2409 - surreality

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f5.6 | ISO100 | 1/250 | lightroom 4.1

so this is the cinque terre, the world famous cinque terre? in advance tina and i had thought about visiting the well known villages monterosso, vernazza, corniglia, manarola and riomaggiore for a very long time. should we do it or should we steer clear of this overcrowded world cultural heritage?

summarising i can tell you that the view on these villages, especially from the upper paths, are simply stunning. surely anywhere in italy or the rest of the europe there are villages, paths and landscapes like the one you can find in the region of cinque terre, too. probably you don't have to search for a long time, in the north in the so called little cinque terre from moneglia to levanto or in the south in portofino you might find (maybe a bit more authentic) wonderful places and postcard sceneries, too.

the most important fact when you visit the cinque terre is to know what you are letting yourself in for. in off-season many, in season times a great many people will want to walk the same way with you. all prices (accommodation; food; parking; local traffic; the path itself, that is partly charged) are overpriced, the journey there is complicated, the paths besides the mainstream ones are not really good signposted.

however the other side of the coin is definitely existing. the locals are pleasant, the architecture is great and the paths are simply terrific, especially the difficult ones. maybe all the negative and typically touristic points are something that you simply have to take in if you want to see a world famous monument like the cinque terre (or the empire state building, the great wall of china or the pyramids).

maybe cinque terre isn't reality, but anyway a really funny peculiarity is located in manarola, my favourite of cinque terre: there is definitely the most beautiful roof terrace of the world.

cu, trshptr

2209 - feeling at home

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f2.8 | ISO1600 | 1/60 | lightroom 4.1

after a five hour car drive straight to the south tina and i finally arrived at our cottage at half past four. we'd already got a bunch of italian food ingredients in a local grocery store: vegetables, wine and beer, meat, pasta and of course a lot more, also for our breakfast as from tomorrow.

the cottage that we'll live in during the coming seven days is very small, but all the more comfortable. it's furnished in typical italian style, very cosy. we are feeling at home.

cu, trshptr

2009 - in the red focus

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f5.6 | ISO100 | 1/250 | lightroom 4.1

vacation time is family time. so today i want to break my habits and let a guest writer, my most beloved and so far only one, refer about today's occurrences:

"hi, i'm tina and today it's a honour for me to write the daily posting of my husband's blog :)

i write this posting because today i saw my first two marmots!

although it was really not the first time that we were hiking in the mountains, till today i've often heard them piping but never seen one of them. so i was very lucky to finally spot one of them for real! fortunately we've had my grandpa's spyglass with us, so we could observe them while they were observing us, haha! :)"

the pic came up when i observed tina while she searching for anything interesting in the mountains. the red coloured reflections of me and the landscape in my back, the recurring colour red itself and the wonderful mountainscape in tina's back really please me.

our today's walk in prime weather:

cu, trshptr

1909 - making a dive

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f2.8 | ISO100 | 1/800 | lightroom 4.1

sometimes it occurs to me that living at the edge of germany may be a privilege, too. only three and a half hours of relaxed car drive to reach a vacation destination in the middle of south tirol almost 2000 metres above sea level is pure luxury. that's why we already arrived at half past two o'clock in sulden at the bottom of the huge ortler.

the weather was perfect - for a travel day in the car. rain, rain, rain, mist and fog. but - as you might know if you are a permanent follower of the blog - i really like moody weather conditions like that. so we took our backpacks and rain covers and strolled through the wet and dripping high valley. after a short walk we got to a wonderful coloured pond with also wonderful coloured and drawn ducks inside that made a dive for the rests of our pretzels.

a few hours and sauna visits later tina and i made a dive for a delicious dinner at our guesthouse. quite interesting how similar all the beings still are...

cu, trshptr

1609 - katz orange

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f2.8 | ISO1600 | 1/20 | lightroom 4.1

already in advance we'd decided to stop by at the berlin restaurant and bar katz orange for an extensive dinner after we'd have explored the city. the search on an internet gourmet portal listed the katz orange next to sarah wiener's restaurant which by itself is a distinction, isn't it?

the ostentatious facility of the katz orange is an old brewery in which since more than 100 years no beer isn't brewed anymore. the building is located in a backyard at the bergstraße in the district prenzlauer berg. some of the interior could have been saved during renovations. solely the public toilets are a joy to use and look at. anyhow the whole furnishing is very cosy and generates a feelgood factor. in the upper floor a bar and a library wait for the satisfied guests.

