Category Archives: Travels

Hamburg February 2024

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Arrived in relatively heavy rain so spent the afternoon in Deichtorhallen. One exhibition of works by Claudia Andujar, and one absolutely magnificent exhibition called Dix and the Present. I was thrilled to see an Anselm Kiefer there. Always awesome.

Cindy Sherman’s Anti-Fashion had also reached Hamburg on what seems to be a European Tour, but I had already seen that in Stuttgart. (Not a fan of Cindy Sherman but I have to admit that she is a great make-up and costume artist).

10 February walkabout in misty weather, starting with a definite maritime flair, and ending in a park with a skating rink.

11 February AM NABU Birdwatching walk: Gefiederte Wintergäste und Durchzügler am Öjendorfer See.

Still misty, and the walk did not really seem to be going anywhere, so I did my own thing for a while before returning. Quite a nice area. Saw many birds but did not really manage any good photos. Just one of Mr Bigfoot here:

11 February PM wine fair “Weinfrühling Hamburg” in Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. Supposedly. But I stayed for less than a minute. They had let in far too many people, and people were still arriving. Impossible to move, impossible to hear anything (I was supposed to meet up with a handful of people from InterNations Hamburg), and impossible to breathe – no air, and a temperature of about 30 C. A complete nightmare.

12 February Hagenbeck Tierpark and that abominable sculpture still outside.

A big zoo with NOTHING to eat or drink, not even a coffee slot machine.

Caspar David Friedrich at Hamburger Kunsthalle, pre-booked ticket for Tuesday, 13 February 10.00-13.00 hrs. Possibly with a small group of people from InterNations Hamburg. It gets good reviews, for example this one.

Unfortunately, here too, ticket sales count more than comfort, and it was much too crowded and the rooms were small. I felt like a sardine in a tin, and almost panicked. Also, a true superspreader of course. I had to elbow my way out and only saw a few paintings in passing, and only because I am taller than a lot of other people. I did wonder whether I was still suffering from post-Corona “stay-away-from-me” syndrome, but I have since read many newspaper articles criticising the Kunsthalle for letting in far too many people at a time, and that many, like me, gave up seeing the exhibition properly.

I hope the organisers of the CDF exhibition in Berlin later this year have learnt from this and do not make the same mistakes.

The day was saved by meeting up for lunch with an ex-colleague from the European Parliament in Luxembourg where we both worked in the late 1970s. Very enjoyable.

After lunch, it was drizzling occasionally but I did go for a quick, last walkabout:

Amrum 3 to 11 December – part II

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Day 5

First, a walk on the Teerdeich just after breakfast:

After “theory” we went to the beach. I forgot to turn on “Mapmywalk” till later, but here is my basic route.

With a bit of time before dinner, I went out to play with the Christmas lights around the hotel:

And just a little bit of spooky street:

Day 7

The last day. Tomorrow return from relatively Corona free Amrum to relatively Corona ridden Berlin for a bleak midwinter.

All of Amrum is 2G/3G compliant like the rest of Germany – public transport (even the youngest school children wear masks on the bus), cafés, restaurants, and hotels – except the hotel we have been staying in – Sonnenresort Hüttmann. In fact, the manager told several course participants that masks were not required inside the hotel. Most guests wore them anyway, since it is a national requirement, but there were several “Querdenker” who would even go to the breakfast buffet maskless – consistently, even when it was audibly frowned upon. Talk about disrespectful. I have actually always found that a bit disgusting even before Corona, and I am glad I am an early riser so that I eat breakfast before everbody else have a chance to spew their aerosol all over the food. This is one of many ways to make sure you never get, for example, a cold, or worse.

Today’s walk went past a dense birch forest, via Wittdün harbour, through the dunes to Vriakhörnsee (supposedly a bird sanctuary but there were no birds today (compared to a couple of ducks when I was there on Saturday), and from there through a fantastic landscape of white dunes – strenuous but totally worth it – to the lighthouse.

