MUC & Bavaria

In August I traveled to Bavaria. I landed in Munich Airport.

After renting a small car with Avis we drove towards the "Englischer Garten" that is a big park located close to the city center . 

We walked around and mingled with all the other tourists.

We then moved  on down south - Destination -> Somewhere far away from other people!

Thus we found our selves in the heart of Bavaria and Mad King Ludwig's "castles" towered above us on the hillsides.

And then it bloody rained and rained and rained ...

Winter is coming !
Time to plan New Years Eve ! I'm looking for a nice secluded spot...

Stormy skies

This was a hail storm in Spain in April. Apparently nearby villages got battered.
I wonder if our Avis car was inured for such an occurrence...

Majestic mountains

Today I would like to present another duet of picture from Madeira.

The cloudy mountains were incredibly majestic and left me feeling eerie.

This difficult terrain means that leaving the path may cause serious problems.  

"Bloco Open"

This was in February 2012.

We need more bouldering competitions in Warsaw!

Bowling

Did you know that the origins of bowling can be traced about 4,000 years back to Rome and Greece?

The streets of Warsaw

In search of an interesting street shot. Turns out you need to spend a lot of time out on the streets!

Saturdays photo walk was  unsurprisingly unproductive.

The fog did not lift, so instead I tried to take some pics of Warsaw in general. Here is the new Metro line being built (Rondo ONZ):

And here is a a different view of the same place:

There have been some delays...

This is how one should visit Warsaw.
Thanks to "Veturilo - Rent a Bike" It's easy to travel around the city and explore every nook and cranny.
This picture was taken in the Saxon Garden in Warsaw, PL.

The Saxon Garden was originally a part of a fortification built around a palace in 1666.
Most of the building were destroyed during the Warsaw uprising and the II World War.

Boca da Ecumeada - Madeira, PT

In the very heart of the island is a place where the sky is always at war. The northern weather fights to cross the mountains and attack the sunny south.

Let's party!

What are you doing this weekend ?

As I'm practicing street photography for a certain project I thought I'd share this.

Have a nice day everyone! 

A view from beneath Pico Grande - Central Madeira

The view from Neuschwanstein castle towards Schwangau and the summer residential castle/palace of  Schloss Hohenschwangau.

Very busy with bus loads of tourists arriving every hour for guided tours.
I much preferred the views then any single interior of the nearby castles.

An interesting view of a part of the Vistula river near Warsaw, Poland.

The strange oil painting look was achieved thanks to a wide apature of  f1.4 and a little bit of mist.

This marina in Calheta only exists thanks to the tourist boats that take people out to the ocean to see whales and dolphins. There is nothing here except for a hotel a shop and a restaurant..

Volcanoes.

Madeira is the tip of a shield volcano!

The last volcanic eruption took place approximately 4500 BC.

In Sao Vicente one can visit the "Madeira Volcanism Center". The guided tour is not expensive, takes about an hour and is very interesting.
This picture was taken whilst walking along one of the lava tunnels.

Hay

This is a scene I saw a couple of times all over Madeira.

As there are not too many farm animals on the island and due to the rugged terrain not many fields either, local farmers do a lot of their work manually. Hay is transported as seen in the picture.
Bananas and other fruit are also cared for individually.

This gives a nice feel of tranquility whilst visiting the island.
It's nice to get away from modern civilization!

The picture was taken in Sao Vicente on the north coast.

An amazing discovery.

On the 19th October 2012 Kasia and I found ourselves in the heart of Madeira.

As the weather was not too good we stayed away from the mountain ridges and took a calmer easier walk instead. It turned out to be a "royal" path. Used for many centuries as a trading route. On this route something wonderful happened. (some of you already know what I mean).

Much to my amazement just 5 minutes before writing this post I learned that the trees in the foreground are actually Eucalyptus trees!

Wasp spider (Argiope Bruennichi)

This "little" thing is called a wasp spider. (http://www.madeirahelp.com/argiope_bruennichi_spider).

Just as we were leaving Funchal's botanical gardens I noticed this spider hiding in a succulent.
I used only natural light and the background is a bit too bright, but this was the only big spider I saw.
So if you plan to visit Madeira and are scared of creepy crawlies then no need to worry!

But use mosquito repellent as dengue fever is becoming an issue on the island!

To keep you interested !

As I plan to update my blog as often as possible, here is a picture taken in Madeira's capital: Funchal.

Madeira is of volcanic origin and is reasonably young compared to other land masses. This means that the slopes are steep. The locals came up with an easy way to get back down from the top of Monte ( Monte Palace Gardens) back down to the center of town.
Of course this is a well known tourist attraction.

Madeira - The daughter of fire ! Gallery coming soon