In Photos: Old Town Talinn, Estonia

The old town of Talinn, Estonia, surprised me. Not that I had any particular expectation. I didn’t. But these photos of

Talinn, Estonia

, speak for themselves. I was not planning for something that rivaled the well-preserved old town of Sweden’s Stockholm. Old town Talinn, Estonia, is a compact walkable city with lots of incredible history and numerous photogenic lines making it a perfect place for photography, I would also point out that as mid-summer approaches Talinn, Estonia, the longer the period of golden light is available.

Of course, these are only some of my favorites of the Old Town, and I ended up taking well over 800 shots in only five days. So, the country has a lot to offer.

As a writer, I have stories coming about hotels, food and the fascinating Setoland, and its people, by the Estonia/Russia border. However, what sticks out mostly is the Estonian history with Russia.

As with all my photos, I shoot with a Canon 60d and a flexible 18-135mm lens.

In Photos: Old Town Talinn, Estonia

For more great photos

Without a doubt, my favorite photos, from any trip, is always of the local people. After my recent trip to CATM 2010 in Antigua, Guatemala, I came home with the difficult decision of which photos to share. At some point, it becomes a guessing game (due to my lack of the learned photographic eye) as to what photos are “best.” But until a expert rolls along here are my current favorites from Guatemala, including Antigua, Guatemala City, Tikal and numerous stops along the way. Hope you enjoy my photos enough to inspire your own trip to Central America,

Whether it be the speed bump riddled ride to Copan Ruinas, Honduras; the winding roads to Languin, Guatemala; or simply being trapped o a two-lane road for hours of stopped traffic due to chicken bus that got stuck in the mud — and the ride continues. So does travel and travel writing.

During the last 10 days, I have spent far more time on a bus that at an attraction, or even one city. So, while I am not always thrilled with the meandering roads in Central America, but I have learned that there are an endless amount of good photos and even mini relationships to be had just outside the van’s window. This above photo is only one of many examples I have seen over the last couple of weeks.

And now the coming week…

Writing

I return from Central America on Tuesday and have numerous stories that range from outline to final edit. With so many ideas about traveling Guatemala and Honduras fresh in my mind, I have had small epiphany about how much the Internet has changed the quality of my writing (and the writing of many others). This may maove my focus away from Central America slightly. However, I have some changes I will be implementing in the coming weeks dealing with the negative results from writing quickly to compete with “breaking news” on the Internet. Of course this is only a beginning of a larger focus at both TWL and ITKT. Don’t worry, I have plenty to share about Honduras and Guatemala.

Email

Yes, email. I am about 1500 behind.

It has been a long week of traveling with a series of highs and lows. While lingering on the lows briefly feels good, the highs are what I always take home. Still, I want to share one low. I broke my camera lens (in two pieces) 10 minutes before arriving at Tikal. I moved from my seat on the bus and felt a snag. I choose to yank rather than investigate — an expensive mistake. These photos were taken by my low-res video camera.

I know I am due for a story and have a number of notes and outlines, 12 outlines to be exact, but no time on this trip to do any writing. I plan on locking myself in a small room and play catch up when I return.

For those who do not know, Tikal was a Maya stronghold for several centuries before coming what it is today, a park preserving a dynamic culture. And now on to Tikal…

As the saying goes, when you are given lemons, make lemonade. In my case, it would be limonada, and it would be a lot of limons. I am traveling in Guatemala and nothing is going well. It is not Guatemala’s fault. So here are some photos of some fun kids, who helped turn my inability to climb in a cave into something good. The pictures help take my mind off from a pair of bad knees and a handful of bad luck. It is important to note that some areas in Guatemala it is highly discouraged taking any photographs of kids. So always ask first and know some of the cultural differences of the area in Guatemala you might be in.

And for the week ahead…

Travel

I expect to get little accomplished beyond a few hurried blog entries over the next week. I fly out of the Guatemala’s highlands and fly to Guatemala City before heading to Antigua, then Honduras and looking for a changing stretch of good fortune.

