mari's farm.

january music.

2012-01-31T09:39:00.000+01:00

i made this ( in my eyes ) very beautiful musix mix for the month january. i intent to continue this throughout the year. hopefully you'll be enjoying it at least a little :D

castle eppstein.

2012-01-29T13:57:00.000+01:00

last weekend was an epic one. on saturday evening i met up with some friends watching movies, afterwards i picked up another friend to watch more movies, drink some alcohol and staying up until 9 in the morning. after 1 and 1/2 an hour of sleep i made my way to a lunch meet up with other friends and then to visit a castle. this sounds like i have a lot of friends, but actually the people i went to the castle with were the people i stayed with on saturday evening.

it was beautiful nonetheless. i love me some very good friends to surround myself with sometimes.

well, we visited castle eppstein, a castle situated in the taunus forests. the town of eppstein is quite beautiful as well.

idstein - a timber frame constructioned town.

2012-01-22T18:38:00.000+01:00

last weekend i made my way to idstein, known for its witches tower and castle but also for the timber framed inner city houses. it was a clear and cold day and i even climbed some hills after strolling through the almost deserted city. it was beautiful, the sun gently stroking my cheeks, as i looked down on this small town.

in the background there is the witches tower. it's famous in history for tortureing and killing witches in the dark age times. the building in the front is the town hall.

the blue building is the crooked houseg.

the gate house, part of the old castle.

that's how frosty it was.

buildings belonging to the fortress of idstein.

the witches tower.

castle idstein. you cannot investigate it any further, it's a secondary school now.

full view of the witch tower.

you can see it from everywhere, a true landmark.

discovering some nature.

view on some idstein buildings. the cliff was situated breathtakingly. i sat there for a while enjoying the sun.

i love all those cute houses and desperately would want to live in some of these when i'm older.

the hoerhof.

beautiful sundown.

a new year has begun.

2012-01-11T00:04:00.000+01:00

and i'm keeping some of my resolutions already. visiting more places, and doing good shots.

i was very tired that night.

the rhine is flooded at the moment so you cannot take some of the pathways next to it. i'm actually quite proud of these pictures, they are not adjusted. the light was pure bliss on the day i shot them.

i took a different walk, because there was no way of walking the flooded pathways.

and then there was a chance of strolling by the river!

i also had to wade through some bigger puddles. my shoes were very dirty afterwards, and even though they're quite old, the water didn't get through! good boots!!

and my schlumbergera is blossoming like woah! i'm so proud, the plants are 4 months old now, and didn't die!

christmas & new year's.

2012-01-10T23:43:00.000+01:00

finally uploading the end of the year 2011.

i feel good right about now. i think this year, i will finally find my path in life. there's only one question left: for better or for worse? we'll see.

the lilies giving lights.

two very precious books from my parents and best friend. i'm reading haruki murakami at the moment and am in love.

the day after christmas we made a walk by the river. it was a very nebulous day.

the schierstein harbour.

a little story about a small boy. actually... no. i don't believe in christ, but the scenery of this in the water was still beautiful.

next day - visiting ruedesheim.

and a picture from new year's eve. didn't make that much more. my dear friend lea was celebrating with us! it was precious, and i already missed her when she was gone two days later.

2011 reflection survey.

2011-12-22T20:34:00.000+01:00

1.What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?:

i consciously experienced the magic of the sea ( baltic sea in particular ) and have fallen deeply in love with it. i went to kaiserslautern and visited its beautiful japanese garden. also experienced the craziness that is frankfurt/main. everything else that happened were things i already did before. got a new tattoo, visited friends, family, places. nothing spectacular.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?:
i was a bit more resolute at work, even though there's still so much that annoys me and will never get better. i'm not sure if i will continue this job in the future but for now it's better than nothing. i tried to meet more of my friends this year and i guess i was kind of good this time. i had a few depressions along the way, but all in all i guess my friends & family keep me sane and alive. and in case of enjoying moments in my life... i did not succeed so much. i try everyday and very hard to nourish happy and lovely and good things in life, but it's really difficult for me. my goal for next year is to try harder to just live and not think too much about consequences. in terms of writing and working on my writing – another fail this year. i guess i'm not a writer, and never will be.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?:
no.

