Hohentwiel Fortress in Germany was one of Baden-Wüerttemberg’s largest fortresses. Starting from a smaller medieval castle situated on top of the Hohentwiel – a long time inactive volcano of the Hegau group of volcanoes – in the 16th century it [...]
End of last year it became clear I was going to be in Edinburgh for the Edinburgh Marathon Festival 2012 as a marathon “support team”. Since I had to be there anyway, why not also register for one of the [...]
Last weekend I had the chance to be in Scotland for the Edinburgh Marathon Festival 2012 (see also previous entry). Taking an early flight on Friday, there was half of Friday and all of Saturday to explore Edinburgh before the [...]
Last weekend I had a chance to stay in Amsterdam for a couple of days. Weather was great, so I spent all Sunday walking the old town with its canals, bridges, old merchant houses, boats and the Red Light District. [...]
Towards the end of this calendar year I was sort of forced to take some days off. Since I hate to “waste” vacation days for nothing, the plan for a calm week at the German North Sea was quickly made [...]
The Saalfeld underground mine – better known as “Feengrotten” (German for “fairy caves”) – is a small system of artificial tunnels, passages and galleries, which are connected with some natural caves. Saalfeld is located in the German state of Thuringia, [...]
Stretching south from mass-tourism-infested Cancun lies a part of the Yucatán coastline, which is also known as the Riviera Maya. While Cancun is definitely an overcrowded place and on my personal list ranks as one of the top architectural disasters [...]
Special gems at the Riviera Maya are the beaches in the south. Here you will find the quiet yet beautiful Carribean beach without concrete and if you are lucky you might even have it all for your own. After the [...]
The Yucatán peninsula is known for its rich fauna and flora. A small selection – mainly limited to insects, lizards and trees – is displayed in this set. Most of the images were taken near Tulum, Coba and at the [...]
Of all the Mayan cities in the Yucatán, the walled city of Tulum is certainly the one in the most pittoresque setting – built directly at the Caribbean Sea, including sandy beaches and a natural cliff with a once completely [...]
The Mayan site of Chunyaxche, also known as Muyil, is a Mayan city in southern Quintana Roo. Only “Muyil A” is open to the public. The site probably began to be populated already around 300 BC. The nearby lagoons of [...]
Around 30 miles away from Tulum and the Caribbean coast lie the ruins of the ancient Mayan City of Coba, from the middle and late classic period, from 500 to 900 AD. The city stretches over almost 40 square miles [...]
Spanish colonial times have left their architectural mark on the Yucatán Peninsula. While on this trip I avoided most larger cities, however some nice example of colonial architecture ca be found at the Hacienda Chichen which served as an archaeologists’ [...]
The place “the mouth of the well of the Itza”, as “Chich’en Itza” translates from Yucatec Maya, was already inhabited early on in Mayan times, and it was known as a major city in the 6th century AD. Most of [...]
To the south of the great plaza with the temple of Kukulcan in Chichen Itza stretches an area of smaller buildings and pyramids. I was in particular impressed by the so called nunnery group of buildings, with ornaments carved into [...]
Plymouth is just a short drive from Exeter in the UK, so I went there for a day trip in May 2006 while on my second stay in Devon this year. The last time I’ve been to Plymouth must have [...]
Powderham Castle, settled at western banks of the River Exe in Devon (UK), was built between 1390 and 1420 by Sir Philip Courtenay. It was damaged in the Civil War and later repaired and modified by several generations of the [...]
Cairo. the capital of Egypt – a city with an estimated population of over 15 million people, at least so I was told in Egypt, other sources speak of even larger numbers. In any case Cairo is the largest city [...]
