I just shared. His father gave me a knowing nod.

Passu was near to the tongue of the both the Passu and Batura Glaciers. Surrounded by the peaks of the Karakoram mountains, I found it a spectacular place to immerse myself in the wildness of nature. The scale of all that surround me gave one a sense of insignificance. Traffic on the highway was next to nothing, allowing the safe space for these two boys to play a game of cricket just a cricket ball’s throw from the road.

Grey, rugged, sharp mountain peaks with a little snow on them, surrounded by cloud
Mountain peaks over looking Passu

I write this remembering overcast days. Fresh clean, clear air allowing a clarity of thought. And the high mountain peaks, alongside the air quality and ruggedness of the terrain, all reminding me that I was near the roof of the world.

Looking north from Arrábida Natural Park.

Low cloud hangs over a landscape of hills and stone