Sunday, February 27, 2011

The Window

This window was an interesting view into Gent, Belgium.





Saturday, February 26, 2011

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

New England Barn

This old barn we came across in New England. It just called for HDR-Photography. We saw the building from all sides but we did not go inside because there were signs not to do so and it did not look safe, either.

Diese Scheune haben wir in Neu England gefunden und sie schrie geradezu nach HDR-Aufnahmen. Wir haben das Gebäude von allen Seiten betrachtet, aber wir sind nicht reingegangen, weil es verboten war und wirklich nicht sicher aussah.




Sunday, February 20, 2011

Colors from Sweden

My pictures from Sweden are very diverse, I think. Here are a few to start with.


These pictures are all very different views of the  same bridge from the same side. I did not believe that that was even possible.

It is the Malmö Bridge, conntecting Sweden and Denmark.












Thursday, February 17, 2011

Photo Documentation: Maple Syrup - Part 1

In New Hampshire - as in other New England states - you find the home of maple syrup.




The trees are tapped before spring comes around.



When the sap starts moving up in the trees, the taps transport parts of it to the collection tanks. 



In former days - and in some places still - the sap is colleted in buckets that hang on the tree, right at the tap. But collecting these buckets is a lot of work.

collection buckets for sugar maple sap



From there it is brought into the sugar house. Sugar houses are easy to spot because of the big venting roof.







In the sugar house you find a big boiling pan in which the sap is cooked down until it goes from liquid and slightly sweet to creamy and sugary and can be filled into containers.


inside the sugar house




to be continued...

Fortsetzung folgt...








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New Hampshire impressions

New England, especially New Hampshire, we visit a lot. Here are some impressions of the scenery.


Wir besuchen häufig Neu England, besonders New Hampshire. Hier sind ein paar Impressionen und Eindrücke.


Barn, New Hampshire, 2007








Covered Bridge, West Swanzey, New Hampshire, 2010


Covered Bridge, Swanzey, New Hampshire, 2010


a foggy morning in the spring 2004



the same foggy morning in the spring 2004


New Hampshire finds



Covered Bridge, Winchester, New Hampshire, 2010


Cape Cod, 2004

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

New York City impressions

Pictures of New York City everybody has seen before. But is that a reason to skip mine here?


Bilder von New York City hat jeder schon mal gesehen. Aber deshalb muss ich ja meine nicht überspringen, oder?










Central Park






me in Battery Park, 2004




Rockefeller Center, 2003









Central Park, 2004





Radio City Music Hall, 2004





















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Sunday, February 13, 2011

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is in Southern Germany, in Bavaria. The city wall can be walked all the way around and the old architecture creates a nice atmosphere.


Diese Bilder sind aus Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Bayern. Man kann auf der Stadtmauer ganz um die Stadt laufen und die alte Architektur hat eine gute Stimmung.











































Saturday, February 12, 2011

Languages when you travel

I always loved languages. Maybe that is why I love to travel? Or the other way around?

Akureyri, Iceland, 2008


Anyways: Going to Iceland put me to the task of knowing something about Icelandic. Well, I do not say to know Icelandic but at least to know something about it.

Icelanders are great about languages. We hardly met anyone who did not speak several languages. Mostly English is a given and spoken very well. German is not unfrequent. The other Scandinavian languages are common, as well - but do not help us very much, honestly. Other languages did sound here and there. But that does not put me any closer to Icelandic, does it?

Spiekeroog, Germany

I did venture into learning some basic lingual background. The spelling and pronounciation alone keeps me involved. Some vocabulary is drifting through my mind. But honestly: I never got far. It really is difficult and I really do lack the time.
But with another journey coming up I have looked around again where to get some input. At least enough to be able to decifer a bit more every time I read, see or hear something. It also makes it easier to remember place names or spell them later (but I am not perfect, don't think it is all correct here!)

Now that I want to brush up again and add to my repertoire I came across livemocha. I just found it the other day. And it seems great.

Malmö, Sweden, 2010

They have a wide selection of languages to learn and they are for free, for the basic and advanced classes that seems to be. Premium accounts are offered for money and so on. But for my little brushing up and rising in confidence the free version is just enough or maybe too much.

Reykjavík

Here you find the sight with all those yummy languages... I am really tempted to try not only one... at least for some sign of interest.... oh, well... life is too short... but I always wanted to learn Spanish, really. And maybe...

Here is the sight:

Livemocha

St Peter, Germany

Photo Documentation: When the Atlantic froze - Part 2

I started the documentation of how I saw the Atlantic freeze here. Now this is Part 2.


Ich habe hier die Dokumenation begonnen, wie der Atlantik zugefroren ist. Hier ist jetzt Teil 2.






When we got to the beach out on a peninsula, getting out of the car was painful because of the temperatures of minus 32 Celsius and the wind blowing there.






Als wir am Strand auf einer Halbinsel ankamen, war es schmerzhaft, aus dem Auto auszusteigen, weil es neben den Temperaturen von minus 32 Grad Celsius auch noch windig war.






The water at the coast line was warmer than that chilly air. That made the ocean steam. Something I had not expected in this cold.


Das Wasser vor der Küste war wärmer als die kalte Luft. Dadurch dampfte es. Das hatte ich wirklich nicht erwartet.


When we drove around we stood along side several water runs that end in the Atlantic and that were frozen over. Since the tides affected the water level in these water runs, the ice was falling everywhere and the cracking sound was driving us nuts. It went right to the bone.

Als wir durch die Gegend fuhren, kamen wir an einigen Wasserläufen vorbei, die jeweils im Atlantik enden. Weil die Gezeiten auch den Wasserstand dieser Bäche beeinflusst, brach das Eis überall in sich zusammen, als die Flut auslief. Das Krachen des Eises ging durch und durch.



The ice had a strange consitency between cracking and hard and soft and bendy. I assume that is because of the salt water.




Das Eis hatte eine seltsame Konsitenz zwischen knackend und hart und biegsam und weich. Ich glaube, das lag am Salzwasser.












so cold