Serendipita

There are a lot of hills in the Eifel

Today, André and I went on a bike tour for the first time since we moved. We planned to go to the Laacher See, a volcanic lake about 10 kilometres from Andernach. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a map with topographical information, so we discovered the hills between here and there too late. I still have the same bike that I used to use while growing up in Northern Germany, and I’m afraid it is not suited to the hilly landscape here at all.

We didn’t make it to the lake, but found a little adventure along the way: We climbed the Nastberg (link to page in German), which is a volcanic hill that offers a great view over Andernach, the Rhine and the area around (Neuwieder Becken) including parts of the eastern Eifel and the Westerwald.

It seems that we have chosen a nice spot to live: There’s the river Rhine to the east and the volcanic part of the Eifel to the west, plus if you go a little further, the Ahr (to the north) and Mosel (to the south) wine regions are within easy reach. There’s a lot of spectacular nature and scenery around us, and there’s a cooperation that features the sights of the volcanic Eifel. They have a web site, Vulkanpark.com, and the routes to the sights are signposted. I hope that I will have enough time to explore our new surroundings even after I start working full-time the week after next.

Eifel kriminell

Durch unseren Umzug sind wir der Eifel ein gutes Stück näher gekommen, und auf der Suche nach Informationen über die Vulkanpark-Routen, die hier in der Umgebung ausgeschildert sind, bin ich zwar nicht erfolgreich gewesen (Update 21.08.2004 – Hier ist die Site: Vulkanpark.com), habe dafür aber einiges über meine Lieblings-Eifelkrimis gefunden.

Bei Eifel Tourismus gibt es eine eigene Rubrik Mörderische Eifel, wo man u. a. Informationen zum Eifelkrimi-Wanderweg bekommt. Es geht aber auch mit dem Rad und zwar auf die Krumme Tour (Seite beim SWR; wer mag, kann den TV-Beitrag ansehen (.ram-Datei)).

Wer es lieber bequemer mit dem Auto mag, für den bietet Franz-Peter Dohmen Seiten zu den Eifel-Krimis an, insbesondere eine Eifel-Tour (Karte mit Webgeschreibung) zu den Schauplätzen der Eifelkrimis von Jacques Berndorf alias Michael Preute. Neben Erläuterungen zum Weg finden sich dort Auszüge aus den Krimis (teilweise auch aus Krimis anderer Autoren wie Ralf Kramp) sowie Hinweise darauf, was real und was fiktiv ist. Über den Autor selbst findet sich dort ebenfalls eine Seite mit einer Fülle von Informationen inklusive Lebenslauf und Bibliographie.

Und mehr durch Zufall habe ich eben entdeckt, dass Jacques Berndorf auch eine eigene Website hat: Jacques-Berndorf.de.

Nach langer Zeit mal wieder ein Sonnenuntergang

Our new flat has a balcony to the west. My first thought when I saw the flat was – perfect for viewing sunsets! Tonight was the first time the sky turned orange enough to warrant a few photos since we moved in. Here’s the view from the balcony around 8:30 pm today:

However, there are a few other houses that block the view, so I tried again from the attic:

It was raining, so on the opposite side you could see a double rainbow.

The colours in the photo don’t look quite real. You can actually see in this shot that the camera is sensitive to infrared light because the red side of the rainbow seems to glow.

Two years and two days ago…

… André and I got married.

Thanks for the congratulations, Jeff! (Wow, Jeff seems to remember every birthday and anniversary for the people whose weblogs he reads.)

By bike

When I moved to Bonn seven years ago I thought it would be fun to go to Cologne by bike instead of by train. Of course I never got around to actually doing it – until it almost was too late. Two weeks ago, just a few days before we moved, I figured it was now or never, so I took a break from packing boxes and spent one afternoon on my bike. I took some photos along the way, but it will take a while to edit them, so here’s a little preview.

Even though there is some heavy industry along the river between the two cities, much of the way the Rhine looks like this:

And here’s a shot of the famous cathedral in Cologne, seen from a distance.

Community

Happy 49th birthday, Hal!