Mac the Cat Around the World

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Corsica - from Porto Vecchio to Porto
2007-09-26 12:58:00
Porto Vecchio , on the southeastern coast of Corsica , is an italian-looking village. Ah, if only we had the time to indulge in the dolce fare niente... Charming and classy, in spite of the typical hustle and bustle of August.Sartène attracts many tourists with its little shops of local products (honey, liquors, cheese, etc), narrow streets and esplanades crammed in between. Two cats obliviously cleaning them selfs, just before nap time.On our way back to Porto, in the west coast of Corsica, on one of the many twists and turns that make Corsican roads world famous. The mountain on the right is 1100m high and a couple of kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea.Site Feed
More About: Porto

Corsica
2007-08-22 02:07:00
"La Corse", France... There is so much to be said about this wonderful island. Corsica has it all: the omnipresent beautiful Mediterranean, beaches, mountains, forests, picturesque villages like Sartène and cosmopolitan ones like Bonifacio. This is a simple slideshow. Corsica... in 9 frames.Note: this is my first attempt posting an animated gif (through Google Docs)Site Feed

Inner Cuba
2007-08-05 22:11:00
In Cuba there is a serious transportation problem, becoming more patent in the countryside. We rented a car, which was somewhat difficult due to the offer/demand ratio (we ended up renting a small battered one with no trunk lock for a small discount... given the circumstances it was a sweet deal, all we had to do was park the car with the rear a few inches from a wall... peace of cake!). Although feeling good as luck had struck us, our mood would soon change: we were all set to find out the real difficulties cubans endure. A little after leaving Havana, we started seeing a lot of people next to some men in yellow jackets. They would wave down passing cars and assign one or more of the waiting persons according to the destination of the stopped car. We were never waved down since rent-a-cars have distinctive license plates and maybe those men have orders not to "bother" tourists. We went through some mixed feelings: we could had stopped if we "really" wanted to help... but we'd like...

Kefalonia, Ionian Islands, Greece
2007-07-14 12:20:00
A friend of mine says the photo above suits his idea of the Mediterranean. I particularly like the fact that it looks as if this woman arrived at the beach solo on the dinghy. I believe she is contemplating the settings... this empty beach is a rare finding along Kefalonia's coast. The rolling hills protecting the small bay submerge smoothly into the Ionia n Sea, providing the perfect shelter for tiny-baby-fish to learn the way their fins and gills work :). Snorkeling in these waters is a real bliss. Repeatedly, I took consecutive deep breaths... descended... and schools of fish surrounded me, almost rubbing me. But only until a certain depth, after which they kept an eye on, waiting for my return. When snorkeling, one of the things that scares me the most is the same that draws me the most: it's the varying intensity of the BLUE. First and foremost, it mesmerizes me. After a while, I start to think about sharks, seeing shapes materialize out of the blue... literally :). In this pa...
More About: Greece , Islands

Contrast #1
2007-07-04 10:46:00
Food rationing in Cuba. Every year since 1962, cuban families are given a Libreta de Abastecimiento, a booklet stating the portions of food that each family can buy at the local bodega at subsidized prices. Those portions vary according to the number of persons in each family and their ages. The government states that the amount of food each cuban is allowed to buy through this system comprises a third of the daily needs. The other two thirds are hard to get with an average monthly salary under $17 USD, as the prices soar outside the food rationing system. Careful meal planning is thus required, giving little space for futile needs to stem. You can see it in their eyes.Site Feed
More About: Contrast

Florence, Italy
2007-07-01 23:47:00
The man between the waist-high bars, the florentine sculptor (now sculptured) and goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini, as seen many couples writing their names on a lock and putting it on those same bars. It doesn't seem reasonable to think that Florence authorities would remove locks from time to time so that more couples crossing Ponte Vecchio could put their own lock. It thus seems passionate to think that true love really endures.Site Feed
More About: Italy

"8 de la manãna, Havana, Cuba"
2007-06-22 17:54:00
The taxi driver barely payed attention to the traffic. Anyone on the sidewalk could wave him down and asked him if he would go some place for some pesos. It was up to him deciding whether the small (or big) detour, since there were other people on board with different destinations, would compensate for the pesos he had been offered. No hurries. Moreover, nobody on board seemed to bother. What could be an uninteresting shortest path from A to B turned out as an apparently random sequence of streets, with different persons hopping in and out. A man holding a mango (possibly is lunch), a couple noticeably in love... All of us (sometimes a total of 7 persons) fitted inside the typical 50's american car. Once in downtown Havana , the cigar / rum / paladares (family run restaurants) / accommodation (and other "commodities"...) vendors are by the dozen. If you reject some or all offers, you get an unresented smile and a warm "hasta luego" in return. In one of the busiest streets in Havana,...
More About: Cuba

Island hopping...
2007-06-14 12:32:00
Finding deserted beaches in Greece is rather difficult if you don't have a boat. Really difficult. We already knew it would be even more so if we'd go to Lefkada's Porto Katsiki, often dubbed as one of the best Mediterranean beaches. It provides you a stunning scenery with its huge surrounding limestone cliffs. The sea has one of the most particular shades of blue I've seen, although the visibility underwater is terrible. If you could just ignore the crowds and the noise, it would be close to perfect. In this photo I hardly managed to frame two persons... that's how crowded it is.Under scorching heat, we drove in search of beaches more to our liking, dodging the hordes of italian cars and motorcycles. When the italian license plates became more scarce, we drove a little longer... and found this beach... empty!Site Feed
More About: Island

Back in 1999...
2007-06-12 17:05:00
During my 2-week stay at Ilhas Desertas (11 nautical miles off Madeira), which can be translated to Deserted Islands, I saw... zero monk seals. I thoroughly watched the ocean for 5 hours a day on specific spots... still, not a glimpse. Bear in mind, though, that the small population of 20+ seals (in 1999) is spread in a natural reserve with 24000 acres.Find the spot where this photo was taken in Google Maps:Site Feed
More About: Back

To start with...
2007-06-12 15:22:00
I still don't really know what first prompted me to create this blog...Truth is this is one of those "projects" you manage the time to do, in spite of all the real projects you have to do. Classic.The idea is somewhat similar to "Panoramio", but with the possibility to add some more words and... to have a black background (...).I cherish all my photos (good and bad ones) of trips I have made, as they consistently remind me of good things ... sure enough, only a very small percentage makes the cut. These are the ones I will share on this blog.Oh, and Mac is my boss/cat... to which a trip to the vet seems like traveling around the world.Site Feed
More About: Start