Atlantic Provinces

Cordoba

2011-04-05T11:35:00.001-07:00

Today I spent together with Felix and Nacho a fantastic day in Cordoba.

From the railway station in Cordoba we first walked to the Mezquita.

The Mesquita

The Cathedral and former Great Mosque of Córdoba is World Heritage Site. Originally, it was a pagan temple and later a Visigothic Christian church. The Umayyad Moors then used the building as a mosque and later built a new mosque on this site. After the reconquest in 1236 the mosque was christianised. However, alterations were only made about 200 years later when Bishop Alonso Manrique let a cathedral to be built inside the mosque.

The Romand Bridge

Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos

Domestic courtyards like the ones displayed below are very typical for Cordoba.

During our day in Cordoba we enjoyed some great food (like tortillas and raciones) and drinks at several different very nice places.

Cristo de los Faroles (the christ of the streetlamps)

Toledo and Consuegra

2011-04-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

Today I spent a wonderful day together with Andrea and Paco in Toledo.

Ruins of Roman Circus

Puerta de Bisagra

Iglesia Santiago del Arrabal

Puerta del Sol

Alcázar

Castillo de San Servando

The cathedral of Toledo

Don Quijote and Sancho Panza are really omnipresent in Toledo

Sinagoga de Santa Maria la Blanca was built by Mudejar architects and completed in the 12 century.

Monastery San Juan de los Reyes

One of our last stops was Puente de San Martín - a medieval bridge across the river Tagus.

Great view on Toledo

On our way back to Ciudad Real we passed Consuegra, which is famous for its windmills.

Madrid

2011-04-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

The following pictures are taken inside the old Atoch station in Madrid on my way to Ciudad Real.

Back to New York

2010-09-28T11:39:00.001-07:00

Joggings Fossil Cliffs and Fort Beausejour

2010-09-27T19:11:00.001-07:00

Today we visited Joggings Fossil Cliffs, the best place in the world to see how life was 315 million years ago in the Carboniferous Period. Joggings Fossil cliffs are about 15 kilometers long and have fossils which are between 325 and 310 million years old. The fossil cliffs are located in the Bay of Fundy which is known for its huge tides - 100 billion tons of water rush in and out of the bay per tidal cycle.

The fossils which were found at the Joggings Fossil Cliffs are characterized by their great diversity - in total more than 200 different species were found. It is worth mentioning that most of the fossils were found inside of trees. Two years ago Joggings Fossil Cliffs were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Visitor Center is brand new and won several prizes for its green design.

Tree Fossils

Trace of Rex

Coal

Traces of roots

More Fossils

The fossil cliffs

The cliff is quickly eroding - one meter a year at certain places - and constantly new fossils appear.

The Visitor Center

After our visit to the fossil cliffs, we drove to Fort Beausejour, a National Historic Site of Canada. The fort was build in 1751 by the French to defend themselves against the British. It fell just a few years later in 1756.

Overnight we stayed in Saint John, which is know for its Reversing Falls. At high tide the water flow coming from the sea is so strong that the falls reverse.

Lunenburg

2010-09-26T05:26:00.001-07:00

Lunenburg is UNESCO Wold Heritage Site and well known for fishery and ship building.

First, we visited the Fisheries Museum in Lunenburg. In an interesting talk we learned a lot of details about lobsters. The heaviest ones found were about 20 kg. Depending on its size a female lobsters has between 60.000 and 80.000 eggs from which about 1% survive. Having reached a certain size lobsters don't have many predators anymore. Lobsters have a strong sense for territory and thus attack other lobsters (e.g., in a restaurant's aquarium). In the summer month they get rid of their hard shells, which they then eat. This is also the time when females are ready to mate.

Time Recorder - Even a 100 years ago working time was recorded precisely.

Werner trapped at the Fisheries Museum

Lunenburg is well known for building schooners. In particular it is famous for a schooner called Bluenose, which dominated schooner racing between 1920 and 1930. Outside the museum is a schooner on display.

The Fisheries Museum

The Old City of Lunenburg

Mahone Bay

Nova Scotia - Yarmouth to Bridgeport

2010-09-24T17:45:00.001-07:00

Cape Sable Island - the southern most place in Nova Scotia

Shelburne

By 1784 Shelburne had a population of 10.000 inhabitants and was by this time the 4th largest city in North America. When strolling through the streets you can see many nice old buildings (from the 18th and 19th century).

