So I read an article in a forum that there are new speed traps planned in Austria. Check out the photos and read this aticle:
And then read this article and you understand why forums are such an unreliable source of information ...
ps: In any case the pictures are pretty cool, I don't care if it is Austria or Switzerland ...
This just in - Icerock (my favourite photographer tourist guide in Iceland) was awarded the best photo in a national competition in Iceland with this photo. 10.800 photos were submitted and he won!! He was on TV a few days ago in a interview. Thanks, Jón for sending me the link ;-)
Glimp of time
Originally uploaded by icerock.
Check out the interview (in Icelandic of course) here (fast forward to 01:23:52).
Here is an article about it (also in Icelandic) and here are more fantastic photos shot by Icerock himself.
Keep clicking, Icerock!!!
So we ended up at Albas to play Monopoly - thanks to Alessio it was the surfer's edition (later that evening I called it the shitty edition when the atmosphere was like that) and we basically killed each other over the game. Jack won - of course - and he will forever stay Monopoly champion because we will never play it again. Now go to the prison and study the rules of the game!!!
I was shocked that Kati didn't make it. I thought she was in for sure - but I am very happy with the result. So they kicked out all three that did not want to help the others a couple of shows ago (Leo, Romina and Kati). And the good girls won in the end which makes my romantic self very happy. Great show of laughs and tears and more tears - and of course there is already a website for the band with the name MONROSE - sorry Andrea, no big business in sight ...
I think I have mentioned it a couple of times but it does not matter. The best brunch in town. Also this time special guest Brad Pitt
We celebrated Yaras Birthday a second time after the Friday night dinner - and this time properly. This means of course that I had to censor the photos so badly that you can only see aabout the tenth of them here.
BUUUUUT we have shot some exclusive pics of some celebs as we went to Goldfish and there was a VIP area and a fashion show of some magazine. Here is a picture of Romy from Unter Uns (RTL Daily Soap) - also Björn was seen mingling with the ladies in front of the garderobe (yeah, whatever).
Here is another pic of the people watching the show. Check out the look on the girls face on the left. I leave to your imagination what happened next ...
... you gessed right - nothing :-)
To quote another nice celeb blog, more pics after the jump.
BTW - Thanks, Ahoo for the great dinner!!!
Sometimes I think I should be writing more and put less pictures on the blog. Then again there are pictures that simply tell a story I could never explain to people that weren't there. So here we go - this time only a couple of pics with a oneliner ... Even more pictures here.
These two pictures make me think Yara was at least as happy as last year ...
The boys:
And the girls:
And the other Birthday child proudly presenting her cover girl photo:
ps: happy Birthday Andrea also ... spent in Barcelona I hear!
We celebrated Giulias Birthday with an Italian Cineforum at her place - only a few italians showed up to get some seriously delicious food - Giulia proving that she can not only prepare a fantastic pasta with pesto but also a nice cold platter.
not much happening today. woke up very early to catch the plane. got happy to see the sun again. saw the sun (during the flight) again. no sun in frankfurt. more like rain. only rain actually. still happy to be back home. home sweet home. this is a promise that i will return to iceland during one of the summer weekends. here is a list of things to do when I do:
1. go to the blue lagoon and the thermal power plant nearby
2. visit the north and try to catch a nordic light
3. go to bar 11 on a saturday night and party
4. go to gullfoss again when the weather is nice
5. go shopping when the shops are open
6. go hiking in the mountains
7. go visit the glaciers - maybe even go snowboarding
8. go visit a volcano crater
9. ... and that beach with the big rock in the water
10. of course go visit Icerock and Labbi
The hostel is really cool. There are tons of people to talk to, a really nice breakfast - assuming you are able to get there before 9:30 in the morning.
THE ORIGINAL ICELANDIC SCHNAPPS
"Brennivin is uniquely Icelandic. The legal beginnings of this distinct schnapps were in 1935 when prohibition was lifted on the island. A black label was chosen because it was considered necessary to have an unattractive label to limit demand for the spirits of this purely Icelandic recipe. The black label had the opposite effect, however, and is today considered a symbol for all strong liquor - and even Iceland itself."
Did I mention I ate like 9 hotdogs in 3 days? They taste very jummy and are not as expensive as the rest of the available food...I signed up for the famous pub crawl on Friday night. The hostel apparently is part of the "Nightcircle" - which is organized by a VERY international guy with a Bavarian heart called Zeno. Here is his MySpace entry.
