Global Sojourns Photography
Photography & Philosophy
Old World Déjà vu
It was a strange day I remember, exploring Budapest for the first time with a sensation I had walked these streets before, every corner a story to be told. Each step filled with fascination, time of no concern as evening tumbled from dusk into the magical darkness of night. Pulled forward by destiny into my past.
She was there, a flash of a smile wrapped up in the Old World like a well-worn shawl.
An artistic light gathered around her, fusing the old with new, highlighting the intricacies of the human spirit. Not yet love, only a tickle of possibility. The depths of the night offered us the chance to roam new lands, to dance with the tide and imagine our next adventure.
The start of the day blends with the end of the night, leaving the unanswered question of where we belong. Amid all the laughter, a melancholy undercurrent swirled beneath, leading to the inevitable conclusion.
The exit. A measured trace of emotion is revealed but little else. With no sense of belonging, we vanish into each other’s arms like the whispering winds of the past.
Where will you go when morning arrives? Did we truly exist or were we just a dream, lost in this endless slumber of life?
The music of the world refuses to fade, a reminder of the hope tomorrow brings. The pull of destiny continues. With a smile, I close my eyes and dream of the New World.
Side Note: Along with travel to Budapest (and Europe), two pieces of music helped inspire this post: Karl Jenkins – Bards of Wales (based on János Arany ballad of the same name). Hungarian history is fascinating, a great feeling of the Old World. The other is my favorite piece by Antonín Dvořák, his New World Symphony.
Nothing is quite as mysterious as where we came from or where we are going ~ reconciling the Old and New World.
Global Sojourns Photography 
Nice photos and story 🙂
Thank you Rosa ~
Beautiful!
Thank you much Jason ~
Beautiful and very moving post… great gallery, as per usual, dear Dalo!… love & best wishes. Aquileana 🙂
Thank you Aquileana ~ Budapest was a very beautiful and moving city 😊
Reblogged this on Sue Vincent – Daily Echo.
Thank you very much Sue ~
My pleasure, Randall. Gorgeous photos as always.
Breath-taking photos as always, Randall. 😊
Thank you Kev ~
Lovely photos and words
Thank you very much ~
This is such a magical post both in words and photos. Where will we go indeed. Go where the wind blows me, I say. Hello, Randall. Can’t seem to keep up with blogging lately.
Go to where the wind takes you…I like that sentiment very much, and agree with it as there is freedom with such movement. Wish you a great week ahead 🙂
Whimsically told. Loved it!
Glad you enjoyed it Steve, thank you!
Très belles photo!
Thank you very much ~
I have felt this magical and surreal feeling – in the presence of another person, as well as while being surrounded by the aura of a location that cannot be described with any tangible terms. There are tiny whispers, Randall, in the space between your finely crafted words and between the pixels of your exquisitely beautiful photographs that captures that intangible feeling in a captivating and alluring way. Thank you for allowing me to feel that peaceful intensity once again, and to remind me to never stop recognizing it in the world around us.
Thank you Dave, there is always something special about a place that makes the mind dive into the world around. And if words and photos can capture just a piece of it, I am happy. Cheers ~
Well done, Randall – as always – amazing tour with you and what an interesting destination!
Prague (home city of Dvorak)is close and also amazing part of Europe…have you been there? Bye and have a good rest of summer. Kamila
Prague is one of my favorite of all European cities, although it has been a few years since I have visited ~ it was one of the best times I’ve had. Fantastic history, people, and place to just absorb life. Will be traveling there next year, and looking very much forward to reacquainting myself to the city. Wish you a great summer Kamila, thank you very much.
I must agree 100% with and I will go there next week…I can recommend you – restaurant Hergetova Cihehlena close the river and in the areal is Kafkaś small museum… 🙂 Bye. K
Very good! Thank you for the restaurant recommendation, I hope to experience it soon 🙂 Safe travels Kamila
Excellent photos.
I especially like the last one…
…you must have waited for hours to catch a mountain goat enjoying the scene.
