cats | Michael Hoffman Photography

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May 26, 2015

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Architecture, cat, cats, culture, discover, featured, grand bazar, istanbul, mosques, orient, oriental, photography, streetphotography, Travel, turkey

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Oriental Discoveries – Istanbul in 2015 Pt. II

Situated both on the European and Asian continents, Istanbul is the entry gate to the Orient, yet at the same time, it is also the last major European city in the southeast. Istanbul, or Constantinople, as it was called before the Ottoman conquest, has always been a metropole. Today, roughly 15 Million people call it their home. The vast sea of houses is divided by the Bosporus, a waterway connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. It is one of the busiest waterways in the world. Not far away – on the European site – grand mosques arise, built over the centuries by Ottoman rulers to show their power. They are majestic indeed, richly decorated with Islamic ornaments and beautiful interiors. Between the mosques, you will find the Grand Bazar, a covered bazaar consisting of 61 streets and many thousand shops. In Istanbul, everything seems grander than usual.

Posted

January 22, 2014

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Greece

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animals, Architecture, black and white, blackandwhite, blackwhite, bw, cats, dog, dogs, featured, Greece, Greek, nature, Sky, Street, Table, Travel, tree, trees

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Greek Series: Greece in Black and White

This post is part of the so-called “Greek Series”, consisting of photographs I shot while backpacking Greece in September 2013. You’ll find a basic introduction to the series here and a list of all previous posts over here.

Without any doubt, Greece is a colourful country, and I myself am very fond of powerful colors in photographs. But interestingly sometimes the absence of color brings focus and a certain sharpness to pictures.

Posted

January 14, 2014

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Greece

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Architecture, Backpacking, cat, cats, Colors, featured, Greece, griechenland, Island, life, Mykonos, nature, people, photography, pictures, sea, Ships, Sky, summer, sunset, Travel

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Greek Series: Mykonos Part I

This post is part of the so-called “Greek Series”, consisting of photographs shot while I was backpacking Greece in September 2013. You’ll find a basic introduction to the series here and a list of all previous posts over here.

So you may wonder how we got from Nauplia to Mykonos. The truth is we didn’t, at least not directly. Mykonos was actually one of the last destinations on our journey. Before we embarked on a ferry to the islands, we traveled around mainland Greece quite extensively. But for today, I skipped the Peloponnes because the weather there was not always perfect, and as much as I like archeological stuff and hilly landscapes, I think the blog and I myself needed a bit of summer island feeling in these (more or less) harsh and dark winter days. And that we definitively had on Mykonos. Still, there is a lot to cover on the Peloponnes, and many shots are left, so next time we come back to mainland Greece again. But for now, I hope you enjoy beautiful Mykonos as I saw it.

Posted

January 12, 2014

Category

Greece

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animals, Architecture, backpack, Backpacking, cat, cats, dog, dogs, featured, Greece, griechenland, journey, nafplio, nature, nauplia, palms, photography, sea, Sky, streetphotography, Travel, trees, Trip

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Greek Series: Nafplio

This post is part of the so-called “Greek Series,” consisting of photographs shot while backpacking Greece in September 2013. You’ll find a basic introduction to the series here and a list of all previous posts here.

Nafplio is a port city in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Today, the former capital of Greece is primarily a vacation destination for tourists from Athens due to its proximity and good ferry connections. People from Athens escape here for weekend trips to shop and enjoy themselves. It is a touristy place with shopping boulevards and many luxury brand stores. Greece’s economic crisis was not very obvious, and we saw a lot less graffiti and poverty than in other urban areas. Though the city as we saw it didn’t represent the living reality of most Greek people, it was a good place for going out and having a good time in general. There are two castles/fortresses to see here, one on the top of the hill behind the city with a great landscape view over the buildings and the sea and a small fortress on an artificial island within the bay itself.

Posted

April 14, 2013

Category

Turkey

Tags

Architecture, birds, cat, cats, flowers, islands, istanbul, life, mosque, nature, Sky, spring, Travel, turkey, water

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Istanbul April 2013

Less than a week ago, I returned from a short trip to the magnificent Istanbul. It was the first time I visited an Islamic country and the first time I experienced a megalopolis with a staggering 16 million people! So, it was a very insightful and exciting trip. We enjoyed the beginning of spring in the Gardens of the Saray, drank tea served traditionally above the city skyline, and paved our way through the busy streets of the Old Bazar. We saw the last station of the Orient Express (sadly not existing anymore), found a feline friend on the Prince Islands (which should be called Cat Islands instead), and explored the nightlife of Galata. In short, the city on the Bosporus was beautiful and unique!

Posted

March 14, 2013

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Portugal

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animals, Architecture, black, black and white, capo da roca, cat, cats, church, Europe, hostels, life, lisboa, lisbon, nature, photography, porto, portugal, red, sacral, Sky, streets, tram, Travel

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Portugal V (last part)

Some weeks have passed since I visited Portugal in mid-February, and I started sharing my impressions with you in a series of posts. This one will be the last one for now. But I will be back in April with new pictures of a new city (hopefully :))! Enjoy.

What is truly remarkable about Lisboa and Porto, and what I didn’t mention before, is the excellent choice of hostels here. Portuguese hostels win competitions on Hostelworld and Hostelbookers almost yearly, and they deserve the prices! A Lisboan hostel I can recommend from my own experience the Good Morning Hostel on the Praca dos Restauradores in the city center. The people there were lovely and very helpful. We cooked together and had a great time. If you go to Lisboa, check it out.

I can’t remember the church’s name, but it was undoubtedly in Porto. The city has many magnificent churches, some made of pure gold. They are reminiscent of a colonial era in which Porto became one of the wealthiest cities on the Iberian peninsula thanks to trade and the importance of the local harbor. + I miss the blue sky terribly.

Number 28 is again seen on a rainy day in Alfama. My favorite part of the old town. The surroundings of the Castello are stunning and very charming. It is a lovely part of the town for a walk, but you shouldn’t mind steep hights 😉 In case there is always a tram to bring you up & back.

A panorama picture of Porto. One day was definitively not enough for Porto. Although there are not many traditional “tourist sights” here, the city doesn’t need them. It is the maritime flair, the port wine, and last but not least the architecture and the small streets which are selling Porto and making it so attractive (especially for Britons, we were told, because there is a cheap connection from London introduced recently).

There had to be a cat picture at some point 😉 I get her anger, but I probably wouldn’t enjoy it if someone pointed a camera at me 10 cm in front of my face. So I was a bit of a cat paparazzi here. Guilty as charged. Still cute 🙂

The end of the world. Almost. The back of the European continent at Capo da Roca is 3000 km from home. It is a unique, almost spiritual place. Unfortunately, we had terrible luck with the weather; the wind was awful and cold as ice, so we had to return relatively quickly. Our hope to see the sunset stayed unfulfilled, too. It was beautiful nonetheless.

Tag: cats