POD - Z in the Sky

POD - Volume 3, Edition 48
31 December 2008
Sign and Tower at Zollverein Coking Plant, Essen, Germany

POD - More Zollverein Flowers

POD - Volume 3, Edition 47
30 December 2008
Flowers Reclaiming Zollverein Coking Plant, Essen, Germany

POD - Anthro Arch

POD - Volume 3, Edition 46
29 December 2008
Anthropomorphic Architecture at Zollverein Coking Plant, Essen, Germany

POD - Gasometer

POD - Volume 3, Edition 45
28 December 2008
Looking Up Inside the Gasometer, Oberhausen, Germany

POD - Which Way?

POD - Volume 3, Edition 44
27 December 2008

Directing Arrows at Zollverein Coking Plant, Essen, Germany

POD - Sinterplatz on the Emscher

POD - Volume 3, Edition 43
26 December 2008

Reflection of the Sinterplatz in the Emscher, Landschaftspark, Duisburg-Nord, Germany

POD - Sledding

POD - Volume 3, Edition 42
25 December 2008
Sledding with the Family, Portland, Oregon

POD - Turbine Quartet

POD - Volume 3, Edition 41
24 December 2008
Colorful Turbines at Landschaftspark, Duisburg-Nord, Germany

POD - Steel Ikea

POD - Volume 3, Edition 40
23 December 2008

Ikea Sits Among New and Old Steel Plants, Duisburg-Nord, Germany

POD - Coke Wheel

POD - Volume 3, Edition 39
23 December 2008
Viewing Wheel at Zollverein Coking Plant, Essen, Germany

POD - Coke Batteries

POD - Volume 3, Edition 38
21 December 2008
Atop Coke Batteries at Zollverein Coking Plant, Essen, Germany

POD - Cloudy Sunset

POD - Volume 3, Edition 37
20 December 2008
Smoky Emissions near Landschaftspark, Duisburg-Nord, Germany

POD - Zollverein Flowers

POD - Volume 3, Edition 36
19 December 2008
Flowers at Zollverein Coal Mine, Essen, Germany

POD - Wall Flower

POD - Volume 3, Edition 35
30 November 2008Flower inside Wallenstein Gardens, Prague, Czech Republic

POD - Prague Castle

POD - Volume 3, Edition 34
29 November 2008Night View of Prague Castle, Prague, Czech Republic

POD - Prague People

POD - Volume 3, Edition 33
28 November 2008People on the Street, Prague, Czech Republic

POD - Namesti Miru

POD - Volume 3, Edition 32
26 November 2008Saint Ludmila Church in Namesti Miru, Prague, Czech Republic

POD - Prague Cemetary

POD - Volume 3, Edition 31
25 November 2008Door to the Jewish Cemetery, Prague, Czech Republic

POD - Sun Through Windows

POD - Volume 3, Edition 30
24 November 2008
Setting Sun atop Petrin Tower, Prague, Czech Republic

POD - Wallenstein Gardens

POD - Volume 3, Edition 29
23 November 2008Inside Wallenstein Gardens, Prague, Czech Republic

POD - British Museum

POD - Volume 3, Edition 28
28 September 2008

Inside the British Museum, London, UK

POD - Westminster

POD - Volume 3, Edition 27
26 September 2008

Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster, London, UK

POD - Trafalgar Lion

POD - Volume 3, Edition 26
24 September 2008

Lion in the Sun at Trafalgar Square, London, UK

POD - LCDR Bridge

POD - Volume 3, Edition 25
22 September 2008

Pier of the London Chatham and Dover Railway Bridge, London, UK

POD - Plitvice Overlook

POD - Volume 3, Edition 24
20 September 2008

Overlook of Lakes at Plitvice Lakes NP, Croatia

POD - Russian Cemetery

POD - Volume 3, Edition 23
18 September 2008

Russian Section of the City Cemetery, Copenhagen, Denmark

POD - Freiburg Buildings

POD - Volume 3, Edition 22
16 September 2008

City Center Structures in Freiburg, Germany

POD - Forest Hut

POD - Volume 3, Edition 21
14 September 2008

An Old Hut in the Woods, Paklenica NP, Croatia

POD - Guinness Time

POD - Volume 3, Edition 20
12 September 2008

A Thirsty Man near the Guiness Factory, Dublin, Co. Dublin

POD - Bolts and Rivets

POD - Volume 3, Edition 19
10 September 2008

Bolts and Rivets on the Tower Bridge, London, UK

POD - NP Paklenica

POD - Volume 3, Edition 18
07 September 2008

Entrance to Nacionalni Park Paklenica, Croatia

POD - Rathlin Sunset

POD - Volume 3, Edition 17
05 September 2008

Sunset over Rathlin Island, Co. Antrim

POD - Copenhagen Gravestone

POD - Volume 3, Edition 16
03 September 2008

Gravestone in the Nørrebro Cemetery, Copenhagen, Denmark

POD - BMW Munchen

POD - Volume 3, Edition 15
1 September 2008

Old BMW Headquarters, Munich, Germany

POD - Croatian Snail

POD - Volume 3, Edition 14
10 August 2008
Snail near Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