Kejimkujik National Park - Seaside

Nova Scotia - Kejimkujik National Park

2010-09-23T19:27:00.001-07:00

Kejimkujik National Park

Digby Neck

Nova Scotia - Bar Habor to Digby

2010-09-23T19:07:00.001-07:00

Digby

Acadia National Park (Part 2)

2010-09-23T18:42:00.001-07:00

Acadia has some really great spots for rock climbing.

Bar Habor

Maine, Highway 9

Acadia National Park (Part 1)

2010-09-23T18:22:00.001-07:00

From New York we headed north to Acadia National Park where we spent a wonderful time.

Bar Habor

Sand Beach - Acadia National Park

Thunder Hole - Acadia National Park

Otter Point

Cadillac Mountain

Long Island

2010-09-23T18:05:00.001-07:00

After the conference we spent the weekend with friends in the Hamptons where the rich and famous of New York have their summer homes.

New York (Part 2)

2010-09-23T17:57:00.001-07:00

New York (Part 1)

2010-09-22T04:51:00.001-07:00

Before BPM 2010 Conference Werner and I spent the weekend in New York and did some sightseeing.

Time Square by day and night

The Lego Store at Rockefeller Center is really amazing.

5th Avenue

The Apple Store at 5th Avenue is brand new and was full with people. The store makes 1.2 million USD a day, 440 million in 2008. It is the top-selling Apple Store and makes about 10% of all Apple-Store revenues.

Central Park

Gran Paradiso - Day 11

2010-09-21T17:35:00.001-07:00

After breakfast we hiked down from Rifugio Vittorio Emanuel to Pont from where we started our drive home. While Stefan, Jakob and Andi headed back via the Aosta Valley through Italy, Matthias and I took the scenic route via Switzerland. This route was considerably longer, but brought us to some amazing places.

On the way to Gran Bernardino

Rhone glacier at Furkapass

Gran Paradiso - Day 10

2010-09-21T17:04:00.000-07:00

Today we started quite early in the morning since we wanted to climb Gran Paradiso (4061 m). When we left Rifugio Chabod with our backpacks it was still dark and we needed headlights for the first part of the way. We hiked for about an hour before we reached the glacier where we had to rope ourselves up bacause of the many crevasses. Stefan went first and walked really, really slow to ensure that we no one of us gets any troubles with the height (for me it was the first time at such an elevation).

After about four hours of hiking we reached the top of Gran Paradiso. To get to the summit we had to cross a short climbing passage. When we got at the summit the weather clared up and we had some really amazing views :-). Even though Gran Paradiso is considered as relatively easy it was a great experience for us.

In the early afternoon we arrived at Rifugio Vittoria Emanuel where we stayed overnight.

Gran Paradiso - Day 9

2010-09-21T16:23:00.000-07:00

Today's leg brought us from Rifugio Vittorio Sella (2584 m) to Rifugio Chabod (2750 m).

Not far from Rifugio Vittorio Sella we observed a couple of marmots for a while.

From the rifugio we followed Alta Via 2 della Valle d'Aoste which brought us via Col Lauson (3296 m) to Valsavranche.

On the way down we could again see some ibexes from a very short distance.

The route led us to Giacchio di Gran Neyron which has retreated quite a lot.

Having passed the moraines of the glacier our way became increasingly steep and even required us to manage a short Via Ferrata with ladders and iron pins.

Jakob at Col Gran Neyron Ovest

On the way down we could again see many ibexes.

Gran Paradiso - Day 8

2010-09-20T17:55:00.001-07:00

We (me, Matthias, Jakob, Stefan and Andi - Sarah had to go back to work) started early in the morning in Aosta and took the bus to Valnontey - at the end of Cogne Valley (1666 m). From there we hiked to Rifugio Vittorio Sella (2584 m) which took us about 3 hours.

We arrived quite early at the Rifugio and had the whole afternoon to relax and to enjoy the sun.

Matthias did a short side trip (towards Punto Rossa) in the afternoon where he could take all these wonderful pictures.

Gran Paradiso - Day 7

2010-09-20T05:39:00.001-07:00

After breakfast I drove to Courmayeur and took the cable car to Pointe Helbronner and from there to Aiguille du Midi crossing Glacier du Géant. The weather was wonderful and I had really, really amazing views.

