The Mayan Ruins of Tulum - Part 2

A barred access to one of the buildings undergoing restoration work.

The House of Columns, also known as The Great Palace, was one of the largest residential building in Tulum. Originally L-shaped, it later received an additional west wing.

The House of the Halach Uinic, to which a thatch awning has been added to help prevent further sun and water damage to the stucco figure beneath it.

The Castle was built over different periods, close to the edge of the cliff on the east side of the inner precinct.

Rainy morning

It was a rainy morning and we decided to go shopping for souvenirs. We hopped on one of the little carts that take people back and forth between the various stops inside the Grand Bahia Palace complex, and got out at "The Hacienda".

Sure enough, there was a downpour on the way and we didn't have to wait long to witness a rainshower of epic proportions! This photo was taken just a few minutes before we had to take cover - luckily, we were already almost done with our shopping of "truly Mexican recuerdos"... :)

Making the most of each moment

Parasailing is always a big thing at the Caribbean resorts. I still haven't tried it but I sure was glad that I had my feet on the ground on this occasion, to be able to take this photo of the colours of the Mexican flag flying high in the stormy sky.

As the clouds go by...

Just chillin' and watching the sky :)

My kind of summer picture

I got back from the Riviera Maya about a week ago and I'm now starting to sort through the 200 or so photos I took during the week I spent there. So, expect a few more in the coming days...

This is one of the beaches of the Grand Bahia Principe Akumal resort where I stayed - a very beautiful and quiet beach, even more so underneath stormy skies.

Hide and seek...

Double vision

This beauty paid me a visit just before 2010 ended. It knocked on my window and just stood there, smiling at me and posing for my camera... :)

Wet microburst

This is the kind of thing that brings down planes... This one didn't.

What it did was leave me mesmerized and in awe of the phenomenon... I must confess that I was crossing my fingers in hopes that it would somehow develop into a water spout... As they say, give them an inch and they'll take a yard!
Anyway, in the end I was just thankful that Mother Nature put on this show when I was (for once!) at the right place, at the right time...

Hasta siempre!

The last I saw of Havana was an ample view from the fortress they call "La Cabaña" (The Hut). The sky was heavy with stormy clouds, the light promised an electric storm about to strike and the air was wonderfully charged...
I loved Havana and I plan on going back with more time to explore it properly, the way such a beautiful and interesting city deserves to be discovered.

Hasta siempre!

Impromptu

It was way too hot for me that day... I couldn't convince myself to get up off my beach chair but this photo was just begging to happen...

And here you have it - a hymn to laziness!

Peeking out the window...

... on my way to Cuba, I caught a glimpse of the Bahamas.

This is one of the many photos I took out the window since I was hopelessly drawn to that "red engine casing/clouds in the background" combination during most of the tiresome 8-hour flight...

The thin stripes of land down below stirred up my imagination and look forward even more intensely to the warm waters of Varadero, which I had been missing dearly since 2001.

A few hours later we finally we landed in Cuba - the place to be for great sea- and skyscapes!

Crepuscular rays

Those who love and prefer a beautiful sunrise over a beautiful sunset will get no argument from me. The truth is I don't think I'll ever have to choose between the two, as there's one of each every day...
However, if I really had to choose, I'm pretty sure I'd go for the sunset - if nothing else, because it happens just before night falls and I've made my mind up long ago that I prefer night over day.



Another thing I love in sunsets is the "fight" between light and shadows... and the fact that the shadows always come out on top - literally. Crepuscular rays like the ones in this photo mesmerise me and make that "fight" even more apparent. I'm lucky enough to catch some amazing skyscapes from my windows... and here's just one more piece of evidence of that...

Refreshing fly-by

This seagull was clearly having fun around the fountain - it kept circling the jets of water as they went up and down...

Looking at it against the sun, my eyes were locked in the flight pattern, admiring how it managed to fly through the mist and not get caught by those powerful "geysers". I truly envied that bird's eye view (in the most literal sense ever!) - it was a hot day, way too hot for me and it looked exquisitely refreshing... I bet no seagull ever envied our way of life :)

Wrath of the gods

My passion for severe weather was satisfied the other day during what I can only call a true orgy of clouds just before a magnificent thunderstorm.

The colours, the shapes, the way the wind moulded them before my eyes... a real feast - and I thank the gods for it.

By gods I mean Mother Earth and her weather leprechauns, elves and pixies... of course ;)

These photos don't do justice to the event itself... but I had lots of fun taking them. I was especially glad to be able to capture the faint flicker of a lighthouse caught in the middle of that raging storm.

A green flicker of hope for those who feel lost and scared when witnessing these "arguments" from up above. Very faint and distant from where I stood... but there, without a doubt. There's always one of those, no matter how dire the straits we may find ourselves in... you just have to really look for it.

Tags: storm, weather, clouds, sky, Canon, EOS, 40D, CarlaFrancisco

Almost... and that's fine

Is almost better than nothing?... Sometimes I wonder.
Being used to watch the skies in search for the worst possible conditions (like any respectable severe weather freak ;) I sometimes have trouble dealing with the possibility that never came to be... Like this stormy sky that came over me the other day in Alentejo, as I was shooting these amazing castle ruins.
The cherry on top of that cake would have been being caught in the middle of a thunderstorm in such a fitting setting... But, alas, that did not come to be. As if frozen in time and space, the grey stormy skies just hovered above me, taunting me and never evolved into what I wished they would...
You can't always get what you want, right? That's quite debatable, I know, but let's just leave it at that for the time being... ;)

Anyway, even if this left me wanting more (wind, thunder and rain - go figure! lol), it allowed me to get this (and other) photos... Way better than some boring blue sky shots. It's something I've learned through photography and it serves me well in my life: rather than bitching about not getting quite there (in any endeavour...) it's always better to look on the bright side (insert Monty Python's little tune here ;).

Just a little of something good can leave a bitter taste in your mouth... But if the alternative is nothing at all - which would you choose? Would you rather enjoy and cherish what little you got or would you prefer never having to regret not getting all you wanted?

Tags: clouds, storm, sky, carlafrancisco, Alentejo, castle, ruins, Portugal

My contribution to the Cloud Appreciation Society

When I found out about The Cloud Appreciation Society, I knew I was not alone! No more thinking that I was the only one constantly with my nose up in the air, looking for clouds, storms... and basically just staring at the sky... ;)
These are four of my photos that The Cloud Appreciation Society as featured on their website (until now, because I've sent them a few more):

Frail contrail


Towering storm


Spaceship


Sunset cumulonimbus

And as long as I have a camera in my hands (which I hope I always will...), I'll keep looking up, searching for amazing skies to photograph. Me and my 40D make quite a team... ;)

Tags: sky, clouds, photography, photo, blog