Interior of the Salzburg Cathedral[a]'s dome.
2006-12-27 13:35
Interior of the Salzburg Cathedral[b].
2006-12-27 13:33
This is the Salzburg Fort. You can walk up to it. You can even follow the signs to the funicular, end up on the now-abandoned midway platform where the funicular doesn't stop, walk up the last bit, realize that you're one euro short of the admission fee and that they don't take any cards and walk down promising yourself that the fortress will be among the first buildings to go once nuclear weapons become ubiquitous, but once you hit ground level again you'll probably just gorge youself silly on pastries. Then you take the funicular up.
The only time the fortress was beseiged was in 1525 when a group of miners and townspeople tried to oust Prince Archbishop Cardinal Matthäus Lang. The fort was surrendered without a fight during the Napoleonic Wars, by which time it had ceased to have any military significance.
2006-12-27 12:24
While I did my photography a small photo crew was finishing up their fashion shots just outside the top cable car station. Here they are, walking away (the model in high heels and walking sticks) toward the sun-lit, covered-in-ice, side of the peak. The designer's name was Lisa Salvador - and I haven't been able to find any pictures of her clothes, but then again she probably isn't designing them for people who buy clothes on the web.
Update 2013-11-22: Re-visiting this entry I decided to take another look at the web, and found that Lisa Salvador has been on the web since 2008 at lisasalvador.de[c].
2006-12-27 10:38
This water-spiral is found in the lobby. The water is pumped upwards along the spiral to fall from it's peak at the center. Similarly, the stairwell is built so that the spiralling stairs are centered above the water-spiral (although the stairs twist in the opposite direction going up).
2006-12-02 14:29
The entrance to the KunstHausWien. On top of the building flies the Koru Flag[d], an alternative flag for New Zealand designed by Hundertwasser. It includes the spiral, one of Hundertwasser's trademark shapes (if not the trademark shape):
The spiral is where lifeless matter is transformed into life.
2006-12-02 14:28
View of the market from above the subway station entrance.
Ich bin noch'n Wiener - Karlsplatz
2006-11-30 18:00
Railroad car. I don't think you'd even be allowed to let condemned men ride in a car like this anymore.
2006-10-18 15:03
Government poster. "Even without him, show discipline!"
2006-10-18 15:19
Government poster. "The anti-social has no consideration in street traffic." Fun fact: The word "anti-social" is the same word used by the Nazis to denote "enemies of the people"[e].
2006-10-18 15:19
A "transformer chain". The chain is charged by turning the crank at the far left, and then proceeds to pump water to the top tank, which drives a generator, which powers the two spotlights on the little car, which illuminates the solar cell, which drives the car up the slope...
2006-10-18 14:37
This pretty much sums up the first couple of decades with cars. As always, it took quite some time to work out the kinks in the system. For example:
-
How do you mark pedestrian crossings? (First attempt to do so was in 1926, when cars had been in Vienna for at least twenty years. In 1910 Vienna had about 4000 cars.)
-
How many traffic signs should there be? (Drivers thought sixteen were far too many.)
-
...and so on...
2006-10-18 14:32
Modern buildings at the foot of the hill where Bratislava Castle stands.
2006-11-12 15:32
The storm drain of the courtyard, picture taken from below.
2006-11-12 15:08
View of the Danube and the western part of Bratislava from Bratislava Castle.
2006-11-12 15:01
St. Martin's Concathedral[f], seen from Bratislava Castle.
2006-11-12 14:48
View of the old part of Bratislava from Bratislava Castle.
2006-11-12 14:47
In honor of MTV's Beyonce weekend, we present this statuelicious work of art.
2006-11-12 14:40
In Bratislava, just coming out of the central garage.
2006-11-12 12:55
Wind turbines on the way to Bratislava. Apparently, the area between Vienna and Bratislava is one of the windiest places in Europe.
2006-11-12 12:22
View north from a bit up on the Gemeindealpe (the massive immediately south of the Ötschergräben).
2006-11-11 13:59
Following a small brook upstreams. Shortly after the picture was taken we turned ninety degrees right and went up the side. Harder than expected with slippery trainers.
2006-11-11 13:33
Memorial found a bit into the Ötschergräben. It commemorates the 450th anniversary of Martin Luther's posting of his 95 theses[g] and with that, the start of the Protestant Reformation.