Anyway - we met at the hostel. 4 US geeks from Chicago - currently spending a few weeks in Europe - talking about movies all the time - it was even for me too much, a guy from New Zealand - spending money I don't have - haha I am so funny, an English couple and two spanish guys that came so late, we had to pay the taxi double for the waiting. So much for diversity ...
So in principle this is what happens (more on the website): You pay 3000 ISK and for this you get free drinks in Bar11 for two hours, free entry to a place called Pravda, a free shot and a free cocktail later on and a free hotdog.
If you read the last sentence you probably got the point of the whole Friday / Saturday nights in Reykjavik. And it was just like that. We started at Bar 11 - totally empty except the girls behind the bar, Zeno and two relatively young girls hanging around. Also the drinks did not come from the bar but out of bottles from a bag - so it looked a bit of shady in the beginning. But drinks are drinks so it really didn't matter - and the beer was from behind the bar. After about two hours we started to move and went to Pravda, had our free cocktail and the others danced to Beyoncee and more. Not my kind of music but some seriuously cool people.
The next place we went to was called Barinn and it was completely the opposite - a very stylish and local place with people dressed more strangely - there were some girls wearing elf-like shirts and interesting face paintings. This was the place we started spending our own money and realized how expensive going out in Iceland is. I bought a beer and a shot for one of the americans for 1200 ISK. Not very cheap I must say. Also here we realised the real advantage of joining the crawl instead of going on your own. Zeno got us into the places without having to wait the long queues. Which is a very good thing at Reykjavik temperatures...
We moved on later to get our hotdogs and went back to Bar 11 - which was not the same as before. A huge queue in front of the place and inside the craziest crowd I have ever seen. Iceland is rumoured to have the best local punk rock scene in the world and this was the place to experience it. Packed with people of all ages and alcohol levels, some even with KISS-like make up in their faces. The scene reminded me of the big dance seen in Matrix as the masses moved with the music. Some drunken people were pushed around in chairs, with towers of empty bottles being put on them. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera so I could not take pictures but probably it is better this way. We stayed there until around 4 and went home after about an hour of waiting in line for the taxis in pouring rain - and I was finally glad to have taken my snowboard jacket with me.
Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention the joke of the day:
This guy comes walking into a crowded bar with a crocodile on a leash, everyone backs off scared. He says, "not to worry folks! this is a very friendly crocodile, very sweet natured, won't hurt a fly!"
He sits down at the bar and orders a beer, everyone still very scared and staying away as far as possible from the crocodile. Then he says, "really people, there's no reason to be scared, look, I'll show you."
He unzippes his fly, gets his dick out, opens the mouth of the crocodile, puts his dick in, closes the mouth again and hits the crocodile a few times hard on the top of his head with his fist.
"See?" he says, "nothing happened. Is there perhaps anyone else that would like to try it?"
A blonde lady at the end of the bar stands up and says:
"Yes sir, I would like to try it but you have to promise me not to hit me on the head as you did with that poor crocodile!"
(ps: it is actually pretty funny if you have to wait for a taxi at 5 in the morning in pouring rain with a half-drunken icelandic crowd around you ...)
I went to bed late last night. It must have been around midnight once I fall asleep. I was lucky with the youth hostel as there was only one other guy in my room who wasn't there when I went to bed. He actually came home at 4 in the morning and went to bed after a quick flash of light and a huge noise of stuff falling down from his bed. He snorted.
Payback time was at seven in the morning when my mobile went off to wake me up so I could get ready for the trip with Icerock, another flickr user. I arranged the trip with him a while ago after seeing his pictures on flickr - after all, someone with such cool pictures can't be a mass murderer, right?.
He was waiting for me outside the hostel with a friend (another flickr user called Labbi) and I jumped into the car as fast as I could after a very delicious 800 ISK breakfast at the hostel. As every second person in Iceland, he was driving a 4WD - a greenish Nissan I think.
We did a short introduction, fueled up the car and were on our way towards a path called Golden Circle - consisting of þingvellir, Stokkuer, Gollfuss and more. The first hour or so went by as we drove towards the biggest natural lake in Iceland - between grey mountains with a little bit of snow on top - just as little as could get stuck in the stormy winds.