A week of heaps of fresh air, peace and quiet, walking and taking photographs, and not least Martin Timm’s teachings – energy fully restored. And then just like that – we are all on our ways home, and much as I enjoy train travel, I can already feel the new found energy draining out of me thinking about the decisions I will have to make. I really thought my move to Berlin was my last till I had to be carried out feet first, as they say, and the thought of moving again seems a bit insurmountable. But so does the thought of being back in noisy, annoying Berlin. Paradoxically, until a short time ago, Berlin was for decades the only place in the world worth living, if you asked me. But with Covid with us for another four-five years, at best, I am not going to make use of all the things that made Berlin so attractive to me, except perhaps exhibitions, because they don’t let too many people in, and you are in control of the distance you keep to people. I just can’t see myself stuck in any kind of concert hall or theatre auditorium for hours on end without being able to move. I probably will not even attend any more in-person pub quizzes. So right now I am toying with the idea of renting out my flat through Coming Home Berlin, and renting a place on the North Sea. Decisions, decisions.

Below photo taken at Itzehoe Station where the stop was long enough for the smokers to go out for some fresh air.

Amrum 3 to 11 December – part I

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Some time in spring, before I knew of Max’s existence, I signed up for this photography course (experimental landscape photography). I had been signed up for the same course last year but it was cancelled, for obvious reasons.

For a while after I adopted Max, I was hoping to take him with me, but as time went by, I realised that that was not going to be possible. It is a nearly 12-hour journey in total, door to door, and Max’s limit at the moment on the S-Bahn or a regional train is about 50 minutes before he gets anxious, restless and unruly, for a large part due to the muzzle, I think. Having him with me and running around on those wide beaches would have been great, but getting here – a total nightmare. I then dithered between cancelling my attendance or trying to find a good dog pension for Max. I mentioned this to our trainer, Astrid, and she highly recommended Lucky Dog Berlin’s Hundeferienhof. When it turned out they could accommodate Max at quite short notice and after one getting-to-know-each-other meeting in Grunewald, I decided to strike, despite some people saying it was too early since Max has only been with me a little less than six months. Astrid said it would do him good, that he would get lots of exercise and be around balanced dogs that he can learn from.

Also, I could really do with a break. I love Max, but he is an exhausting flatmate and the last six months have been quite a rollercoaster ride. I know he is in good hands, and I was not even quite aware how tired I was till I flopped into the seat in the ICE to Hamburg, to proceed by two regional trains, a two-hour ferry ride and a short bus trip to get to Hotel Hüttmann in Norddorf. I love train travel, not to mention ferry rides, and savoured every minute of that day, alternately reading, staring out the window, and looking forward to the course. I have attended several other courses with the same teacher and thoroughly enjoyed them all.

Incidentally, I also had a recent cancer scare. Now, nobody goes through life without at least one of those. This was my third, all more than a decade apart. I can barely remember the first one, but I was quite young and I think I mostly thought “why me”? The second time I thought, well, you have been lucky before, so why not also now. But with this one, I really thought my number was up, and spent the days waiting for the result trying to decide whether to accept a gruelling treatment or just get it over and done with as quickly as possible (went for the latter).

Quite apart from the fact that, thanks to the anti-vaxxers, this is no time to be needing medical attention for anything other than Covid19. The capacity is just not there.

I spent a lot of time wondering for how long I would be able to take proper care of Max and whether he would have to go back to the nomadic existence, being shoved around between families who all sooner or later decided they did not want to keep him. Much as the thought of being spared all the indignities of old age, when I adopted Max I was vain enough to think I had till about the age of 75 (so another six years or so) before they set in for real, and that would cover his life span as well, so that we will grow decrepit and die at round about the same time. He will turn eight in the near future (although seeing him sprint, you would not know it).

It all drained me of whatever energy I had left, and that energy, for some reason, did not really come back with the message of false alarm quite recently. Why do we do this to ourselves before even knowing for certain that there is reason to worry? I recently saw a book entitled “Don`t Feed the Monkey Mind – how to stop the cycle of anxiety and worry”. Perhaps I should read it, although I should know what it says after having been through a bout of anxiety and panick attacks shortly before I moved to Berlin. Basically, it all comes down to confronting those feelings and breathing into them, examining them thoroughly. That is the short version.

