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I welcome you here to a brand new concept. Many members here will post images and pictures which are available to anybody with a simple google search. This Thread here is different. It has one very important rule. The pictures here must be taken by you and nobody else. Here you will find a selection of pictures which we have all taken at some point whether it be on our travels or at home
 These pictures can be of anything, however another rule I would ask you all to respect is the privacy of others. I will not be posting any images of myself or any of my friends, family etc. I ask all who participate on this Thread to do likewise unless they have obtained permission beforehand to post content with those you know. You will also have to use an image uploader site such as Post Image in order that your photography collection is displayed as only google searches will support such picture links (which none of you will be using ofcourse) My first batch of pictures is from Berlin July 2014 and Miltenberg July 2016 which I managed to capture with my smart phone I was particularly happy with the 2nd last photo, I know it looks too professional to be taken by an amateur as I was indeed shocked and very happy when I seen how this photo turned out. I look forward to seeing what the other members on this forum have to share  Any pictures which resemble a google search will be purely coincidental and I ask all to post with honesty so as to keep the tone of this Thread authentic. A brief summery of your uploads would be welcome so as to keep the Thread interesting and informative. All budding photographers you now have a chance to display your work *Lastly please no repeat posts, every post here should be original without the need for duplication* [hidden image - please register] [hidden image - please register] [hidden image - please register] [hidden image - please register] [hidden image - please register] |
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South Africa; Port Elisabeth beaches:
[hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] A BMW, meermaids and bikini girls made of sand: [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] In the right place at the right time; A spectacular view and probably belongs to the finest photos I've ever shot: [hidden link - please register] |
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South Africa; Port Elisabeth
The historic King Edward Hotel in Port Elisabeth: Only three stars, but clean, quite historic and definitely a nice place to stay. Free breakfast and free parking included. [hidden link - please register] The beauty of South Africa: [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] They've build pyramids there as well, but slightly smaller than in Egypt: [hidden link - please register] Port Elisabeth; Town hall: [hidden link - please register] |
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South Africa
In the year 2003 I had quite a horrible experience with a black crossed viper. It happened during a military exercise in Tyrol, didn't end well for both of us (considerably worse for the viper) and still gives me some frightening nightmares now and then. Since then I'm a little bit terrified of everything dangerous and especially poisonous our planets impressive wildlife has to offer. Avoid countries & places where you can run into dangerous animals is almost on top of my personal priority list. Almost at par with "Don't marry the wrong woman (again)". Well, back then when we or better she decided where to spend our honeymoon it had to be South Africa. Whatever I suggested - Florence, Venice, Rome, Paris - everything was rejected immediately. A sign of things to come in the following years, but of course I didn't know that at that point... So, South Africa. A place where humans are not on top of the foodchain - even much, much worse: If luck is not on your side, then you can become a part of the foodchain. Scorpions, tarantulas, a couple of highly poisonous snakes, even tiny mosquitos can kill you and thats are just the small animals. Then there are really big cats, crocodiles, hippos (yes, they are dangerous), rhinos, elephants, deadly jellyfish, sharks and that is just the beginning... So, please be very careful there! When there are warning signs, there's mostly a very good reason why and it is clearly in your own interest to pay attention to them! If you manage to avoid being killed or eaten by the fauna there and you can put your constant fear of dying aside for a few minutes, then the word "paradise" comes imho pretty close to describe most parts of South Africa. The next bunch of photos will show you that, South Africa is truly amazing, but the country comes with some light & lots of shadows (high crime rate & an unbelievable poverty that makes it difficult to even find words to describe it)... [hidden link - please register] Don't come to close - nothing wrong in keeping a safe distance! [hidden link - please register] Three chickens in 20 seconds, time for a midday nap: [hidden link - please register] Usually not dangerous, attacking only to protect the young ones, but can run very,very fast: [hidden link - please register] Dangerous animals everywhere: [hidden link - please register] |
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Amsterdam - the Venice of the North?
