30 Sept 2014

Picture of the Day

So... I finally met a guy who'd jump right in at the first date! Yay! Viva Las Vegas!

29 Sept 2014

It's Game Day in America!

Remember how I said Baseball and I wouldn't really become best friends when I wrote about my trip two years ago? Well, I finally found somebody I really made friends with! It is a longish, egg-shaped piece of sports equipment. Game on: it's football night in America! Crayzay! We were lucky enough to get tickets to the New York Giants vs. the Washington Redskins match (and no, I am not going to tell you how much we spent on them... ). It had rained all day but the weather god finally had mercy on us and generously granted us a slightly chilly but dry evening at FedEx Field. I had found a motel within walking distance to the stadium which proved to be a really fortunate choice! Image all inhabitants of the city of Marburg to decide to jump into their cars and drive to a place that is only accessible through about 3-4 routes... And now image them doing that all at the same time! The atmosphere on the parking lot is really cool, though. People put up little pavillions and barbeque, drink or play games in merry anticipation to the game (of course this is also a great way to escape the horribly over-priced snacks and drinks inside the stadium).
Our seats were located in the very top section of the stadium which gave us an amazing view on the field as well as on the Washington skyline bathed in the warmish red sunlight at dusk. We cheered for the Giants and boy, we bet on the right horse! They totally took apart the Redskins. Vivid energy not only filled the field but also roared through the lines of the many spectators. These guys just know how to party! And I felt quite privileged to have gotten the chance to be a part of it all. The Giants pretty much slaughtered the Redskins and won with an outstanding 4X to 14. Once again I had to think about the way things a

22 Sept 2014

Mississippi Dreaming

Laissez les bons temps rouler!
It has been two days since we took off from New Orleans but my thoughts still circle around the countless impressions and events the Big Easy has left me with. Of course we didn't escape the typical tourist stuff; from begneits at the Café du Monde to a steamboat lunch tour up and down the Mississippi River on the Natchez and all of it was great fun.The city's real magic, however, happens in your mind. The smell of patchouli creeping out of the numerous little voodoo stores, the mysterious shapes and shadows wandering about the streets during nightfall, the little gas powered lanterns that barely shed enough light on the pavement to see where your next step is taking you in the streets a little remote from famous Bourbon street where the music never stops playing and throats never get dry.... All that invades your thoughts and makes you wonder, as you look up the beautiful yet daunting colonial houses, what the streets of Nola may have witnessed during their long and eventful history. A mighty mist of mystery wraps around the beautiful Vieux Carré as you hear a jazz tune played on a lonely trumpet echoing from the little park by the waterfront. Dreamy, scary and incredibly haunting.
Thank you, New Orleans, for an unforgettable experience. We shall meet again.

Picture of the Day

15 Sept 2014

Wet wet wet

Würde ich einen Film über die Niagarafälle machen und müsste mir tolle Adjektive ausdenken, um diesen  zu vermarkten, würde ich auf das Poster vermutlich schreiben: atemberaubend - gigantisch - unglaublich! Genau das ist auch meine Erwartungshaltung gewesen, bevor ich die größten Wasserfälle der nördlichen Hemisphäre nun einmal live erleben durfte. Heute würde ich auf mein Poster schreiben: richtig lustiges Wildwassererlebnis, bei dem man... sagen wir mal... minimal nass wird. Die Fälle sind schon sehr beeindruckend, aber in Film und Fernsehen sehen sie einfach noch größer und mächtiger aus. Die endlosen Wassermassen, die sich zwischen den USA und Kanada mit donnerndem Getöse gnadenlos in die Tiefe stürzen sind aber in jedem Fall (höhö) einen Ausflug wert. Nachdem uns sogar die Kassiererin bei Walmalt empfohlen hatte, auf die kanadische Seite zu fahren, haben wir kurzerhand unsere Pässe aus den Tiefen unseres Reisegepäcks gefischt und unserer Sammlung einen weiteren Stempel am Grenzübergang beschert. Nach einer recht schlaflosen Nacht im Motel aus der Hölle und ein paar Momenten des Staunens ob der Vergnügungsmeile kurz vor den Aussichtsplattformen vor den Wasserfällen und natürlich auch letzteren selbst, ging es dann aber auch schon wieder zurück in das Land der unbegrenzten Möglichkeiten, um uns die Fälle auch von dort aus anzusehen. Was dann kam: legendär! Hier lohnt es sich wirklich, das volle Touri-Progamm mitzumachen: Fahrt mit demn Aussichtsschiffchen ¨Maid of the Mist¨ bis kurz vor die Wasserfälle, kleiner Lehrfilm über die Geschichte der Fälle und - mein absoluter Favorit für heute: die ¨Cave of the Winds¨ -  Hier würde ich empfehlen, Seife einzupacken, denn am Fuße der Fälle kann man in der Cave of the Winds die morgentliche Dusche nachholen. Ich spreche da aus Erfahrung, wie sich an meinen noch immer durchnässten Schuhen und Klamotten sehen (und Dank des stinkigen Niagarawassers leider auch deutlich riechen) lässt...
Jetzt geht es aber erst einmal an ins kuschelige Bett in Cleveland... Gute Nacht, Nimmerland!

Picture of the Day

Niagara Falls

9 Sept 2014

It's the final countdown (badadaaa daaam - bada dadadaaam)

Well then, here we are again; just hours away from new adventures thousands of miles away from home... Home? In danger of sounding rather repetitive: home is where the heart is. (I was actually just looking for some greasy heart-emoticon to squeeze in there but apparently not much has changed here on blogger since I posted my last message more than 2 years ago..) Though I have a little bit of work ahead of me that leaves me with a fairly uncomfortable feeling deep down in my stomach I am already pretty excited. I realised I should go on holiday more often; my place looks immaculate! Well, as immaculate as my place could ever get. The only thing that's still a bit messy is my couch, Steve. At the moment he's covered with little velcro padding pieces. Not too long ago I bought a backpack for my DSLR equipment that has all kinds of neat little adjustables. Actually being the utter idiot you guys take me for, I had to take the whole thing apart completely in order to squeeze my tablet in there as well somehow. The tablet idea didn't work out very well - neither did the "putting it all back together"-part... A triumph deluxe -.- I have spent more than two hours trying to put everything back in there the way it was when it arrived, but nope... Here I am - solving a Rubik's in under 2 min (I know - that's not even a time to be proud of but hey, still not too bad) but unable to solve the mystery of my camera backpack. Even Professor Layton would falter and fall about this one, I betcha! Time to go get ready for Lueneburg -.-