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That is a beautiful panorama - really does make you want to walk through that landscape.

I should be angry at how we were conditioned or lied to (my generation, secondary school in the 1960s). We were taught that everything in the 'Eastern bloc' (which is all it was ever called, if not 'Iron Curtain countries') was drab, grey and industrial with no countryside worth seeing, no heritage left, and somehow almost no sunshine! Textbooks, films and newspapers all gave that impression. Then when everything opened up, we found that OUR governments had been destroying the countryside and historic cities just exactly the way portrayed, even more than the 'eastern European' ones. Also, I now know that what we called eastern Europe was really the heart of Europe and its cultural centre in centuries past.

I know a lot has happened in the last 20 years to recover traditional values and pride, and I'm told that cities like Krakow (as with Prague, or indeed many West German cities which suffered damage in the war) often have 'facade' streets which look old but were actually rebuilt with modern structures behind reclaimed or reconstructed fronts.

But it makes me very happy now to see so many wonderful pictures of countries which were empty spaces on our mental maps through the 60s, 70s, 80s - just to know that if I had the chance, I could spent the rest of my life travelling and find somewhere beautiful every day.

David

Hawk, That's a great pano. Why don't you post some shots of the Polish people. I met one of the 10 most beautiful women in the world there back in '92. I nearly went back and married her.

David, countryside is countryside, wherever you go. Of course, the arability of the land effects what it looks like, but good farm land will always look nice in pics.

As to the Heart of Europe, read some good comprehensive history books and look at the maps of empires thru the ages. Poland was Europe's greatest empire in the 1300's, if memory serves me right. The Polish Emperor issued an edict of toleration for the Jews, resulting in a large influx. The result is that the Nazi's had a lot to pick from when they did their terrible work. Somewhere I have a bunch of shots from Stuthoff, the first concentration camp. It's all on film, but I ordered a scanner, and will someday soon start converting my negs. Then I can post them, but only with permission and a warning, some are gruesome.

Dusty

David Kilpatrick wrote: I know a lot has happened in the last 20 years to recover traditional values and pride, and I'm told that cities like Krakow (as with Prague, or indeed many West German cities which suffered damage in the war) often have 'facade' streets which look old but were actually rebuilt with modern structures behind reclaimed or reconstructed fronts.
David

While true, this isn't a new trend, or anything like it. Just for example, the Grand Place in Brussels was destroyed by the French in 1695 -- and the people of Brussels rebuilt it in its previous style. The current buildings were all built around 1696-1699 (or so) but the style is from centuries earlier. In fact, as they were rebuilding, a few attempts at updating the style were made, but the mayor decided (and decreed) that the old style should be maintained throughout.

In case anybody cares to look, some of the dates are visible in a shot I took a while back:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jerrycoffi ... 4/sizes/o/

Looking at it again, I think I'll have to go back and re-shoot that -- I've got the horizon tilted a bit, and the light isn't exactly ideal either.

jcoffin wrote:The current buildings were all built around 1696-1699 (or so) but the style is from centuries earlier. In fact, as they were rebuilding, a few attempts at updating the style were made, but the mayor decided (and decreed) that the old style should be maintained throughout.

The styles as shown are very 1690s or at least 17thc baroque, not from 'centuries' earlier. I think the story is that later attempts to 'update' the square have been consistently prevented, resulting in the 1690s rebuild remaining intact, and that the Town Hall (not the buildings in your photo, which were Guild Halls or private houses) was rebuilt in the original early Renaissance Gothic style.

David

David Kilpatrick wrote:

jcoffin wrote:The current buildings were all built around 1696-1699 (or so) but the style is from centuries earlier. In fact, as they were rebuilding, a few attempts at updating the style were made, but the mayor decided (and decreed) that the old style should be maintained throughout.

The styles as shown are very 1690s or at least 17thc baroque, not from 'centuries' earlier. I think the story is that later attempts to 'update' the square have been consistently prevented, resulting in the 1690s rebuild remaining intact, and that the Town Hall (not the buildings in your photo, which were Guild Halls or private houses) was rebuilt in the original early Renaissance Gothic style.

David

While I'll admit that I'm not even close to an expert on architecture, I've read a fair amount about it, and all accounts seem to agree that these guild houses were originally built around 1440, and that when they were rebuilt in the late 1600's, they were specifically built to replicate the previous style. OTOH, it is true that there had been some updates in the meantime, especially to the facades (around 1650).

There was some restoration of the Town Hall, but substantially less than of the guild halls for the simple reason that the French didn't demolish it quite as badly. In particular, the outside walls and tower were still standing after the bombardment. There has been a fair amount of work since then, but done with care to maintain the original style. For example, at least as I understand it, the statues on the outside walls of the Town Hall:



were added in the 1840's. (My apologies for the technical quality of this shot -- it's a 100% crop from a much larger picture, taken with the K/M 11-18, which is handy for this kind of situation, but not exactly the sharpest glass on the planet).

Here are some shots from the same outing as my "Right around that corner" picture. This is downtown Fort Worth.

On 1st of May most people were out of town on weekend and I was asked to take some photos with Tamron 20-40mm which I’m finally selling. Yes, I was about to sell it last summer but just couldn’t (GAS ) Anyway, I took short walk by the river and through almost empty streets.

Hi Hawk, thanks for sharing a walk around your town with us. I like 1, 2 and 3 especially. Really vibrant, strong colours. The lead in of the river/stream in 1 and 2 is great. In the last picture it is interesting to see the satellite dishes but, for me, they don't do anuthing to improve the look of a building , Perhaps we should have a challenge for the most photogenic satellite dish.

Few runners from my city have organized One Mile Run for kids and adults. They are trying to popularise idea of running in our city. It was small local event and my first attempt with that kind of photography since times of Fuji P&S with no photo knowledge few years ago

There are 43 photos so I'm not going to repost them here. Hope you don't mind. All of them can be viewed on my blog. C&C are welcome.

We will have yet another event on August 16th: running + nordic walking + mountain biking on the mountainous distance of 6.5 km. I hope I'll find time to be there and keep shooting

An interesting slide show from your link, Hawk. Very nicely captured shots, and they tell a great story as well. I especially liked the chap running in jeans, with shoes with the laces untied In fact a number of runners were getting in to the spirit of it without feeling the need to wear athletic gear. It also always amazes me that the "David Beckham 7" brand is so international; several of the children seemed to have it on their shirts.

Thanks Birma! Yes, "David Beckham 7'" t-shirts were quite popular on this run