Category: Travel

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Saturday/ first day in Cologne/ Köln

It rained this morning, but it cleared up later, and warmed up to 12 °C (54°F), which was a welcome change from Friday night.

I walked around the Neumarkt area, and Rudolfplatz, and went into a few stores, seeing that most stores close down on Sunday, and Monday, for New Year’s Day.  Here are some pictures from Friday night and Saturday.

The awe-inspiring Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) is right by the hauptbahnhof (main train station). Construction on this building started many centuries ago! – in 1248. It was the world’s tallest structure from 1880 to 1890, and is Germany’s most visited landmark. It suffered fourteen hits by aerial bombs during WWII – but did not collapse, and stood tall in an otherwise flattened city. The cathedral was declared a World Heritage site in 1996. I still have to go inside and take a few more daytime pictures.
Here’s the hauptbahnhof (main train station), with the spires of the Kölner Dom behind it.
Clockwise from Top Left: Schildergasse (Schilder alley) is near the Neumarkt station, and good for all kinds of shopping | Waffles in the shape of the Kölner Dom | Kölsch beer is brewed only around Cologne (it’s a light ale), and of course I had to have some | The coat of arms of Cologne on a man-hole cover. Those are two eagles, and the shield carries  eleven black drops. Legend has it that they recall Cologne’s patron, Saint Ursula, a Britannic princess, and her legendary 11,000 virgin companions, who were martyred by Attila the Hun at Cologne for their Christian faith in 383.
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Friday night/ arrival in Cologne/ Köln

Hey! I made it into Cologne. It was snowing lightly as we landed in Frankfurt. The snow had started to stick to the tarmac, and the de-icing trucks were just fanning out to go clear any layers of snow or ice.

The intercity express train from Frankfurt to Cologne made short work of the 118 miles (190 km) from Frankfurt.  The trip took only 50 minutes.  These trains travel at speeds up to 186 mph (300 km/h)!

Left: The Embraer 190 ‘Cityhopper’ as we boarded in Amsterdam | Right: Arrival in Frankfurt with light snow (35 °F/ 2 °C).
The Intercity Express train for Cologne, at Frankfurt airport’s ‘fernbahn’ (long-distance) station. It stops for only 3 minutes.  You had better be ready to board! .. and stand at the right place on the platform! There is a diagram on the platform’s message board that shows the train car numbers, so that passengers can position themselves in the right place. Of course, if you mess up or run late, just board the train, and then walk through the train cars to find your car and your seat.
This map is from Deutche Bahn’s app on my smart phone. There is wi-fi on the train (of course). I’m in the train (plain red dot on the bottom left; the other red dots are train stations). The thin gray line that the red dot sits on, is the track, and we are 5 minutes away from Cologne. (The river is the Rhine).
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Friday/ Cape Town to Amsterdam

I arrived at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam.  My layover is several hours, then a short hop to Frankfurt by air, from where I will take the train to Cologne.

My magnificent flying machine, here at the gate at Cape Town International airport, was a Boeing 777. This airplane is named the Grand Canyon National Park (maybe KLM just kept the name that Boeing painted on it?).
Top: The safety briefing video gave a nod to Royal Delft porcelain, with pictures in the cobalt blue and motifs in the corners | My little after dinner-chocolate as a 17th century Dutch house | Bottom: Approaching Amsterdam (shown by the flight simulator). I could almost have parachuted out to Cologne! – but then I guess I would not have my luggage. And the air is frigid this time of year.
Scenes from the big public space called ‘Lounge 2’ at Schiphol aiport. Clockwise from top left: The lounge clock display has a ‘technician’ ‘inside’ behind the dial face, painting the minute hand of the clock every few minutes (it’s all computer imagery). | The cow is from the souvenir store. | I would have bought the beautiful Royal Delft porcelain farmer and his wife, but no, not for 200 Euros each. | I love the giant tulip at the House of Tulips store. Reminds me of the venus fly trap plant (named Audrey), in the 1986 movie Little Shop of Horrors.
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Thursday/ back to Frankfurt

Time flies, and my stay in South Africa is over again! I have a midnight flight out to Frankfurt, via Amsterdam.

As soon as I get to Frankfurt, I plan to take DeutcheBahn’s Intercity Express (ICE) train from to Cologne, to stay there for a few days.

