Taken in 1998 during a family trip to Europe. As everywhere else in Ireland, it was raining that day – until we got up to the edge of the cliff, where the wind was rushing up the precipice so fast that the rain couldn’t get to the ground.
Is fearr liom Éire ná áit ar bith eile…
In simpler times, travel was fun, exciting, and romantic. Compared with today, when any part of the world is accessible to those with a little money, a high tolerance for discomfort, and a willingness to be violated by the petty thugs of the TSA, potential travelers of a day gone by would amuse themselves with stereopticons at parties and dream of the leisurely exploration of exotic locations.
Stereopticion
Vienna, Karlskirche. Cross your eyes until the images come together for a stereo view.
Even travel posters were works of art, designed to evoke images of romance, comfort, and sights never-before-seen. The following posters promoting travel to Austria were created mostly in the years leading up to World War II, before the Anschluß. They depicted Austria as a cheap and picturesque travel destination, which it was. After the depredations of the war, Austria rebuilt itself from the ashes and remained a popular destination – cheaper than other high-profile areas like Paris, Rome, or Geneva because of its relative obscurity. Even as late as 1971, when I traveled through the country with a friend, it was insanely cheap:
This Gasthof in Lofer cost us $4.00 for the night – breakfast included.
And this was the view…
Modern travel posters employ high-resolution photography, but somehow they don’t quite capture the imaginative aspect of travel that existed before the days of mass media and digital everything.
Edit: Snow bunnies. Has anyone thought about what it would be like to do a faceplant with a pipe in your mouth? That wouldn’t be terribly gemütlich, if you ask me.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
Herrenhausen fountains
A Hannover busker
CeBIT Fair: Hannover, 1983
Data General booth at CeBIT
The Data General MV 10000 – only the latest technology.
Herrenhausen Gardens
Outdoor Cafe in Herrenhausen
Herrenhausen Gardens
Hannover – Organ Grinder
Downtown Hannover – 1983
All photos ©1983-2012 Old Wolf Enterprises
Auf euer Wohl!
The young lady on the left looks like she’s just given her neighbor a hotfoot. One of the most unusual cathedral carvings I’ve ever seen, on a most beautiful edifice.
Rheims Cathedral
The Old Wolf has spoken.
All covered with vines,
Lived twelve little girls
In two straight lines.
Mestre is also known as “mainland Venice.” Here a peaceful side street trattoria beckons customers who would rather avoid the bustle of Venice’s tourists.
Nativity façade of the Sagrada Familia at Sunset. Unretouched.
Looking up the tower stairway
Plaza de Toros
Sagrada Familia – Completed Nativity Façade spires.
Passion Façade spires under construction
Barcelona to the east, viewed over the rising spires of the Passion Façade.
Plaza de Catalunya
Mercado in San Jose
Spanish Village
All photos ©1970-2012 Old Wolf Enterprises
El vell llop ha parlat.
At least, I think this is Luxembourg. I’m having a hard time remembering for sure. The picture was taken with a Leica I had gotten from my father using a fast shutter speed to stop the water. Wish I still had the camera – it was sadly stolen that same year.
In 1970 I took a little junket to Stuttgart to see a young lady with whom I was terminally smitten; I was living in Naples at the time, and she was on a study-abroad program with Gettysburg College where I had met her in 1968. Alas, my heart was broken, but it was an awesome trip nonetheless.
Stuttgarter side street, 1971.
Downtown Stuttgart.
I had lunch in the little Zum Zum on the right – Grillhaxen and Dunkelbier, if I remember aright.
Leonhardskirche Stuttgart
Agricultural protest against the policies of Willy Brandt.
Unusual, since a number of his social reforms were targeted at benefiting farmers.
The Old Wolf hat gesprochen.
In December of 1976 I had the chance to visit Egypt. This is a small sample of some of my favorite images from the trip.
Aswan – Aga Khan Mausoleum
Cairo – Muhammad Ali Mosque
Abu Simbel temple exterior
Abu Simbel Temple – Interior
The Step Pyramid of Saqqara
The Father of Terror
Cairo – Ramadan booth
Colossus at Memnon. This always calls to mind the famous poem:
By Percy Bysshe Shelley
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
Aswan – Christmas Day, 1976
Aswan – Overlooking the Nile
Luxor
Memphis – Reclining Ramses II
This was a phenomenal trip – 2 weeks in an amazing country. Al Qahira munwwara bi Ahlaha!
All images ©1976-2012 Old Wolf Enterprises
Playing in the World Game 