traveller 2010 - english

As I mentioned in my 2009 calendar, there is something in common between drugs and travel, and it’s definitely not in the fact that often passengers are used to traf-fic drugs. We all know drugs are addictive, but almost none of us has checked that per-sonally. But travel addiction is something I experienced personally.As a result in 2009 I trav-elled so much and so far that for this calendar one of the difficult choices was not how to find 12 decent images, but how to select only 12 from the 365 nomi-nated among the 9,937 pic-tures I shot in 2009 in over 25 cities in Europe, Asia and Australia.I thank all my friends who helped me with the selec-tion by voting in Facebook for their favourite images.You can see the complete collection online at

2010

World Traveller / Пътешественикwww.yankov.info/gallery

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A view from Kornmarkt to the castle Schloss Heidelberg, Heidelberg, GermanyI had less than one day between two trade shows in Frankfurt and Bologna for my visit to Heidelberg. For the few hours that I spent there, I enjoyed not only the next very beautiful German city, but one of the most remarkable in terms of architecture and historical spirit cities in Germany. Despite the chilly weather in Heidelberg one could see not only the students, for whom it’s most famous, but also unusually many tourists for that time of the year, including an impressive number of Japanese tourist, with whom it’s difficult to compete when the sport is called photography.

Sony DSC-R1, 28.2 mm, 1/250 s, F8.0, ISO 160, Copyright © 2009 Stephan Yankov

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A panoramic view of the city from Bratislavsky Hrad, Bratislava, SlovakiaI had devoted one day for a visit to Bratislava during one of my trips to Vienna – quite enough for a first look, having in mind that the city is just one hour away from Vienna with a comfortable bus. In the bus I noticed that even though I never forget to take my favorite camera, this time I had forgotten to charge its battery. The display read that I have less than an hour of shooting, and I had to spend the whole day with that amount of energy (on top of all it was a Sunday) and take a lot of pictures in a city so beautiful and rich with history. In that cold day I understood that I know how to conserve energy. In the end of the day I had almost 250 nice photos. Next time – more.


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Details of the facade of Duomo Cattedrale Di Santa Maria Del Fiore, Florence, ItalyThe first of the places, close to Bologna, that I had planned to visit this year, was Florence. I had heard enough about the beauty of this city. The old buildins, the ruins from Roman times, the world renowned Ponte Vecchio bridge – they were all impressive. But above all stood the main city cathedral with its unique architectural style, which, as strange as it may seem, is most probably influenced by the arab architecture in colors and ornaments. The only thing nobody warned me about, was that I would buy a 6-euro waffle from the street counter of a pastry shop in the city center. But that was too little of a problem to spoil the great impression.


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A cosy winery in a quiet old street of Ferrara, Italy Ferrara is a small Italian town with over 1300-year long history. As in many places in Italy, you can feel history in every Ferrara street. My short afternoon walk around the city gave me the chance to see the well preserved medieval fortress, the cathedral, built in the beginning of the 12-th century and many more interesting buildings and monuments. I had enough time for a glass of wine in a modest, but very cosy winery, where I had a fine and fragrant red wine, which was served in a plain and jagged porcelain jug and a simple water glass. A classic proof of the proverb “A good wine needs no bush”.

Sony DSC-R1, 34.4 mm, 1/80 s, F4.0, ISO 320Copyright © 2009 Stephan Yankov

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Boats on the Looiersgracht canal, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsFor a long time I wanted to visit Amsterdam (not for cannabis, I already said my drug is travelling), but it was never in my direction. But while in Australia, I received an invitation to visit the FESPA Digital exhibition that I could not refuse. My flight to Amsterdam was just 2 days after I had returned from my crazy 2 weeks in East Asia and Australia, that’s why my stay there passed like a dream. In fact, after 6 drastic time zone changes for 2 weeks, sleep was coming to me in the most unexpected moments, but that wasn’t a big problem in a city that almost doesn’t sleep. Beautiful buildings, great galleries, a lot of bikes, incredible Second life record store and many, many canals.


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A view of the Ligislative Council Building and Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Hong Kong, China If there is one place in the world, where I am returning every time with the greatest pleasure, this is Hong Kong. For some people it’s a concrete jungle, for others – just another Chinese product (in the negative sense of the word). An unbiased look will show that this city with area 1000 times smaller than Bulgaria and population equal to this of Bulgaria, is not the place with the cleanest air in the world. However, people there manage to preserve their history and live in the future, to take great care of the their nature and parks, to keep the city perfectly clean and to offer its guests abundance, style, quality service and the friendliest possible attitude.


