Nature and Landscapes

Petrified Virgins At Night

Herbrechtingen is a small town in Germany - and just outside of it, there are these stone pillars. It's a nice 20 min walk through the german countryside to get here, and there is literally nothing else around, but the strange formation is worth it. Here is the legend of that place in a nutshell: There was a castle with a princess. She was pretty but also very proud, no one was good enough for her. She became old and men weren't interested in her anymore. The princess started to hate all men. The princess forbids her two female servants to have anything to do with men. The two servants would once a day go and fetch water from the river and return to the castle for a full winter, without incident. In spring, the servants hear singing on their daily walk, follow it, find a fisherman, spent time with him, and are happy. The princess suspects something's up, follows them, gets into a rage, and screams 'Become stone! This shall be your punishment'. The two servants turned to stone - and those are the two spikes you see here in the image. The story ends with lightning destroying the castle and killing the princess. Love the good old happy ending stories of old... Phill

Sahara Views

Here is another view from that balloon ride we did in the Saraha in Egypt. There is a little building in that rockface for scale.

Simple Bavarian Hiking

While I don't like snow, I do like a good hike through the mountains - mainly for the amazing photos one can take! Here I was on the way to the so-called Partnachklamm in Bavaria - or maybe the Höllentalklamm? I went to a couple so I am not sure. Either way - getting there was fun! You park your car basically where I am standing in this photo and start hiking up the mountain area. See the path there? We didn't take this one - Instead, we asked google what's the right way as there wasn't a lot of signage. Google led us up a path that was so damn hard, I was drenched within 10 minutes. Whenever we would see people on our path, they looked like they had the most relaxing time and I just didn't understand how I am so exhausted and others (elderly and kids alike) seemed totally fine. Well, turns out the path that we went up was the hard path that you are supposed to take downhill after you are done with your hike. There is a way easier straight path that we completely missed that leads you up - which we used to go down in the end. Pictures of the actual hike and Klamm will follow soon! Phill

The Carriers Break

I don't think I need to explain what these are. I went into the smaller one on the left - and let me say, being nearly 2 meters tall (I think that's like 2 washing machines in the US) is not a benefit when walking into a tomb. You walk in a crouching position for several minutes, pass some ladders, feel the air getting thick and the temperatures rise as you go in - until you reach a small chamber of maybe 5 by 3 meters. There is no decoration, no ornaments, no wall painting, just a small tombstone and one guy waiting for you. As you arrive, he takes pictures of you with that tombstone - for a price, of course - and you walk back out the way you came in. If you are faced with the choice and you really want to go inside one of the pyramids, choose the smaller one. The larger one is exactly the same, just with longer walks and a higher entrance fee. It's a tomb after all - if you want wall paintings and such, there are enough temples around!

The Way Of The Roots

When nature conquers back the paths we built, we get awesome nature scenes like this!

The Four Seasons

So this might be a little random - but stay with me here. So, somewhere in Bavaria, I was climbing through this valley to reach an awesome waterfall. I did, done. Leading away from the waterfall though was a forest path, so as one does, I followed it. Why is this important? Well, we parked at the top of the waterfall and descended. After following that path for a good while, we reached... a parking space that was way closer to the waterfall. That, and the fact that we actually got fined because we parked where we did instead of using the car park aside, this was the view from this parking space. Having spent a long time in Ireland, I appreciate scenes that seemingly have all four seasons in them. In this case, the little cottage is summer, the forest is autumn, the mountains are winter, and the sky is spring. It's so weird that it almost looks fake - but it's a thing! Phill

Warmer Than The Desert

The Sahara. It is not possible to describe the vastness of this place in words. But I think this picture might give you an idea - this is taken from a hot air balloon, looking at another balloon that's flying through the nothingness of the Sahara in the background. Oh, to the title - if you have never done a ride in one of those balloons, be warned. You think the desert is hot? Think about standing in the desert, inside a hip-high box, and having 8 flame throwers above your head! THAT'S hot! Phill

