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:

Heute ha-ha-habe ich Geburtstag...

Ok, my birthday is not exactly today (25th September, please keep that in mind for next year ;-) ). But since I'm still celebrating, I dedicate this post to myself and make it a little guessing game for you, dear visitors. The photos I took of my birthday presents look somewhat cryptic, so your job is to guess what they are... some are easy, some not as much. And sorry: no hints!

My favourite, both for packaging and for contents:


I asked for that one:


These were a surprise:



This one I gave to myself:


And as a bonus: the gift wrap I picked:

Mirrorland

There is Alice in Wonderland and then, there is me in mirrorland, seeing things from a different perspective:

Self-portrait for two:


Leuven with some added Gaussian blur:


Waldspirale in Darmstadt:


Definitely somewhere:


And another little self-portrait:

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:

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 :-).

All that glitters

Since I was a young child, my parents used to call me a magpie - attracted to everything shiny. It has not gotten better with time, on the contrary, now I'm making my own shiny things. As much jewellery as I make, there is only a number of pieces that I actually wear regularly and I would like to show you some now, all made from polymer clay and something.

Faux turquoise necklace with crystal beads:



Art sheet earrings on sterling silver earwires:


Faux jade necklace with supposedly my name in ancient Chinese characters:



Flower bracelet with renaissance pearls:


PS: I take custom orders, too :-).

Berlin.... du bist so wunderbar, Berlin...*

I was visiting friends in Berlin last weekend and was surprised to hear that they're not rejoicing the fact that they're here every waking moment ;-).

Here some impressions.

The Quadriga on top of the Brandenburg Gate:


Underneath this monument, several epochs come together:


Remains of the Berlin Wall:


Reichstag:


And while walking around the Reichstag in the blistering heat, I was seriously considering this arrangement:


In case you didn't know, Berlin is broke - but in style:


and nevertheless isn't losing its colourfulness:

*And the title "Berlin.. you are so wonderful, Berlin" is at the same time the soundtrack to the post.

The big world of small things

Part One: Blossoms