My Harry Potter trip : bold and beautiful Edinburgh

There are three categories of people : Mega fans of Harry Potter books and movies; people who enjoy or simply like them, and people who have heard about them. It is why I am writing this post without fear to be accused of catering to a small clique:)

There is a profound work done before me, and I especially like these two articles: Places in Harry Potter and Hogwarts. An image of Glenfinnan viaduct is sadly missing in both articles ( the idea for the book “came fully formed” into J.K. Rowling mind when she was on a train). It is why I started my post with this image of the famous viaduct taken by my daughter on their Scotland trip.

Visiting Edinburgh I had Harry Potter in mind most of the time. This is my brief report of possible sources of inspiration for the beloved books, and some remarkable features of the city. To be honest, I think that everything in this city contributed to Harry Potter books, as it did to many excellent examples of literature of all times.

Doesn’t it look familiar? This is George Heriot’s School, the private school for Edinburgh’s wealthy that was founded in 1628 and (officially) inspired the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry:)

So, George Heriots’ or Hogwarts?:)

The Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence in Scotland of Her Majesty The Queen.

Their museum is amazing. They have a few things that belonged to Mary Stuart, and a lock of her hair.

The ruins of the ancient abbey in the Palace grounds.

Another remarkable structure is this magnificent gothic monument to Sir Walter Scott.

And this is Sir Walter himself.

Camera Obscura museum, collection of optical curiosities. May be I am making a mistake telling you that I spent half a day in this museum… These two mirrors face the street and anybody can amuse themselves at any time. I think that wizardry and illusions have lots in common.

Optical illusions. The other hand is also mine:)

The vortex bridge pictures taken without (1) and with flash (2). All the construction is spinning and makes you quite dizzy.

So it is what I was doing there: having fun. This is their page.

The best view is from the top floor of Camera Obscura building.

In the 16th century here the world ended and the Edinburgh began:)

Ghost hazard places. I bet that Greyfriars Kirkyard cemetery also added to J. K. Rowling’s inspiration. I took a ghost tour to fill up on adrenaline.

Andy the Guide is telling us the story about Mackenzie ghost …

Body snatching was very popular those days… This is a security system.

There is a story about poor Bobby. People still bring him toys and pieces of wood to play with.

Here is a statue of Bobby and the pub where I ate my first haggis, neeps&tatties:)

Walking the streets. Grassmarket.

This pub is situated just across from the former execution place. The Last Drop wasn’t the name dedicated to the Alcoholics Anonymous club…

‘Half Hangit’ Maggie Dickson was hanged but survived:)

You might hate checked stuff, but it is impossible to walk away without buying one:) Hurry up, gentlemen, kilts on sale!

Kilts! Take a closer look at the guy’s compromise kilt. His seriously equipped boss wouldn’t let him walk in pants:)

That guy with the lollypop looks fun:)

No way this man would look so determined if he had just a simple pair of trousers on him. A true warrior!

Love this sweet gentleman and his doggies:)

Some foreign tourists are trying to blend in:)

Princess street Park. They have an orchestra playing there.

And finally, this is the place!:) As the legend tells, J. K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter novel here.

Inside the Elephant House; I didn’t eat anything there, had no time. Didn’t write anything either:)

I hope you enjoyed this virtual visit.

Photography tip of the day: When going for a photography trip, check the map for the locations in interest: you will want to know where the sun is at a particular time of the day so you can plan your schedule.

Have a good week!

Black Wolf Blogger award and my nominees

Multitalented Aquileana nominated me for a Black Wolf Blogger award.

I am thrilled because it is my first award :). Aqueliana has a fantastic blog. She writes about the times when the Gods and the Humans mingled together. She knows mythology well and her interpretations are amuzing and blissful.

I thought it would be appropriate to post these images as a thank you:)

I am to nominate 10 bloggers for this award; check out their blogs, you will like what you read and see.

Sheri de Grom

Hattie Wilcox

Beef and Sweet Tea

Living With My Ancestors

Here are the rules:

1. The nominee shall display the Black Wolf Blogger Award logo on her/his blog.

2. The nominee shall nominate ten (10) she/he admires, by linking to their blogs and informing them about it.

I wish you all the best!