Quiet Mountains

Looks super chill, doesn't it! This was the last day-stop during an Austria trip - the so-called 'Heiterwanger See'. We stopped among a couple of campers that were gathered in a tent to stay warm and apparently enjoy some (many) drinks - besides that, there was simply nothing but simple quiet. Phill

Somewhere in Austria

To be honest, it happens quite often that I take a photo and after don't remember where it was taken. Usually, I go back to the documents that I use for planning and then it comes back to me - but in this case, this tactic failed. So, lets go with: Look at this pretty mountain with the pretty sunset in pretty Austria! Phill

Crystal Clear View

During a little Austria trip, we stopped between Munich and Fussen at the so-called 'Eibsee'. It's a cute little lake surrounded by forest - and it's just big enough that you can walk around it in 2-3 hours. It was freezing and we got lost in the woods, but worth the effort! By the way, getting lost in the woods there was quite eery - there was no sound other than ice breaking or someone throwing stones on the icy parts of the lake. Nothing more! Creepy. Phill

A Ride Past Autumn

The Koenigssee (King Lake) is one of the more beautiful lakes I have visited. You can't see much of it on foot, but once you take a boat you get to the really scenic views. This shot is taken from a boat - showing the opposite traffic on the water hehe. The autumn colours in the trees were stunning, especially as most of the sides of the mountains were just completely covered in orange and red.

Path Around The Koenigsee

The Koenigssee in Bavaria is amazing! Surrounded by mountains, you can reach the walkable area that you can see in this photo only by boat. Of course, with all the tourists that are usually there, this is all well organised, but it doesn't take away from the impressive sceneries one sees on the way. You'll see more in other pictures of course, hehe. We were there off-season, so there were only a handful of people - just the way the camera likes it.

A Royal View

On a tour through one of Rome's many castles, one can't help but to admire the view the late royals must have had back then! I am sure the phrase 'everything the light touches is yours' comes to mind.

Not Sheeps Head

While having a road trip through Ireland with my friend Ina, we wanted to stop at the iconic Sheeps Head - but we took somewhat of a wrong turn. As a result, we ended up here - close enough and still awesome! The only issue was the 10000 biting little flies and the 95% humidity - you can imagine I was glad to get back to civilization. Phill

A Little Disturbed

There is nothing really special to see here. In fact, I should not have bothered this goat at all - the way this animal stared at me told me everything I need to know - please go away, you're annoying me. Well, so I did, not before taking a snapshot of course. Phill

The Shepherd's Herd

Taking a road trip through Ireland is lovely - here we stopped for a second to take pictures of the peak of a hill that was completely submerged into clouds - but turning around was also worth it! This shepherd here just changed pasture with his sheep - making for a perfect Irish scene. Phill

Carved Through Bedrock

Ireland has loads of those long neverending roads. They seem endless and can be quite eery at times. With the empty countryside and a little bit of fog one could swear this is the beginning of a horror movie or thriller. Phill

Ahab And The Whale

Here is just one of the many small islands off the southwest of Ireland. It does look a little bit like a whale to me - thoughts?

Through The Key Hole

Sorrento is a lovely place - Having a build-in cliff, you can walk down these rather dark stairs through them and reach this outlook. Yes, you need a torch. Yes, you may need to walk super slow not so slip - but its worth it! Phill

No Space To Sit

This was taken in a cacti garden in Monaco - soooooo many cacti!! This whole Jardin is absolutely beautiful. It takes about an hour or so to walk through the place, and the plants really give every scene an amazing edge. -Phill

A Place With No Name

... Not because this is some sort of mystical place - but simply because I cannot remember the name! This is a common problem of mine. When travelling, I see a lot and move a lot. But if I do not write down the names of the places I have visited, they slip my mind. As a result, I end up with a great sunset and memory, but without having the name of the actual place. I am sure there are some brain training techniques...