Mont Blanc

Tour Ronde

Col Du Midi

Grandes Jorasses (left), Dent du Géant (right)

Chamonix

Mont Blanc du Tacul, Mont Maudit and Mont Blanc (from left to right)

Piton Sud

Aguille du Midi

The way out on the glacier

Grande Jorasses and Deant du Géant

Glacier du Géant

Val Veny

Aguille Noire, Les Dames Anglaises, Aguille Blanche, Mont Blanc de Courmayeur, Mont Blanc (from left to right)

Aosta Valley

Alpine flowers near Rifugio Turino

Down in the valley I drove back to Aymavilles - the entry of Cogne valley - to have lunch. Afterwards I drove to Lilaz to pick up Sarah, Matthias, Stefan, Jakob and Andi.

Gran Paradiso - Day 6

2010-08-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

While the others had two exhausting legs in front of them, I used the time to relax. After breakfast, as I first thing in the morning, I took the bus to Cogne and from there to Lillaz to get my car.

Cogne

From Lillaz I drove to Aymavilles from where I did a hike to Pondel. Pondel is famous for its Roman aqueduct bridge which was built 3BC and carried water across the valley, more than 60m above the bottom. The unique thing about Pondel is the type of construction, i.e., combination of bridge and aqueduct.

Castle of Aymavilles whose origins go back to the 12^th century

Church of Saint Léger in Aymavilles

Bridge Aqueduct of Pondel

Back in Aymavilles I had lunch and then headed to Courmayeur to see Mont Blanc and some of the other mountains.

The next picture shows the south eastern view of the Peuterey ridge (taken from Val Ferret): Aiguille Noire - Dames Anglaises - Aiguille Blanche - Mont Blanc de Courmayeur - Mont Blanc

From Courmayeur I drove to Val Ferret where I had some really, really amazing views of the Grandes Jorasses. The highest point – Point Walker – is hidden in the fog.

The Triolet Glacier, which is located east of Grandes Jorasses, is also really beautiful. From the parking lot in Planpinchieux I made a short hike to take these pictures.

On the way back I stopped in Staint-Pierre and took some pictures of the Castle of Sarriod

and the parish church and the castle.

Gran Paradiso - Day 5

2010-08-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

Today's leg went from Bivacco Ivrea (2745m) to Rifugio Meneghello (2440m). From our bivouac the trail headed towards Tre Bechhi. Soon the trail became really tedious leading through endless sea of stone blocks to Colle dei Becchi (2990m). Unfortunately, when we arrived at the pass, we could not see much of the surrounding mountains since the weather was not good enough.

Fortunately, the way down was a bit less exhausting than the ascent, since there was still a big snow field :-).

Soon we could see Lago Telessio glistening in turquois blue color. Down there is also Rifugio Pontese 2193m. However, before enjoying lunch there we had to descent about 800m in elevation.

The lunch at the hut was really amazingly good and we spent several hours there.

While Matthias, Andi, Stefan, Jakob and Sarah continued the hike from there (for me the next two upcoming legs were too exhausting), I hiked down to Lago Telessio from where a taxi picked me up and brought me to the train station in Ivrea. From there I took the train back to Aosta.

Gran Paradiso - Day 4

2010-08-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

Today we hiked from Bivacco Giraudo (2620m) to Bivacco Ivrea (2745m). From the bivouac the path first led us down a rock step before it got rather flat for the next kilometers. We hiked through wonderful mountain meadows which were in full blossom.

Before arriving at Casa di Caccia (a former royal hunting hut) we had to get up a small rock step (2222m).

View of Casa di Caccia

From there the path became increasinly steep and led us to Bochetta del Ges (2692m). Multiple times on our way up we had to climb over stone blocks and it took us a while until we reached Vallone di Noaschetta.

Creeks in turquois color meander through Vallone Noaschetta and we saw the jagged rock formations of Tre Becchi.

Tre Becchi (on the right)

From there we had to get over another rock step before we arrived at Bivacco Ivrea which is located on top of a moraine hill. Today temperature were a bit cooler than the previous day. Thus, we all decided to spend this night in the bivouac.