Thanks Rabirius ~ I was up on the summit for a several+ hours following (or trying to follow) those mountain goats around. They were fascinating to watch, and concluded one of the best hikes I’ve ever done.
Yes, I can imagine. It must have been amazing.
This is a beautiful setting for a very special and lyrical post, Randall. Summer and love is in the air: 🙂
Budapest ist a very special place and so is Prague. One winter I visited Budapest in January, Prague in February and Vienna in March. I love them all. All three cities have so much in common and take us to the Old World and all three looked majestic in snow with so many warm welcoming retreats and special cultural places. Have you been to Vienna?
We wish you a wonderful August in Seattle with lots of blank a papers in front of you.
Best wishes across the pond from Norfolk where autumn is already knocking on the door,
Dina, Klausbernd, Siri & Selma x
Budapest was a perfect setting, and there is a trifecta of cities that bring this magic to me: Prague, Vienna and now Budapest. In my response to Kamila above, I had wanted to include Vienna in my response as I had visited there once in January and its music, people, and history hit me as it had in Prague. I absolutely can feel your love for these three places ~ they open up a different world for me. Thank you very much, and wish you all a great finish of summer (I hope it hangs on a bit longer for you) ~ cheers!
From the values of yesterdays.. To the unknown of tomorrows..
Deep. And vast. As always. 🍸
Thank you very much ~ a great thought ~ cheers to a great week ahead.
Those are gorgeous shots! Thanks for sharing them with us! 🙂
Thank you Jason ~
Just beautiful all the way around.
Thank you Angeline ~ wish you a great day.
beautiful pictures…
Thank you Arnab
There’s somethung incredibly satisfying about pondering those unanswered questions of where we belong. What a beautiful place to visit. I adore how our bodies react when our souls finally reveal what needs nourishing. It’s experiencing the ah-ha moment whether alone or with the one you love that is the gift in my opinion. It is then we know where we’re going. Thank you for this, Sir.
Agree fully Audrey, there is always the questioning and wondering of the answers that keep us moving 🙂 Sometimes not too sure where I am going, but after I arrive I think it to be the perfect place. Cheers to the great summer days ahead.
Lovely, fresh and pure~ sounds like a dream I’d love to wake up to. Just as magical as always.
I like the way you put it ~ a magical dream ~ not a bad goal at all 🙂
The history between Hungary and Romania is very exciting! It is hard to find in Europe a greater rivalry! Historical characters battle is won by Romania; Dracula (Vlad Tepes) is more popular than Attila! But Budapest is more beautiful than Bucharest! 😀
Yes, a great rivalry indeed ~ Attila versus Dracula, that would make for a great movie 🙂 I hope to see Bucharest one day so I could make the comparison of the two great cities…
Bucharest is not a tourist city! Budapest is much more spectacular! Communist era was much tougher in Romania. Bucharest who once was called “Little Paris”, has suffered. Old Town with its history, was demolished and rebuilt in communist style. We have lost history and architecture, but we still have great bars and clubs! 😀
The “New World Symphony” always makes me feel like I should be heading out alone to explore undiscovered expanses of forest land as does your photo of the harbor entrance. 🙂
Exactly ~ there is something about this piece of music that invigorates my soul into wanting to explore and get out and feel the world around me 🙂 The same with seeing a harbor or potential trail in the woods ~ wish you a great finish to this great summer season.
beautiful images…i love them…especially the last photograph…wonderful to see your work Randall ~ smiles Hedy
Thank you Hedy, as you know, there is something magical in capturing an image the way you wish to see it ~
For sure making our own meaning…
Hey Randall – congrats on being featured on Discover. Your work is getting some well-deserved attention!
Thanks Tina ~ a nice surprise, and one of my favorite portraits as well.
A beautiful love story conveyed in words and photos. I agree with you, understand where we come from and reconciling old and new is essential to understanding ourselves. Gorgeous photos as always, Randall.
It seems the older we get, the more we wish to reconcile the past with the present ~ one of the more enjoyable (even if difficult) parts of life for me. Thanks Otto, wish you safe travels.
