Permanent Tourist

The personal website of Mark Howells-Mead

Posts about Italy

  • I wrote only recently about how photography is an aide-memoire for me and the point was proven this afternoon, when I was instantly reminded by the photograph on a shopping bag of trips to Sicily. “Hang on!” I said, and both Jo and I instantly recognized the street lamp and tiled square in Taormina, from…

  • The Blue Hour

    The time between sunset and complete darkness is known in photographic circles as “the blue hour”.

  • When I look back at the photos I’ve posted to my Flickr photostream in 2011, I see how fortunate Jo and I have been to have had the opportunity to travel so much. Starting with a trip to the photo’11 exhibition in January, my year has been filled with journeys, both long and short. We’ve…

  • This medieval bridge in Florence, rebuilt in 1345, is the only one remaining which is lined on both sides by shops. Originally hosting butcher shops, the bridge has been populated by jewellers and goldsmiths since the late sixteenth century. The bridge is the only one in Florence to have survived the Second World War: on…

  • Street musician, Florence, Italy

    I am enjoying the video capabilities of my Nikon, particularly to capture “moving photographs” such as this one. Filmed during our summer holiday in Florence, Italy, whilst we ate mint choc chip ice cream and enjoyed the music.

  • The rocky coastline in the north west of Elba is unique in the world; granite magma, deposited by a volcano seven million years ago, is impregnated with orthoclase crystals and forms a peculiar, smoothed surface. On first seeing the rocks, they appeared to have been concreted-over, but on closer inspection, it was obvious that it’s…

  • Viticcio

    One of the joys of a holiday on the Mediterranean coast is finding small villages, hidden away amongst the folds of the coast, and the special places therein. Although I didn’t know it when I took this photo, there’s an excellent, if tiny, restaurant beneath the gazebo in the centre of this photo. Frequented by…

  • The Square of Miracles at Pisa.

  • Any photographer offering free photos should have a good reason for doing so. This is why I’ve chosen to make a large portion of my photographic archive available.

  • Looking on the map at the area on the eastern shores of Switzerland’s Lake Lugano, you’ll come across a small anomaly: the municipality of Campione d’Italia. The municipality, which is entirely surrounded by Switzerland’s territory, is tiny: little more than a village, a winding road clambering its way up a vertiginous cliff, and a section…

  • My biggest work project in 2010 was the re-building of the wide network of websites for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region of Burson-Marsteller.

  • A panoramic view of the small, remote town of Malfa on the Italian island of Salina.

  • A set of panoramic photographs of Taormina, an ancient town built high on the cliffs of Sicily’s eastern coast.

  • It’s been a hectic week and weekend, hence the delay in posting that I’ve released my 2010 calendar.

  • Pollara Lighthouse

    A small gallery of a ruined and abandoned lighthouse on the main road from Malfa, atop three hundred metre high cliffs on the north western corner of Salina amongst the Aeolian Islands.

  • This post was originally written whilst waiting for a flight to Sicily from Milan’s Malpensa airport. We’re sitting in the marbled monotony of the departure gate at Milan’s Malpensa airport after the first leg of our trip, which saw us take the train from Spiez through the alpine tunnels as far as Domodossola. The new…

  • Starting with a long journey to the Aeolian Islands and pre-wedding drinks on a tempestuously windy hotel terrace, Jo and I had a great time at my oldest friend Brent’s wedding to his Italian sweetheart, Marta.

  • Time flies; it’s already two weeks shy of a year since my last trip to Italy with Jo. We’re off again on Thursday, this time to the tiny island of Salina, amongst the Aeolian group of islands off the north coast of Sicily. As is usual before a holiday, I have much to wrap up…

  • Leaving Capri

    Thoughts of our upcoming late Spring holiday to the Aeolian Islands, off the coast of Sicily, have inspired me to have a flick through last year’s holiday shots.

  • Ponte Vecchio

    A gem from the couple of hundred 35mm frames I’ve scanned today: the Ponte Vecchio bridge in Florence, Italy.

  • We are small and there is so much to see, that we should get on with it and not let smaller things than us get in the way.