World Tour Part I - Darmstadt

Ta da! I am presenting you with the first part of a new photo series in which I am going to show places of the world, big or small, remarkable or not so much. We are beginning with a "not so much" candidate, Darmstadt.

In Darmstadt, you can always go for a walk:


whether you have four paws or two:


You can confess your sins:


or just admire the pretty colours and the beautiful architecture of the Russian Orthodox church:


Afterwards, you can have a quiet little chat in a secluded place:


And if you contemplate moving there, you should know that some of their houses, namely the Hundertwasser complex "Waldspirale", are not exactly straight:


but very colourful and royal looking:

Monkey business reloaded

A monkey is just another human .. that's the impression I had the other day in my favourite zoo in Leipzig.

They are pensive:


observant:


like to laze around:


take care of their kids:


and sometimes just sit together to eat and gossip:

Holier than thou

Having to drive 60km for (really not that special) goat milk's ice-cream if you don't even like sweets? That's something that can only happen to me.. But if you add some culture to the ice-cream trip, spiced with interesting photo motives, I'm reconciled with the idea.

Here, it was the Abdij van Averbode (Averbode Abbey), where an ordination to the priesthood took place last Sunday:

The Abbey:


built in 1672:


It doesn't say anything about photography, so...


The "show" inside:




The procession:




And the end:

Watery Munich

What's the most important part of a city trip in midsummer? Water!

So at 34°C, everyone is looking for a refreshment:


be it humans:



or animals:



And even if you just want to look at it:

On The Beach

If you know me, you will have heard me whine before about how far the sea is, how there is even a dearth of lakes, that it all is just not like in L. Well, on the Pentecost weekend, I accidentally discovered a lake, some 50km (30 minutes) away from my place. Won't tell you exactly where but I will show you what it looks like:

The path that is leading to the secret lake:


the local flora:



and fauna (in the form of a great crested grebe):


and the lake itself:



PS: And of course (of course!) the title carries its soundtrack within.

I beg your pardon...

... I never promised you a rose garden. But if I did, it would be the "Rosengarten" (sorry, no English version of the site yet) in Bad Langensalza where you can find:

roses (obviously):






but also delphinium:

unmanned


and manned


and even lavender:


And that's a German rosegarden for you - no flower would dare to break ranks ;-)


An interesting technical aspect about these photos: I accidentally took my 100 mm macro lens only and left the tripod head at home, so I was limited to that focal length and tripodless shooting. I'm not showing you the misses but I still think I nevertheless managed quite a few hits :-).

Doggy Bag

That's probably the safest way of transport for a little dog in a big crowd - and check it out: the bag has cats printed all over that are staring at the little guy!

Sharing

"Here birdies, free pizza for everyone, today only!!!"

Fly Away

"I want to get away
I want to fly away"

This fly was shot reading an information board ;-)

Bambi

Came across this little glass bambi one cold winter day ;-)