Great piece Andrew and a sad one as it so well records that march towards conformity and uniformity. The irony is that it is the visits of those from elsewhere that, while being economically important, drives that march. You can see why I prefer those areas and cities who endeavour to say - take us as you see us in the spectrum of colour we are, rather than the 'beige' of everywhere else. As you know from my latest 'Meander' I seek out the so called 'poorer quarters' for when I do, I truly experience the culture, belief and character of a place. Far more rewarding than to tour simply to 'see' and just maybe that helps the true local economy even more. As ever though it's purely a personal view and thanks again for a thought-provoking offering.
This reminds me of some of the main port cities in Croatia along the coast (my wife's Croatian) and how incredibly inaccessible to locals they have become exactly because of this.
It's the sad reality of western Capitalism I guess.
This is a beautiful piece of writing. Evocative and insightful, your narrative of the modern place with historical context is really poignan! I too travel and see.the conformity. I too notice working areas and people marginalized for the sake of... I too will return. Yet I wish that when I do I find the transformed areas full of thriving local populations of abundantly supported humans in cooperative community which allows everyone at all levels to enjoy the transformed places we live and love and adventure in.
Those photos are stunning. Has only reinforced my desire to travel back to Albania and see more of the country. Pretty much only saw the northern tip in our recent trip there
All that’s beautiful. I wonder what’s besides that in there. How’s people’s living, how voracious is bureaucracy: really can’t even imagine. At the end what freedom is dressing there, it must be really exotic clothing, because in the countries we walk it is already a fabulous telltale camouflage
From independence to interdependence
Great piece Andrew and a sad one as it so well records that march towards conformity and uniformity. The irony is that it is the visits of those from elsewhere that, while being economically important, drives that march. You can see why I prefer those areas and cities who endeavour to say - take us as you see us in the spectrum of colour we are, rather than the 'beige' of everywhere else. As you know from my latest 'Meander' I seek out the so called 'poorer quarters' for when I do, I truly experience the culture, belief and character of a place. Far more rewarding than to tour simply to 'see' and just maybe that helps the true local economy even more. As ever though it's purely a personal view and thanks again for a thought-provoking offering.
Beautiful observations Andrew!
This reminds me of some of the main port cities in Croatia along the coast (my wife's Croatian) and how incredibly inaccessible to locals they have become exactly because of this.
It's the sad reality of western Capitalism I guess.
This is a beautiful piece of writing. Evocative and insightful, your narrative of the modern place with historical context is really poignan! I too travel and see.the conformity. I too notice working areas and people marginalized for the sake of... I too will return. Yet I wish that when I do I find the transformed areas full of thriving local populations of abundantly supported humans in cooperative community which allows everyone at all levels to enjoy the transformed places we live and love and adventure in.
Those photos are stunning. Has only reinforced my desire to travel back to Albania and see more of the country. Pretty much only saw the northern tip in our recent trip there
All that’s beautiful. I wonder what’s besides that in there. How’s people’s living, how voracious is bureaucracy: really can’t even imagine. At the end what freedom is dressing there, it must be really exotic clothing, because in the countries we walk it is already a fabulous telltale camouflage