Author:

Ms (Leigh) Bella St John aka Luxurious Nomad ~ https://ElegantisVitae.com/

My Travel Photography 360 and VR (virtual reality) Experimentation

I have been having soooooo much fun playing with images, video, 360-degree, and virtual reality!

As you would have seen in my last post, I simply put a bunch of images together as a video and attached some music – nothing too experimental there!

…and here is a very basic animated gif of some of my favourite images from that post – again, nothing too leading-edge in that (although useful for Twitter!)…

But now I’m feeling really creative and have even invested in a 360-degree camera. It won’t arrive until I get to Vienna, but stay tuned for what I expect will be some very cool stuff (that’s a technical word). 🙂

In the meantime, I am experimenting with images such as the one at the top (that started life as a panorama of Castle Hill in Budapest) and these below – the first is the basic image I took on one of the world’s oldest Ferris Wheels in Vienna – and the second is that same image turned into an almost 360-degree tour – just move the image around with your mouse!

So, this first one is the normal panorama image:

…and this (below) is your very own tour of what it looked like from up there! Just move your mouse (or finger if you are using a phone or touch tablet), and move the image to your heart’s content!

This content requires HTML5/CSS3, WebGL, or Adobe Flash Player Version 9 or higher.

Oh, and if any of you have VR headsets at home, please let me know what type of system you have so I can experiment with creating images for that as well!

…and here is one more experimentation – I made this from a photo I took of lake when I was in Romania…

…and now with the ability to pan through the already distorted image with your mouse/finger:

This content requires HTML5/CSS3, WebGL, or Adobe Flash Player Version 9 or higher.

…and spinning off (yes, ok, rather abruptly – I was in a rush!) to somewhere unknown…

OK, off to have some more fun!

~ Bella

Budapest Fisherman’s Bastion and Castle Hill

I have only been in Budapest a week and already I have decided it is my second-favourite place on the planet! This morning I ventured out and up to Budapest’s magnificent Castle Hill and the amazing Fisherman’s Bastion and have quickly put the photos into a video for you, as opposed to the usual… It seemed fitting for this place… (suggest you view full-screen and with speakers on)

Here are some quick facts from Fisherman’s Bastion website:

Built from 1895 to 1902
Looks like the logo of Walt Disney films, only nicer and older
Open all year round, day and night
Entrance fee: free balconies combined with fee paying top turrets
7 turrets to represent the 7 Hungarian tribes who founded the present day country in 895
Cafe on the terrace of the Fisherman’s Bastion Budapest
Chapel inside the Fisherman’s Bastion Budapest (open from March 2013)
Protected by the guild of the fishermen during the Middle Ages, hence the name

I couldn’t say it any better than TripAdvisor:

“Lovingly restored after being reduced to rubble during World War II, this picturesque area is located in the heart of medieval Budapest, which is characterized by cobblestone streets, narrow alleys and lovely squares surrounded by baroque and classical buildings.”

Simply stunningly amazingly beautiful…

~ Bella

PS: here are the photos themselves if you would like to scroll through:

Snow in the English Riviera?

You will have seen my posts of the beautiful marina in Torquay across the road from where I was living, bathed in glorious sunshine… Or views from the lovely Grand Hotel where I would often sit and work, overlooking Torbay harbour…

Well… It has been ten years since Torquay in South Devon, England saw snow… but right now they are being covered in the stuff! With more blizzards forecast… and a huge thank you to my dear friend Marcus Throup who took these photos for me.

I wish I was there to witness it! It may be snowing here where I am in Budapest at present, but that’s nothing new. Snow in Torquay? That pretty much doesn’t happen.

…and you would normally be able to easily see the Grand Hotel when standing on this spot – not today!

…and just along the road a little way, Plymouth was also white…

A – M – A – Z- I – N – G !

~ Bella

Budapest update

Over the past couple of days, I haven’t ventured more than a couple of hundred feet from the hotel, but regardless they have been truly lovely days!

I have never been one to have a ‘routine’ – be it morning or any other time – however, here I now do have a morning routine…

Each morning when I wake, I open the window (yes, it is currently minus something degrees, but it is so refreshing!), and I observe life below.

For instance, this morning, I was fascinated by a car that managed to get out of a tight parking space by seeming not to care/notice that each move forward and backward connected with the car in front and behind (reminds me of Italy!)…

Or the young man in a suit who was briskly walking along, one hand in his pocket, and continually glancing fervently behind him… He reached the end of the block, turned around, and then ran back to where he started, still with one hand in his pocket…

While there are no images of my window-based storyboard in this video, here is a sneak peek of life in general:

As I write this, today is the first day in almost two months that I have actually felt as though I am finally over this dreaded bug – and so decided this morning to head out in the minus 4 degrees Celsius weather to my favourite local Thai restaurant across the road (yes, I already have favourite hang-outs here) to have lunch and work for a while.