Gran Paradiso - Day 3

2010-08-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

Our today's hike went from Rifugio Chivasso to Bivacco Giraudo. From Rifugio Chivasso (2604m) we hiked down the pass road in south eastern direction until we reached a small lake.

From there we hiked along a narrow path in an easterly direction, first rather flat, later on increasingly steep to Col della Terra (2911m).

From there we could see Lago Lillet (2765m) with its beautiful turquois color.

After having a short rest we continued down to the lake. Matthias and Andi were brave enough to go for a swim in the lake, while the rest of us prefered to stay outside. From the lake the path ascended to the second pass we had to cross on this day.

On the way down we had to hike through pathless terrain and along a large snow field and huge stone blocks, which was quite challenging with our heavy backpacks.

After a while we reached a terrasse with several small lakes where we had a rest before hiking (again through pathless terraine) to the terrasse where Bivacco Giraudo is located.

When we arrived there we checked out the bivouac (which offers room for 6 persons) and relaxed in the sun. After a while a German couple and their son arrived and got a bit dissapointed when they realized that the bivouac is already full and that they lack the necessary equipment to sleep outside. Since the weather looked good we left them the bivouac and decided to sleep outside.

While we relaxed in the sun, Matthias walked around to explore the area and made these beautiful pictures of ibexes. In the course of our trip we could see quite a few of the 4000 ibexes which live in Gran Paradiso National Park. However, it was not always as easy as today to spot an ibex. In the 19th century the Alpine ibex got almost extinct (mainly due to hunting) and only survived in the Gran Paradiso area. Victor Emmanuel II, who later became King of Italy, declared Gran Paradiso a Royal Hunting Reserve. He also ordered numerous paths to be built in the area, which are still in use today, e.g., by us on our trip.

Enjoying dinner

After the sun went down it quickly got cold and we therefore hit our sleeping bags very early.

Gran Paradiso - Day 2

2010-08-06T10:00:00.001-07:00

Today we had another climb on our agenda, since we had a few hours left before Jakob, Stefan and Sarah arrive for our Gran Paradiso hike. Matthi, Andi and I drove to Donnas and from there via a very winding road, through vineyards to Albard Bard where we had to leave our car. From there it took as about 40 minutes by foot to the start of our climbing route.

During the ascent we had a great view on the Fort of Bard. The fort was built in the 11th century as a toll barrier and extended in the 13th century due to its strategic importance.

The route had three, very easy pitches, again on gneiss. For Andi it was the first multi pitch route he climbed, but he managed it very well :-).

Our climb (marked in blue)

On the way down we stopped in Donnas to take pictures of the old houses.

From there we drove to Pont where we met Jakob, Stefan and Sarah. From there we started our hike around Grand Paradiso. The first lag was from Pont to Rifugio Città di Chivasso (2604 m), which is located slightly north of Col de Nivolet, and took us about 2 1/2 hours. Our arrival at the rifugio led to quite some confusion. Since a couple with the same last name had reserved just a few days ago, the hut warden was not sure about our reservation anymore and called all surrounding huts to find out whether they knew about a group of six people with the respective last name. However, no one has heard about such a group (which was not a surprise since we planned to stay the forthcoming nights in bivouacs), and the hut warden thought that our reservation is a misunderstanding. When we arrived at the hut he was entirely confused, but fortunately it was no problem to get a room and have hot dinner :-).

On the way up to Rifugio Città di Chivasso

Decayed stone houses could be frequently seen on our hike

View from Rifugio Città di Chivasso

Gran Paradiso - Day 1

2010-08-06T09:45:00.001-07:00

Due to bad weather in the Tyrol we started our trip to Gran Paradiso one day earlier than initially planned. We started very early in the morning and picked up Andi. We were very lucky with the traffic and progressed very quickly. Entering the Valley of Aosta it became more
mountainous. The Valley of Aosta is enframed by some of the Alps' most famous mountains / mountain ranges like Mont Blanc, Monte Rosa, Matterhorn and Gran Paradiso. On our drive we could also see many stone houses with roofs of stone tiles which are quite typical for the area. Moreover, we could see many old churches and medieval castles. Around 12 we arrived at our hotel in the center of Aosta.

