0508 - country portrait

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f3.2 | ISO100 | 1/800 | lightroom 4.1

customs and traditions are different from country to country, even from state to state. where in bavaria the munich beer festival is feasted, in eastern germany the father's day is well-known and in hamburg the people celebrate each birthday of their huge harbour. however the area at lake constance is far-famed for their wine festivals: in september we are going to celebrate the wine festival of our home village - the venue is located directly next to our courtyard. this festival is quasi coming home to us.

not far from our place - half an hour by car - the area around tettnang constitutes an exception: their cultivations aren't about grapes but hops. today the official hops hiking day was executed. four different beer villages were built to entertain and feed the people with food and beer from more than 20 different breweries. this festival was a welcome change to the otherwise executed (booze-)events. between the villages that were distributed on the hills of tettnang you had to walk and in this way you got around to arouse new thirst.

moreover we met nice and interesting people on the ways between the beer villages. above all i spotted a farmer who enjoyed his beer next to his tractor and shot a - in my opinion - really appropriate image for this rural and rustic area.

cu, trshptr

0208 - around the corner

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f8.0 | ISO100 | 1/60 | lightroom 4.1

a building that attracts me already since a few months is the nurses' hostel in friedrichshafen. the corridors are visible from outside through a huge glass facade. living in this big hostel has to feel more or less like living in the big brother house:

too disclosed to feel unobserved and too impersonal to feel home.

cu, trshptr

0107 - flagged

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f2.0 | ISO400 | 1/20 | lightroom 4.1

till wednesday everything revolves about surfing. so at present there is hardly time for other activities because after three hours of surfing you are simply dead.

after a restful sleep of minimum six to seven hours you have to breakfast extensively to accumulate an adequate amount of energy for the first lesson. after the transfer to the surf sport monte clérigo near aljezur at the west coast you complete your equipment and before the action restarts in earnest. three hours of surfing that are divided by a break of round about one hour for lunch.

in the evening we are completely starved and exhausted so much that after another extensive meal in the historic town of lagos in the most cases the next way leads us directly into bed. anyhow one or another photo opportunity falls to me. probably i'm going to zero in on photography in lisbon again.

cu, trshptr

0106 - something different

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f1.8 | ISO1600 | 1/25 | lightroom 4.1

finally we have visitors from central germany: our (best) friends jeen and diet(mar) from frankfurt are currently at our place for a flying visit - unfortunately on sunday they will leave us again for the continuation of their short journey to munich where they will call the concert of paul kalkbrenner, a reasonably famous german dj. for their visit we had to buy in, tidy up, clean house and so on - of course we wanted to receive our guests with open arms and well prepared.

back on topic of yesterday: see that i don't want to allow that the view of bermatingen develops as a completely boring but idyllic world i think that a contrary sight of approximately the same scene of yesterday's image might remedy. let me get this straight - bermatingen is not much different to the rest of germany. pleasure and harm, white and black, lights and shadows, all that is to be expected.

cu, trshptr

3105 - private peek

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f8.0 | ISO200 | 1/100 | lightroom 4.1

in regions with an appropriate social base money is not to be sniffed at. especially the area north of the alps and the lake constance profits clearly by its inherent natural beauty. the amount of money that is received in this way flows mainly back directly into the communes.

you can see this circumstance in any issue of daily life. one noticeable topic is the structural condition of the (most of the old) buildings in the historic townscapes. if you use f.e. the view of the cities in the east of germany as reference for comparison you will find a lot more derelict houses than here in suedbaden. so far, so good.  this comes as no surprise.

but what does that really mean? it seems to be a kind of vicious circle for the affected regions regarding different aspects: either tourists or qualified employees are attracted, therefor their money flows into other regions. so the communes have no funds to modernise their infrastructure, their townscape and so on. which means that everything remains as it is. unfortunately i know this phenomena from different regions of germany, among others my homeland.

the region of the linzgau was never affected by this vicious circle. the historic townscapes are in most cases proper, neat and tidy, even more than 300 years old houses like ours are in a good condition. way back when the municipal administration of our commune bermatingen had understood that buildings like the eichenhof have a great appeal with the tourists and therefor their money.

of course i rejoice at our home, it is individual, full of character and it's a pleasure to live here. i hope you enjoy the private peek, too.

cu, trshptr

2905 - morning bloom

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f2.8 | ISO100 | 1/1600 | lightroom 4

although i'm a huge fan of the dark side of life - autumn, fog and mist, darkness, rain, all things that i go for - currently i'm unable to struggle against the ongoing summer. in the morning everything is still a bit wet of the dew but in the end of may the sun has already risen and the temperature has reached almost 20 degrees when i'm on my way to work by bike.

a wonderful enchanted mansion is located along the way to immenstaad. even if flowers and blossoms are not my favourite scene, i was fooled into interrupting my drive because of the great mix of the corn poppies in the middle of the dreamy cottage garden in front of purple foxgloves and the rising sun in the background.

when i reached work i had donned a protective cloak against stress, mischief and hustle and bustle. days should always start like that.

cu, trshptr

2005 - delicious small fruit

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 28mm | f4.0 | ISO100 | 1/25 | lightroom 4

as i wrote in a former posting at the weekend breakfast amounts to a huge ritual in our household. since two weeks domestic strawberries are available again at last. we had missed these delicious small fruits coming fresh off the regional production!

our thanks have to be conveyed also to the polish temporary workers who are appointed in questionable wage conditions only for the high season. to be honest: i would accept the circumstance that a lug costs twice as much if either the employers would raise the wage of the polish harvest hands or more local workers would be hired.

cu, trshptr

1905 - the arab

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 18mm | f5.6 | ISO400 | 1/160 | lightroom 4

some things can't be rolled back.

today we met a very interesting and kind man at the middle ages market near ueberlingen and unfortunately i hadn't asked which country his homeland is. he looked like an arab, maybe he is from morocco or egypt. we are never going to know.

ok, no reason to be at odds, the most important questions were discussed. the seller - he offered different spices from around the world - told us a lot about his different products, spices from india, morocco, tunesia, france and so on, spices like masala, peppers, harissa, cardamom and different other oriental powders. due to his great consultation we finally bought two little bags of different salts.

really an amicable meeting with you, kind arab.

1605 - ray of hope

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 18mm | f3.5 | ISO800 | 1/20 | lightroom 4

actually every week should have only 3 business days. because on thursday all the fathers - and the future ones - will paint the town red most of the employers allow a day off on friday: i really love the spring with its awful lot of feast and bridge days...

after a dinner at a new turkish restaurant in friedrichshafen we headed for the bar "lichtblick" in markdorf. its name has different english translations - f.e. it could mean blink or bright spot. if you look at the pic you can confirm that this translation could be appropriate for this location.

furthermore it could be called ray of hope or silver lining in english what in my opinion fits even better than the direct translation. the bar lichtblick is one of the rare rays of hope in the forlorn nightlife of the area around lake constance.

cu, trshptr

0605 - cool down

setup: canon eos 400d with efs 18-55mm | 27mm | f4.0 | ISO200 | 1/125 | lightroom 4

after our weekend rituals like having a lie-in, a great breakfast and the soccer match at the afternoon tina and i went to a village fair in markdorf, called dixiefest. it is a yearly trade festival, all shops have opened till 6pm although the day of the event is always sunday.

we had a get-together with nice people, above all the coffee specialist who explained us everything about coffee roasting won our hearts. after the roasting process in the cylinder the beans have to cool down in the catch tank. at that the beans are stirred vigorously. it's too bad that pics don't smell.

cu, trshptr