We arrived at the lake around nine thirty where we made our first pictures. The weather was extremely cold with strong winds and so I was glad to have my snowboard jacket with me. Here is a picture of Labbi with his cool hat.
Our next destination was the þingvellir (meaning "Parliament Plains") national park. According to a very informative website (www.thingvellir.is):
No single place epitomizes the history of Iceland and the Icelandic nation better than Þingvellir by the river Öxará. At Þingvellir – literally "Parliament Plains" – the Alþing general assembly was established around 930 and continued to convene there until 1798. Major events in the history of Iceland have taken place at Þingvellir and therefore the place is held in high esteem by all Icelanders. Today Þingvellir is a protected national shrine. According to the law, passed in 1928, the protected area shall always be the property of the Icelandic nation, under the preservation of the Alþing.
Also this area is where the tectonic plates meet so it is also of great geological importance. We watched the sun rising at the lake and went for a walk behind a big wall of rocks to see an artificial waterfall. A perfect way for me to test my new hiking shoes. I managed to survive a fall through thin ice into a bit of a water without braking my leg or even making it too wet. So my new investment was fully justified!!!
Next our trip took us deeper into the mountains and we stopped on our way a couple of times whenever we saw some interesting rock formations like this:
Icerock was so kind and brought some sandwiches with salmon to eat during our trip. Both he and Labbi were great hosts - full of information about the places we went to - and very entertaining at the same time. Labbi managed to make a really nice picture of Icerock and myself while shooting some pics:
Next station was the world famous Geysir geothermal field - yes the one and only, the original Geysir!!! For a perfect explanation of how this works, please check out
this site. We spent the next hour or so trying to catch that perfect picture, getting completely soaked in warm sulphurous water and our fingers frozen while holding our cameras in position for many minutes waiting for the eruption to happen. I managed to shoot some nice pics actually.
After the Geysirs came a short photosession at a nearby church - a perfect setting for a nordic light session in the following days. Yes, I have not seen the nordic lights due to the bad weather conditions, but Icerock and Labbi will try to take some nice pics end of this week when the conditions will be better.
The great waterfalls of Gulfoss followed (golden falls), which is the greatest waterfall in Europe. Unfortunately the weather was not the best for taking photos due to the mist, but I can imagine this being a fantastic experience in the summer. Captain Catan will return!!!
I will especially return to the hut nearby where I had the most delicious icelandic soup - Labbi told me there is actually a club of icelandic soup lovers who eat this soup all around the country and give it points. It is a bit like the Gulyásleves from Hungary, but also different. You have to check it for yourself to understand what I mean (nothing filthy, don't worry ...)
To cut a long story short - we spent the next hours looking for a perfect place to shoot some pictures of icelandic horses - which are pony-sized and have longer fuzzy hair than their bigger relatives.
The last station of our trip was the south coast near the biggest prison in Iceland - with an interesting story about the guards spying on the nearby village ...
We arrived back at the hotel in the late afternoon and I said goodbye to Icerock and Labbi. Thanks again for the fantastic day - the good stories and the superb guided tour that I am sure not too many people had the luck to be part of ...
Oh, almost forgot - don't forget to check out the pics of Icerock and Labbi on flickr!!!
After the magnificent food orgz and lurking around the airport for a couple of hours it was finallz time to pass securitz. And I was stupid enough to buz a bottle of water before entering. Now if zou have read this, you know why I mean stupid ...
Thez looked at me and asked me if I was serious. I mean a full bottle of water. No way! And I was seriously discussing with them that I just bought it and it was still sealed and so on. but yes, I had to either go outside and drink it or thez would have thrown it away (thez didn't let me drink it there!) - so I went outside, drank it, went to the toilet ;-) and finally passed the same security people. And yes, they remembered me so they checked my mobile phone for explosives also...
Anywaz we boarded the plane (BTW - sorry for the z-y thingie, I am using an icelandic keyboard and obviously the layout is different than what I am used to) at 17:30 and were on our way to Iceland!!! The plane was totally empty - I would say about every fourth seat was occupied. We got a slice of iceland to eat and a great movie called "little manhattan" to see. I remember watching this movie once on a plane, but I don't remember, when. I also slept a bit and we finally arrived at 21:30 CET, which is 20:30 Icytime. When I saw the snowy coast, I had a big smile on my face. Luggage pickup, cash mashine, big time snow storm outside.