Hi Randall, there’s a poem of mine that I’m planning to post called “Learning To Love Hong Kong” and I’d like to use one of your photos of Aberdeen Village as my feature image. I have given credit to you and provided a link for your blog on that post, but I won’t post it unless you have given me consent to use your photography. If it’s not ok I can go search for other pieces of art as well, please let me know.
Hi Carren, great to hear from you and it would be fantastic for you to use my photo along with your post… 🙂 Wish you a great day.
Thank you! That’s lovely. Wish you a great day too 🙂
Oh, Randy…. Your eclectic way of bleding concepts, places, ideas…. Where do you find all this inspiration? 🙂
Thank you Luana ~ it seems every city has a story to tell so the challenge is for me to get out and find out just what specific story it has for me 🙂 Cheers to another great summer’s day for you!
Stunning photos as usual, R. And what a beautiful woman who materialized. Eh hem. The Bards is certainly grand; the chorus is beautiful.
Thank you D., funny I did not even notice the beautiful woman in the photo until you just mentioned it 🙂
Wishing you a great, smooth, and happy finish to the summer ~ take some time to relax, go with the flow and enjoy.
LOL. Riiight…the one who was posing. For you. You devil. English is my second language. I need to look up the meaning of “relax”.
🙂 You know me well ~ And let me see if I can help you: 휴식
Try it, you may actually like it 🙂
ROAR…..OMG. I am beyond impressed. Lo LLLL. *applause*
😂😂😂
Ok, Ok!! Tell me about the girl!! Ahh, a beautiful lyrical post…just the sort of thing I am inevitably drawn towards. Nice when people are able to see the magic. It can be so hard sometimes to do that.
Thank you Judy ~ yes, Budapest did not disappoint, the history of the streets, building and culture creates a feeling that anything is possible, even magic 🙂
Beautiful photos. Budapest is truly a beautiful city full of history.
I came to Budapest with high expectations, and found the city was even more special than I imagined. Thank you Z.,
Happy Day 🙂
Yes indeed Simona ~
You can never go back, but you can always remember. Great post.
Thank you. Nothing quite like memories and the dreams of what lies ahead.
Amazing photos as always.
Thank you ~
Randall as always your imagery captures my imagination. I have to say that last image on the mountain top is simply divine. Lifts the spirit thank you for sharing these beautiful photos of places I may never get to see in this life time.
Thank you Kath, I too like the last image ~ just visited this area again last week, and not a better feeling than looking out over such a beautiful scene.
The images are sheer poetry.Could you please tell something about the last image ?
Thank you, Sidran. The last image was taken atop of Mt. Ellinor in the Olympic National Forest where I had planned to shoot the sunset. A family of mountain goats joined in and made it one of the best hikes I’ve done. The sun is beginning to set over the Pacific https://dalocollis.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/mt-ellinor-and-skokomish-mountain-goats-3.jpg
A perfect day for me ~
Could’t agree more.Magical day indeed.
Wonderful images and this line was my favorite: “With a smile, I close my eyes and dream of the New World.” 🙂
Thank you, Christy. It is alway a good feeling when a day can make me feel this way 🙂 Nothing like dreaming of the New World and its possibilities ~ wish you a great week ahead.
You weave a mesmerizing dreamscape, seemingly caught between the personal and the mythic. It reminds me of a personal story that began many years ago, during an air traffic controllers’ strike that caught me in the southeastern US, needing to get back to New York. I ended up, like many others, on a train. It was a long ride! Overnight, through the Virginia mountains and misty hills, a seatmate and I connected deeply, talking into dawn, and through the exhausted arrival in NYC. It was achingly romantic and we eventually parted, but not after spending another night…I think we were in touch only once after that; he was somewhere far away, I think studying in Europe though the memories fades. Somehow that all came back on reading your post, so thanks. (Oh, that spectacular last photo – how on earth did that happen? You must have been so thankful).
