Hallig Gröde - Sailing

Now that must be fun, low tech sailing with this two master in the wadden sea.

The ship was sailing south of Gröde, most likely heading from the mainland towards the island of Amrum or beyond.

Hallig Gröde - Sunrise Birds

Most of the time I was wondering where all the birds were gone.

During our first visit to Gröde in spring, we were very much impressed by the enormous number of birds on the holm. In comparison, in September they seemed to be almost absent. Well, they are still there, as you can see here: an oystercatcher swarm at sunrise. The stripe of land on the left horizon is Hallig Habel, the wind generators are on the mainland.

Hallig Gröde - Postman

And here we have another canonical picture of Gröde.

The postman – or better postboatman – on his way back from the “post office” to the wharf. Everything, including mail delivery and pickup, on the holms is run at a different pace than our hectic modern life.

Hallig Gröde - Glasswort on Dryland

The hot weather took its toll, slowly drying out the pools in the excavated hole north of the Knudswarft.

And so the glasswort plants, which normally have their “feet” in brackish water, have to cope which the drying mud.

Hallig Gröde - Strange Days 2

The hazy weather continued for several days.

All in all we had one and a half weeks of a very warm, almost hot, late summer. Sunshine, no clouds, no wind, calm and flat sea, haze. More like sunbathing, not photographing. Not your typical North Sea.

Hallig Gröde - Strange Days 1

And then came some strange days, sunny and warm, almost no wind, but extremly hazy.

On this day we neither could see the neighboring holms Langeneß and Oland nor the horizon. Gröde was encased by a grey-white monotonousness.

England - Hever Castle

Back again from the archives, an image of the picturesque Hever Castle in England.

For a kindergarden project of my daughter I was scanning some old photos from our vacation in 2000 and took the opportunity to put up some of them in the new album England.

Hallig Gröde - Sunset 2

And then even the excursion boat and the tourists are gone, nothing disturbs the peacefulness of the gorgeous sunset.

Somehwere I read: “If I could live my live a second time, I would […] watch more sunsets. […]” On Hallig Gröde, this can be realized. ;-)

Hallig Gröde - Sunset 1

Day tourists heading back to their ship, the Hauke Haien, while the sun is setting.

After a longer break, back to the Hallig Gröde images. Don’t worry, there are many more slide films waiting in the queue for scanning. ;-) It’s just that my new toy requires some attention, too.

Cologne City - Weltstadthaus

View of the Peek & Cloppenburg branch in Cologne, still under construction.

After the short spell of snow at the end of December last year Winter in Cologne is more like spring time and lured us into the city. This provided a good opportunity to finally get the “Weltstadthaus” before my lens. The building of the Italian star architect Renzo Piano was a construction ruin with no progress for more than two years. Only in late summer 2004, the glass dome was finished.