Journeys of W.

Greetings - and thanks for logging on to my webpage.

Some weeks ago, I switched from PC to Mac (I bought the new MacBook). They claimed it is much easier to hanlde photos, music and websites. I didn't believe it, but after thinking for just a few minutes in their logic, I had to agree. Publishing photos and text online is really easy with iWeb, one of the programms on the Mac. 

This is why I am sorry that I will close down this website, and will open a new one under:

http://web.mac.com/wolfgangfueter

If you have any interest, please visit me there. There will be no further posts on this site. 

Greetings from Beijing Airport, and a quick teaser for the longer report with photos of this trip. Beijing is being restored and reconstructed at an unbelieveable speed to be ready for the 2008 Olympics. Many sights have been restored in a really beautiful way. Stay tuned for photos as soon as I am able to download them onto the net. So stay tuned!

As for now - it is on to Moscow. 8 hours with Aeroflot, of which I have heard that they have shaped up since I last flew them in 1992 (and I sincerely do hope so). If not, I had some training last week when I was flying with Star Alliance Member TAP Air Portugal from Lisbon to Frankfurt. They have an "interesting" entertainment system on board: they play a movie and rather than handing out headphones they simply play the audio track via the speakers (stupid movie and no way to sleep or listen to music on my iPod)...

Once again an electoral outcome in Mexico that seems to feed my theory elaborated further down. Less than one percentage point difference between the candidates...

Belive it or not - even though living close to Berlin (only 1 hour by high-speed train) was one of the reasons why we chose to live in northern Germany - the number of times we have actually been there on a weekend can be counted on one hand! This weekend, the count went up by one.

Most striking - the arrival in the new Hauptbahnhof (main station). Just opened a few weeks ago, the new station will add "glamour" to the arrival in the capital; it will also add to the long list of modern "Archisculptures" in Berlin, but also do its fair share to further move the center towards "Mitte", as no long distance train will any longer stop at the (in)famous Bahnhof Zoo!

More photos can be found in the photo gallery by clicking here.

(to continue reading, be sure to click on the "read more" button just below!)

 My current book recommendation is: Molvania - a land untouched by modern dentistry. It is part of a very very witty series of fake (satiric) travel guides from "jetlag travel", that make great parody of other major guides such as Fjodors or the Lonely Planet. Molvania is a fictional Eastern European Country, but much of what is described could be just about anywhere... Funny little details make this a great read, such as "correction from our last edition: the hotel staff is not uniformed but UN-informed". To get a pre-taste, "jetlag travel" has a website to warm you up to this and other books. There is a site for English and one for German. Enjoy! 

Just found a former print-article online from the Tagesspiegel (Berlin), which quotes me (in German). Worthwhile news to share... Here is the link.

The long (3-day) Pentecost-weekend gave us the chance to travel northwards and visit "Ostfriesland" (something like "Eastern Frisia"), the western-most tip of Lower Saxony bordering on the North Sea and land-hub for the small Islands of Borkum, Norderney, etc. which are just off the coast. Largest city in that area is Emden, which we have visited about one and a half years ago, then for its famous Art Museum (Kunsthalle Emden) financed mainly by the foundation of the long-time "Stern" publisher and editor Henri Nannen.

Back then we spent the night in a small but cozy hotel in Aurich (the "Alte Kantorei" which we can highly recommend to anyone in the region), and decided to come back again once in summer to discover the region more in depth.

(a photo of our exact room from the Website indicated above) 

Most unfortunately, the weather this weekend did not differ much from the weather during the last trip (which took place in January). Strong winds, little sun, low temperatures, some rain. Maybe this is just the weather of this somewhat harsh region. For those who know, the beer "Jever" which is produced right there, it advertises itself with the slogan "a beer like its country", to underline the strong and almost harsh taste of it. I can confirm: true enough!

Still - the region remains beautiful, and the weather almost adds to some of its beauty. We took a very windy walk along the sea and through the dunes close to Greetsiel as well into an almost untouched moor (swamp). Here is a teaser. All photos of this trip can be found by clicking here or on the "Ostfriesland"-Album on the sidebar (attention, 2 pages!).

 
(Photo W.F.)

In many ways the experience (see below) has been too short (only 48 hours all in all) and too different from 1992/93 when I have last been in Moscow to comment much (and, in addition, make some sense of what I write).

It seems like everything has changed. I could hardly recognize anything. So many new buildings, so much renovation on old buildings. Thank god, the "Seven Sisters" built under Stalin are still up, and offer at least some form of familiarity and orientation.

In addition, so much color has been added (or returned?) to this city in the last years. There seems to be an incredible wealth in the city - though very unevenly distributed. It stands as probably the most expensive city in Europe, with a price index of 30% above Frankfurt!

Russia (Moscow and St. Petersburg) has become a key market for many luxury brands including cars, of which you can see many on the street. I had dinner at an excellent Italian restaurant (impossible to find one like this in Braunschweig). I would have actually preferred to eat some more "local" cuisine (including Georgian, Azerbeidjani, etc. which is very tasteful), but then it occured to me that an Italian Restaurant may be more "local" these days in Moscow than any of the above mentionned alternatives...

To be able to write more, I will have to travel back to Moscow which likely I will do again during summer. Stay tuned!

As promised, here some quick pictures from Moscow, where I spent about 48 hours this week. More details will follow, but here an impression of the "new" Red Square (as seen at around 10h30 PM). It is no longer dominated with Soviet military and long queues towards the Lenin Mausoleum, but rather by the splendor of the beautifully renovated St. Basils church as well as the bright lights from the temple of the 21 century. the former state department store "GUM", now an exclusive shopping mall.

Here is a quick summary of a short couple of days in Switzerland:

1. Great to see that my parents are doing well! (And yes, 2.5 kg of white German asparagus is accepted as handluggage on SWISS and it does make a delighful dinner).

2. Never enter a train without these proven travel-companions: my NZZ and my iPod (unpaid advertisement!). They make time go by fast (and conveniently blend out any noise anybody in the car could make).

3. Life itself is always the best possible form of art! No fancy sculpture or expensive "pyramid". Just a waterplay and plenty of room to sit and watch. The new "Bundesplatz" breathes life - and this in front of the "Bundesbank" (Federal Reserve) and the "Bundeshaus" (Capitol)!

4. Leave some time for unexpected encouters - they are well worth it! (best done so in Bern at the Cafe Litteraire in the Stauffacher Bookstore).

5. Lake Geneva is still the most beautiful. (Note: be sure to put some sun lotion on if you take a boat trip - even if it is for just one hour; if not, Northerners, no longer used to the sun, may end up looking like the lighthouse!). Anyway, great trip - thanks Caspar!

6. Zurich's "Unique"-Airport is still my preferred transfer Airport in Europe - the new features make up for the downsides of the additional midfield terminal.

On Tuesday, it is off to Russia. I have not been there since January 1993 - so extremely curious. Stay tuned for more updates!