The one great thing I believe life offers us is the ability to weave between reality and the mythical world where dreams lie. There can be some great people to meet when visiting this New World. At some point, it all comes together 🙂 The last photo is from a hike I did in early February in the Olympic Mtns. when snowpack was very low, and with sunrise arriving spent time running around with a family of mountain goats that stopped by…perfect timing.
Interesting thought about weaving between reality and the mythical. And so impressive that you got up there before dawn! That WAS perfect timing!
excellent post, as usually, Monsieur Dalo… 🙂 been to Budapest twice: it’s an amazing city – even though next-door Prague is my favourite one… 😉
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my very best, good luck in all your endeavours and have a super-week! cheers! 🙂
Mademoiselle Melanie, thank you very much ~ yes, Budapest and Prague are two cities that seem to hold a piece of the past & present. I’d love to spend more time in both cities. Wishing you a great week ahead.
Stunning images with lots wisdom to each of them 🙂 Wish the New World will be even better 🙂
For me, there are still so many dreams to chase and realize in the New World ~ thank you Indah, and wish you a great end to the summer.
As always a brilliant article and photographs ! Some cities exert a special charm, inspire us. Budapest was always (in the past) on my route when I traveled to Thassos. It’s very great how intense you dive into the adventure of the world, thank you for that.
The way you describe “how intense you dive into the adventure of the world” is a great compliment, and inspiration to continue to do so. A friend of mine this past weekend talked about how ‘time is short, do not stop” and I think this is very good advice when waking up every day ~ dive into any adventure along the way (even if it is a small one such as making a good cup of coffee!). You also describe Budapest very well, it is a city that exerts a special charm, something different than other cities. Thank you again, and I wish you a great week ahead.
Wow, Randall. Your words paint a beautiful picture. I love the photo of the really purple sky below the sun. And how majestic the goat (?) on top of the mountain, almost above the treeline.
Thank you very much Randy (great name…), the sunrise/sunsets around the world can be very magical. I’m always surprised by the wide range of colors and hues natures can give us day-to-day. It is a mountain goat on top of Mt. Ellinor in the Olympic National Forest, I was quite surprised to see it posing so perfectly. Cheers to a great beginning of autumn for you.
Lovely post, Randall, words and pictures. 🙂 — Suzanne
Thank you Suzanne, wish you a great autumn ahead.
I plan to reblog your post in my blog https://hellocreativestimes.com. Since you have enabled reblogging on your post, I am assuming that you are allowing others to reblog this post. However, if you have any objection to reblogging your post, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you.
🙂
This would be fine, thank you for the reblog and look forward to visiting.
Thanks for giving me permission. 🙂
Reblogged this on Hello Creatives Times and commented:
Thanks you have a beautiful blog. 🙂
Thank you very much babl ~
Soul touching…
Thank you very much ~
Excellent post! May I ask what your favorite country and city was in your travels?
Thank you Winta. In Asia, I think my favorite country would be Myanmar ~ incredible people and culture…then I think I can say that about almost every country (Vietnam, Thailand) and then there is the Philippines, happiness everywhere. Currently, a bit infatuated with Hungary 🙂 Budapest is amazing. What about you?
Oh wow, both are beautiful places. I’ve heard great things about Budapest. I love Philippines (my birth country) and Vietnam (my motherland). But those may be biased. Currently, my favorite would have to be Guatemala (the activities in nature are endless here) or South Korea (fantastic culture, atmosphere, food, people).
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Dalo, another masterpiece… again a deeply resonating post. Enchanting photos, the spirit of (fleeting?) romance superbly captured with all those hues of different emotions…and notions of what could be….intermingled with hope and melancholy, as you describe it here so aptly…and I could not agree more with your conclusion “Nothing is quite as mysterious as where we came from, or where we are going”… I´ve loved looking for answers into these questions since I was a teenager..I love exploring unchartered territory of which the mind claims it can´t be chartered… Thanks for this! Your posts awaken a sense of aliveness and vibrancy within every time I read them! Que artista eres. Take care, and enjoy your weekend! Abrazos:)