After a short lunch break we drove to Pontey (near Nus just a few kilometers from Aosta) to climb. The directions we had were very rough and it took as a while to find the climbing area. Pontey offers about a dozen, mostly rather easy routes on gneiss. We had a lot of fun climbing there and enjoyed the afternoon a lot.

In the evening we strolled through the streets of Aosta where we could see many remnants of Aosta's Roman history (e.g., Arch of Augustus, Roman Theatre, Porta Pretoria) and had a nice dinner.

Rosskogel and Weißstein

2010-07-18T12:32:00.001-07:00

After severe storms yesterday afternoon the weather cooled down significantly - great conditions for a mountain hike after the heat wave.

We started at 8 in the morning with our bikes from home and rode them to Krimpenbachalm (1922 m). We left our bikes there and I exchanged my biking boots with my hiking boots. From Krimpenbachalm we started the ascent to Rosskogel (2646 m) via Windegg. After a very short break at Rosskogel we moved on to climb Weißstein (2640 m), an easy climb (I-II). On the way back we picked up out bikes at Krimpenbachalm and enjoyed the ride back home (saving us around 1100 m descent by foot :-)).

Krimpenbachalm

2010-07-17T12:35:00.001-07:00

Starting from home I rode the bike to Stiglreith (1363) where I met with Werner and Claudia. Although I started quite early I was covered in sweat when I arrived there, since it was again a very hot day. Together we then hiked to Krimpenbachalm (1922). Werner took a lot of pictures on our hike of the wonderful alpine meadows which where just in full, beautiful blossom.

Erlspitze

2010-07-11T11:27:00.001-07:00

We started very early in the morning shortly after 5:00 am since the weather was forcasted to be very hot. We drove to Hochzirl by car and from there we rode our mountain bikes towards Solsteinhaus. We left our bikes at the end of the forest road and hiked the last 1 1/2 hours to Solsteinhaus. At Solsteinhaus we had a short break, filled up our water bottles before continuing the hike to Eppziler Scharte where the Via Ferrata to Erlspitze starts. The Via Ferrata was very easy (mostly A and B), except for one short passage with difficulty C. At 9:45 we arrived the summit of Erlspitz where we enjoyed the beautiful scenary. We took the same way down to our bikes and were very happy that we did not have to d0 the long walk down to the car.

Today's route

From Solsteinhaus to Eppzirler Scharte

View from Eppzirler Scharte to Eppzirler Alm (Karwendel)

Pictures taken from the Via Ferrata

At the summit

On the way down

Brandjoch South Ridge

2010-06-27T11:58:00.001-07:00

We started our hike at 5:30 at Hungerburg. From there we hiked to Höttinger Alm. Right after Hungerburg a small dark cat accompanied us and despite our efforts to make it turn around it followed us almost to Höttinger Alm.

Höttinger Alm with Vordere Brandjochspitze and Frau Hitt in the background

From Höttinger Alm we hiked west to Brandjochboden and from there to Brandjochkreuz (2268 m)

Brandjochkreuz

After a short break we continued via Brandjoch South Ridge to Vorderes Brandjochkreuz.

Climbing the Brandjoch South Ridge

The first of two cruces - The Chimney

The second of two cruxes - The Jump

Me after the jump

Waiting for the other to come

Due to his back problems my father preferred to climb down secured by a rope.

My mother climbing down

Matthias on the way to the jump

... jumping

Summit of Vordere Brandjochspitze (2558 m)

View into the Karwendel

From Vordere Brandjochspitze we descended via Julius Pock Steig (East Ridge, normal way) to Frau Hitt Saddle.

Frau Hitt

While my parents hiked from Frau Hitt Saddle to Seegrube, Matthias and I continued our tour with a climb of Frau Hitt.

Me and Matthias at the summit of Frau Hitt

From Frau Hitt we continued via the second section of "Innsbrucker Klettersteig" (Via Ferrata Innsbruck) to Langer Sattel. From there we took the Schmidhubersteig to Seegrube.

View of Innsbruck from Seegrube

High Tatra - Day 5

2010-06-27T11:17:00.001-07:00

Due to bad weather we decided to spend a day in Krakau. Krakow is a bit more than 100 km north of Zdiar.

We started our visit of Krakow at the Wavel. The Wavel was former residence of the polish kings of Krakow and together with the old city of Krakau UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Rynek Glowny (Market Square) - one of the largest medieval squares in Europe.