Silent charm of Père Lachaise

Recently I had a conversation about Oscar Wilde, and I thought I might post some photographs of his grave and Père Lachaise Cemetery for those who have never been there.

Père Lachaise Cemetery of Paris is a city of its own. The City of the Dead, lined with streets tightly packed with tombs, chapels and mausoleums, housing more than 70.000 bodies, and many more in the Columbarium.

Here is a list of the graves you might check to find out that you are familiar with the names, and actually love and admire many of them. I could go on and on talking how amazing this place is. I spent there four hours and still didn’t see all of the graves I wanted to.

You can take a guided tour, you can walk the cemetery by yourself with a map in your hands, but please plan this visit. Don’t listen to those who tell you that Père Lachaise is a creepy place. It is not. This visit would be one of the best memories of your life.

Oscar Wilde’s grave is not much of a ‘resting’ place. Thousands of his admirers traveled to plant a kiss on the tomb surface. This tradition started in the 80s-90s.

These photographs were taken in 2009. In 2011 a glass panel was installed to protect the hundred-year old monument from damage, which panel was soon covered with new lipstick kisses. The kisses you see on my pictures are all gone after the renovation which, by the way, was financed by Irish Government ( or it is what I have heard). I know these kisses look silly, but I have to confess that I kissed my fingers and touched the stone. No lipstick though. Just to say thank you to a great man for the lessons I have learned from him since I was twelve, old enough to legally pick up a copy of his Portrait of Dorian Gray from our school library.

Photography tip of the day: When travelling, take several 4Gb memory cards with you rather than one 32Gb. If your only memory card gets corrupted, you lose all your images

. Have a great day!

Traveling blog: I am learning from you

Many of the bloggers that follow me and I follow in return are doing amazing job and I admire them. I am overwhelmed by talent! Last week a passionate blogger and mental health advocate Sheri de Grom http://sheridegrom.wordpress.com/ asked me to join the Traveling blog. I felt so grateful and truly humbled. Sheri is doing a job of tremendous importance speaking for the people suffering from mental illness. Her blog is a powerful tool, my blog is only a little piece of love I have for my fellow human beings.

As I accepted the invitation, here are a few questions I am supposed to answer.

What I am working on at the moment?

I am planning to visit Saltee Islands, Co Wexford, for bird photography. Now I am doing some research for this trip. My next destination is Cliffs of Moher, also mostly for bird photography, and after that I am going to Dublin for street photography (Pride festival).

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Well, it must differ a bit because I write in a language which is not native to me. Common sense tells me to rather keep to photography than do any writings, but sometimes there are things I do want to tell about. . I write just about everything:) When I work I am thinking, and if it looks like a good thought to share, so I do. Sometimes I read about some place or person, and I like to go and see them by myself, take my own pictures and share. Usually I don’t have a detailed plan, because I love to surprise myself too:)

Why do I write what I do?

I feel good when I think that somebody smiles reading my blog, or sighs, or drops a tear, or gets inspired for doing something special. I must love humans, otherwise why would I pursue portrait photography:) I want them to be safe and comfortable, to understand and love humor, to be touched by beauty and amazed by new knowledge.

How does my writing process work?

I am a person who is amazed with things all the time, so it is easy for me to pick up a subject. I write what I see, what I know, what I care about. Most of the times I am smiling when I write:). Usually I do research and write a draft; then I take pictures, and then… I write all over again.

Here are some fellow bloggers who have accepted my invitation. I don’t know why I am so lucky to meet the most amazing people! Please visit their blogs. I know you will love what they do.

Incredibly talented Hattie Wilcox, http://availablelightonly.com/ , http://writingwithoutahelmet.com/ I am walking through her blog like through an enchanted forest. Every picture tells a story, every word of poetry takes me away.

Warm humor of Emily Grace http://beefandsweettea.com/ always makes my day. When I read her blog I do want to have a goat and chop the mustard… I want every day to be a National Agriculture Day. Today I stuck behind a tractor on my way home – had no bad feelings, seriously:)

Leyla Garza http://darkpink.wordpress.com/ , her photographs will tell you what a young girl likes. She lost her lens cap you see, and since then she cannot stop taking pictures:)

Here are some pictures from last week. Hope your day is nice and peaceful.

