Driving from Siena, Italy, to Graz, Austria, today Goldie and I were looking for somewhere to stop for lunch and we decided on this place named after a beach in Los Angeles.

    I took Brittโ€™s Fuji X-S10 with the 27mm f/2.8 for a play while we were there.

    ๐Ÿ“ท๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Our last Monday in Puglia

    A birds eye view of Martina Franca, in southern Puglia, where we’ve been hanging out this month.

    In these photos, happening at the same time, is a funeral procession, a dance contest, and an opera, amongst whatever else the 49,000 residents are getting up to.

    There’s also two 360 photos of Martina Franca in this embed, a higher and lower shot, look for the hotspots when you’re scrolling around.

    ๐Ÿ“ท๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿš Fifteen of Monopoliโ€™s best from my Mavic in Puglia yesterday

    โ›ช๏ธ I did it, I finally did it. I crucified the sun.

    … and other photos from the sunset over Monopoli, Puglia, this afternoon ๐Ÿ“ท๐ŸŒ‡๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น

    ๐Ÿ“ท๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ–๏ธ Family day at the beach at Cala Maka. The beach is apparently/allegedly called Torre Canne Nord Prima della Casa Grigia, which translated from Italian means, North Canne Tower Before the Gray House, which is the most romantic beach name I’ve ever read.

    Good luck ever naming a beach better than that.

    ๐Ÿ“ท๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น 40 degrees celsius today in Martina Franca, but the second you step into the shade the temperature drops about fifteen of those bad boy degrees.

    ๐Ÿ“ท๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Alberobello, Puglia

    ๐Ÿ“ท๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Polignano a Mare, Puglia

    ๐Ÿ“ท๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Sunday frames from Martina Franca, Puglia, Italy

    ๐Ÿ–๏ธ Tuesday at Spiaggia Lido Silvana, Puglia, Italy

    Temple of Valadier: Refuge for sinners

    Over 1000 years old, this sanctuary in Genga’s Frasassi Caves was intended to be a refuge from sinners, but when you see it from a sky, it looks like the church itself is seeking refuge from the world. The temple you now see was complete in 1827 under the suggestion of Pope Leo XII. For all this time it was called the Temple of Valadier but recent study has revealed that Giuseppe Valadier, its namesake architect, didn’t design it at all.

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    Does Apple Vision mean 360 content is finally going to have its moment?

    I’ve been playing around with 360 content for over seven years ago now and I have a few questions about where Apple is going to take the format. If you make 360 content today, you spend a lot of time looking at content like this: It’s not as appealing as the embeds below. I’ve recorded my work creating marriage ceremonies in 360 video, and with my various DJI drones, I’ve been trying to create 360 still content as well.

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    It’s normally pretty hard to try and fit an entire nation in one photo. It’s a little bit easier if you’re making a 360 panoramic photo. But still, most nations don’t fit.

    So I can proudly say I think I got almost all of Liechtenstein in this photo.

    I have a confession to make.

    I didn’t know “The Alps” were a thing. I thought people referred to “the alps” when they referred to alpine areas.

    This probably explains why I nerded out pretty hard when I got to the Alps and kept on typing the alps and all my computing devices would autocorrect to The Alps.

    Anyway, here’s a 360 photo of a part of the Alps from Kufstein in Austria.

    And another from Lake Wolfgang

    Lichtenstein 3D

    One of my childhood happy memories was receiving gifts from my Aunty Tracey who lived in Lichtenstein. She was always sending Liechtenstein paraphernalia and propaganda and I was here for it. For over 30 years Iโ€™ve kept this magical vision in my mind of what the richest country per capita on earth would look like. How safe could a country with no defence force feel? How do you even get to a country that has no airport?

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    The fascinating story of Castle Itter and the last European WWII battle

    Driving across Austria this week we’ve seen plenty of castles, we even stayed in one, and every sighting of one is pretty special. There’s one near us which looks very much like a castle, and tonight on our last night in Hopfgarten I found out the history of the castle on Atlas Obscura and it’s the most interesting of stories: In the final weeks of the European theater of World War II, an unexpected union of German and American forces guarded a select group of abandoned Nazi prisoners against the Waffen-SS.

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    Watched the sun set into Germany across the German/Austrian border tonight.

    Withers on film in Hawaii

    Withers on film at the TWA Hotel.

    Man, I loved this hotel!

    Withers in Mexico.

    I found an undeveloped roll of film from our time in Baja California Sur. Missing Cerritos Beach!

    Withers in Paris on 35mm film

    My favourite thing to do in the big cities of the world is to ignore the must-do lists, the must-see places, the hotspots and the icons, and to just walk around and exist in a different big city. Walking down random streets, getting bad coffee at little-known cafes, and finding the unseen parts of a city. The towers, cathedrals, arches and museums are cool and we inevitably end up there. But thereโ€™s something really interesting to me about experiencing another peopleโ€™s normal.

    My review and photos of the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport

    Let me spin you a yarn about my favourite airport hotel, the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport in New York. This hotel is a real beauty, with a great story behind it. Once upon a time, in the golden era of air travel, TWA - Trans World Airlines - was a big shot in the aviation world. Their Flight Center at JFK Airport, designed by the legendary architect Eero Saarinen, was the bee’s knees when it opened in 1962.

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    My first tweet was tweeted 18 months before I even started tweeting

    I’ve been reminiscing over Twitter this week, wondering what the last tweet will be amongst other things as Space Karen prepares to take away the verification tick on my profile that proves I am who I am, a tick gifted to me from my time in the media in Australia. I started my current Twitter account in October 2009 but I was sure that I had an account before then so I went searching and searching and searching and found it: March 2008, @1073brekky.

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