Photo of the day - Sugar canes

P2020085, originally uploaded by aibek_dunaev.

Bunch of hungry AIESEC trainees stopped by the roadside vendors that were selling the sugar canes. They got out of car, grabbed some canes and starting to chew them with a wild appetite. Somewhere in the Eastern Taiwan, in 2005.

Left to right; Diego (Colombia), Luis (Brasil) and yours truly.

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Jiu Fen - Taiwan

Taiwan 051.jpg, originally uploaded by aibek_dunaev.

This photo was taken 5 years ago in front of a Buddhist temple in a small beautiful tourist town, Jiu Fen, near Taipei. This is a popular weekend destination for Taiwanese people. You can get lots of local delicacies in the local markets, stay over night in tiny houses that overlook the coast.

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Flight of the Angel, Venice Carnevale

Now you don't see it everywhere! The main show of the Venice Carnival - Volo dell'Angelo (Flight of the Angel).

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Rialto Bridge on Grand Canal, Venice

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Venice Carnival

Our trip to Venice Mask Carnival last February. Festive atmosphere, costumes, masks, excellent mood, Venetian music and fantastic shows - there was everything! Video tells it all.

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Camp Nou, Barcelona

Here's another small video of the empty Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona. You can clearly see how beautiful and enormous it is!

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Sagrada Familia

The most known tourist attraction of Barcelona. It is indeed astonishingly beautiful and unique of a kind! There's so much architecture and art in every piece of it, and I was glad that I took my binoculars to get a better look. Antoni Gaudi started the construction in 1882, and his work continued till today after he died in tram accident. He was buried inside Sagrada Familia.

Here's a bit of information from Wikipedia;
"...privately-funded Roman Catholic church that has been under construction in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain since 1882 and is not expected to be complete until at least 2026. A portion of the building's interior is scheduled to open for public worship and tours by September of 2010.
Considered the master-work of renowned Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), the project's vast scale and idiosyncratic design have made it one of Barcelona's (and Spain's) top tourist attractions for many years....
... Every part of the design of La Sagrada Família is rich with Christian symbolism, as Gaudí intended the church to be the "last great sanctuary of Christendom". Its most striking aspect is its spindle-shaped towers. A total of 18 tall towers are called for, representing in ascending order of height the Twelve Apostles, the four Evangelists, the Virgin Mary and, tallest of all, Jesus Christ...
...The building works are expected to be completed around 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudí's death, although the likelihood of meeting this date is disputed. Computer Aided design technology has been used to speed up the construction of the building; initially, the construction work was expected to last for several hundred years, based on building techniques available in the early 1900s...
...Construction on Sagrada Família is not supported by any government or official church sources. Private patrons funded the initial stages. Money from tickets purchased by tourists is now used to pay for the work, and private donations are accepted through the Friends of the Temple.
The construction budget for 2009 is €18 million."

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Greetings from Barcelona

Here some late greetings from Barcelona. Alex and his family hosted me and Fatima at their place in the outskirts of Barcelona. We had great few days there eating lots of delicious food (paella, bull's tail, variety of seafood), watching some architecture by Gaudi, driving around Barcelona and Olympic Town, and watching Barca game at Camp Nou.

Once again I want to thank Alex and his family, and also Vanessa and her family for inviting us for a nice breakfast!

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Street Musicians in Barcelona

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Barcelona Car Trip

We were a bit unlucky to be caught by the rain in May in Barcelona. They said it was really sunny just before we arrived. And for that reason we did most of our trip in the car. Alex drove around the city pointing at the main attractions and also just wandering around, just to stop over to check another interesting place to try some local delicacies. Just to get more from these driving tours, I shot video of Barcelona streets, and combined that with Fatima's as well. So here's the video of Barcelona streets, nothing much to offer though, just random video snaps. So if you are still curious how it looks like, take a drive!

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Watching FC Barcelona Live (2008)

I get the chance to watch FC Barcelona last year in May when I was invited by Alex to Barcelona. Although it was raining most of the time, we spent great few days with Alex and Vanessa who showed us most of the capital of Catalunia. And of course, for me the highlight of the trip was Barca game at mighty Camp Nou stadium! Barca rarely loses at home, but that time they did...

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Berliner Dom & demolition of Palace of the Republic

Berliner Dom, originally uploaded by aibek_dunaev.

Berliner Dom and demolition of Palace of the Republic. The palace was built under GDR government, and now Germans decided to get rid of it and rebuild back Berlin Palace that stood once in the same location (and destroyed during the bombing of Berlin).

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Berliner Dom and Museum Island

Berliner Dom and Museum Island, originally uploaded by aibek_dunaev.

Another place that you must visit in Berlin is the Museum Island. There are few interesting museums there, as well as another beautiful piece of architecture, Berliner Dom, that survived through WWII Berlin bombings.

Last year I happened to be in one of the museums on the island - Altes Museum.

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Reichstag - Berlin

Reichstag, originally uploaded by aibek_dunaev.

Last weekend I spent some time editing and uploading some videos from my past trips. At some point I decided to take short videos besides photos, that way I think I could express myself more and provide better understanding of a certain place or tourist attraction. And add some short narrations. Well, I am not really happy with my narrations, as I somehow get nervous in front of (actually behind) my very own camera :) And I thought I have quite fine English pronunciation, but on the video I don't really like it. Anyway what matters is these amazing places that I'd like to share. So here's another one; famous Reichstag in Berlin!

More Berlin photo stories are here and here.

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Buffet lunch in the mountains

6568_252010415509_593485509_8344087_3660437_n, originally uploaded by aibek_dunaev.

Imagine that you've been hiking all day in the mountains and already dreaming about some tasty snacks and cold refreshments. Right there, right at that moment. One possible way is to carry food and drinks in your backpack. Tiring and the amount you can carry is limited. Another option is to outsource it :)

Imagine a buffet lunch organized in the middle of nature, kilometers away from any shop or restaurant, where smiling waitresses welcome you in English... In Kyrgyzstan, there are companies that turns this into reality.

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