POD - Salzburg Overlook

POD - Volume 3, Edition 13
8 August 2008

Flowers Overlooking Salzburg, Austria

POD - Sankt Pauls Kirke

POD - Volume 3, Edition 12
6 August 2008
Approaching Sankt Pauls Kirke, Copenhagen, Denmark

POD - Plitvice Lakes

POD - Volume 3, Edition 11
4 August 2008

View over Waterfalls at Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

POD - Six Feet

POD - Volume 3, Edition 10
23 July 2008

Six Feet Above the Sea, Mourne Mountains, Co. Down

POD - Salzburg Bastion

POD - Volume 3, Edition 9
21 July 2008

Part of the Bastion, Salzburg, Austria

POD - Porthole

POD - Volume 3, Edition 8
19 July 2008

Porthole View of Rathlin Island, Co. Antrim

POD - Purple Orchid

POD - Volume 3, Edition 7
17 July 2008

Purple Orchid, Paklenica National Park, Croatia

POD - Cloudy Croatian Canyon

POD - Volume 3, Edition 6
15 July 2008

View down Canyon, Paklenica National Park, Croatia

POD - Tubingen Church

POD - Volume 3, Edition 5
13 July 2008

High Above die Stiftskirche, Tübingen, Germany

POD - Mourne Wall

POD - Volume 3, Edition 4

09 July 2008
The Wall, Mourne Mountains, Co. Down

POD - Newcastle Bridge

POD - Volume 3, Edition 3
08 July 08

Bridge near Newcastle, Co. Down

POD - Ripples

POD - Volume 3, Edition 2
07 July 2008

Flowing Water in Tollymore Forest Park, Co. Down

POD - Sunrise and Seagull

POD - Volume 3, Edition 1
06 July 2008

Sunrise from Cliffs, Rathlin Island, Co. Antrim

Journal - Europe Trip Pictures

I have updated the journal entries below, about my recent Europe Trip, with pictures. Enjoy!

Journal - Freiburg, London, and The Long Journey Home

Dear loyal readers, you were more aware than I of the incomplete published ending to my three-week hop around parts of Europe. To remedy this large gap, and to discredit any rumours that I had disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle, I will now briefly document my final week of travels.

Monday 16
After briefly exploring the unnaturally quiet Duisburg downtown, I enjoyed a quick and scenic trip south along the Rhine River with its geographically-constrained villages and castles. After meeting my friend in Frieburg, I was exposed to the "enthusiasm" of youthful German fussboll fans. Deutschland!

Tuesday 17
A day that threatened to rain led us to travel to Basel, Switzerland, to visit a museum dedicated to Swiss artist Jean Tinguely, containing many of his famous "kinetic art:" sculptures of junk attached to a motor. Highlights: a machine you could walk through, one that played music, monsters made from fire-scarred metal and animal skulls, and (my personal favorite) a mechanical representation of a high bar Olympic gymnast's routine.

Wednesday 18
Further exploring of Frieburg by bicycle yielded a city with very different transportation priorities than most US metropoli: no cars allowed in the city center, no bikes allowed in the pedestrian heart. That evening, on my way to London, I visited France for less than five minutes as I walked from the airport bus stop to the Swiss side of the airport.

Thursday 19
What does someone like me do when in London? Clearly, first stop would be to sit in on a session of the House of Parliament at Westminster, discussing the ever-important complaints of some small town residents over "excessive ringing" of church bells. You would be correct to assume that the second stop would be the London Transport Museum. And yes, finally, one would visit and photograph the Tower Bridge just before sunset, and lots of other Thames River bridges for that matter.

Friday 20
Because I only had half a day left in London, I hurried through the British Museum, quickly noting Minoan pottery, Mayan jade, the Rosetta Stone, and pieces of the Parthanon. Not too long afterwards I was on my 2-hour ride to the airport, and finally back to Belfast by sunset.

Saturday 21
Tying up loose ends in Belfast in only one day meant getting my bags from storage (a friend), visiting the city market, and tasting one last whisky with friends. I was sad to wave goodbye to Belfast the city, but very welcome to say goodbye to the cold rainy weather.