Photography tip of the day: photo editing is art itself.

Have a great day!

A Cry For The Last Child

In autumn 2008 I was feeling unwell and didn’t do any photography. That particular day I was limping across the bridge from the Plunkett train station in Waterford to catch a bus to the hospital, all soaked in drizzle and focused on my own misery. When I turned to The Quay I met the eyes of a giant girl looking at me from the Old Flour Mills over the river. I didn’t have any camera on me, neither was I planning to return to Waterford soon. I looked at the girl with regret and she looked at me with sorrow.

“I now see that sorrow, being a supreme emotion of which man is capable, is at once the type and test of all great art.”

De Profundis by Oscar WIlde

Image courtesy of www.helnwein.com

Controversial, as some people say, artist Gottfried Helnwein was born in 1948 in war-torn Vienna, Austria. You can read his biography on his website ( all the links open in separate windows), and not only the biography. I have read his interviews and quotes, and also translated some from German, for good measure, and I advise you to do so to know all by yourself who he is, what he is trying to tell, and why.

Image courtesy of www.helnwein.com

Many people get confused when they encounter unfamiliar aspects of art; they tend to interpret the meaning based on their own culture, and get confused even more. They might even call this confusion “shock”. My daughter and I went to The Body World 3 exhibition in Salt Lake City a few years ago. The generosity of the donors’ last gift was humbling. Was this exhibition shocking? No. It was educational. Shock is something that locks, not opens. When one says that something is shocking, they stop thinking and learning right there.

Image courtesy of www.helnwein.com

My Father was a POW from 1941 to 1945. I only know from my Mother that he escaped, jumped in the sea and swam, but was reported by a local farmer and imprisoned again in a different camp. He would sit on the sofa with me to watch a cheesy war-related love story on TV, but start crying after a few minutes; he just wasn’t able to bear the mention of the war. What terror had he gone through? You think it will never come back? You think that Fascism is a ghost of the past? Think again.

Image courtesy of www.helnwein.com

“There are times when sorrow seems to me to be the only truth. Other things may be illusions of the eye or the appetite, made to blind the one and cloy the other, but out of sorrow have the worlds been built, and at the birth of a child or a star there is pain.”

De Profundis by Oscar Wilde

Why children?

There are some blood-chilling statistics for you to think about. In the wars during the 80s-90s more children were killed than soldiers.

School shootings. Did you hear about gun control in the 19th century? Yet from 1800 till 1900 there were only about 50 school shootings registered in the USA, mostly as revenge against the teachers, or accidental ; about 190 cases in 20th century and 145 cases from 2000-2013. Statistics include also dormitory and drive-by shootings near the school buildings, and this information is only for the United States. You can also check http://www.ijvs.org/ which goes for International Journal on Violence in Schools.

How about home violence, genocide, starvation, children sex tourism? How about the gruesome discovery in Tuam, Ireland? I can go on and on about all the children who came into this world to be betrayed. Do you still consider the paintings of Gottfried Helnwein “shocking”?

“I feel there is a strong bond between artists and children and all other sacred fools”

Gottfried Helnwein in an interview with Yuchi Konno for Yaso, Japan

When I think about Gottfried Helnwein’s personality, the only thing that truly matters to me is Family. He is a family man who raised his family well. Over fifteen years ago he bought a castle near where I live. Gurteen de la Poer castle. He resides there with his family, his children and grandkids. I wanted to know what their safe haven looks like; to see what the artist sees when he is with his own, away from the media and curious eyes. I contacted his son Cyril and asked if I could take some photos around the castle grounds.

Isn’t it beautiful? They even have some ducks there, one named Donald. If you read the biography you will know that it is symbolic.

I was invited inside. It is so delightful and homely there, with the afternoon sun beaming through the green vines covering the gothic windows. And you know what? I actually got to see all the images from that Waterford 2008 installation because Cyril kindly gave me a copy of the book The Last Child!

Having this peaceful home why would one bother crying warnings?

Any of us can make our home a castle: we can barricade ourselves from the world, protect our children from bad influences, home-teach, train in marital arts, life-coach them to be always on the safe side, you name it. And say you succeed when the rest of the world is falling apart. But let’s see it this way: do you want your child to be the last child on the planet?

Have a great weekend!