It’s funny, while there I was thinking, “I wonder if there are any other ATMs close to here or if I have to go back up to the cash centre”. Sure enough, as I was having that thought, I heard the distinctive sounds of a cash machine in the Thai restaurant! Well, technically it was outside, but the box all the money and machine lives in was literally about 20 feet away from me!

On the way back to the hotel, I called into the small supermarket (again, only about five or six doors from the hotel) and picked up some wonderful sliced meats, cheese, and a lovely bottle of Cabernet Franc wine… and I think I could just about live in the fresh bread section – the redolence alone was enough to whisk one off on clouds of gastronomic and aromatic splendour…

One of the benefits of Hungary is that the US dollar goes a long way.

My lovely bottle of Cabernet Franc? $2.81 USD. Correct – two dollars and eighty one cents!

OK, well, I had best get back to work…

Sending love and smiles to all…

~ Bella

Budapest is magnificently beautiful…

After sleeping most of yesterday (and I still feel like I need another week of rest to finally be better – but am well on the way to recovery), today I went exploring through Budapest and was astounded at how incredibly magnificent it is! I wasn’t expecting anything this beautiful…

…and there will be minimal ‘commentary’ for a while until my body and brain gets some rest and catches up with my spirit… I think they are still somewhere back on mainland England…

Oh, look… Someone has wrapped up a building to give to someone as a present…

I love that there are so many well-dressed women here… Oh, and if it looks like people are rugged up – with good reason – today was minus-five Celcius.

London has the London Eye – Torquay wanted to call theirs the ‘Torqu-eye’ (but the powers that be said no), and this one is called… wait for it… The Budapest Eye! Go figure…

OK, mystery solved. Elvis isn’t dead. He simply moved to Budapest and is alive and well.

A restaurant from the late 1800s? This is my kinda place – so this is where I curled up for lunch…

There is something creepy about these lantern holders…

This place reminds me a great deal of the Votive Church in Vienna…

OK, re the statue below… that I almost missed! Thanks to Atlas Obscura (that I LOVE!), I learned that this is a statue of Peter Falk’s, ‘Colombo’! To learn why, you’ll have to look that up and investigate for yourself… 🙂

Btw, this (below) is the train station… As magnificent as it is, New York’s Central Station now has a rival for first place in my book…

…and it’s always nice to stay in a place that promotes “Happy Gum” – whatever that is…

Just highlights today of my scouting tour…

Am here for a couple of weeks so will spend some quality time exploring a few specific places on my bucket list… (a Bucket List that now has [drum roll…..] OVER 1000 ITEMS on it, and about half of which I have already achieved!)

Sending love and smiles to all…

~ Bella

Swiss Alps Rail Journey – Zurich to Budapest (Part 2 of 2)

Some people will do anything to get out of work, including burying their tractor in snow…

Another soul out for a solitary walk……..

This one is walking his horse from somewhere through nowhere to I guess somewhere…

Aliens have arrived – this is their craft…

Arriving in Budapest train station…

Look up – it is stunningly beautiful!

Even the ride back to the hotel in the limo was beautiful…

…and to my GLORIOUS hotel, built in 1914…

Because I didn’t arrive until around 10:00pm, when I arrived reception advised me that I only had a few minutes to decide if I wanted something to eat. I said I didn’t feel like a full meal at that time of night, but would love a drink and something upon which to nibble…

This greeted me when I came downstairs to the bar…

Oh, and I shared this with a friend on my way… I can get my head around ‘nachster halt’ meaning ‘next stop’…

…but there is no way I would have worked out that’s what this meant in Hungarian!

After a fabulous night’s sleep, this is the view from my window in the morning… Lovely old architecture…

Lots more to come so stay tuned…

~ Bella

Swiss Alps Rail Journey – Zurich to Budapest (Part 1 of 2)

Words nor photos can express the majesty of this trip… but I will do my best with what follows of my eleven-hour rail trip through three countries…

Starting the day leaving my beautiful hotel (where I really felt as though I was visiting family instead of staying in a hotel), I arrived early at the Zurich train station.

By the way, thieves are rampant here – the best way I found to deal with them is to keep your wits about you and then stare straight at them – they walk away.

Upon boarding the train, a lovely lady near me said that I had the best seat on the train – it is usually the one she books but apparently I booked first.

