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

2309 - zigzag

setup: sony nex 7 with sel 50 f1.8 | 50mm | f8.0 | ISO100 | 1/100 | lightroom 4.1

yesterday i told you that we're already feeling at home in the region of liguria and also in our cottage. today in the morning we saw people that have to be at home on the go. stark contraries.

la spezia is supposed to be the ugly duckling of the region of liguria. wrongheaded architecture and dirty suburbs are supposedly defining. despite the fact that la spezia is the second biggest city in liguria with 90k inhabitants, the visitors should steer clear of la spezia. so much for tourist theory. today i've got to know liguria as an interesting and authentic town with a great harbour. because of napoleon who realised la spezia's strategic location, still today the italian military and the local economy use the harbour for their purposes.

one of them are the fishermen who are very special people. in their cases a hard life and working conditions on the sea are paired with being constantly on the go and a minimum of comfort in the duty. although i'm very interested in their work and despite the fact that i'd willingly like to participate in their doings for some days or weeks i wouldn't be prepared for the very challenging peculiarities of the attending circumstances.

in the afternoon we were swimming in the sea at the beach of bonassola, one of the few big wave surf spots in italy. so today was really no up and down like the zigzag of the changing cubicle design but a straight and steady increase.

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

2109 - blue rain

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f2.8 | ISO125 | 1/60 | lightroom 4.1

unfortunately today was already our last day in south tirol. there are definitely some points that we will miss in the second part of our holidays in liguria:

first of all we will shed tears over the wonderful ortler alps, that are simply feast for the eyes. during our today's walk to the rosimboden almost 2500 metres above the sea level we had a great view over the valley of sulden across the huge kings of the ortler alps - the koenigsspitze, the zebru and the ortler itself. of course i've captured this absolutely idyllic postcard view in a panoramic photograph. to marvel at the three mountains in its perfect beauty in the described order from left to right please click here.

marginal note: the panorama function of the nex 7 works very, very well in good light conditions. as for me there's no need for wider lenses in this cases!

the second fact that we'll probably miss in liguria is the wellness world of our hotel. our guesthouse is very clean, tidy and beautifully furnished and the spa is supposed to be completely modernised. a sauna, a steam bath and a whirlpool complete the regeneration after a long day in the mountains. a special gimmick in the wellness area is the terrific rain shower that is illuminated in blue colour and spreading a fresh fragrance at the push of a button.

the sight is conveyable, but you have to fancy the smell.

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

1809 - huh?

setup: sony nex 7 with sigma 30 f2.8 ex dn | 30mm | f3.2 | ISO100 | 1/1250 | silver efex pro for lightroom

today was packing day. tomorrow morning we'll sally towards italy. first we are going to spend a few days of hiking in the ortler alps and afterwards we'll regenerate while relaxing by the mediterranean sea in liguria. we both are thrilled to bits. we simply can't get enough of travelling.

at the beginning of the week we took temporary farewell of kingston, the dog of our neighbours. during a long walk in the sunset we got over the the first vacation stress. haha, of course there was no stress yet, but prevention is better than clemency. dog walking with kingston is a real pleasure - he is attentive, mostly on orders and a big funster. he's a great companion although only a temporary one for us.

if there is any internet connection almost two kilometres above sea level i'll report with the daily pic from south tirol tomorrow.

cu, trshptr

1709 - zest for life

setup: sony nex 7 with fujian 35 f1.7 | 35mm | f1.8 | ISO100 | 1/160 | lightroom 4.1

attention: next up is strict personal content, maybe you'll be bored to death.

i'm 28 and childless. the thing is not that i don't like kids. quite the contrary i really enjoy the presence of babies and children. at the present i'm simply not yet prepared to give the majority of my personal freedom up. indeed likely a time will come when i'm differently minded. so basically it cannot be ruled out that tina and i will be parents somewhen.

till then i delight in my mates' kids. although mika is definitely not the easiest baby around the world he's simply cuddly and absolutely lovable.

*boringandstrictpersonalcontentoff*

cu, trshptr

btw: i especially like the technical imperfection of today's pic. the blur expresses the joy, the movement of the captured scene and his zest for life perfectly.

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