Tourism advertising often uses the prestigious title "Venice of the North" quite a lot to promote Amsterdam. Sure, it is an easily remembered catchphrase, maybe a bit unimaginative. In my opinion it is an unfair comparison and yes, there are some similarities between both cities: - famous canals (the "grachts" in The Netherlands) - both cities are build on water and - both cities are very beautiful with a rich history and loads of culture - both cities are very unique - in their own way When it comes to numbers Amsterdam offers even more canals (more than 150) & bridges (about 1200) than Venice, but besides that both cities are very different. Venice is more a romantic place like right out of a fairytale, whereas Amsterdam is a much more modern, vibrant and I have to add very clean city. [hidden link - please register] Almost one million people are living in the capital of The Netherlands and it is a very cosmopolitian, open-minded & liberal place. One of the first things you will probably notice in Amsterdam is the surprisingly relaxed atmosphere. Although it is a big city, the people seem a bit more laid-back & easy-going than elsewhere. The Dutch are usually friendly & polite, but very direct and straightforward. If they don't like something, you can be sure they'll tell you very quickly. For example: Tourists who speak of Amsterdam as "Venice of the North". Please keep that in mind!  Unlike their german neighbours the Dutch have a great sense of humour and most of them can even be quite funny very often. Hopefully some of it can rub off on the germans and they can also start to develop some sense of humour in the next 300-400 years. If they just would cut back on their relentless striving for absolute perfection & efficiency a little bit and let the Dutch teach them about the unknow mystery "humour"... [hidden link - please register] Another imho strange thing and for whatever reasons quite popular in the Netherlands are clogs. That is some sort of wooden footwear, wooden shoes and they sell them everywhere in Amsterdam. Six Million pairs of them every year. I guess it's a "touristy-thing" to buy them. Never seen any dutch people wearing them and I can only advise you: Stay away from clogs, they're are dangerous and if you don't wanna add "break a leg" to your list of things to do in the Netherlands, don't let them come near your feet. Speaking about safety - you don't have to worry about your own safety much in Amsterdam. It belongs to the Top 25 of the worlds safest cities with a much lower crime rate than most other capital-cities of the world. Nonetheless a few things of importance regarding your own safety: 1. As a pedestrian stay away from the bike lanes - most bicyclists show no mercy 2. Do not get (too) drunk, fall in the canals and drown 3. Cafe or coffee shop is something entirely different in the Netherlands The 2nd point is not a joke! There are no fences around the canals in the city, so please be careful when you are a non-swimmer. Every year there are 10-15 deaths by drowning in the canals, mostly drunk people. If you wanna enjoy a cup of excellent coffee, their amazing freshly made , pastries, pancakes and waffles, delicious dutch food, homemade icecream, then I can highly recommend the Bocca Cafe and the Cafe Lanskroon. If you have a sweet tooth, then then Bocca & Lanskroon are names you will never forget. Amsterdam is famous for a lot of things. Tulips, beer, outstanding museums, beautiful parks and somewhere down the list also for allowing soft drugs like marijuana to be sold in coffee-shops. There we have the clear difference to a cafe now. Coffee shops are pot shops and their primary purpose are to sell soft drugs in small quantities for personal consumption. That doesn't make it legal and legally speaking it is clearly illegal, just the law isn't enforced in Amsterdam. A strange construct and imho not a good solution and you're breaking the law, you're just lucky that the police ignores it. That can be quite a different story in other parts of the Netherlands and of course your homecountry, where you've committed a crime when you get caught by the police with even the tiny amount of 1g cannabis or whatever in your possession. Best and easiest solution imho: Stay away from any drugs from the first to the last day of your life. No drugs - no trouble with the law. The Sea Palace: Serves fresh seafood and also traditional chinese food. Make sure you are hungry enough and go for the full Sea Palace-menu. Don't worry about the weight you sure add on that day and dine like the dutch royals. The food is superb, especially loved the delicous appetizers. Staff & service are extremely friendly and always with a smile on their faces. The prices are surprisingly low and you'll get some excellent value for your money. Usually it is not necessary to reserve a table in advance (I hate that). Amsterdam centrum, direction Oosterdok-something and then it is kind a hard to miss as you can see... [hidden link - please register] Basilica of St. Nicholas church: [hidden link - please register] |
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Dackel0401 wrote:...I'm German and I can confirm this. Actually when reading dutch I understand a lof of words and even some sentences, but understanding when Dutch people are speaking, no way  Not a problem though, the language skills of the Dutch are quite impressive. If you speak english or german, then there is no language-barrier- not at all. Pretty much everybody there speaks english fluently and very often german too...That's right, for tourists there's usually no need to understand or speak Dutch. And Thanks a lot for your pictures here in this thread. Regards Joker |
