Journal

“Blogging is like work, but without coworkers thwarting you at every turn.”

— Scott Adams

Creating and maintaining a photography site—even a personal one—is surprisingly a lot of work. Things never seem to fit the page the way you want them to. You constantly find yourself rearranging text and images randomly until something "clicks," and you achieve that look you didn't know you wanted.

Igor Os 9/26/17 Igor Os 9/26/17

Paris, Fall 2017

After my business trip to London, I decided to take a couple of weeks off to visit Paris.

After my business trip to London, I decided to take a couple of weeks off to visit Paris.

The city struck me as being almost opposite to London in many regards. The public transportation system appears chaotic and nearly unusable. My one attempt to navigate the Parisian subway ended in Boulogne-Billancourt - a beautiful and wealthy suburb nowhere near my intended destination. After that, I Ubered throughout.

Excellent restaurants and bars everywhere. Even small convenience shops have a selection of my favorite Belgian ales that would rival the best bars in London.

Just like in London, the locals exhibit apparent symptoms of tourist fatigue. But contrary to popular belief, I found Parisians polite and helpful, even if a touch forceful. To me, they seemed more engaging and authentic than Londoners.

Even with all the Uber riding, there was a lot of walking. London tourist attractions seem closer to each other. In Paris, you have to walk as much of everything worth seeing is stretched along the Seine and is built on a grand scale.

The weather was much better. My Airbnb apartment on Rue Sainte-Félicite was charming and conveniently situated.

Igor Os 9/17/17 Igor Os 9/17/17

London, Fall 2017

A few photos I took during my business trip to London in 2017.

A few photos I took during my business trip to London in 2017.

Lots of bars and restaurants, but pricey and few are good. Good beer is hard to find. It took me three days to find a pub that served a decent selection of Belgian ales. I would park myself there every evening.

Public transportation is very convenient. Use subway whenever possible as traffic is epic. In touristy areas, get off the subway a stop before or after your destination to save yourself much pushing and shoving. Otherwise, the stops are so close you will barely notice the extra walk.

There are many things to photograph, but dreary weather and featureless sky make for humdrum shots and require patience or creative post-processing. Locals are generally polite and helpful, but one can spot hints of tourist fatigue unsurprisingly.