"Memories are made of these...." by flyingkiwi

The following photographs all have a special place in my heart for one reason or another.

These are the ones which bring back a memory from the past. Whether it be a happy one, a nostalgic one or even one which fills me with adrenalin as a reminder on why I long to travel.

These are photographs from times in my life when I have experienced great joys and great sorrows. They are photographs which display times of reflection. Such times when I was truly at peace with the World around me.

I hope you enjoy looking at these photos as much as I do.

Fk

I drove the 3 hours from Nagoya to the mountains at Hakuba leaving my Japanese hosts house at 1 o'clock in the morning in time to watch the beautiful sunrise.

The air was crisp and I recall the feeling of damp morning dew on my face as I climbed the steep slopes. All was peaceful as I sat high in the mountains patiently waiting to welcome in the new dawn. My icy breath which I could see in front of my face gave way to sheer awe as the beautiful sight unfolded before my very eyes. It is a moment in my life I shall never forget

This is a photo of me about to board a train in Prague station to go on one of those spur of the moment "lets close our eyes and point to somewhere on a map" type trips. This is to me what travel is all about. In this instance I ended up in a small town called Kolin.

The buzz you get from this type of grade 5 rafting cannot be expressed truly. I recommend anyone who hasn't tried it before to give it a go. Unfortunately I can't claim credit for this photo (I was in the raft hanging on for grim life at the time!). The photo was a split second frame shot capturing the raft as in plunged down the waterfall carried by the immense power of the river. Seconds later the raft flipped over and the next thing we knew we were all being tossed around like someone had thrown us in a washing machine on full spin! Great fun!

I really like this photo. It was taken back in 1999 one one of my visits to Japan. The old man in the photo is the Great, Great Grandfather of a very close friend of mine . Can you believe he was actually 95 years old at the time!

I find this photo very peaceful. It was taken a short walk outside of Kildare just as the sun was beginning to set. I like the way the bare winter trees are silhouetted on the backdrop of the night sky.

A photo of me and my dear friend Angelika (you may have seen her pages here on VT). You gave me so many happy memories and I'm glad we are now closer than ever if not Geographically - Spiritually. I miss you.

The look on your face in this photo is very special indeed. I will always remember the fun time we had in Bratislava.

Again a photo which reminds me of the beauty of Finland and my great friend Minna Jensen and her lovely son Jukka. God bless you my Guardian Angel.

I took this laying on my back on a shingle beach not far from Minna's house located on one of the many archipelagos surrounding Helsinki. I wanted to capture the curious log formation you see in the foreground.