2006-11-11 13:04
Cliffs near the starting point. These in particular are on the other side of a dam that bottles up the Eralaufstausee and keeps it from pouring out northward. (The picture was taken from the west end of the dam - on the map[h] this would be where the Ötscherstrasse crosses the northward pointing stream.)
2006-11-11 12:22
The west end of the Eralaufstausee, and the start of our hike.
2006-11-11 12:20
View south from Annaberg showing the Ötscher (mountain).
2006-11-11 11:54
2006-11-11 11:52
Some kind of movie production taking place on the 3rd Street Promenade.
2006-10-03 14:52
War Memorial. The pillars commemorate war dead from the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.
2006-10-03 14:09
This is where I had dinner. Good to know that I pick top restaurants.
2006-10-02 19:06
The entrance to the hotel. You can also get to the restaurant from here.
2006-10-02 13:36
About two hundred miles from Los Angeles is Morro Bay, where this huge granite block marks the entry to the bay.
Pacific Coast Highway, South (Part II)
2006-10-02 13:07
Everything is covered in either trees or dense, arid-hardened brush.
Pacific Coast Highway, South (Part II)
2006-10-02 11:11
This is the end result of that process - steep hills diving into the water, and sharp ridges where the water didn't erode the rock.
Pacific Coast Highway, South (Part II)
2006-10-02 10:39
Well, you know what to expect. The coastline has been formed by erosion of the hills when rainwater flowing down into the sea carved out a myriad v-shaped canyons.
Pacific Coast Highway, South (Part II)
2006-10-02 10:02
The Lone Cypress, the symbol of Pebble Beach, has been sitting on its rock for at least the past 250 years.
2006-10-01 15:51
Sea birds are everywhere and this one seems to have staked its claim to a big rock.
2006-10-01 15:28
But pretty soon you get to see the sanctuary. The "Restless Sea" as this place is called has rock formations stretching out in the shallow water, making the water foam far from the shore.
2006-10-01 15:27
Unfortunately there is a bit of a mismatch between what the guidebook says and what really is there. After reading this sign, if you were to lift your eyes to the horizon, you'd see this[j].
2006-10-01 15:06
The other major inhabitant of the pier. Sea lions fill the air with their characteristic noises.
2006-10-01 11:47
One of the inhabintants of the pier. These birds are completely unafraid of people. Yu can walk up to them and they won't even bother looking at you.
2006-10-01 11:46
On the way down I went past Santa Cruz and did the 17 mile drive at Pebble Beach, but then I went down toward Point Sur to enjoy the sunset. This is Andrew Molera State Park just south of Point Sur.
2006-10-01 17:19
The weather was only so-so when I started out at SF. Understandable, since San Francisco had an almost central-northern European weather when I was there. No running around in shorts in late September here.
This particular stretch of road is known as Devil's Slide[k] due to the frequent land slides.
2006-10-01 10:25
My two teas - the left one is "Monkey Picked Tieguanyin" and the right one is "Silver Needles". You start off by soaking the leaves in a splash of water and smelling them. Then you fill the cup with water and use the lid to push the leaves around, squeeze them against the side of the cup and push them into the water. (The people working there will give you a quick rundown on how to do this.)
2006-09-30 17:35
This is what is served: One cup for each sort of tea that you have ordered, and a kettle of hot water. The tea leaves are already in the cups.
2006-09-30 17:16
This is the interior. A plethora of tea cups, tea tasting sets and bags of tea fill the shelves.
2006-09-30 17:10
The gate to Chinatown. The area known as Chinatown isn't walled in any way, but there is still a gate.
2006-09-30 20:29
Judge Lillian Sing (...) made history when she was appointed as the first Chinese American woman judge in 1981. Serving as a judge for 22 years, Judge Sing held almost every type of assignment in both criminal and civil courts, and also pioneered Drug Court, where drug addicted persons receive treatment and counseling, before retiring from the bench last year.
- Asian American Bar Association
(You can read more about her using the Wayback Machine[l].) Apparently she didn't like retirement and campaigned to get back. How did she do? She won.[m]
2006-09-30 17:01
The Transamerica Pyramid[n], one of the easiest recognizable landmarks of San Francisco. While it no longer houses the Transamerica insurance company, the company still has the pyramid in its logo, as you can see on their website[o].
2006-09-30 21:32
View of the tower with the statue of Christopher Columbus in front.