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Wednesday/ Gordons Bay

The drive down to Betty’s Bay from Durbanville is about an hour and 30 minutes.
‘Dolosse’, invented in 1963 in South Africa, are concrete blocks in complex geometric shapes weighing up to 20 tons. They are used in large numbers to protect harbor walls from storms and the erosive force of ocean waves.
Standing on the pier at the little harbor in Gordons Bay (on the left), and looking back. Look for the anchor and GB on the mountain. On the left of the pier are black pipeline segments for construction of a water desalination plant. On the right are ‘dolosse’, the interlocking cement breakwater structures.  The little beach on the right is called Bikini Beach.

My friend Marlien and I drove to Gordons Bay and Betty’s Bay on Wednesday, all along the scenic coastline of False Bay. The South Easter* blew strongly at times, the way it usually does in December.

*Also called the Cape Doctor, since the wind blows away the smog accumulating in the Cape Town city bowl between the harbor and Table Mountain.

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Tuesday midnight/ arrival in Cape Town

I arrived in Cape Town!  The connection in Charles De Gaulle airport involved a long walk to the departure gate. I didn’t mind: good to get one’s circulation going after sitting in an airplane.  And, I could check out some of the better insides of the departure terminal (which was not the case last time).

There are signs everywhere in Cape Town airport, and at the overnight hotel, that implore visitors to save water. ‘Every drop counts’. I will try to.

Sights inside Charles De Gaulle airport, on the way to the departure gate. Macaroons always make me think of French President Emmanuel Macron!
Top: The flight tracker on the airplane showed us flying over Algiers (north Africa), but then bearing west and coming in over the sea towards Cape Town, skirting the coast of Angola and Namibia. Here we are about 5 hours away from arriving. (The other pink city blob is Johannesburg). Bottom: Our Boeing 777 at the gate at Charles De Gaulle.
Here’s the Boeing 777 at the gate in Cape Town International Airport – almost 12 hours after departing Paris, and flying 9360 km (5,816 mi).
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Early Tuesday/ to Paris, then Cape Town

I am at Frankfurt Airport. I checked into an airport hotel on Monday night. My flight to Paris is early Tuesday morning, and there I will catch the Air France flight to Cape Town, South Africa.

This is one of the departure halls in Terminal 1 at Frankfurt airport. I love the ‘industrial design’ look of the ceiling (maybe it’s a little dated for 2017?).
This is the hotel side of the skybridge connecting the airport to the on-site hotels. Translucent by day, the glass panels making up the shell of the skybridge, turn into a mosaic of reflections by night.
And here’s a late-night view down into the lobby of the Hilton Frankfurt Airport, from the tenth floor. The light fixtures are LED, and continuously change their colors. (I’m staying in the cheaper Hilton Garden Inn right next to the Hilton proper).
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Monday/ Galleria Kaufhof

My movements on Monday were curtailed by persistent, soaking rain! I postponed my trips to the Geldmuseum (money museum) and Schloss Höchst (castle Höchst) until my return stop here, and spent some time in the Galleria Kaufhof, a classic department store with seven floors.

It seems the ravages of Amazon has not yet hit Germany, or at least not this store in particular.  The store is a great experience, and besides – total square footage of department stores in Europe is roughly half that of the square footage in the United States. So: they may be safe for now.

I’m taking refuge under a large umbrella across from a nice Christmas market stall. This is close to the MyZeil shopping mall, with the Galleria Kaufhof department store in the background.
Inside the Galleria Kaufhof. CLockwise from top left: life-size tiger at the Schleich animal figurine display. Nice! | Adidas t-shirt featuring the Deutscher Fussballbund (German soccer federation) and touting their 2014 World Cup win | life-size Panda bear complete with bamboo, at the Schleich display | these cute creatures are German Christmas elves (?), I think. I guess they belong by the Christmas tree, but I’m not sure!
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Sunday/ Weihnachtsmarkt, Frankfurt

I made it to the Frankfurt Christmas market on Sunday night. The biggest one in the city is at the Römerberg, the public square in the old town, and seat of the Frankfurt city administration since the 15th century.

It was cold! .. but by evening the snow had stopped. Later, when I was already back in the hotel, a heavy downpour of rain later washed away just about all of the snow on the ground.  I hope the stalls for the Römerberg vendors stayed dry inside!

The giant merry-go-round is one of the main attractions in the Romerberg square, and good for adults and kids.
This giant Christmas tree was brought in (normally there are no trees on the square), and lit up brightly, with a nativity scene down below.
And here are the stalls – several dozens of them, selling glühwein, coffee, pretzels, bratwurst and all kinds of Christmas souvenirs and decorations. One of my favorite ones was a set of wooden alphabet letter cut-outs, each letter made into a little train car with wheels and hookups front and back. Then one would think of a phrase, or simply a name, and buy the letters and build a little letter train for the mantelpiece.

 

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Sunday/ arrival in Frankfurt

I arrived in Frankfurt without incident.  I had a short connection stop in Reykjavik (clear, 26°F/ -3°C).  On the plane, we waited just a little bit for other connecting passengers, and to get the all-clear from Frankfurt.  Snow was starting to fall as we arrived in Frankfurt at noon (32°F/ 0°C).

Clockwise from top left: Boarding Iceland Air’s Boeing 767 flying machine that took us to Reykjavik | Icy tarmac in Reykjavik as we board the ‘Surtsey’ Boeing 757 for Frankfurt. Surtsey is a volcanic island that appeared in 1963 south of Iceland. | Over Scotland, on the way to Frankfurt, flying southeast into the sunrise | View from the plane as we arrived in Frankfurt in steady, sifting snow that’s falling.
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Friday/ my bags are packed

My bags are packed – more or less – for my departure on Saturday, for my journey down south to South Africa. I am making a two-night stop in Frankfurt on the way, and will end up in Cape Town by Tuesday night. Weather permitting (there is snow in the forecast for Frankfurt on Sunday), I will go to the Christmas market there on the Roemerberg, the old town square.

Here is my itinerary: on Iceland Air to Frankfurt via Reykjavik. Stay a day or two, then Air France to Paris, to fly from there to Cape Town a KLM Boeing 777.
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Saturday/ strange currencies

You know with love comes strange currencies -from the song ‘Strange Currencies’, R.E.M. (1995)

Also: with travel comes strange currencies. I sorted through my stash of foreign banknotes today, keeping the crisp new ones for my little amateur collection.  I will exchange the others for Euros or US dollars at the airport, during my upcoming trip to South Africa.

I thought for sure, that by now the Hungarian forints that I got in Budapest in 2008, would be of no use – replaced by Euros – but no: they’re still good.  The Hungarian government is in no hurry to adopt the Euro, apparently.  I have Danish, Swedish and Icelandic krona notes as well, to exchange.

A bunch of notes, but not worth much! All those Hungarian forints on the left, Ft 12,100 in total, come to only US $45. The 6,000 Icelandic krona (bottom left) are worth US $58. Maybe I can spend these at Reykjavik airport when I stop there.  The Danish & Swedish krona (top left) are only worth $10 or so.
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Wednesday/ downtown San Diego

Here are a few pictures from downtown San Diego. There are several new condo towers under construction, but the older buildings are the ones that are my favorites.

The San Diego City and County Administration Building, built in a Beaux-Arts/Spanish Revival-style, construction started in 1936, and it was dedicated in 1938 by FDR himself. ‘Good government demands the intelligent interest of every citizen’ .. never truer than in 2017.
The Santa Fe Depot (as it was originally designated) station opened in 1915, to accommodate visitors to the Panama-California Exposition. That is the San Diego Trolley in front of it. The station is also a stop for Amtrak and the Coaster commuter train that runs up to Oceanside.
The marquee of the Spreckels Theater Building on Broadway, which was completed in 1912. It has been in continuous use ever since, except for a few brief intervals for refurbishing.
The Balboa Theatre is a historic vaudeville/movie theater (just a few blocks from the Spreckels Theatre in downtown San Diego), built in 1924.
I took the Coaster from Santa Fe Depot station to Solana Beach’s station (picture), where I am staying (single fare ticket $5.50). The train cars are tall with three seating levels, and comfortable inside, and a great way to avoid traffic on I-5.

