Winter is hard to kiters. It’s cold. And it’s wet. And the sun disappears at 4 PM. India comes to help, and we spend a sizeable chunk of the darkest month, January, in hot and sunny Gujarat (and other fantastic places). But winter means waiting. Waiting for the sun, for the first yellow flowers, for … Read more
A hill – a defensive position par excellence. A fierce wind. A grove of hungry trees. Who in their right mind would go to fly a kite from a steep hill deep inside a valley, where the winds are blowing from all directions all at once? Well, we did. Because there is a church on … Read more
This is written, at list partially, in response to a question Paul Burton posted in a kite aerial photography group: “(…) taking pictures on auto seems ok in bright light but a little less good in dull cloudy situations. Can anyone recommend some settings for better pictures in the low light, many thanks …” There … Read more
The weather forecast was perfect. The wind direction was perfect, leading the kite directly over a remote and elusive target. The wind forecast was beyond perfect – so much we packed the Royal 69 sled, as there were threats of gusts over 60 km/h. But alas, the meteorologists screwed us yet again. The wind never … Read more
So – were you as good this year as our kites were? Then surely Santa (or Grandpa Frost, or whatever chthonic creature of the night that judges you) will be delighted with you and shower you with amazing presents! Because this year our kites really went above and beyond their usual. Eleven kite festivals visited. … Read more
“Then the mountains rise again, in the country of the Iapodes, and are called Albian. In like manner, also, there is a pass which leads over Ocra from Tergeste, a Carnic village, to a marsh called Lougeon. Near Nauportus there is a river, the Corcoras, which receives the cargoes. Now this river empties into the … Read more
Urban kite aerial photography is hard (except for István, but he’s different), and while we’ve tried to lift our kite within Ljubljana proper a lot of times, we can claim only one partial success (besides, flying in the open Tivoli park doesn’t really count as urban KAP). A city just isn’t made for serious kite … Read more
Sometimes it’s frustrating. The days are shorter and there are few hours of light. The good (suitable, never mind ‘good’) KAP targets are scarce and far from home. The weather is bleak and wet and cold. So we tend to fall back to our, shall we say, ‘regular’ places, where we can be sure that … Read more
Castles are epitomes of History. They are almost eternal, defying the ravages of centuries, standing tall and seemingly timeless. Seemingly. For castles are ephemeral. Fleeting. More like a dandelion puffball than a slab of granite. This is the story of two of them. One a castle proper, a Medieval fortress; the other an exquisite manor, … Read more
“È Hong Kong!”– the Mayor of Urbino So … in Part One of our sidekicks story we told you all about the international kite festival at Parco de Cesane above Urbino the Renaissance wonder, and promised you a bunch of interesting stories behind one of the most unique kite festivals in the world: Festa dell’Aquilone. … Read more