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As the old saying goes "There's no place like home" and for my part I can say that is 100% correct. Like most of the people in the world I can not even imagine living anywhere else but in the country where I was born. This is my homeland and the place where I belong. Nonetheless once or twice a year I consider it necessary to break out of the daily, usual routine. Traveling and making holidays are not only a possibility to recharge our batteries and have a good time abroad, it's also a good chance to broaden our hopefully not to limited horizons by visiting other countries, cultures and people. Italy has a special place in my heart and will be my favourite, I guess forever, but here is another country I like very much -
The Netherlands In the eighties the rock group "The Nits" had a huge hit with "In the dutch mountains". I have to say that the title of this song is largely misleading and if you come to the Netherlands looking for mountains, then I have to disappoint you heavily - you won't find any. What I've seen of it, the country is incredibly flat. A few modest hills but that's it and if they are considered as mountains, then I have have higher mountains in my garden There is also a passage in the song about a miller on the back of a cow looking for the wind - go figure that out! The country is tiny, less than 42000km2, but more than 17 Mill. people are living there. That means the Netherlands have the highest population density in Europe and that could possibly be an explanation why the Dutch build the houses in the almost cute looking way they do The Netherlands belong to the richest nations in the world with a high cost of living. Amsterdam is one of the most expensive cities I know, but I have to add also one of the most fascinating in many, many aspects. The Netherlands are well known over the world for many things and two of them are bacon and beer. I guess everybody who enjoys a good beer now and then knows Heineken, Amstel or Oranjebloom and the brave of us can give the special brands like "Zombie/Hell & Zombie a try. The country is the worlds second biggest beer-exporter and half of it goes to the US. That maybe partly explains the votes for "President Crazypants" (not that I blame the Dutch for that). The dutch language is similar to german and a lot of german speaking people are quite confident that they are able to at least understand dutch properly. Believe me you don't! If you're lucky you'll understand a couple of words but there's no chance that you'll understand complete sentences. Not a problem though, the language skills of the Dutch are quite impressive. If you speak english or german, then there is no language-barrier- not at all. Pretty much everybody there speaks english fluently and very often german too. Let me show you some pics now before I bore everybody to death: [hidden link - please register] Windmills are the famous landmark of the Netherlands and you'll find hundreds, maybe even thousands of them across the country and plenty of them are still fully functional. I guess Miguel de Cervantes Don Quijote would have a serious problem here, but with some more experience & training I'm sure he could learn to fight windmills a bit more efficiently. Apart from grinding corn the windmills were also used to pump the water out of the country. Quite important when you can consider that +/- 25% of its area are below sea level. A scary thought, isn't it? Today a more sophisticated system of pumping stations, floodgates and dikes have taken over the job of preventing floodings. Windmills, even most of the old ones can be adapted to produce electricity in a very eco-friendly way and meanwhile we should all know that renewable energies are the future... Hopefully! [hidden link - please register] Imho funny looking, narrow houses, but that's how they build them even when there is more than enough space around them available... [hidden link - please register] Driving in Amsterdam? Pretty much the same as in every other big city! Try to avoid the rush hours when possible, it will take ages to get from A to B and chances that you find a parking space not min. 2 kilometers away are slim. Lots of railroad-crossings, quite long waiting times. Enough time to leave the car for a couple of minutes and get an espresso in the next cafe ? 1. Of course that is not allowed - you have to stay in the car 2. Visit the Bocca Coffee in Amsterdam - very likely the best cup of coffee you've ever had in your life 3. Be careful: There's a big difference between Cafe and a coffeeshop - more about that in my next post [hidden link - please register] Tulips from Amsterdam? That's just another thing what the Netherlands are famous for and without a doubt one of the most recognized symbols of dutch culture. They are the number one exporter of tulips in the world and if you think tulips would make an excellent salad, then you are clearly wrong More about the Netherlands, especially Amsterdam in the 2nd part |
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So its been a while since I last posted some pictures, I took the opportunity whilst in sunny Tenerife to take some. Where we stayed was in Los Gigantes which really did have some wonderful scenery. I also made a visit to Loro Parque whilst on my travels