The flybus picked us up and for 1100 ISK I was on my way to the hostel. After about an hour and a half we finally arrived at the hostel and I arranged the tour tomorrow - rumour says we will have the nicest weather so I will hopefully be able to shoot some nice pictures. Talking about the weather - due to the delay caused by the weather I cannot join the world famous pub crawl with the free drinks in every bar tonight - plus there is a snow storm outside so I am not gonna leave the building tonight any more ...
Before I go to bed, here are some interesting characters from the keyboard:
ð Ð æ Æ þ Þ å ë ä
good night!!!
I took the morning easy and stayed at home. Got the water meter exchanged by some guy that my landlord organized. Took a bath, packed, unpacked and packed my stuff again. Watched some shitty lawyer - series and Sonja Kraus on Pro7. So I came to the airport last second. I was even thinking about getting a taxi but I didn't.
And it was a good decision not to take one, as it turns out my flight is delayed by more than 3 hours. This means I will leave at 17:00 instead of 13:50 and will land at ??? instead of 16:20 local Icy time. But the best thing is the reason for the delay is the catastrophical weather on the atlantic at the moment and so the plane will only land at around 16:30 in Frankfurt. I have no idea, what atlantic means and due to its size how much of my flight route will be impacted by this, but somehow this does not make me very confident to use the 25 Euro voucher I got as a small excuse for the delay.
No, Sir, there is no money back as this delay has been caused outside our influence. We are not GOD, Sir".
Something like that anyway. Bla Bla Bla. With a great smile I must say. Anyway - the delay is not due to the plane not being able to take off, it is due to no plane being here in the first place due to the bad weather. Take another plane and bring me to Iceland!!!
Ok, I think this helped. My pulse should be back to normal. I am going to go and have a midday lunch orgy with my voucher. MAHLZEIT!
This is one of the coolest things on the internet since a long time. If you have never heard of it before, I suggest reading the about ... part. Or just check it out for a laugh & some (really!!!) great info on religions and more...
Here is some feedback from an anonymous reader of the page:
All of ya’ll who believe this queer ass religion are just a bunch of fucking nerds who have nothing better to do then just make up ridiculous shitty ass crap like this. Along with that fact, anyone who believes this stupid religion has a drinking problem, all of ya’ll drink douche water.
(btw apparently there is now also a south park episode with the FSM in it)
I always loved watching swarms fly. So I was happy to have my camera ready when the birds finished their conference on plotting the wipe-out of humanity on this crane in the middle of the city. I wish the weather was nicer, but it wasn't.
We went to see Borat after an all you can eat (from now on I will call these things "more than you can eat") Sushi with Yara. The movie was totally retarded - I don't know what I was thinking. I try to imagine it without the nakedness, but I can't - it was too much.
I am in the middle of my sunday routine. Waking up with popstars, having my sunday omelette for breakfast and checking the usual blogs for new stuff (fascinating analysis of US presidential speeches since 1800 & total surveillance in the UK & some pieces of art for Maike)
After the last two days spent with friends it is good to be alone for a while. Friday after the office Media Markt with Giulia and Alessio - ending up at Albas for the best langusta / crabs on the planet:
Saturday morning breakfast in Schweizer Strasse, shopping in the city, visiting Daniela and Ferruccio for a last time in their empty flat in Frankfurt and preparing for Luke's party in Mainz. More about the party once I get the pictures. I had an extremely good time with friends - the gin & tonic did not work, but the vodka red bull did. Thank god no headache today.
Ooh - Pauly Shore & Carla Gugino on Pro7 in "son in law" - another highlight of movie history ...
Here are some of the more decent pictures from the party in Mainz - (thanks to Simone). I am still waiting for the brave ones among the party crowd to come forward and send me the ones from later that evening to help some of us remember things...
Anyway - a huge thanks for Luke for organizing it - a great party and I hope not the last one in Mainz. Special guest were Vincenzo, who secretly also celebrated his birthday with us and Mr. and Mrs. and Ferrara who joined us all at a late hour.
By the way - thanks Maria, Eli and Isabel for the insightful discussions - I do remember!
This site claims to display the largest digital photo on the net - with 8.6 Gigapixels. It is a composite photo of the "Parete Gaudenziana," a fresco painted by Gaudenzio Ferrari, dated 1513. This fresco is in the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in the convent of Varallo Sesia, diocese of Novara and Province of Vercelli, Italy.
Hmm. I wonder if the photo was taken with this camera:
