Famous Places in Bad Weather

Part of the fun of travelling around the world these days involves sharing photographs of famous places with everyone back home. Bad weather can ruin those moments, especially if one’s on a tight schedule. Without some photoshop magic or filters, everything appears dull and flat.

However, the renown philosopher Jagger once said, “You can’t always get what you want.” So look on the bright side: no-one can buy a bad weather photograph on a postcard and pass it off as their own.

The following is my collection of photographs of tourist attractions as you have never seen them, with better photographs that I found elsewhere for comparison.

Cape Reinga lighthouse, New Zealand

This was what I was hoping to see after a 3.5-hour drive from Paihia, but it wasn’t to be.

Fantastic Kiwi weather

Bad weather

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Luckily I had two bites of the cherry here.

Good weather

Bad weather

READ MORE: Angkor through an art student’s eyes

Port Arthur, Australia

I was hit by the double whammy of heavy rain and restoration work after a long, wet drive along Tasmania’s east coast.

Poor weather

Really poor weather

Read about road tripping through the Bay of Fires

Lake Tekapo, New Zealand

Turquoise waters and views of the Southern Alps? Forget it if it rains. Luck was on my side on the return trip though.

Gorgeous weather

Awful weather

Frankfurt Römer, Germany

I was hoping for better when I left Frankfurt Airport for a few hours before my flight.

Good weather

Bad weather

The Bund, China

If the wind blows the pollution the wrong way in Shanghai, there goes the view of the skyscrapers.

Good weather

Smoggy weather

The view of Mount Rainier from Columbia Center, USA

Even on a clear day it is not easy to see Mount Rainier from any of Seattle’s landmarks, except early in the morning. Obviously I wasn’t there at the right time.

Exceptionally good weather

Typical weather

Trakai Island Castle, Lithuania

The weather was just plain awful on the day I visited Trakai. The only crumb of comfort I got was from a warm kibine (a lamb pasty) in the old restaurant on the lake shore.

Gorgeous weather

Sh*te weather

Castle Stalker, Scotland

This was where a couple of scenes in ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ was filmed. I think my photograph is truer to its appearance in the movie.

Good weather (for Scotland)

Bad weather

Field Cathedral of the Polish Army, Poland

This time, the storm clouds actually make it a special photograph.

Good weather

 Stormy weather

Read more about things to do in Warsaw

Have you been somewhere famous and did not get the weather you had hoped for? Tell us more below.