The following pictures shows Market Square with the Church of St. Adalbert in the background. St. Adaobert Church is of romanesque origin and one of the oldest stone churches in Poland.

Excavations revealed a wooden structure built in the 10th century which was followed by a stone structure in the 11th century.

One of the most impressive sights at Market square is certainly the Church of the Virgin Mary.

Especially the interior of the church is amazing. In particular, the high altar by Veit Stoss is really impressive.

Town Hall Tower

St. Florian's gate controlled the main exit to the city. Beneath the medieval walls you can see colorfoul pieces of art by local artists.

The Barbican was built as an extension of the Florian Gate

Local market

Julisz Slowacki Theatre

The Dominican Church

The Small Market Square

The Church of St Peter and Paul

The Church of St Andrew

Kazmierz - The old Jewish district of Krakow

The Wavel in evening light

High Tatra - Day 4

2010-06-27T09:25:00.001-07:00

Today was the highlight of our stay in the High Tatra - an alpine climbing tour :-). Together with our mountain guide Pavel (many summits in the High Tatra are only accessible with mountain guide) we started very early in the morning and drove to Popradské Pleso (1494m), about half-way up Mengusovska dolina. From there we hiked to the base of Vodia veza where we started our climb.

Volia veza (in german Ochsenrücken)

Hiking to the base of Volia Veza

Volia Veza (in the background)

Pictures taken from the base of Volia Veza

There are several options climbing Volia Veza from which we chose a rather simple route (UIAA 3). When we started climbing the weather already started to turn bad - it got increasingly windy and foggy, but still stayed dry. Climbing itself - though not very difficult - was really great due to the wonderful solid granite.

Pictures taken from the summit of Volia Veza right at the Polish / Slovak boarder

View into Poland

View into Slovakia

Since the weather was really about to turn bad we just took a few picures and quickly started our descent (UIAA 1-2). Back at the lake heavy rain started and even hailed briefly. We were very glad that we managed to climb and descent the most difficult parts while it still was dry.

High Tatra - Day 3

2010-06-27T09:07:00.001-07:00

Today we had more luck with the weather and the whole day was warm and sunny :-). Our hike started in Strbské Pleso from where we hiked into Mlynická Dolina.

After a while we reached Skok waterfall ...

... and the saddle Bystré sedlo from where we started our descent down Furkotská Dolina.

To avoid joint bending I took the chair lift from Chata pod Solsikom down to Strbské Pleso (while Matthias walked all the way down).

High Tatra - Day 2

2010-06-27T07:58:00.001-07:00

Today we made a crossing of the High Tatra. Our hike started in Javorina, a place in the nord east of the High Tatra close to the Polish Boarder. Unfortunately, the weather was very bad - very foggy and partially raining - and we could only guess the beauty of the surrounding mountains. From Javorina we walked into the 10 km long Javorovà Dolina (Maple) Valley. The first kilometers were rather easy, but it got increasinly steep towards the top of the valley.

At Sedielko (2376 m) - the highest Tatra pass which can be reached by marked route and the highest point of our hike

On our descent we first had to walk down a very steep snow field. Since we did not bring any crampons we were glad that the snow was very soft.

At Téryho Chata (2012 m) - the highest mountain hut in the High Tatra which is open the whole year long - we stopped for a while and got something warm to drink.

From Téryho Chata we hiked through Madá Studená Dolina down to Stary Smokovec which we reached after about 9 hrs

About five years ago huge parts of the High Tatra very destroyed by a heavy storm.

Waterfalls near Zamkovskeho Chata

High Tatra - Day 1

2010-06-27T07:39:00.001-07:00

Around noon we arrived in Zdiar, a small place in the Tatra National Park not far from the Slovak / Polish boarder. For our stay in High Tatra we have rented a nice appartment in Zdiar.

Since the weather was not too good we decided to drive to Stary Smokovec and to use the time to get information about different hiking and climbing options in the High Tatra.

CAiSE 2010 - Part 2

2010-06-13T01:54:00.000-07:00

Sousse

Sousse is the fourth largest city in Tunesia. Below are some impressions from its market where you can get fresh fish, vegetables and all kind of different spices.

El Djem

El Ejem is famous for its roman amphitheather which is the third largest amphitheater in the world.