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A view of London Court Arcade and BankWest Tower, lit up by the sun, Perth, Australia My visit to Perth started as an almost unavoidable one-day stop on my way from Hong Kong to Sydney, but that city surprised me as a very pleasant place, in which you have a lot to see and take pictures of. My acquaintance with Australia began strangely – with a paranoid incoming baggage scan and a hotel shuttle that couldn’t start, so we had to push, but without success. For a moment I even thought I was on the wrong continent. The temperatures were also quite low for the beginning of autumn, but apart from that, everything was very nice and friendly, and the buildings combined in a stylish manner traditional and new architecture. In the evening I saw a great sunset.


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The spectacular U2 concert on August 15, 2009, Wembley Stadium, London, United KingdomLondon is now closer to Sofia in terms of travel time than, for example, Veliko Turnovo, and far more affordable in terms of travel cost than Vienna. And this is great news for someone like me who so truly enjoys being there for any possible reason: concert or musical, seeing museums, galleries and landmarks, photography, meetings with friends or inspiring shopping. My 2009 started in London with Elton John’s New Year’s party, and in my last visit we enjoyed the magnificent in size and thechical excellence concert of U2 – an event that will leave unforgettable memories in all of us.


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Sunset in the windows of the skyscrapers in Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia One of the very interesting first experiences from being down under (as the English call Australia) is to find out that at noon the Sun shines from North instead of South. Not realizing something so logical lead to a 2 kilometer walk in the wrong direction on my first going out of the hotel – and all the time I was wondering how the map in my hands can be so wrong. Otherwise Sydney, with all its beauties, even though strangely giving you the feeling you are in the United States, needed more than the 3 days that I had planned for my visit there and I would surely like to continue studying it.

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* On September 28 is the author’s birthday


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A beautifully lit facade, Groupama Seguros building, Madrid, Spain I always knew that Spain has much more to show than Barcelona, Seville and Granada, which I had visited until now. I knew I would have enough to see in Madrid too, and I was right. Thanks to a very special (and strange) offer from CSA, according which if I wanted to fly to Prague, I had to pay almost 100 euro more than if I agree to continue to Madrid, I was very pleased to make my way to the so much desired destination and after 3 very pleasant and very busy days, I flew back with a bunch of nice memories and over 1200 images in my camera: an abundance of architecture, history, parks, botanical garden, zoo and even an aquarium.


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A night panorama of a megapolis bathed in light, Tokyo, Japan If there is a place in this world, from which I expected more, this was Tokyo. I went there because this was an old dream of mine and because it was close enough on my way back from Australia to Europe. Don’t get me wrong – the city is very nice, it has a lot to offer the eye, its technical level is impressive, the cuisine, gardening and Japanese art are unique. But I was expecting to find something in which Tokyo surpasses every other city in the world. And it seems many of them have now more modern and beautiful airports, trains, subways and architecture. But still this was an incredible experience – despite the 3 days of almost non-stop rain.

Sony DSC-R1, 35.4 mm, 2 s, F4.0, ISO 160, Copyright © 2009 Stephan Yankov

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A view of Eduard III Tower, Windsor Castle, Windsor, United Kingdom The visit to Windsor Castle was one of the most pleasant one-day trips outside of London that I have had until now. The town of Windsor itself is very nice, quiet and green, with beautiful parks and atmosphere full of history. The hours, spent in the castle, are a time during which you learn a lot about the history of Great Britain and time that provides you with beautiful memories. I found the idea of hearing a personal address from Prince Charles, recorded in his own voice, when you turn on the audio guide, to be very charming (in fact Windsor Castle is his official residence). Our stay in Windsor ended with a nice lunch in a cosy restaurant, built during the 14th century.

* On December 27 is the author’s name day

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A colourful detail from the structure of Tower Bridge, London, United Kingdom This was one of those rare moments, in which the camera turns something ordinary into something exceptional. Everyone of us can recognize this bridge by its silhouette since childhood years. And nobody pays big attention to the details of its structure even when walking on it. And they are as unique as the bridge itself. I owe the wonderful colours in that photo to the magnificent day (by the way, in London we have had mostly wonderful days – both meteorologically and in general) and to my favourite Sony DSC-R1. One of my favourite photos for 2009.

Sony DSC-R1, 71.5 mm, 1/1250 s, F11, ISO 400Copyright © 2009 Stephan Yankov

Photography and Design: Stephan YankovCover Photo: Donna Zlatanova

2010

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My travels in 2009 were possible due to the professionalism of the flight crews of the following airlines:

World Traveller 2010 was printed by Vertical-7 Ltd. with real photographic technology on FujiColor photo paper using a wide format photo printer ZBE Chromira 50. For more information please visit www.vertinet.com

traveller 2010 - english

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