Category Archives: Travel

“This callous proposal will needlessly punish local, predominantly rural communities that depend on parks and public lands for outdoor recreation, sustainable jobs and economic growth”

The Washington Post: Interior chief urges shrinking 4 national monuments in West.

“Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is recommending that four large national monuments in the West be reduced in size, potentially opening up hundreds of thousands of acres of land revered for natural beauty and historical significance to mining, logging and other development.

Zinke’s recommendation, revealed in a leaked memo submitted to the White House, prompted an outcry from environmental groups who promised to take the Trump administration to court to block the moves.

The Interior secretary’s plan would scale back two huge Utah monuments — Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante — along with Nevada’s Gold Butte and Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou.”

We’ve been to Grand Staircase Escalante and are/were planning on visiting Bears Ears in the future. There is so much natural beauty and pristine wilderness in Utah. Don’t throw it away please!

Gone Fishing

André and I went on a trip to Scotland earlier this month, here are a few impressions.

Ruined house at Loch Assynt:

Stoer Lighthouse:

Sunset at Stoer Lighthouse:

Cliff near Quiraing on the Isle of Sky:

View from atop Quiraing on the Isle of Sky:

Landscape on the Isle of Lewis (and Harris):

View from the summit of Braeriach, the third highest mountain of Britain (after Ben Nevis and Ben Macdui):

It seems that our webserver also took some time off during our trip, but my trusty admin has since fixed the problem, and now I’m back and Serendipita is up and running again.

Perfect day with wonderful hike

Today André and I hiked across the border between Palatinate and Alsace and visited four ruined castles along the way: Wegelnburg, Hohenburg, Löwenstein, Fleckenstein. The weather was perfect – around 27°C (80°F) and sunny – and there was lots of shade on the path which led mostl through forest. Recommended!

Hohenburg, the second castle we visited.

First glimpse of Burg Fleckenstein through the forest.

Sandstone formation.

Fleckenstein in all its glory – it is 90 metres long and has an average height of 26 metres!

Fleckenstein again – this must have been a very impressive castle before it was ruined.