Here are some photos from my trip to Belgium and Germany last month.
A gate in the treasure room of the Belfry of Brugge.
The moon over a building in Brugge.
There are secret courtyards dotted throughout Berlin. Mo, our host in Berlin, took us to one that was the urban canvas of artists. We found this giant mechanical bat, which sprang to roaring and whistling life once we fed it a euro coin.
The Jewish Museum in Berlin. The museum space has no windows except for these slits through the metal walls.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin. The square columns of the memorial ‘are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason’. Having walked amongst the looming columns while rain drizzled down, I can say that the architects and engineers managed to create the atmosphere they were aiming for.
The Neptune Fountain in Berlin.
Rooftop statues in Dresden.
In Leipzing, Damjan managed to get a water bell to resonate by running his hands back and forth on the handles. The water shimmied too.
This comes from the Marriage Carousel in Nuremburg, which represents ‘marriage from the first stages of ardent love via exhausting struggles, and right through to the death bed’.
German cities are dotted with public bicycles, managed by Deutsch Bahn. You need to call a phone number in order to get a particular bike unlocked. I only ever saw one person riding a DB bike. I wonder if the bikes are used much?
The very impressive, very Gothic Dom in Cologne/Koln.
And here is on the inside, full of tourists who defy the rules in the hope that they can somehow light the awesome space with their puny flashes. I hate dumb tourists.
Haha, the Jewish Museum — every first-year architecture student’s favourite building…
Defied the rules? how about the laws of physics? do you have any idea how powerful a flash you would need to illuminate a space like that effectively?
I think the stupidity is at a different level – they probably don’t know how to turn their flashes off (or that super-tacky “shutter” sound).
You have some great shots there! What lens do you have and what do you usually bring with you when you go on travel?
Hi misscipher,
I bought an Olympus E-300 in January 2005 (ancient now!). I use the kit lens 14-45mm/F3.5-5.6 and 40-150mm F3.5-4.5. Both were cheap and have served me well. I bring both of them when I travel, as well as my new flash and some basic filters.
I felt that as a newbie, I wouldn’t appreciate the extra lens quality for the amount I’d have to pay. I think now, though, I know enough that I could make use of the wider apertures. I can definitely feel the limitations of F3.5 when I’m taking photos at friends’ dance competitions.
Hey Joan, there were many silly tourists at the David statue in Florence too. If you don’t want to get caught taking illicit photos, TURN YOUR FLASH OFF! 😎
I’ll be in London some time in the next few weeks… if you’re free and want to show a newb some fav places in London let me know >_<