The 22nd of January was a cold but sunny and colorful Sunday.
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I drove about fifteen - sixteen kilometers northwest of my hometown, to the small village called Valbandon, and took a walk by the sea there. In this opening photograph, you can see the lovely bridge that functions as a shortcut across Valbandon bay.
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Some maintenance work was going on around the bridge and I followed the action for about five to ten minutes through the lens of my camera. The red outfit of the workers looked great in photographs.
Here you can take a look at the harbor in the bay, while in the following photograph ...
... you can take a look at the same bridge from a different angle. The mess of boats in the foreground gives a different feel to the construction.
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Access to the piers is restricted. You can enter if you have a key and you can have a key if your boat is moored there.
This is the first scene I encountered when I got out of my car after parking it near the waterfront.
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A boat has just been pulled out of the water and was getting ready to be transported someplace else.
Here you can see the terrace of a pretty large restaurant near the piers.
Here you can see the stairs that lead to the slightly elevated terrace.
Here you can take a look at the flag that was swaying on the breeze not far from the restaurant and in the following photograph ...
... you can see the entire building. The restaurant, that is.
Im approaching the neighboring building in this photograph. The most interesting one in that area, in my opinion.
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I mean, is not so much about the building. Or not only about it. I like the trees, especially the palms being so close to the front facade. I don't know why exactly. It looks cool, I guess. Like something I saw on TV as a kid. The nostalgia factor cannot be excluded. In the following photograph ...
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... the balcony is the main protagonist.
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Here you can see the yucca plant on the lawn between that building and the sea.
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All these buildings are part of the tourist resort with a pretty peculiar name and purpose. The place is called "Policijsko Odmaralište Valbandon" which means, more or less "Police Resort Valbandon". It was made for the police force employees. I don't know if is used only by them now, but the name is still there.
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I continued my walk closer to the sea.
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Here you can see two islands on the western horizon.
They are both part of the nearby Briuni archipelago which is also a national park.
Here I zoomed in on the largest island of the archipelago. In the following photograph ...
... I zoomed in even more so you can take a relatively good look at the lighthouse in the place called cape Peneda built in 1877.
Here you can see the old pier on one of the islands. Can't remember which one exactly.
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Here you can see a ruin on Kozada, one of the small islands of the archipelago. During Austro-Hungarian rule, the island was a hydroplane station and a pilot training center.
This stretch of distant coastline doesn't belong to the islands. That's all I can tell you about this shot.
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There was a building not far from me, just across the path from the beach. This detail belongs to that building which I didn't find interesting enough to be photographed in its entirety. The dried-out foliage of some palm or yucca has somehow ended up stuck in this metal thing on the lateral facade.
Meanwhile, the seagulls were resting on the rocks protruding from the sea near the shore ...
... and two mallards, a male & a female, were floating in the shallow inlet.
Here you can see the entire inlet and the pier on one of its ends. In the following photograph ...
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... I zoomed in on the friend who was there with me.
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I like how this tree looked in the morning light. Like an intricate silhouette, for the most part. Only the top was illuminated. That's why I took this photograph.
Some minutes later ...
... I reached the beach bar near the pier.
Here you can see the large parasols in front of it ...
... and empty benches ...
... a fairly long line of empty benches.
When I passed across the covered terrace ...
... and reached the counter ...
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... I found a pink flamingo there. It made me think about the John Waters masterpiece, a movie so dear to my heart.
Seen from the opposite side, lit in a different way, the plastic bird from the Phoenicopteridae family was almost red. The following shot ...
... reveals that two flamingos decided to overwinter in the empty bar.
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... I'm on the terrace again ...
... and I'm ready to leave.
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I continued exploring the desolate resort.
This basketball court with everything in place except the basket looked fairly interesting.
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Here you can take a better look at the building introduced in the background of the previous photograph. It was a hotel once. Now is abandoned. This part of the Police Resort Valbandon isn't in function anymore.
I was near the shore again when this photograph was taken. In the following photograph ...
... among other things, you can also see the trunk of the tree partially hidden by the small building in the previous photograph.
Here you can see some cool shadows cast by the branches of the tree.
In this photograph, a friend who was there with me became a part of the tree. Kind of.
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Here you can take a look at the geometric composition down on the ground.
Plants and tiles created some interesting artwork.
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After leaving this stuff very close to the beach ...
... I walked to the abandoned hotel which isn't far from the sea either.
I like the pattern formed by the doors, windows, balconies, and railings.
Here you can see the neighboring building.
There is a swimming pool inside.
In this photograph, taken through two layers of glass, a man is walking the path that leads along the beaches.
This Sonchus oleraceus plant has become a living part of the architecture.
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At this point, I was getting closer to my car with each new photograph, which means that this post isn't far from its end.
Here you can see writing on the facade of another building closer to the harbor.
I photographed these lamps on the terrace of the restaurant shown near the beginning of the post.
Here you can see the reflection of a red car parked next to my gray Toyota.
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Across the street, in the harbor, two birds, a seagull & a cormorant, were busy taking care of their plumage.
AND THAT'S IT. HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE TOUR. AS ALWAYS IN THESE POSTS HERE ON HIVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY WORK.