 

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Tuesday/ the San Diego Zoo

We checked in on the San Diego Zoo today.  We tried to get there before the warmest part of the day (82°F, 27°C), when the animals hide away in the shadows and under rocks.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the day.

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia.  They are very, very rarely seen in the wild, and are designated as a ‘vulnerable’ species. It looks to me as if this big cat lost its left eye. Aw.
The African clawless otter (Cape clawless otter or ‘groot’ otter), is the second-largest freshwater species of otter.  They are found in permanent bodies of freshwater in southern Africa.
An African penguin taking a dive. Also known as the jackass penguin (they make a braying sound that sounds like a donkey), these are confined to southern African waters.
The ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) is from Madagascar, and an endangered species (their numbers are decreasing).
We spotted this giant panda from a bridge high above in its enclosure. All pandas are on loan from China. This one is one of Gao Gao, Bai Yun or Xiao Liwu, but I really don’t know which one!
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Monday/ Birch Acquarium

Here are some pictures from our visit today at Birch Aquarium. The aquarium is managed by the world-renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

Left: The Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier, viewed from the aquarium. It is a research pier, and was constructed in 1988. Right: These life-size bronze statues of gray whales at the aquarium entrance are called ‘The Legacy’ are almost 40 feet tall, created in 1996 by Randy Puckett.
Clockwise from the top: A leopard shark in the kelp forest tank | a sea cucumber | a California moray gives me an evil eye | a stonefish (whatever you do – don’t step on it. Poison in its needle-like dorsal spine makes it one of the most venomous fishes in the world).
Clockwise from the left: The (spectacular) leafy sea dragon, found only along the south coast of Australia | the garibaldi | California king crab | loggerhead sea turtle
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Saturday/ in San Diego

I made my way down to San Diego early on Saturday morning (on an Alaska Airlines 737), to visit my brother and his family for a few days. It was mild and sunny here (70 °F/ 21°C).

This is Solana Beach, at sunset today.  The tide was out very low late in the afternoon, allowing beachcombers to check out the shallow waters in the rocks and seaweeds. Someone spotted a little octopus in one of the pools, but it promptly wedged itself underneath a rock, out of sight.
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Friday the 13th/ flight 666 to HEL

Today in Copenhagen: at about 13 o’clock on Friday the 13th, Finnair flight 666 took off to fly to HEL (Helsinki). The (regularly scheduled) flight arrived on time, safe and sound.  Alas, this was the last flight to Helsinki with this number. Finnair is said to have rearranged their flight numbers, so soon there will be no more flight 666s to HEL.

Flight 666 from Copenhagen (CPH) to Helsinki (HEL).
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Friday/ Lake Lenore & Dry Falls

(These pictures are from Wednesday).  We made a stop at Lake Lenore on Wednesday. Lake Lenore is a long, narrow lake (8 mi long, 15ft deep) formed by the Missoula Floods in the lower Coulee just north of the town of Soap Lake. There is a trail that leads up to caves in the basalt rock.

Driving further up north on Highway 17 brings one to Dry Falls, named for the massive waterfalls that existed there during the Pleistocene Epoch, when ice sheets and glaciers covered huge parts of Earth’s surface.  This area was at the southern end of the Cordilleran ice sheet, and the melting of the glaciers carved out the coulees in the basalt rock that we see today.

Clockwise from the top: looking southwest & northwest toward the ‘coulee monocline’ bluffs over Lake Lenore, with Highway 17 below; dry vegetation and a black beetle; Lake Lenore lies alongside Highway 17; view from inside one of the caves formed by the plucking out of pieces of the basal rock by the rushing Missoula Flood waters; footpath to the caves; beautiful lichen. Lichens are composite organisms that emerge from algae or cyanobacteria living among the filaments of two fungi in a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship.
The main picture is from inside the visitor center at Dry Falls. The picture that I took (bottom right) is the view looking south, away from the cliffs of the Dry Falls. The Pleistocene Epoch began about 2.6 million years ago and lasted until about 11,700 years ago. The most recent Ice Age occurred then (there have been at least FIVE in Earth’s history). At the time of the Pleistocene, the continents had moved to their current positions. Large parts of the northern continents were covered by glaciers, but they did not just sit there. There was a lot of movement over time, and there were about 20 cycles when the glaciers would advance and retreat as they thawed and refroze.