H2O hotel again: spa, ski and flowering almond trees

Aquadome is the spa at H2O hotel.

H2O hotel again. Mid-week empty spa and Aquadome is really pleasing. Hamman ( ritual ancient bath easy to be found in almost every city of Northern Africa ) is the best place in spa to be. Steam-filled round chamber with nice cold water fountain in the center, ambiental music, small changing lights imitating the stars in the ceiling - that all makes this place very relaxing.

Earlier that day we started at Zezere river valley with thousands of flowering almond trees at the slopes of Serra Estrela mountains. The temperatures got around mid-twenties. Blue sky, few clouds. The spring has certainly started.

Within half an hour we climbed the Torre of 2000 meters and got the last chance to ski this season on the patches of snow.

Flowering almond trees. Skiing at Serra da Estrela mountains. Aquadome is the spa at H2O hotel.

Model: NIKON D80



Maciek. Wednesday and Thursday of 11 and 12 March.2009

Amphibolite

Amphibolite - beautiful red rock at the Portuguese west coast, made 500 million years ago covering most part of the Porto beach.



Model: NIKON D80
Date/time: 2007-12-28T 18:42:08.10Z
Shutter speed: 0.5 sec / 2.0 sec / 6.0 sec
Exposure Program: Shutter priority
F-stop: f/4.5
ISO: 100
Metering Mode: Pattern
Flash: Did not fire
Focal length: 62 mm
Lens: 18.0-70.0 mm
HDR rendering


Maciek.

A View from my Window

The Arrabida bridge was inaugurated on June, 22, 1963. Concrete open spandrels deck arch bridge. Total length is 493 m. Beautiful modern practical construction.

This is the view from my window. The sunset over the Douro river, Atlantic ocean and Arrabida bridge.



The Arrábida bridge held, for quite some time, the world record for the "Longest Concrete Single Arch Bridge". It is still the 9th world's longest concrete arch bridge in the world.



Camera: Nikon D80, 4 sec, F 22, Fl 20 mm, Nikkor 18-70, ISO 100, no flash, tripod.

Maciek.

Antelope Canyon

Wednesday, 04th of March 2009. After 1 hour of Les Milles Body Pump and a nice dinner ( Turkey herb Escalopes with Pumpkin and potatoes sage pure ) accompanied by astonishingly good Roquevale 2003 ( red wine from Alentejo ), I went through some folders in our PC looking for nice photo. Suddenly a picture of a ray of sunlight piercing Upper Antelope Canyon poped up.


Antelope Canyon is located in Northern Arizona near small city of Page. The entrance is located in the narrow fissure of the rock. Reds, violets and pinks are dominating. There is an extraordinary light that changes every minute. Rock waves form fantastic structures. The best is the morning light. Don´t use the flash. You definitely need a tripod and lot of patience because your photos are frequently damaged by many tourists that peek around. Do not include sun or sunny sky on your photo because of overexposure.

We love traveling to America. It is such a beautiful country with friendly people around. Hope we go there agian in August this year.

The Antelope Canyons ( lower and upper ) are number 1 on our "Best in the world" list.







Camera: Nikon D80, 1 sec, F 20, Fl 20 mm, Nikkor 18-70, ISO 100, no flash, tripod. November 2007. Impossible to change any lens in the canyon since dust is everywhere.

Maciek.

The mogul field

These freestyle moguls ski field I found at the end of the day close to Col de Crevoux ( 2530 m above sea level ) in Vars ski resort.
Photographed from distance I loved the "light and shadow game" that afternoon sun played on the bumps.
There are lots of techniques of skiing the moguls: zipper, through, blue and green line. Deciding which of these techniques is right for you depends on your age, speed and physical condition.

PS. My picture was awarded a front page of http://onephoto.net/ website. Thx all !



Camera: Nikon D80, 1/320 sec, F 14, Fl 120 mm, Nikkor 70-300, ISO 100, no flash, polarizing filter, 19.02.2009, 15.20 h . Site: Vars Les Claux, France.

Maciek.

Snow forms ( part 1 )

Col de Vars, France.

We are back home from our winter skiing holidays. Lots of sun, some of the best snowfall levels recorded in the Alps, excellent skiing conditions. The reports of global warming seem to be extremely overblown.

This is a picture I took at Col de Vars, High Provence, France, with my Nikon and 280 cm of snow.




Camera: Nikon D80, 1/30 sec, F 10, Fl 18mm, Nikkor 18-70, ISO 100, no flash, polarizing filter, 16.02.2009, 16.53. Site: Col de Vars, France.

Maciek.

H2O hotel

The highest road in Portugal, almost 2000 meters above sea level.

Place: Portuguese Serra da Estrela mountains. Recently opened H2O hotel and spa.
Time: 09 of February 2009.

Gosh, how I love new hotels. Everything is so clean & new, staff is nice & accommodating. Pools are great.

Unhais da Serra valley overlook. Where is it ( see on the map )

That night at the restaurant ( main restaurant still not open yet ). H2O hotel interiors.

At night we tasted Portuguese local specialty: "Pernil do porco" accompanied by the bottle of red "Casa de Santar" 2005 from the Dão region. Didn´t like the meat very much, so ended up with a nice table of local delicious sheep´s milk cheeses ( Queijo da Mistura, Queijo picante, Queijo da Ovelha Serra da Estrela ) and wine, doing the "Cheese and Wine Tasting".
Queijo picante, with its strong taste and relatively hard and chewy texture, worked very well with red from Dão. "Casa de Santar" is full-bodied, with a deep ruby-purple color. The wine is dense, chewy, ripe, and a surprisingly big mouthful of juicy, velvety-textured wine.






PS. Our second stay at the H2O hotel / click here



Maciek.


.

Once In A Lovely Spring Day

Early February. Porto, Portugal. Blossom trees of Magnolia. Like snowflakes - no two blossoms alike. Each is unique. Named after a French botanist Pierre Magnol.

Magnolia is an ancient genus. Fossils of Magnolia Acuminata has been found dating to 20 million years ago.

Flowering tree on my picture belongs to Magnolia Grandiflore or Southern Magnolia. White and beautiful. Spring in its best.




Camera: Nikon D80, F 13, Fl 10mm, Sigma 10/20 mm, ISO 100, no flash, skylight and polarizing filters, 14.02.2009, 13.00. Site: Avenida Aliados, Porto, Portugal.

Maciek.

Braided delta of Vouga River, part II.

Yesterday I pointed camera at my favorite spot at Ria de Aveiro , close to the fishermen´s village of Murtosa. The sunset was gorgeous. After a month of almost continuous winter rain, the beautiful Portuguese weather has finally returned.









Camera: Nikon D80, F 22, Fl 12mm, Sigma 10/20 mm, ISO 100, no flash, Cokin Gradual ND filters 0,6 and 0,9 special equipment: tripod, ladder.


Maciek.

Braided delta of Vouga River

Vouga River mouth, central Portugal. Water flows as several interconnecting streams forming vast patches of multiple sinuous channels. Welcome to Ria de Aveiro, or delta of Aveiro ( Aveiro is a name of a city lying nearby ). A malaria parasite was still present in the waters of this coastal lagoon in the middle of the last century.



Ria de Aveiro is a beautiful spot for photographers. Picture above was taken in January 2009, close to fishermen´s village of Murtosa.



Camera: Nikon D80, F11, Fl 18 mm, Sigma 10/20 mm, ISO 400, no flash, Cokin Gradual ND filter 0,6, special equipment: tripod, ladder.


Maciek.