Some weeks ago, I purchased a Vespa 300CC touring model. The plan was to discover new places with it and especially capture it in photos. My wife and I planned to drive to the city of Lier in Belgium. It has some very nostalgic buildings, and we wanted to take some photos of these beautiful monuments.
The sun was on our side, so we couldn’t do anything else than smiling the whole ride there. I didn’t take the shortest road as I wanted to enjoy our bike ride and the freedom to ride on two wheels. A 40 km brought us into the center of Lier.
Lier is not Brugge, but there are some very charismatic and historical buildings that deserve some attention. Some pictures show the town hall of Lier. When I took the pictures, there was a wedding ceremony going on. It is always lovely to see two people in total happiness.
I like street photography a lot. I never thought about this, as I spend years of my photography life in the world championships of sports. But it is just nice to take pictures of people how there are when there is no acting or posing involved. Some examples of these kinds of photographs are in the pictures below. I shot them in the pub district, and it really brings out authentic city life.
After the lock-down we had, people are just happy to spend some time on the terrace and enjoy a nice beer with a fresh newspaper, like the man in the photo above. Others take a coffee during these hours of the day, but who cares. At least he kept smiling when the clouds came creeping in.
Our ride home would be my last Italian Vespa experience. As you may know, I am still struggling with my complex broken ankle from a year ago, and on the road, it hurt a lot when I drove the Vespa. I promised myself not to take any risks with this lovely bike and would obtain a safer Italian motorcycle in the future. Stay tuned, so you can find out where my path is going.