Anyway, after arriving in Norddorf, I was glad to have two days to myself before meeting with the other course attendants and our teacher. The weather could have been better, but I did manage to walk a total of about 15 km each day – to make up for the relative inactivity and unhealthy eating (railway station fare) on the day of travel.

Day 1: Wittdün and surroundings

Day 2: Around the northern tip of Amrum, from Wattenmeer to the North Sea

The route of this morning’s walk on Mapmywalk.

Quite strenuous, walking in sand a lot of the way, but I saw a lot of wild geese, and three seals :-). And no people.

Day 3: Start of the course

Went out to catch some morning light before starting the course.

I did not understand today’s assignment so I just took these photos when we went out: I walked on top of the Teerdeich and got properly frozen and windblown.

The first three photos are of fellow course attendants spotted from the top of the Teerdeich. Here is the route on Mapmywalk.

Day 4

Woke up to a strong wind, poor visibility and a bit of sleet so decided against the Teerdeich and went to the Badestrand on the North Sea side for my between breakfast and start of the course walk.

Later, we went out and continued experimenting, especially with the low-light and rainy conditions :-). This is where we went.

Day 5

Woke up to rain and a forecast that said warning for gale force wind, and the hotel’s comfortable lounge and a book were calling out my name. But has anyone ever regretted getting up off their fat arse and going out, almost no matter what the weather is like? I certainly always feel a lot less sad outdoors. Also, after breakfast and the theory session, the wind had subsided somewhat and it had stopped raining. Here is the day’s route.

The first photo is the view from the balcony of my hotel room.

The scrolling is starting to annoy me, so will continue in a new post above.

Getaway to Wismar 22-25 September

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Wismar is so picturesque, it is almost nauseating.

Island of Poel

On the way to the zoo:

Wismar Zoo

The Sea, The Sea! Norddeich, Norderney and Juist 31 August to 4 September 2020

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I went on what turned out to be a fabulous five-day trip to the North Sea. I guess I should thank the “Neighbours from Hell” (now in stereo), since because of them, I had been scrambling to find a place to go which would seem like another planet, without actually leaving the country.

The Wadden Sea (das Wattenmeer, Vadehavet) is fascinating (which I already knew, having spent a week in Sankt-Peter-Ording two years ago), the weather was its September best, and I gorged on fresh fish and seafood, and walked a lot.

Norddeich

I was based in Norddeich which was convenient for taking ferries to and from Norderney and Juist, and – like most coasts facing the North Sea, has a long, tall, dike with a promenade on top providing a marvellous view of the Wadden Sea and the tides. On top of that, the main road is lined with restaurants serving, among other things, fresh, wild-caught fish.

Memorial for people lost at sea – Gedenkstätte Meeresblick:

Feeding frenzy at “Seehundstation Norddeich“:

On the way to and on the ferry to and from Norderney:

Norderney

Norderney memorial to people lost at sea:

Juist

The island without any kind of motorised vehicles except certain public services.

On the ferry:

On the highest points, you can see the sea on both sides from the same spot:

Magdeburg August 2020 (in progress)

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Read about Magdeburg on Wikipedia here, and on their own, rather pathetic, website here.

Memorial to Sinti and Roma victims of national socialism 1935-45.

A few of the many statues in Magdeburg

I have never been in a city with so many statues and monuments everywhere.

Statue of Hildegard von Bingen (“Mutter Erde”):

Statue of Käthe Kollwitz:

More to come.

Kunstmuseum Magdeburg, read more here and here.

Traces of the GDR in Chemnitz January 2020

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Spinnerei Leipzig January 2020

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Rostock Zoo and Stralsund Oceanarium May 2019

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St. Peter-Ording September 2017 (in progress)

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(Click to enlarge)

Fotoschule des Sehens on tour

Ebb and flow

 Playing with my new (first) macro lens

 

Amazing space. Not to mention the light

This and that and a lighthouse in the mist

Houses on stilts

 

The birds

Playing with formats

(Thank you for modelling, kind stranger, even though you had no idea)

 

Playing with Lightroom

 

And that was it. On the last evening, I made a last-minute decision to sprint to the beach for the sunset, remembered the camera but not the fact that the card was in the PC, and then there was not much to see anyway. So I just took these with my mophone: