Happy Sunday! This week, on Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #309, Flights of the Soul is challenging us with the theme of Balconies.

In my neck of the woods, unless you’re in an apartment or a condominium, balconies are a rare thing. I live in the suburb, where pretty much all housing are two stories maximum. The only balconies I can find in my library are those I photographed while traveling abroad.

The photo above is one that I took in Macao, China when I went there in 2018. I was there for a day and it was to take care of a personal matter. Macao was once Portuguese territory and even today, all the road signs are in Portuguese and Traditional Chinese characters, both of which I cannot read nor understand. Thankfully, my aunt was with me.

Though hardly anyone speak Portuguese in Macao these days, quite a bit of its buildings were reminiscent of European architecture and I thought they were quite unique.

I traveled to the UK for the first time in May 2023 and I must say, balconies are quite popular in Europe. There are everywhere.

This is somewhere near Greenwich and as I passed this building, I thought, how lucky are these people getting to live right next to the Thames? I live in a land-locked state surrounded by mountains and I would give anything to live by the water. Who knows? Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it’s not so great living next to the River Thames.

Finally, it was quite difficult for me to find balconies in my Japan photo collection since I don’t usually go around taking photos of apartment buildings. I took this photo while cruising down the Dotonbori in Osaka and this view was right in front of me as we reached the turnaround point.

The balconies in Japan is surprising open, in my opinion, and deep.

When we were in Osaka, we rented an Airbnb. Our unit came with a washer but no dryer. We’re supposed to hang dry our clothes on the balcony. Immediately, I felt fearful that a breeze would swoop my clothes away to a faraway to which they are never to be seen. Maybe the fear stemmed from living in a place that often get 30-40 mile/hour wind sweeping through or perhaps, it stemmed from the fact that I’m used to living in a dry place, not a place with a relative humidity of constantly above 50%.

Let’s just say, my clothes survived the night on the balcony.