Iceland 1/2

Iceland was not the most appealing destination for me. I love to visit places were I can find a mix between nice cities, archaeology, nice beaches and good food. Furthermore, I was convinced that there is no natural beauty that can match the Chilean and Argentinean Patagonia.

For all those reasons Iceland was not on my bucket list. How wrong I was. Having the opportunity to see a geologically "young" island was a real delight. The landscape was striking and dramatic and the continuous change of the scenery was thrilling. Hot water waterfalls, "marbled" icebergs with black ashes, waterfalls that do not touch the ground because the wind is so strong that it fades away and a big etcetera.

We spent two weeks road tripping around the island in the most beautiful nature I have ever seen.

Picardie, France: bike trip

I went in  july to Picardie for the day. I took the train and I biked 40K.

I wanted to see Saint-germer-de-fly's abbey, an impressive gothic building. 

Coming back to the station I passed trough Givors, and I sketched the Castle.

Santorini, Greece

I spent some days in Santorini. 

I had mixed feelings about this place : It is really very beautiful and super interesting, but massive tourism can be a real turn off.

Anyway the highlights were : the cities hanging over the cliff (Oia & Thira), the amazing archeological site Akrotiri (probably the Atlantis), the volcanic landscape.....and of course the food.

(These are some of my first attempts to use watercolor....it is very difficult to get it right).

Zeus' Temple in Athens

These ruins are extremely appealing. You can spot them from the Acropolis and you immediately wonder how to get there to get a closer look.

The construction of the Zeus Temple took almost 700 year to be completed. It was the Roman emperor Hadrian who ordered it to be finished. One century later it was pillaged and never repaired. In the following centuries it was used as a quarry for the construction of other buildings.

The size of the remaining columns give us an idea of the massive dimensions of the original temple. 

Temple of Hephaestus, Athens Greece

This is,  probably, the best preserved Greek temple in Greece (Italians claim that in Sicily they are better preserved).

It's located in the Agora of Athens. The first time I saw it was from the Acropolis (the first photo). It immediately caught my attention, so after the Acropolis visit I went down to draw this wonder.

Acropolis, Athens

During my years as an architecture student the acropolis was described, by my teachers, as this mythical place where architects go on a pilgrimage to discover its secret wonders.

Many things were said about it :

- the position of the different buildings are placed in order to have a complete vision of two of the façades from the entrance (Propulaea);

- the perfection of the proportions (golden proportions);

- the deformations of the volumes are made in order to "correct" the visual perspective;

- the shortened distance of the space between the columns of the corners.

I just wandered around and sat to contemplate this "must go place" : I wasn't disappointed. The Acropolis has a massive presence in the city, and it is very impressive when you walk around it.

Mont Saint Michel

Last weekend we went to Brittany and Normandy. One of the highlights in the region is Mont Saint Michel.

When we visited it, the tide was low, and many people  were walking in organized tours around it.

To reach the place there are two options : you can take a shuttle or you can walk, because cars are not allowed in the area anymore.

Walking is a better alternative, because you can gradually get immersed in this very peculiar huge area where the sea, when the tide is high, is present. The view of the Mont Saint Michel is impressive.