The seats have everything that opens and shuts, variable settings, adjustable lights, different plugs, you name it!

I had placed my order for a sunny ride through the Alps and while I did get my wish (to come in a few mintues), the beginning of the trip was cloudy and overcast…

…and as we travel into the Alps, the sun comes out…

I not only had the fabulous view from my own huge window, I also had the incredible view opposite…

It is said that all road lead to Rome… Well, here it seems all tracks lead to the same place……?

Note the footprints beside the track in the middle of nowhere… I lost count of how many people I saw walking in ‘nowhere’…… Miles from ‘anywhere’!

There was too much to share in one post…

Click here for part two…

~ Bella

Zurich is delightful!

After sleeping in and working from bed until noon (that did me the world of good!), I decided to venture out and explore…

It was an overcast day, around 1°C / 33°F, but crisp and lovely. My hotel is right in the middle of the city, across the road from the Limmat River that runs right through the centre…

Yes, they are fur-covered seats at the pizza parlour…

…and for a main street, this one is quite deserted… Look right…………

……look left……………………..

The people are extremely friendly – although there don’t seem to be many people here! 🙂

…and go figure – I decide to have a ‘local’ lunch and the restaurant I walk into is Middle-Eastern!

…but it was delicious if ghastly expensive – the average normal meal here is between $30-$40 USD. Even just cheese and tomato on toast at a cafe is $12. Anyway, as I said, it was deeeeeelicious.

Oh, that reminds me – Switzerland is not part of the EU and still retains its own currency of the Swiss Franc – that I always thought was funny… Franc (as in French) is the currency – German is the language…

So, if you plan on visiting – and I would recommend it – make sure you bring some Swiss Francs and brush up on your German.

