Woolworth and Frankfurt

IMGP0475, originally uploaded by bostonaday.

I'll use this picture to get all my gripes, complaints and excuses out. Ok...I doubt this is the last excuse you'll hear for this batch of photos, but at least you won't hear the whole story again and again.

So I spent two days each in London and Frankfurt last week, and the weather was awful the entire time. That's not too far out of the ordinary for late winter in either location, but it still felt like bad luck.

Mostly it felt that way because there would be spectacular glimpses of sunlight in the middle of the day when I was busy with work. Also, work went past sundown about half the time anyway, so it would have been tough finding the time to take pictures even if the weather had been perfect. In fact, I'd probably be even more grumpy if the weather had been good because then it would have been work getting in the way.

The one day I was really able to get out and just think about taking pictures was the morning before my flight home. I got up and dressed at 5:30am so I could get into the city and then back to my hotel before 8:30 when I had to leave for the airport. I figured I'd have about an hour of daylight for shooting before I had to head home. My first step out the door of the hotel I noticed that it was darker than normal. Probably because it was raining steadily. Still I ventured out. This was the last shot of the morning, and you'll notice the other shots are noticeably darker (and blurrier).

This building was right next door to my hotel. I could see it from my room, but only from the side. From the front you can really start to see the International/Bauhaus style...and of course the big Woolworth sign. It tickled me so I stopped traffic two or three times to get this picture (I was in a rather wide median at a cross walk, but German drivers were so cautious they would stop on the off chance that I might suddenly dart into the street).