Mere weeks before Christmas

Winter has arrived, dry whispers of cold...

...but now is the time: Cocooning with our warm and cosy blankets, our warming fires. Wiping the frost off the windows, and watching glistening jewels of light in all these Christmas trees...

What I saw this week...

...was people looking for fun at night

...a bit of wishful thinking by men in dark suits...



...and a hairy nose...



Tourists

Had a friend and his 14-year old niece over this weekend. She hadn't been to London so we went to some of the usual suspect tourist attractions. Weather was nice and I particularly liked the light around the Thames river on that sunday

Despite Tate Modern just being a two minute walk from my apartment, passing by the building on my daily commute, I am still amazed by the looks of it, every time.

Also made a short movie when I saw the people gathering in the generator hall of Tate Modern, might post it here some time soon



Portobello Market

Spent a bit of time at Portobello Market last weekend...it's nice for a couple of hours on any given Saturday morning, but don't expect any bargains to be made...

Thought the army of teddy bears was funny.

No, the lady wasn't real...

 ...but if she would have been, I am sure she would have probably lived in one of these nice apartments.

Was nice after all, but I didn't buy anything in the end.



Bright was the day...

Bright was the day, and blue the firmament; Phoebus of gold his streames down had sent to gladden every flow'r with his warmness...

Well, not really...went to Beachy Head on the motorbike, together with a friend and former colleague. Was freezing cold and I guess we were happy to be back after 6 hours...will be back in spring. Very beautiful landscape....

Going to see the sea

Spent a nice day with my cousin in Whitstable, some 45 miles away from London. It's a cute little village by the sea, well worth the trip. Famous for its oysters, one can stroll along the beach for hours and watch the boats come and go. Great fun!

Shadowplays

Me and another million people....went to see Notting Hill Carnival. From all the pictures I took I actually liked the shadowplays the most.

This was a bunch of three girls watching the carnival from the other side of the road. Sun was amazing in the afternoon, creating wonderful shadows.

Went there with a colleague and friend of mine, she is Chinese, and we then went to have some authentic Chinese dinner in her favourite restaurant....really nice food...

Anyway, here are at least some of the pictures I took of the Carnival people

I liked the two younger girls, they were very enthusiastic about the dancing...

A visit to Blenheim Palace

Went to see Blenheim Palace just the other day, about an hour drive from London...

Some pretty impressive stuff, but one would wonder if some of these signs are really really necessary...

Anyway, I thought it was a pretty overwhelming set up, and a nice front porch for having friends over...

...but then again I found that sometimes the most beautiful things in life might actually be smaller than the obvious ones

Sunny Sunday by the sea

Went to Brighton on my motorbike, just to see the sea and get some fish'n chips.

It was really nice, and despite me having been here before, I enjoyed my stay...very British

People were relaxed (well, it was BEFORE the match...;-))

But some might not have been too relaxed a little while later (AFTER the match), but I was gone by then...

My short trip to Havana, Cuba

Went to see Havana for some nine days in February. In short, handsome people serving chilled Mojitos, nice weather, huge waves, boring food.

The old ladies were really stoned....but apparently enjoying themselves...

I asked the owner how much he would want for his old car. Some 30.000 CUC was his answer, which would be around 25.000 EUR.....sorry, didn't have that much with me....

I do like this next picture....represents a lot of Cuba for me

The next picture I am very proud of: Took me almost two hours to get a cool picture combining the huge waves and something else in the foreground...anyway, the boys really got wet, let me tell you....

Isn't that a typical Havana image?

All the girls were turning their heads for the soldier boy....you can tell by a look in his face how proud he was

When I walked into a local market I almost couldn't believe my eyes; the boys aiming to be a new Capablanca while the meat was just put on the table....for hours that is, no fridge....hungry, anyone?

I think this is my favourite picture. Guess it speaks for itself...

I bet you look good on the dancefloor

Went to see the Arctic Monkeys just the other day, my favourite band. Great concert, great music, really liked it a lot.

A sign, a sign....

Had my last day of work at my old job just the other day. When I came into the office and looked out of the window I couldn't believe that there was such an amazing sunrise that morning....lucky me I had my camera with me....

Flowers

A picture I shot a while ago. However, it was just yesterday that I was in the mood to take care of it, for a special reason. By the way, there was no post-processing applied to this picture, it came out of the camera just like this. Amazing flowers, aren't they?

The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty

A picture I took last weekend. Reminded me immediately of a book I have read years ago (German: Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter), and also the corresponding movie, a 1972 drama directed by Wim Wenders.

Rainy day in London

Snow back in town