Here is a selection of some of what I captured. I will post some more in the coming days [hidden image - please register] [hidden image - please register] [hidden image - please register] [hidden image - please register] [hidden image - please register] [hidden image - please register] [hidden image - please register] [hidden image - please register] |
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Monaco
A small city-state in the heart of Europe - not only a place for the super-rich but also a place where income-tax doesn't exist. Finanical & banking regulations are still to lax, although things have changed quite a bit the last years because thanks to a lot of pressure from France and the European Union. Nonetheless in my opinion Monaco can still be considered as a tax haven in the "backyard" of France and a paradise for tax dodgers/avoiders, money-launderers & crooks. Maybe even a small percentage of the so called monegasques should be in prison and not living a life in absolute luxury and wealth... [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] Interested in investing some small change in risky casino-games and enjoying a horribly overpriced glass of Piper Heidsieck? [hidden link - please register] The "Lady Mourna" belonged once to the Top 10 (is now around 30 or lower) of the largest yachts of the world and is owned by a saudi oil-billionaire. Yes, billionaire, not millionaire! Well, wasting existing oil-money is for sure a nice possibility, but imho spending & investing it wisely like for example Norway does is a much, much better solution. The country, the economy and the people benefit from it. Norway has a very robust, steadily growing economy where everybody earns decent money there, the tax system is fair, wages are rising and everybody is protected by one of the best welfare services in the world. Quite a contrast compared to Monaco... [hidden link - please register] |
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Norway - part 2
Simply beautiful: [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] Fisherman's paradise: [hidden link - please register] Not the end of world, but the polar circle and everybody who has come this far should be aware of the fact that it gets very, very cold here... [hidden link - please register] Looks like it is about time to mow the lawn on the roof: [hidden link - please register] |
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Norway
[hidden link - please register] A little scary: [hidden link - please register] Very scary: [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] |
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Elb sandstone mountains; Germany
Afraid of heights? [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] |
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Dresden, Germany
One of Germany's most historic, most beautiful & most amazing cities... [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] [hidden link - please register] |
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Hello neighbour and thank you very much for your kind offer! I really appreciate it!
I'm not german, but in my country (very close to Italy) the native language is also german. I have only some basic, elementary knowledge of the italian language, mostly the standard phrases. Limited and therefore there is always room to make things a little bit more complicated, but it's more or less mostly enough to get around. My favourite regions/areas in Italy are Siena, Florence and Pisa and that means millions of tourists there every year + 1. Usually it is no problem at all there to find someone around who speaks enough english to establish a successful conversation or in the worst case is able to understand my version of italian. The locals are friendly & helpful and very appreciative if you make at least a decent effort to communicate in italian and you'll get so much more out of Italy if you have some basic knowledge of the language. I do my best and try to improve my italian every year, but in some special cases it's simply not sufficient enough. For example: Conversations with the Carabinieri to negotiate or in other words beg for a lower price of a speeding-ticket. Most of them will only talk to you in italian and that is perfectly understandable when you are only a guest in their country, but with my little italian that is way over my limit. I guess an Italian has more chances to get a better deal... Important: When you are visiting Italy with your own car be very careful, pay attention and make sure you respect the traffic laws 100% all the time. The fines are very hefty (even for harmless minimal parking violations) and the carabinieri are strict and mostly not very "forgiving". Two years ago I was stopped by them because I was driving too fast. I know - it was clearly my fault and I noticed and knew that I was too fast. Early evening, a country road in the region of Arezzo with a max. speed allowed of 90km/h, almost no other cars and traffic and well, I thought what the... My speed was around 110 km/h or slightly above and that has cost me with a little bit of goodwill from the Carabinieri € 250,00 and could have been a lot more (up to € 440,00 in the worst case... I'll let you know at least 2 months before I'll be around and thanks a million for your generous offer! |
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