Sunday, January 23, 2005

Cologne: Remembering the Crucifixion


Photo by Sandeep Chopra Posted by Hello

Notice the exquisite charcoal rendition against purple skies! Cologne is a visual delight. If you're lost, one must only look for the brass square drain covers - measuring a foot square, they have embossed on them the map of a half kilometer radius...

Saturday, January 22, 2005

Brussels - the comic world's bastion?



Every corner you round in Brussels, make sure you take a 360 degree look lest you miss one of these!

More Brussels



And then some...



Yet more Brussels...

Guarding the Museum of Comic Arts, Brussels



Did you know Herge barely stepped out of Brussels and yet Tintin travelled the globe on his adventures? There's an entire book on how...

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Quintessential Amsterdam



It doesn't get more complete than this - a Van Gogh collage on Prinsengracht, Delftware tiles on the yellow power box, quirky window displays, reflection of gables and yours truly sillhouetted on the brown cafe glass...

Amsterdam in stone on an Amsterdam wall



Another tiny find...

On a wall in Amsterdam



Is this the Batenburg Castle? Perhaps... Intriguing that it should adorn a wall in Amsterdam. Note the silver coins in and gold out!

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

A piece of the Berlin Wall



Walls… the word evokes in us a sense of boundaries, partitions, barriers, barbed wire fences, borders, fortification, confinement, imprisonment, captivity… walls…

The Great Wall of wonder in China. Wailing walls of faith in Jerusalem. Political walls dividing Berlin and West Bank. And unmitigated lawless liberal graffiti. Freedom of expression on walls that are the very antithesis of freedom… in a world of inherent contradictions.

One such slice of the past here, now relegated to being a mere tourist attraction.

Berlin Berlin



A temporary art installation near Checkpoint Charlie.

Berlin's Wittenbergplatz U-Bahn station



Vintage advertisements adorn this underground station in Berlin. Did you know Opel started with the mass production of sewing machines?

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Inviting Black Forest


Bergsee, Black Forest

These signposts vie with each other to entice tourists at Bergsee.

Porcupine pie, porcupine pie


Budapest - May 2004

Now what was this shop all about? I just had eyes for the signpost... watch this space for more such...

Signpost in Amsterdam



...advertising a store selling office furniture!

The Heidelberg welcome



Straight out of Empire Strikes Back, this contraption is a delight for the sci-fi aficionado but a virtual assault to the medieval art lover. It's all in-your-face as you step out of the train station at Heidelberg.

Singapore



Now where on earth did I see this? Help needed :)

Friday, January 14, 2005

Coffee and holiday cheer on the broadside of a bus


Union Square, San Francisco

I have a clan of gingerbread men
Here a man
There a man
Lots of gingerbread men
You can take one if you wish
They're on the dish

... Syd Barrett

Seattle mosaic



The ground beneath your feet as you look out to Puget Sound... crustacean and piscean inlays indicate proximity to the Pike Place Market - smells oh so fishy and divvvine!!!