Well, back home now to get a lot of work done – will do a little more exploring tomorrow…

~~~~~~~

Back again… Still not feeling 100% so decided to stick close to home (hotel) but wanted to experience a Swiss restaurant and figured I should do one of the very best (and told the credit card to take a deep breath…)

This is the Chagall room – and yes, there are original paintings lining the walls…

Walking back to the hotel and looking for a particular blue leather jacket I spied in a window yesterday (that I have since found and adopted), I thought I might find somewhere to buy a bottle of wine to enjoy later in my room… I found this lovely-looking wine shop, however it was closed – but wait… the man walking to the door? The owner! Perfect timing!

…and am now curled up working in my ‘local’ – just around the corner from the hotel – the waitress is named Francesca and this is a lovely spot to hang out…

While there is so much to see and do in Zurich, me thinks it will have to wait for another visit.

Tomorrow is my final day here, leaving Friday to take the train through the Alps to Budapest and think I will rest up tomorrow.

Sending love and smiles to all…

~ Bella

Farewell England – Hello Switzerland

It has been quite the ordeal getting to this point, but I have finally left England yet again. 🙁

After being quite ill for almost four weeks, then packing up the house and putting everything into storage, I finally left beautiful Torquay on a magical sunny day…

…drove five hours up to Liverpool to put Prince (beloved car) into storage (I am coming back from Ireland by boat and we dock at Liverpool) – then checked into a lovely hotel right in the heart of Liverpool city…

…and for a fine hotel, the fact that they had a special for guests in their restaurant for two courses only 17.99… Yum! First course, scallops (that were beyond delicious!)…

…followed by steak Diane… that sizzled for a good five minutes after it arrived…

The view from my window…

Parts of Liverpool look lovely…

…and I am sure Lime Street Station will look lovely when they are through with the renovations…

Caught the fast train into London…

…and stayed for a couple of nights at the Tower Hotel. Wouldn’t recommend the hotel itself, but the location was heavenly!

I love beautiful architecture and the Tower Bridge is yet another stunning example of when people actually cared about creating a functional monument that was also incredibly beautiful.

Here, below, are several photos of the bridge as the sun sets behind her… (taken through the windows of the bar upstairs at the hotel)

Looking at these windows as the lights come on, reminds me of the movie “Hugo”…

…and perfect reading material…

I realised that I had left my coat in Prince, so of course one had to go into Oxford Street to go shopping for another… Upon my return, a late, leisurely lunch…

The marina next to the hotel…

I feel very blessed – when I checked out I asked for a taxi to take me to St Pancras Station, only to have the concierge tell me that the road had been closed, so I would need to schlep my way up the hill on foot, dragging my luggage behind…

“Ah yes – no. That is not going to happen,” was my response, followed by, “I have faith in you, sir! I know you can twitch your nose and find me a ride…”

After asking me to take a seat, within less than 10 minutes a taxi mysteriously arrived to take me to the station.

If you haven’t travelled on the Eurostar from London to Paris, it’s just like going through security at an airport, only waaaaaaay less people, and much more civilised.

…and back to my comment about when people cared about what they built… Look at the beautiful tiles around the iron-work in the ceiling…

Onboard – and Eurostar is just lovely!

Farewell, London…

The seats have everything you could want – including mirror and two different types of power outlets.

Going into France by road looks like it is nothing like the ridiculously long queues to go from the USA to Canada or from USA to Mexico…

Through the “chunnel”, out the other side, and I caught sight of a pink commuter train – love it!

Arrived at Paris Gare de Lyon and then hightailed it across the city to Paris Gare du Nord for my connection to Zurich…

Whereas first class on the Eurostar from London to Paris included delicious meals and wine in real glasses… first class from Paris to Zurich included a welcome drink in a plastic cup and snack for which you had to pay extra!

…and this is the majestic sight that greets one at the exit from Zürich Hauptbahnhof…

…view from the car on the way to my hotel…

…and the view from my window (it looks a little dingy in these photos, but is actually very lovely and quaint…

The hotel is right in the absolute centre of the city and is just lovely – small, quaint, friendly… and it even comes with a Samsung tablet for travel guide, alarm clock etc…

…and yes, that is a hat. I’m a girlie-girl… 🙂

…and after a wonderful night’s sleep, this is the view downstairs – I stayed in bed working until about noon before greeting the day…

Sunny day exploring Cornwall…

St Michael’s Mount, the extraordinary Minack Theatre, Lands End and more… These are the highlights from yet another glorious day exploring…

Starting in our lovely manor as the sun was beaming in the beautiful bay window, Karen and I met up and the headed off…

…and in case we were peckish, we had some Rudolph jerky on which to nibble…

Arriving in Marazion to horses on the road and on the beach – I love it!

St Michael’s Mount at high tide is an island, and at low tide is a tiny outcrop of land. There has been one form of monastery or other on the site since the 8th century.

Its Cornish name is Karrek Loos yn Koos, literally meaning ‘the grey rock in a wood’.

At high tide, the man-made causeway is completely under water.

Next stop, the Minack Theatre…

The Minack Theatre (or Gwaryjy Minack in Cornish), gives one the feeling of being in an exotic location in Italy or similar…

According to Wikipedia: “The theatre was the brainchild of Rowena Cade, who moved to Cornwall after the First World War and built a house for herself and her mother on land at Minack Point for £100.[3] Her sister was the feminist dystopian author Katharine Burdekin and her partner lived with them from the 1920s. In 1929, a local village group of players had staged Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a nearby meadow at Crean, repeating the production the next year. They decided that their next production would be The Tempest and Miss Cade offered the garden of her house as a suitable location, as it was beside the sea. Miss Cade and her gardener, Billy Rawlings, made a terrace and rough seating, hauling materials down from the house or up via the winding path from the beach below. In 1932, The Tempest was performed with the sea as a dramatic backdrop, to great success. Miss Cade resolved to improve the theatre, working over the course of the winter months each year throughout her life (with the help of Billy Rawlings and Charles Angove) so that others might perform each summer.”

Hmmmmmm, yes – my thinks that is stating the obvious! 🙂

…and here is when the alien space ship finally came down to collect us…

From there, it was meandering over to Land’s End…

…and along the way being stopped by traffic geese…

…and then suddenly I felt as though I had been transported to a cheap American theme park… Welcome to Land’s End.

Needless to say, we didn’t stay long and instead headed off in search of somewhere lovely for lunch…

…and the dip in the roof is unfortunately not an optical illusion…

Anywhere that has fresh yellow roses and books is a winner with me!

After a lovely lunch and live music (smooth, cool jazz feel) that I could have listened to for hours and hours, we headed toward home base…

…grabbed a cab and went into Falmouth for wine, food, wine and more wine…

No, this is not a huge chimney for the building – well, not exactly… read on…

This building used to be Customs House…

…right next to the Harbour Master’s office, complete with lookout bay window…

This is Jack – local celebrity…

He orders his drinks at the bar…

This is our trusty bartender with Karen’s chocolate Baileys…

Back to Jack – he has a calendar, raising money for the air ambulance. When I adopt my next fluffy, me thinks we will do something similar for a local cause…

Then we arrived back to the manor and, being the only residents, duly sat in the bar consuming a nightcap (or two) and singing a range of songs, much to the amusement of the bartender!

The following morning (Monday) we set out to head back to Torquay, with a minor detour… Karen needed to run an errand along the way so while she was taking care of that, I headed off to do some more exploring…