Things I Like (Holiday Edition)

It's almost Christmas, and I'd like to share some of the things that have made me happy during the holiday season.  I hope everyone finds things that bring them cheer, peace and happiness this season and throughout the entire year.  

Happy holidays! 

1.  Light-up reindeer antlers on a friend

2.  A bar filled with Santas and elves during Santacon

3.  A specially-guarded tree in Rockefeller Center

(posted in honor of Black and White Wednesday, hosted by the Long Road to China.  Thank you for all your kind support, fellow bloggers on Black and White Wednesday!)

4.  Fruit, cheese and sausage plates at the start of holiday feasts

5.  Homemade pumpkin pie at the end of holiday feasts (with graham cracker crust because I don't like regular pie crust)

6.  And the best Christmas present I ever received, my Princess Monster Bella, who has been my furball friend for two years this Christmas

(Holiday Treats, photographed November and December 2010)

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Wiesn

This afternoon some of my colleagues headed to a beer garden (in Harlem of all places, but I digress) to celebrate the beautiful fall weather.  And me?  I had to stay in my office.  Working.  I thought about them drinking steins of beer while I made corrections to a client presentation.  Sigh.  

But, really, I shouldn't complain that I missed one outing to a bier garten.  Because I once had the pleasure of going to the ultimate beer party.  Oktoberfest, aka Wiesn, in Munich Germany.  And while I would certainly have loved to raise a stein of beer today, I had my fair share (or maybe more than, but let's not discuss that) of prost-ing with friends during Wiesen.  

And, despite the piles of work, I thought tonight I would dig out a handful of Wiesn photos to share and to remind me of some of the good times I've had.  

And yes, those hot dogs are a meter long.  There's no "foot-long" dog in Germany.  Metric system.  That, and the Germans are really serious about their sausage.  I just don't recommend going on the rides after eating one. 

(Oktoberfest, photographed October 2008)

In the Market For...

I feel like I've been hinting about the photos I took at the Mercado do Bolhao in Oporto, Portugal for some time now.  I definitely mentioned it at least here and here and maybe elsewhere on my blog.  I already posted some when I had a post on sly portraits though I really didn't identify them as market photos.  My personal favorite, sunflowers in black and white, was included in my post on flor. (If you haven't already seen it, click on the link and check it out.  I really like that photograph.)

Now I thought it was finally time to do an actual post on the market itself.  Described as "bustling" and "exuberant", "flamboyant" and "colorful," my friend Laura and I specifically selected it out of our guidebook (thanks Rick Steves) as a place that would likely have great photo opps.  And it did.  Although we caught it on a slow morning, Laura and I wandered down the halls of this old open air market place, stopping at stalls and snapping photos.  It was made for black and white photography.  

I wish I could have bought something from one of the many housewives hawking their goods, but there was no place for flowers and no kitchen for cooking meals on our road trip through Portugal.  But there was always (well, at least at this point in the trip) room on my memory card for more photos.

I also want to thank everyone at Black&White Wednesday, hosted by The Long Road to China, for welcoming me so wholeheartedly!  I shared my first post last week and everyone was so supportive.  Thanks guys!  I'm so happy to be part of this great community.  And if you haven't had a chance yet, go check out the other great blogs that participate now (well, after you scroll down to the bottom of this post at least).  

Also - I'm now on Twitter (though I'm still very, very new to it and just learned what certain things like "RT" mean).  Follow me @CameraGirlK if you like. 

(Oporto market, photographed June 2010)

A Fair Day

I've mentioned my love of the Wisconsin State Fair before (like here, here, and here), so I won't repeat myself again.  You get the picture.  Although I don't want to become a broken record, I still had a few photos left to post from the Lincoln County Fair.  I would have waited to post these photographs, given time for you to want to hear more stories about the fair (do you know that I went every year of my life until I was 22?), but work has been busy.  I had these photos ready in the queue, so that's what will be posted today.

(Lincoln County Fair, photographed July 2010)

You Spin Me Right...

As I mentioned here and here, I love the Wisconsin State Fair.  Cream puffs and deep fried cheese curds and farm animals and pig races... It's always been a family tradition.  Although I couldn't make it to the State Fair this year, my dad did the next best thing he could do - he took me to the Lincoln County Fair while I was in Wisconsin for a family reunion.  

When I was a kid, I used to love going on all the rides at the Fair.  My parents used to buy me the bracelet that would allow me to ride all the rides all day... or until the spinny-dizziness-tipsy-turvy feeling of the rides would make me have to seek more solid footing.  Nowadays, I wouldn't last longer than one ride without losing my cookies, I'm sure.  I enjoy the rides much more now from the ground, with my camera in hand of course.

(Lincoln County Fair, photographed July 2010)

Futbol Fever

I haven't had much luck with the World Cup this year.  The Americans, although giving it their all, did not ultimately deliver.  My Germans (who I loved watching in the Eurocup while in Munich two years ago) were just eliminated in the semifinals.  But what disappointed me the most were the Portuguese.

Not because I normally cheer the Portuguese on, but because they played what should have been two big games while Laura and I were in Portugal.  The match against Brazil (their old colony!) took place while we were visiting Porto.  The match against Spain (their neighboring rivals!) happened was while we were visiting Lisboa - in fact, on our very last night in town.  Seriously, last night in town.  I wanted riots in the streets as my fair farewell to Portugal. 

But no.

We had none.

The game against Brazil, photographed here, was so anticlimatic.  As it was still in the early rounds, it ended on a zero to zero score.  Yes, zero to zero.  No goals.  Nothing to cheer for or against.  We watched in an outdoor square along with many futbol fans, but when the game was over, everyone went their own ways, with no celebrating or sulking.  Just walking on to continue their days as usual.  Anticlimatic, indeed.

Maybe I'll just have to go to Rio in four years instead.

(Porto, photographed June 2010)