The Delamar

A new luxury hotel -- The Delamar -- opened in West Hartford's Blue Back Square recently.

It was squeezed into a small site at the edge of the shopping center.

The architects did a good job of giving it prominence while still complementing the existing buildings. West Hartford needed hotel rooms.  It will do well. 

Spectra Wired

Back in Connecticut.

A new coffee shop and wireless cafe opened recently in downtown Hartford.  

It is big and open and has a nice urban vibe.  I hope it is successful.

Out of the Jurisdiction: Costa Brava II

I was using a 24 - 105mm lens.  Sometimes I wanted a wider angle, so I pulled out my iPhone.

Here are four of the iPhone photos.  Sometimes I wonder why I even use my big camera.

At the start of the hike, the clouds had not yet burned off, giving this scene a bit of atmosphere.

A hiker went out on the point ahead of me and gave the scene some context.

 The water is a limitless variety of blues and greens.

Out of the Jurisdiction: Costa Brava I

The last two days before returning to Barcelona were spent in Costa Brava, the northeastern coastal region of Spain.  We stayed in Calella de Palafrugell, and explored the coast.

I included this image to show how steep some of the climbs were.

This image shows the waterfront of Calella as we returned around lunch time.

Out of the Jurisdiction: Market Day

It was market day in St. Remy-en-Provence.  The locals and tourists turned out in force.

Honey

Soaps

Hats

Nougat

And more nougat

Van Gogh posters and stuff.  After cutting off his ear, Vincent Van Gogh spent from May 1889 to May 1890 at Saint-Paul de Mausole psychiatric hospital in St. Remy-en-Provence,

where he painted some of his finest works.

Out of the Jurisdiction: Roussilon and Gordes

The hike began at Le Pont Julien, the old stone arch bridge in Bonnieux.  It was built in 3 BC and was retired in 2005, providing more than 2000 continuous years of service.

A tall elegant house commanded attention. 

The mid-morning snack and rest stop was in a pretty location among the pines.

For years, the ochre deposits of Roussilon provided red pigments to artists and employment to locals.

 Roussilon buildings come in many shades of ochre.

The hike passed many vineyards.

 We stopped at a local winery in the afternoon, 

before going on to the beautiful (and windy!) hilltop town of Gordes.

Leaving Gordes, a lookout offers a view down to the lower sections of Gordes and the valley beyond.

And a different viewpoint lets Gordes show off.

Out of the Jurisdiction: The Second Day of Hiking in the Luberon

It drizzled off and on.  The paths were sometimes a bit slippery.  But,
Provence has had an extreme drought, so they need the rain.  It was still beautiful.

The day began with a walk up the steep streets of Bonnieux, 

a sleepy Provençal town little visited by tourists.

Near the top, Bonnieux offered a nice view into the lower town and across the valley.

 The day's hiking included walks on small paved and dirt roads, narrow woodland paths like this, 

and rocky climbs on Roman ways.

At the end of the hike, we had some striking vistas showing the rock vertical face of the Luberon.