Kairouan

Kairouan is with Mekka, Medina and Jerusalem among the four most important cities in Islam.

Dinner at a grill next to the road

CAiSE 2010 - Part 1

2010-06-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

Last week I spent at CAiSE 2010 in Hammamet Tunesia. Below you can find a few impressions.

The hotel - Diar Lembina

Carthage

Sidi Bou Said

Mountainbiking Gröden

2010-06-12T11:17:00.001-07:00

Together with my brother Mattias, Andi and Sarah we escapted the rainy weather in Austria and spent a day mountainbiking near Gröden. We started our trip in St. Ulrich and biked via St. Christina to Regensburger Hütte and via S. Giacomo back to St. Ulrich.

Copenhagen - Day 4

2009-12-23T12:54:00.000-08:00

As a first thing today we visited the little Mairmed statue. And surprise - we did not only see the statue, but also a little ice pinguine next to it :-).

We then passed by Rosenborg castle which unfortunately was closed and walked through the pretty croweded pedestrian zone.

Our next stop was the Round Tower - the oldest functioning observatory in Europe. The interior of the tower was pretty intersting and consisted of a spiral ramp. The tower also hosted a very nice exhibition on Greenland - a combination of photographs and drawings.

From there we strolled to the national museeum where we made a tour through the Danish history. In addition, the museum hosted a temporary exhibition on the rain forest and on climate change which both were quite interesting.

After we left the museum Werner had a call from KLM on his mobile phone letting us know that our flight got rebooked (to Hanover and from there to Munich). When we arrived at the airport it started to snow and I started to wonder whether we will be able to reach Munich today. Boarding started on time. However, when sitting in the plane we got informed about problems with de-icing leading to at least a one hour delay. Since our connection in Hanover was very short this meant that we wont be able to reach the flight to Munich. However, we were very lucky and managed to get rebooked on a direct flight to Munich (which as initially fully booked, but due to the bad weather some people could not make it on time) and even arrived earlier in Munich than with our initial flight :-). Thus, we did not mind that our luaggage did not make it as it will be delivered to our home in the next couple of days.

Copenhagen - Day 3

2009-12-21T09:58:00.000-08:00

Today, we visited Copenhagen and did an extensive walk through the city.

We started our walk at Kastellet, one of the best preserved forifications in Northern Europe.

From there we walked to Amalienborg - the winter home of the Danish Royal Family.

Even though we did not plan for it, we just came on time for the changing of the gards at Amalienborg.

Copenhagen opera

Fredrics church

Our next major stop was Nyhaven which is known for its numerous small restaurants and bars, its old pituresque houses and its old wooden ships.

Not far from Nyhaven at Kongens Nytorv was a great outdoor photo exhibit “100 places to remember before they disappear” with wonderful picuteres from several countries around the world. It took quite a while to have a look at all one hundred photos. At Kongens Nytorv they also had numerous globes in all different kinds of colors (like the cows or bears you can see in many different cities).

Old Stock Exchange

Holmen church

After lunch at an Indonesian restaurant we strolled through the extremely busy shopping streets of Copenhagen towards Tivoli park.

Tivoli

After taking some pictures at Tivoli we took the train back to Malmö.

Copenhagen - Day 2

2009-12-21T09:42:00.000-08:00

In the morning we met with a friend of us who lives in Copenhagen for more than 3 years now to visit some of the castles near Copenhagen.

Our first stop was Fredriksborg castle in Hillerød which was built as a royal residence for King Christian IV and is the largest renaissance palace in Scandinavia.

Frederiksborg Palace church

This chair was used as an "elevator" allowing the king to quickly get one floor down.

The Big Hall

Our next stop was Fredensborg palace, the summer and autumn residence of the Danish Royal Family.

Next we stopped at Kronborg Castle, which is also known as Shakespear's Elsinor Castle, at Helsingør.

We concluded our day with a very nice Sushi dinner close to Copenhagen.

Copenhagen - Day 1

2009-12-19T12:56:00.001-08:00

Very early in the morning we left for Munich airport to fly to Copenhagen for a prolonged weekend.

Since the climate conference is taking place in Copenhagen these days we decided to stay in Malmö overnight (which is just across the bridge in Sweden). When we arrived in Malmö in the evening it was snowing heavily - just the right thing to really get into Christmas mood.