My first impression of “Port of the Cross” was to be disappointed in the waterfront. It’s not nearly as developed as other tourist cities. The beaches are volcanic black stone and ash.
I ASSuME it’s because the Atlantic waves are so massive here. Much of the coastline is protective concrete.
Once finding my way around, there are lovely tourist spots, especially in the evening.
Here’s the plaza closest to my hostel.
Sunset.
One highlight is the botanical garden. Almost anything can grow here.
All in all, tourists are happy in Puerto de la Cruz. Mostly Europeans. I didn’t meet even one Canadian or American in a week on Tenerife. It could be they are in all inclusive resorts.
Atypicap Capsule Hostel is the first capsule establishment in the Canary Islands.
I’ve stayed in a few airport Capsule hotels — but this is the best hostel version I’ve ever seen. ALL hostels should offer these capsules. Singles and doubles.
Cost for my single in 2022 was $26.15 / night (25.24 EU).
Shared leisure areas, kitchen, bathrooms for individual use, and a Chill-Out Terrace on the roof with bar service.
Electronic door-opening and closing with card. Lockers.
Equipped with USB connections and Bluetooth, air ventilation, 26-inch screen with headphone connection where you can download the multimedia content on your device (mobile, tablet or laptop), wifi, a 15x12x12 cm safe, adjustable led lights for reading, luminous alarm clock, vanity mirror, digital thermometer, power outlet, cloth hangers, smoke detector, and ‘do not disturb’ option.
Of many exhibitions and museums I visited in the hometown of the Beatles, best for me was British Music Experience.
Born 1957, it was like walking through a timeline of my life:
Beatles ➙ Petula Clark ➙ Stones ➙ Kinks ➙ The Who ➙ Pink Floyd ➙ Led Zeppelin ➙ Queen ➙ The Police ➙ UB40 ➙ The Clash ➙ The Smiths ➙ Arctic Monkeys ➙ Coldplay ➙ Amy Winehouse ➙ Adele ➙ Ed Sheeran… to name a few artists who had great influence on me.
Scouse is also a general term for this pan-ethnic community or Liverpudlians in general. The accent is named after scouse, a stew eaten by sailors and locals. …
You can’t be called a “scouser” unless you eat this stew — every day, I assume. 😀
Lunya restaurant was recommended. Their version has a Catalan twist.
The first thing I saw was this tribute to the wounded of WW I.
War is Hell.
Manchester acquired the nickname Cottonopolis during the early 19th century owing to a massive number of textile factories.
The Science and Industry Museum does a terrific job explaining the city legacy.
John Rylands (7 February 1801 – 11 December 1888) was the owner of the largest textile manufacturing concern in the United Kingdom, and Manchester‘s first multi-millionaire.
To move coal and goods, canals were built across the nation. And it was walking those canals that I most enjoyed as a tourist in 2022.
I stayed at a hostel on Potato Wharf where narrowboats are stored and travellers moor. Warren Long and family once parked here for 2 nights in a rented narrowboat.
When pandemic cancelled all my travel and Gymnastics coaching gigs, I took the time to improve my video editing. It’s become my main hobby.
Three phases (so far):
Learning the technology. Experimenting with different cameras. And acce$$ories.
Story. Story. Story.
My personal style.
After posting myFrench Creek tribute, I declared I was GOOD ENOUGH at video editingtechnology for my purposes. I could sit down at a table with a professional video editor and understand 75% of what they were talking about. 😀
Far more difficult is to decide on what story to tell. And to tell it effectively. Many super skillful editors struggle finding their next story.
I threw this short video together quickly as a teaser for my How to Survive theWest Coast Trail videos. But in some weird way, it’s evocative of that wild and challenging hike. It tells the story well
Putting these together is incredibly time consuming.
I kept trying to find ways to improve my efficiency. And that ended up evolving into my personal style of video — as of October 2022, at least. Who knows what’s next? 😀
I posted Valencia, Spain in January 2022. My edits today are all similar. But I’m adding more personal drone footage rather than drone stock video.
What is my style?
Music driven
Landscape, not vertical (portrait)
Cuts are mostly on the beats
Mostly hard cuts
Use transitions sparingly
Use gimmickry sparingly … though I do love speed ramps 😀
Lots of drone footage
Normally no voice over
No ads
Social media pestering only at the end.
Challenging for me is finding the right music for each story.
One of my best edits was Norway Highlights. I credit the song — Odesza Higher Ground — as once I decided on the soundtrack, it was easy to decide where to put each clip. In the example, below, the colours are music blocks to be filled with scenes I decide upon later.
Increasingly I’m picking music first, shooting the video later.
Odesza is my favourite band right now. Very popular for YouTube edits.
I’ve been studying Colour Grading through a course called … Color Grading Academy.
It’s a very complicated process.
Some of the best video editors online send out their final product for Colour experts to finish. An art, not a science.
Things I’ve decided NOT to use:
Tracking
Hue / Saturation curves
… more to be added
P.S.
I posted the Englishman River Falls hike in November 2020 and again in October 2022. I’ve definitely improved.
Click PLAY or watch the Nov 2020 edit on YouTube. I was quite happy with it. But NOW I’m wondering what weird colour grade I was experimenting with at that time. 😀
Only 14 kilometres long, I cycled all the main roadways. Took plenty of detours. Cycled some of the many hiking trails. And still had my tent set up by 6pm same day.
Rick McCharles 