My lids are propped by toothpicks due to a bumpy red-eye flight into Guatemala this morning. I sit in a dark corner of the Holiday Inn of Guatemala City and try to gather my barrings as I wait for my room. While my body is fighting me, I want to run into the street and do some exploring. I expect great things. The dawn views from my window-seat included the pluming of an active volcano just outside of Guatemala City. I am taking it as a sign of welcome. Much more to come about how to travel Guatemala in the coming days

Where does the time go? It only seems like weeks since I was exploring volcanoes, admiring the art in the artist enclave of Ataco, chatting with politicians, learning the meregue in Nicaragua, and escaping death (briefly perceived) in Death by Sandanista during my last visit to CATM (or the Central American Travel Mart) in El Salvador. This year, it is held in Antigua, Guatemala. The event will be similar to FITA, a show I visited a couple of weeks back.

Here are a few of my favorite photos from CATM including the pictures of several dignitaries I planned to, but did not interview including: The President of El Salvador, several ministers of tourism throughout Central America, a number of Miss Teen Universe contestants, and Miss Guatemala 2009 — I did catch her briefly on the dance floor at the event announcing Guatemala as the new locale for CATM 2010.

And now for my brief plans for the week in the business of travel blogging. As I am leaving on Wednesday, I have little precious time to take some of the action I want to make, so it will be a light week, sort of…

Writing

For the next three days, I hope to do nothing but, other than packing. I have some writing to do for ITKT, TWL, the Huffington Post and Technorati. Hopefully, eight articles in all. Most of these have notes and rough drafts, but all need to be read and reviewed.

Reading

ITKT is still behind when reviewing submissions, but I am hoping I can catch up to within three weeks — nebulous and elusive goal.

Travel

First plan is to travel Guatemala before the three days that is dedicated to a ballroom filled with tourism companies and organization all wanting to promoted someplace in Central America. I will be telling you about it over the next ten days. And then on to Honduras for my second visit in in two years.

So I had just left the main square of Mexico City, along with several members of the press trip for FITA I was on. Actually, I didn’t go willingly. I had been watching some incredible traditional/untraditional Mexican dancing near the Aztec ruins in “Zocalo” when I was reminded, about nine times, that I was holding up the group from dinner.

I found myself walking down the crowded Mexico City streets when I ran into a busy intersection with velvet ropes with the fashionably elite escorted inside through tight security. A friend and colleague flashed her media credentials (for a different event) and headed through the doors into an Immaculate party. A moment or two later, I tried the same (but had forgotten my badge). Although I was initially turned away, I was asked to wait while they checked to see if other writers could enter.

One of the joys of being a writer, especially while on assignment, is knowing that my profession opens doors both literally and figuratively. In this case, the doors opened wide and the show’s producer gave me and several other writers full access to, what turned out to be, Mexico’s 200 Years of Fashion (or 200 Años de Moda). The black tie, dressed to the nines event showcased two centuries of Mexico’s finest evening wear, local fashionistas, champagne, hor d’oeuvres, local camera crews and me trying to get the show’s models to pose a little for my camera.

As I watched the local tour guides attempt to wrangle the party-crashing travel writers out of the door and back to our scheduled restaurant for dinner, I snapped photos as fast as I could. My impromptu photography session moved along quicker than I would have liked. Still, I managed to get some good shots, including my friend and first party crasher of the night, Teresa Rodriguez (of Jetset Extra and Tango Diva fame) enjoying a little of the event’s bubbly.

And yes, this is a real job. Although, sometimes travel writing does not feel like a job. It just feels like an opportunity to crash the party.

While the trip might have been short, I still found the time to grab a few memorable shots. Below are some of my favorites including a photo of me along the shores of Negril taken by Corve DaCosta

This photo was taken about an hour outside of Davao City (I know I am supposed to written city information down at some point, but this was early in my travel writing career that still had a ton of holes in it) and represents the sort of warm welcome visiting journalists received at every stop in the Philippines. Lots of local children, and adults, showcasing regional dancing, drums and plays.

In this photo, it was difficult getting all of the kids to lines up, but there is something about a camera that creates order.

My weekly honorable mentions includes a rare moment on the island of Mindanao with jeepney and tuk tuk balancing calm and quiet while drummers pound home the idea of frenetic kids with sticks and bamboo.