Secret Places

Here, for your consideration, are a selection of secret places I've found over the years. Some are pretty little towns, others are thought provoking corners of life's great pattern.

Firstly we have Monpazier in France.  This lovely little Bastide town is well worth a visit, with its characteristic arches and shadows.

Next we have Nicosia in Cyprus. These two pictures were taken just next to the green line, the U.N. administered division where the Turkish invaded north part of the island meets the Greek southern part. You find many reminders of the invasion and the war from forty years ago,  usually deserted and crumbling houses that have not been reclaimed or rebuilt.

The division line runs through the centre of Nicosia and has itself become a strange tourist attraction. I suspect cafe Topsy last traded in 1974. 

Its all rather sad.

Here we find ourselves just next to the Plaza Mayor in Madrid. This was taken before ten in the morning, most of the shops had not opened properly. I can't make out if this guy was still sleeping off last night's excesses, or if he couldn't face the day without his morning coffee...

Now this one is almost impossible to find, on a country road with a panoramic view featured elsewhere. This is the remains of an old hunting lodge on the north Hampshire Downs, not too far from Coombe Gibbet. Apparently it burnt down sometime last century and just the chimney remains, surrounded by nettles.