the local atmosphere is very relaxed, you can wear jeans and shirt or suit and evening gown. you almost cannot be badly dressed for this occasion. if you come before 9pm you might get a (very) personal service, the young and motivated service staff is always kind and attentive.

of course we'd read about the cuisine of the katz orange. the boss in the kitchen is a cook who had worked with an other famous former michelin-starred german chef. we had pork that was simmered for 12 hours at very low temperature: you don't need a knife to part this meat, unbelievable tender. thereto a variety of delicious garnishes was served. value for money is very good in this location although you have to calculate with 80 to 100 euros for a nice dinner for two. it's useful to make a reservation in advance.

the bottom line is that the a visit at the katz orange is a great possibility to leave all your cares behind. an explicit recommendation by me!

cu, trshptr

1509 - spectatorship

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f4.0 | ISO100 | 1/1600 | lightroom 4.1

we arrived at half past ten in the morning. the parking areas were already jammed and many people were sitting in traffic on the roads to the berlin expocenter airport. i just waked up a few minutes ago and we had finally reached the berlin air show 2012, the ila 2012, after an eleven hour bus ride overnight.

the night wasn't so bad. of course i waked up a couple of times but luckily i was able to get back to sleep within a few minutes repeatedly. tina had the whole last seat row all to herself and i made myself comfortable beneath it. that way we spent the night and arrived in berlin mostly rested and without huge pain.

fortunately solely the show itself was worth the long journey: both the dynamic and the static display were pretty to watch although the shown was nothing new for me. all the more tina was very enthusiastic about the performance of man and machine. and also among themselves the participants spectated their shows and held their deeds in veneration.

and now into the city!

cu, trshptr

0608 - coming out of the mist

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f5.6 | ISO100 | 1/125 | lightroom 4.1

till thursday evening i'm on business trip again, but this time really for a nice purpose: within the scope of the preservation of my certifications as an instructor for general sports i have to participate in at least one course every two years. that's why this week i'm going to improve my skills in climbing and mountain biking, wherefore i'm currently located close to the austrian border in the karwendel mountains next to the town mittenwald.

i know, i already told you, but let me point that out again: i like the mountains very much! if furthermore moody weather conditions attend to hills, rocks and mountains, i'm completely satisfied. in my opinion mountains and mist go very well together.

in today's pic you can see the western karwendel summit, that i can view almost completely without leaving my accommodation.

cu, trshptr

2907 - dripping soft

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f5.6 | ISO100 | 1/80 | lightroom 4.1

one of my favourite scenes (not only) in the mountains is the wood, especially if it is located at the slope. when we descended back to our car today at noontide heavy fog was gathering in the valley of galtuer.

a fresh coldness is noticeable when the fog blanket overruns you. the contrasts become soft, the air flavours of soil. i'm an absolute fan of sceneries like that. in these cases i think back to the times when nature wasn't disturbed by any handmade environmentally unfriendly points. everytime an original nature feeling expatiates, everything is dripping soft. love it!

cu, trshptr

2807 - schottensee

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f8.0 | ISO100 | 1/250 | lightroom 4.1

getting up very early at weekends is really difficult, especially if you didn't go to bed before midnight. today in the morning the alarm was ringing at 5am. we still had to prepare the packed lunch and at 6am we would like to depart towards austria together with our friends martin and jule.

after a two hours drive we reached galtuer where we had breakfast picnic in the sun, before we began to ascend to the alpine hut friedrichshafener huette (2.138m), where we are going to spend the night. we were received very courteously, had a warm drink and a soup and waited there for the end of the rain, that had set in at 11am. ongoing our afternoon walk led us to the ridge schafsbicheljoch (2.636m) and the summit vertinespleiskopf (2.706m), from where we had a stunning view over the schottensee into the valley fasultal.

despite the bad forecasts from last week the weather gods were well tempered so that we had a really nice day, almost without wearing our rainjackets.

and the evening in the alpine hut will be even better.

cu, trshptr

3006 - scepticism

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f2.8 | ISO100 | 1/800 | lightroom 4.1

today in the evening we fortunately landed safely in portugal after we had to stomach a very turbulent flight from memmingen to faro. i've never seen clouds like that, 6 to 8 kilometers high cumulus clouds were piercing through two to three layers of cirrus clouds. we really had an unbelievable view through the windows. sadly the employees of the airline had forgotten to clean them, so no picture of this spectacle turned out really well.

anyhow the little lady in front of mine marveled at the view, so please think your way into her mind by interpreting her facial expression.

cu, trshptr