Slovenija | Part Two | Say "no" to gipsy sauce.

So you are like: "What the hell is the 'J' doing in Slovenija?" And I am like: "That's totally how the locals spell it and I am kind of trying to think/act like I am a local because this place is BLOWING MY MIND and I may not want to leave - now, considering it is now the 29th of January one would be safe to assume that never became a reality.

After a couple of days in Bled, drooling all over my camera, the Volvo was starting to winge that its gut full of anti freeze was not getting the required amount of stirring necessary to sustain safe day to day driving and hence it needed to be driven. It was the only excuse needed to find a road that headed east out of town and enjoy all that the country side had to offer.

There will never be a day like that expressed in the first Slovenian post (the whole restaurant meal scenario) however, before I left Melbourne I dreamt (that might not be a word) of shooting in fog, with grey skies, up to my knees in snow with the ground/trees/etc, all covered in white and trust Slovenia - the capital of the EU as far as I am concerned - to deliver the dream.

OK, enough verbal diorrhea about this place, you get the idea, it's superb. I will though just say this: There is this pizza place, right near that design sort of shop, above the sex palace, up the road from that place where the 'Vanilla Cream, Custard Cream Cake' (yeah it's real) is not as great as the one from 'Panorama' down the road, but I digress. The pizza shop, if you happen to order the Super Supreme, unless you have a mouth lined in silicone and a stomach strong enough to hold a stray H Bomb, do not, sorry I mean, DO NOT eat the Gipsy Sauce (not Gypsy). Get fucked it was hot. I stupidly took a mouth full of the stuff straight up and I saw colours I never knew existed and felt pain equivalent to that of birthing a large child. You have been warned.

Oh, and here are some photos of white! Xo
























Nick Found

Slovenija | Part One | The route contains charge area.

As you may (or may not) have noticed this post is titled by name of country, not city. This is because I was not set in a specific place for a week or two as in the previous posts. From Hungary the best way to Slovenia was by car (Volvo it seems), this meant getting out of the conformity of a city and into the freedom of the country side was super easy and, that is exactly what happened!

The first stop (and base camp) was Lake Bled in the North West of the country. I first visited here in the summer of 2006 (staying with Jani in his house of Jazz, a truly brilliant Hostel!) and fell instantly in love with the place. I had never seen a town like it before, so clean, fresh and a natural landscape that left your jaw firmly stuck to the ground.

I was so excited to come back. They say that if you dine out and have a dish that makes you spasm with joy, not to eat the same meal at the same place again as it will never be the same. I was worried about this with returning Bled, however, the weather played nice and holy shit, I am so glad I went back to eat there again.

Please enjoy these few shots as much as I enjoyed taking them. There are 100's more in the archive which I will look back on in the future as "that time in Bled when the planets aligned".























Nick Found

Budapest | Part Two | New Years Eve on a boat...

New Years Eve. It was nearly a month ago, however, it will be a night not soon to be forgotten. Spending the night on a boat on the Danube with a 6 course meal and show should have been the warning, but we went anyway.

The first sign then should have been that the boat was too old to actually leave the dock, the next should have been the very politically correct dance troop moving very badly to a guy singing Abba. At this point, the petrol tasting sparkling wine, the 6 courses of terrible food, the petrol tasting red wine and the guy who threw bottles all became part of a night I will remember forever.

I can not stress enough how much this should not be experienced by anyone. As much as I enjoy retelling the story to people, the days after hurt. On a positive note though, Budapest continued to amaze me. Even though it was so cold that the metal components in both my camera body and lens contracted so much that the camera became unusable it did prompt me to find a rather nice beer hall where the Goulash consumed was that fit for a king!

I am now sick of typing and you are now sick of reading. Please enjoy the shots.





















Nick Found

Budapest | Part One | A lap full of hot tea.

From Prague, getting to Budapest was best achieved by train, this was painful for two reasons.
1) Being stuck in a glass box, moving past some of the most brilliant photo opportunities I have come across at something like 150km/h with no option to leave the locomotive for the entire journey.
2) Having a scolding hot, perfectly steeped, fresh cup of tea spilt onto my delicate genitalia (lap) (by a man who will remain nameless), ruining a good jumper, shirt and warm under top thing, thus forcing me to do a full costume change in the WC (toilet) that you could neither stand up nor sit down in it was that small, all the while wondering if the pain I was experiencing would ever end.

Now Budapest. This city is truly beautiful. Everyone who I had spoken to about Hungary and Budapest told me how quiet it was, how very few tourists there were and how great all the baths are! I can happily say it was quiet with very few tourists, however, one thing I was not expecting is the city itself is huge. Far bigger than I had imagined with both Buda and Pest requiring much more time to get to know. This is a place I will defiantly return to in the near future.

I loved shooting here, there were some great opportunities for some super long night exposures which will feature in this up date as well as Part Two in a few days.

Enjoy!





















Nick Found

Prague | Part Two | Tropical 3000.

Here is a little more from the Czech Republic.

Apparently this is the quiet time of year to visit, however, the sub zero temperatures did not at all stop the masses gathering in Prague for an Eastern European white Christmas! Admittedly, I am one of them so I guess it is hard to complain.

Remember to hit up Facebook to keep yourself up to date with all the posts, locations and eventually some stories behind the shots that are posted!























Nick Found