Sunday-Monday 22-23
I combine these two days because they were supposed to be one. The seven-hour flight across the ocean went quite smoothly until, on approach to Newark, we went into a holding pattern to wait for thunderstorms to skedaddle. Unfortunately, they did not obey before we ran out of fuel and were forced to land on an Air Force base in New York. Of course, we had to wait for a thunderstorm to arrive and depart our area before refueling could commence. We finally landed at Newark after a quick hop, but our wait was not over yet. First, no gate was ready. Then another thunderstorm dropped blinding rain and golf-ball-sized hail. Finally we exited the plane after 13 hours on board. I would have thought that a 4.5-hour layover would be enough to transfer planes, but alas, I just missed the Portland flight. Luckily my airline provided a hotel room for the night and a seat on next mornings's flight. Thus, I enjoyed an unexpected lovely night somewhere 30 minutes from Newark, New Jersey, on my way home.

Journal - Copenhagen and the Ruhrgebiet

Wednesday 11
Among hiding from the occasional rain shower, I explored the city of Copenhagen, an old fortress, an old graveyard (with Hans Christian Anderson inside, or what´s left of him), and a massive coin collection dating back to Roman times.

Thursday 12
On my final day in Copenhagen, I enjoyed a fine view of the city from atop a spiral tower, a museum collections about Danish history, and some Danish pastries. And I successfully avoided being run over by bicycles.

Friday 13
Luckily, this unlucky day didn't turn out as such, and I had a safe flight to Dusseldorf, Germany. From there I went a short distance north to the city of Duisburg, located where the Ruhr River flows into the Rhine River, in the midst of a large industrial region called the Ruhrgebiet. I spent the day and night exploring and climbing about an steel making site that has been preserved in a good state of decay and turned into a cultural and recreational park. The view from atop the blast furnace ("hochofen") was impressive, as was the entire site when lit up at night.

Saturday 14
The following day I caught a train to the nearby town of Oberhausen, and spent a while at a museum describing the industrial history of the area. I then visited what they call a "gasometer," a very large tank that used to store some of the gas products from coal and steel processes. Today this one is an art exhibition space, and has an elevator which took me up to a dizzying view of the region.

Sunday 15
I concluded my Ruhrgebiet sandwich of site-museum-site with a visit to an old coal mine and coke factory site called Zollverein, nearby in Essen (the namesake of the Southwestern Pennsylvania town Monessen, aptly located on the Monongahela River). I took a tour of the "kokerei," including walking through a series of coke ovens. Cool, I mean hot!

I am now in Freiburg, Germany, visiting a high school friend. After a couple of days I will go to London for two more days, before returning to Belfast, then Portland, and finally Pittsburgh.

Journal - Trieste and Croatia

Hello again, and greetings from Copenhagen, Denmark. Sorry for no news the past week or so, but (as you will see below) an internet connection is difficult to find in the wildernesses of Croatia. So here goes!

Thursday 5
I arrived in Trieste, Italy early in the morning, and decided to depart that evening for a Croatian town just down the coast, Rijeka. I was amazed at the number of motor-scooters that were driving all over the busy city! Most of my day was spent in the area surrounding a suburb, Villa Opicina. To get there I took a tram (streetcar) which turned into a funicular in the middle! I then visited a (not really nearby) cave, which was a good experience, although I wish I had known I could take the bus there instead of walking for over an hour. The views of the city from on top of the hill near Opicina were much more beautiful than the city itself.

Friday 6
Croatia day one. After spending the night in a nice private room in an old apartment building down by the docks of Rijeka, I caught a bus further down the coast to Paklenica National Park. It is known for having great rock-climbing routes, but I was more interested in all the hiking opportunities. I then proceeded to hike into the park towards a hut a few hours away. It turned into an hour longer than expected because I had to take shelter from a thunderstorm. I eventually made it, and had enough time to go on a small hike to a wonderful overlook of the park before returning, eating dinner, and watching the first match of Euro2008 (soccer tourney). The hut was not plush, but did have that amenity.

Saturday 7
Saturday I spent hiking through the park, eventually reaching the highest point in the Velebit Mountain range, Vaganski Vrh at 1757m. From the top were amazing views in all directions, including out to the numerous islands offshore. The rain held off for the most part, but fog kept hiding and revealing amazing views and steep drop-offs all along the trails. I was glad to relax that evening, and sleep early.

Sunday 8
I left my mountain retreat early in the morning and headed back down to the coast road to catch the bus to Zadar and then to Plitvice National Park with two other American travellers I had met a few days before. We arrived too late in the day for the park, so we crashed nearby for the night.

Monday 9
My last full day in Croatia was beautiful too. Plitvice was a much more touristy park, but I would say slightly more beautiful than Paklenica (although the beauty was much less rewarding). It is located around a series of crystal-clear blue lakes with numerous cascading waterfalls linking them. In "Myst"-like fashion, the paths, made of uneven wooden planks, weaved around and over all of the lakes and cascades. I was trying to be restrained, but I still took too many pictures. That evening, I caught a bus to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, and found a hostel for the night.