2006-09-30 16:26
The Russian Hill. This picture gives you an impression of how hilly SF really is.
2006-09-30 16:17
A tram. The trams are driven by cables being pulled through the "middle rail" that you can see. The cables are continuously running and the car is driven by gripping the cable or by applying brakes. You can try driving a tram at Gripman's[q].
2006-09-30 12:57
This is the bendiest street in all of the world. It is Lombard Street, on top of the Russian Hill.
2006-09-30 12:54
This pictures shows the hilly nature of San Francisco. If you aren't either ascending or descending a steep hill, you have probably left SF altogether.
2006-09-30 12:43
...and a lot of stores. In particular camera stores and camera accessories seemed to be the most common stores.
2006-09-30 12:06
On the other side of the Golden Gate bridge and a little bit to the east is Fisherman's Wharf where you can find old ships...
2006-09-30 12:03
At Point Spencer you can see what's left of Battery Spencer[r], part of Fort Baker. The circular slab is one of three used to mount the battery's 12 inch guns.
2006-09-30 10:59
I drove from Modesto to Oakland and over the bay to San Rafael (in which the term "420[s]"[t] originated), driving over the rollercoaster-shaped Richmond-San Rafael Bridge[u]. From there I went south to Point Spencer.
2006-09-30 10:58
El Capitan. A favorite among climbers and base jumpers.
2006-09-29 15:57
Bridal Veil Falls. There is more water flowing through here in spring.
2006-09-29 15:44
The "tunnel view" of the Yosemite Valley. It is called "tunnel view" since it is right at the mouth of a tunnel that you drive through to enter the valley from the south. From this point you can see El Capitan (the steep bare rock face to the left), Half-Dome (the almost white peak curving up in the background in the middle of the picture) and Bridal Veil Falls (just to the left of the top of the right foreground pine trees - you only see a small vertical white line).
2006-09-29 15:33
All streams in Yosemite are fed by snowmelt from the mountains. Since I'm visiting in September, when the spring floods are over and there hasn't come any more snow, the streams are near empty.
2006-09-29 14:53
They stand like giants among the other trees in Yosemite.
2006-09-29 14:31
The vegetation shifts from desert brush to trees as you near Yosmeite.
2006-09-29 14:15
And then you're back up in the hills again as you leave Fresno on highway 41.
2006-09-29 13:45
The mountaneous terrain north of LA give way to the flat valley.
2006-09-29 10:07
Bound for Yosemite on the 5 freeway. The picture doesn't show it, but I'm going downhill fast.
2006-09-29 09:51
2006-09-28 17:30
The vents that can be seen on the top of the hood are the intakes for the supercharger. With all the trimmings, the modifications add 450 horsepower to the base engine.
2006-09-28 14:13
Saleen is an auto parts store for people with deep pockets. (It is also a t-shirt and baseball cap shop for people with shallower pockets.) Their specialty is to modify Mustangs - give them a new gearbox, add a supercharger, racing seats and so on. Their motto - as can be seen here on this Mustang parked right smack in the middle of the Spectrum - is "Power in the hands of a few".
2006-09-28 14:12
Arrangement in the nearby mall. Look at the white stone between the two light-green plants... Looks strange, right? Well, it is a loudspeaker. Playing soothing shopping music. Am I the only one who gets associations to the comedy scenes about the old Soviet Union where they would find microphones in flower boquets?
2006-09-27 16:16
Richard Henry Dana, the guy they named the place after.
2006-09-27 15:53
The destination - Wilson Creek Winery.
2006-09-27 10:26
Lake Elsinore, just as the Ortega Highway comes down from the mountains near the coast.
2006-09-27 08:58
This time I took the Ortega Highway to Temecula. When I lived in Irvine it was alwas easier to take the I-405 to the 55 to the 91 to the I-15 (look that up on a map if you have to...), but living in Dana Point the Ortega Highway was much easier.
2006-09-27 08:38
London from above as we approach Heathrow. The tall buildings seen in front of the engine intake is Canary Wharf.
2006-09-26 09:37
More of Austria. The fields give way to the alps.
2006-09-26 07:53
Austria seen from above. The whole region around Vienna is basically a patchwork of fields.
2006-09-26 07:49
Q: How trippin' was your trip?
A: So trippin' that the seats in the departure lounge were on the walls, man!
2006-09-26 06:44