Indian summer on the lake

It was an unseasonable 28 Deg.C when we visited family in Switzerland during Sept. 2019.

Home to just 18,500 people, and just 25kms North of Geneva, Nyon is famous for it’s historic Château de Nyon and Roman ruins dating back to the age of Julius Ceasar.

Locals and tourists alike were seeking refuge in the cool waters of Lake Geneva (known as Lac Léman to Francophiles) - some leaping from an old concrete diving platform that appeared to be floating on the surface of the still blue water some 20m off-shore.

For those wanting to explore the lake region, there are a fleet of pre-1930’s Belle Époque paddle steamboats that traverse the area offering up to 850 passengers on single journey, old-fashioned 1st or 2nd class ferry rides. If you have more time, there are longer lunch or dinner cruises that take in breath-taking destinations such as the jazz-festival famous Montreux, or Evian (home of the well-known water brand) in France.

We decided to take the option of a one-hour ride across to the romantic medieval village of Yvoire (on the French side of the lake) for lunch. A return trip costs about CHF 70 or NZ$110 pp, which wasn’t cheap, but the views of the Alps from on the lake, and the charm of seeing the exposed workings of the steamer were all part of the experience.

The carless town of Yvoire has a permanent population of just 800, with a written history dating back as far as the 1300’s. We spent a few hours meandering around it’s well preserved, narrow cobblestoned streets - captivated by a series of small shops and galleries, flowers overflowing from every balcony window sill. Of course, all of this high-altitude lake air soon had the stomachs rumbling..

While tempted by the favourite local dish of ‘filets de perche’ we decided to seat ourselves in the shaded courtyard of a quaint little place to enjoy, a very well-priced, delicious and authentic crêpe coupled with a glass of Rosé de Provence.

On our way back to the ferry, we took in two prominent local landmarks. The beautiful Church St. Pancras and it’s gleaming stainless steel clad, onion-shaped steeple, (recently refurbished from it’s former 1850’s tin) and Chateau d’Yvoire, in its commanding position right on the lake-edge.

It was a really special day out, and a wonderful opportunity to test out my newly acquired Leica Q2. The 28mm f1.7 lens was ideal for tight spaces, as well as capturing the wider context of the postcard-like scenery. With its 47Mp sensor, there is also plenty of resolution for post-cropping should this be required.

Teatro Colon

The Teatro Colón (Spanish: Columbus Theatre) is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is ranked the third best opera house in the world by National Geographic, and is acoustically considered to be amongst the five best concert venues in the world. The other venues are Berlin's Konzerthaus, Vienna's Musikverein, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Boston's Symphony Hall.

The present Colón replaced an original theatre which opened in 1857. Towards the end of the century it became clear that a new theatre was needed and, after a 20-year process, the present theatre opened on 25 May 1908, with Giuseppe Verdi's Aida.

The Teatro Colón was visited by the foremost singers and opera companies of the time, who would sometimes go on to other cities including Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

After this period of huge international success, the theatre's decline became clear and plans were made for massive renovations. After an initial start of works to restore the landmark in 2005, the theatre was closed for refurbishment from October 2006 to May 2010. It re-opened on 24 May 2010, with a programme for the 2010 season.

Dharavi

Dharavi is in Mumbai, India. The second-largest slum in the continent of Asia, and the third-largest in the world, it is home to over a million inhabitants in the confirms of just 2.1 sq km.  Here, people live and work in very confined spaces - kids attend school, and they can even go to a cinema cafefully set up under large tarpaulins. This photograph taken on a four-hour walking tour, shows workers who pull apart keyboards, car parts, and toys to salvage, (amoungst other materials), plastics that are broken down into small chips - washed, and bagged up ready for manufacturing reuse.  The organisation in this place was truly fascinating.