Tuesday 10
I had a bit of time before I had to get to the Zagreb airport in the morning, so I walked to a nearby market and aquired some good bread and delicious strawberries. Food seemed very inexpensive, at least in comparison to what I had to pay in the UK. I had a five-hour layover in Berlin on my way to Copenhagen, so I used the time (and the wonderful warm and windy weather) to read outside and dry my wet clothes. The plane was a bit late, so I arrived and had enough time to get to the hostel and check in before falling asleep last night.

Journal - Germany and Salzburg

Greetings from rainy Salzburg, Austria! I have made it this far on my three-week journey, and its been great! Except for the occasional rain the last few days. I´ll make this relatively quick.

Saturday 31
This day was mostly a travel day, with a long layover in London-Heathrow en route to Stuttgart, Germany. I had plenty of time to visit every store in the terminal, and be amazed and jealous of the expensive chocolate and $12,000 bottle of 50-year-old whiskey.

Sunday 1
I had a full day in Stuttgart to explore the city, so I spent the morning at Wilhelma, the city zoo and botanic gardens, trying to learn the German names for animals. "Der Braunbär" or "Das Flusspferd" for example. Then I investigated the city´s transport system, including a trip up on the "seilbahn" (funicular), a walk through a forest, and a trip down on the "zahnradbahn" (cog-railroad).

Monday 2
I caught an early-morning train to the nearby university-town of Tübingen, where I met a friend from Belfast who studies there. She led me on an excellent tour of the neat and bustling little city, including good views over the houses, a trip to the schloss, and ice cream next to the river. That evening I met some of her Biology friends and ate a traditional local dinner: käse-spetzle (a homemade pasta with cheese)...delicious! The next morning before I left we also had another delicacy: strawberry-quark.

Tuesday 3
Yesterday I caught a morning train from Stuttgart to München to visit another Belfast friend who lives nearby. He showed me all around the city, including the glockenspiel, the city gates, the river and English Gardens, and the Olympic park and tower (with a great view of the city, and even a bit of the Alps). We even saw some urban surfing! We also ate well: weißwurst and weißbier mixed with lemonade. Mmm!

Wednesday 4
Today I got a ride to Salzburg with my friend, because he was flying back to Belfast from there. I´m very glad I came to Salzburg, because it is a beautiful and interesting place, even if cloudy all day. I visited the main attraction this morning: a big castle overlooking the town called Festung Hohensalzburg, with great views of the Alps on good days. I also stopped in some massive churches, and walked around the interesting old and narrow streets. This evening I hiked a bit on an urban mountain, and enjoyed dinner on the bastion overlooking the city before the rain chased me into an internet cafe. Now I´m just waiting until my overnight train arrives to take me to Trieste, Italy!

Journal - Europe Trip

So I did not have time to update my previous post about Prague, so that will have to wait a while because I leave tomorrow on a three-week-long journey around parts of Europe! I have but limited time, so I will give you a summary of my plans.

I will start with a day or so in Stuttgart, Germany, then visit a friend in the nearby university town of Tubingen. After a short stay I will hurry over to Munich, Germany, for a quick visit with another friend. From there I have left my plans open, giving myself almost a week to somehow make it from Munich to Zagreb, Croatia. From there I fly to Copenhagen, Denmark. After a few days there, I will fly back to Germany and spend a few days exploring steel industry heritage sights in the Ruhr Valley (Ruhrgebeit) near Duisburg. I'll then take a train south to Freiburg, Germany, to visit yet another friend. From there I will fly to London for a couple of days before finally returning to Belfast and shortly thereafter chasing the sun home to the United States and to Portland. For those of you in the 'Burgh, I will arrive in Pittsburgh on July 2nd.

Although this is a vacation (or "holidays" as they say here), I will try to occasionally describe my progress and experiences. Now I should go, because I leave in about 6 hours and I still need to pack. Cheers!

Journal - Prague

Greetings from sunny and warm Prague! I don't have much time left on the internet, so I'll make this short. Prague is wonderful, and reminds me a lot of Pittsburgh in its geography, except with grander/older buildings and a better public transport system. I will update this post when I return to Belfast in the next few days, but here is a sneak peak:
- hanging out in a jazz club,
- seeing Mars through a telescope,
- watching the sunset overlooking the city,
- riding in a funicular!
There will be more to come, so stay tuned!

POD - Tollymore Forest Park

POD - Volume 2, Edition 28
21 May 2008

Waterfall Under Old Bridge, Tollymore Forest Park, Co. Down

POD - Newgrange

POD - Volume 2, Edition 27
20 May 2008

Newgrange Passage Tomb, Bru na Boinne, Co. Meath