Michael in Pittsburgh

On a beautiful weekend two weeks ago, I went to Dresden, a lage city
in the eastern part of Germany, with a friend of mine, Tobias. We
had an interesting tour, saw a couple of world-famous sights, and I took
the opportunity to see another friend of mine there, who is doing his PhD.

Since I believe that's most interesting for you, I'll put some photos in
here, each with a short explanation. They are not necessarily in chronological order.

1: The Opera House built by Gottfried Semper


2 and 3: The %quot;Zwinger", the famous baroque buildings which now house a couple of museums.




4 and 5: The "Frauenkirche" was destroyed in WW2. Now it is finally reerected,
more than 50 years after the war. It is probably the most famous sight in the city.




6: A view of the river Elbe from downtown.


7: A rooftop view of the city, from a church tower. In front, you see the Frauenkirche.


8: Our tourguide.


9 and 10: One of the sights our guide explained to us is the "Procession of Princes (Fürstenzug)quot;,
an over-life-size depiction of the princes of the state. Found on the back side (i.e. visible to the public)
of a part of the residence of the princes of the state, it was originally a painting, but the paint was soon
replaced by porcelain tiles.




11: Pillnitz Castle, in the outskirts of the city.


12: The final evening, with Tobias and Marcos in a brewery pub.

Hi friends,

I'm back again! As some of you know, I did a one-week
sailing trip in Greece in early November.

By now, I've been back for two weeks, and I'm just ready
sorting through my pictures! So here are a few for you:

On the first day, we started from Athens and sailed to the island of Poros, which is just a small channel away
from the mainland - it's not a real outlying place, but beautiful nonetheless!



The next day was a day of beautiful sunshine, and we did our crossing towards the Cyclades. During the long trip, we took our time to relax in the way of the sea - here
you see two of us taking a bath in the sea, being pulled by the boat. It's amazing how fast 6 km/h really is!



Alternatively, we'd just lie down on the deck and enjoy the sunshine.
This is Max, our Skipper.



In the evenings, we cooked in our kitchen, talked to each other or played games. It was a funny crew, and we enjoyed the time together.





The most beautiful days were those when we anchored in a secluded bay instead of a harbor. During the day, we'd row to the shore,
cook our food there (I'll try to get a photo) and hike the coastline.

We found some ramshackle cabins and ruins of stone-built houses telling us of former
settlements, or rather, single people living on the coast. Maybe they were fishermen, or
sheepherders - the area wouldn't provide a living for actual farmers.
Apart from some fishermen, though, we rarely met a living soul in these areas.

Hey friends on all continents,

I'm back in Europe since the day before yesterday! It was awesome in America, and I had a great time! Anyway, originally I called this article "Karlsruhe" - but I'm leaving tomorrow towards Greece, for my sailing trip! So I chose a more general title.

Stay on line! I'll continue this blog! - Michael