4. Did anyone close to you die?:
no.

5.What countries did you visit?:

no foreign country this year. i was in schleswig-holstein by the baltic sea. that was a very memorable visit and i intend to visit again next year. also made several trips to my home state thuringia, saxony-anhalt, north rhine-westphalia, saarland & rhineland-palatinate. and curved around in hesse, as well, mostly the rhine district.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?:
visiting more places here in germany, there's still so much to see and discover. i always thought that love was something i've missed a lot in 2011 and want to have more of, but i slowly realize that love in terms of loving a guy, being attracted to him body-wise and also as in an intimate relationship doesn't really apply to me anymore. i'm single for 5 years now, and i have the feeling that this is too much of a long span of time to properly think about starting a relationship ever again. especially since i don't have a lot of experience other than my first and last boyfriend. i guess chances for me finding someone who also loves me ( not me always loving the other one without being loved back ) aren't very high anymore as i grow older and develop more and more anxieties. so what i try to achieve next year is, to at least try to overcome some of my fears and angsts. i seriously lacked of self consciousness and believing in myself. i need to work on this, else i will never enjoy the time i have on this earth.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?:
my visit to the baltic sea this year. the sea calms me down and everything is so insignificant when you stare at the waves, strolling around on the beach finding mussels and stones and feeling the wind on your skin. the little trips with my parents and friends again. the mucc concert in january, which was all kinds of awesome. the earthquake and the nuclear disaster of japan in march. end of july – because i got my ladybug tattoo. august 13 – seeing dir en grey live in bochum. this memory is very deep in my heart. the time when i thought i found my other half – which is not important anymore by now. all the times depressions devastated me.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?:
no achievement this year... i wish there was, but i guess, i have everything i need in life – job, friends, car, somewhere to live & food. i would have liked it to experience a few personal achievements, but there was no big one.

9. What was your biggest failure of the year?:

not overcoming my anxieties in a major way. i guess i'm my own biggest failure. not finding love again. which lead me to the realization that intimate relationships are not my forte.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?:

no serious illnesses this year, except of my depressions and anxiety disorders. i had severaly injuries, but all were very harmless, some were self inflicted. from time to time i have back and head aches.

11. What was the best thing you bought?:(was bought for you)
a few clothes ( a black wool poncho, that i totally adore, my boots&braces shoes ), tickets for dir en grey & mucc concert, dum spiro spero limited edition set & uroboros cd by dir en grey, a record player for vinyls. cute stuff from my friends.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?:
nobody's.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?:
me, myself and i. and a few guys. two to be exact.

14. Where did most of your money go?:
rents, my car, food. like last year. dir en grey related stuff. presents for other people

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?:
dir en grey concert in august. a few other concerts of several artists along the way. visiting and visits of my beloved lea honey and a few other friends. my vacations at the baltic sea. trips with family & friends. illusions of love.

16. What songs will always remind you of 2011?:
dir en grey – vinushka; vanitas; glass skin; toguro; lotus; amon; different sense; diabolos; ware, yami tote; zakuro

björk – crystalline; virus; moon; thunderbolt; immature

la dispute – king park

knorkator – der weg nach unten;

jaurim – violent violet; #1;

fever ray – when i grow up; keep the streets empty for me;

gotye – heart's a mess ; somebody that i used to know

tori amos – winter

florence & the machine – what the water gave me

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i) ...happier or sadder?:
i guess it's the same sadness as last year. probably even a bit sadder.

ii) thinner or fatter?:
a tiny bit thinner.

iii) richer or poorer?:
not richer nor poorer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?:
writing, going out on my own.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?:
overthinking everything, living an actual life instead of hiding in my snailshell, but this is such a weird thing to say, since i need to learn how to overcome my own shadow first.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?:
my parents will celebrate with me in wiesbaden. the first time not having christmas at 'home'! i'm kind of excited.

22. Did you fall in love in 2011?:

oh, i'm always in love. in love with a certain someone that i will never be able to truly reach out to. that doesn't even know of me. and i fell for someone, but actually i think it was just my hormones going crazy. i decided i will not fall in love with anybody ever again.

23. How many one night stands?:
none.

24. What were your favorite TV programs?:
tatort. nothing else is better.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

no. except the human society.

26. What was the best book you read?

jonathan safran foer's extremely loud & incredibly close.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?:
la dispute, gotye, florence & the machine

28. What did you want and get?:
precious time with my family & friends. dir en grey & mucc concert tickets, dir en grey uroboros & dum spiro spero albums.

29. What did you want and not get?:
a clear thinking mind. love.

30. What were your favorite films of this year?

hellevator.

norwegian wood.

das experiment.

swallowtail butterfly.

survive. style 5.

map of the sounds of tokyo.

the devil's backbone.

american history x. ( classic )

the bubble.

v for vendetta.

snow cake.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?:

i worked on my birthday turning 23. i think one day after that i met up with n. and we had lunch and cupcakes. on the weekend i drove home and we went to the zwiebelmarkt in weimar, enjoying good music and food.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?:
can't think of anything in particular except of love. or having not so many depressions.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?:

continueing the minimal retro thing. adding more black, grey, red.

34. What kept you sane?:
my family and friends. movies ( at least some of them ). visiting places. like last year.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?:
kyo. the rest of dir en grey. björk. knorkator. mucc.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?:
nuclear disaster in japan. nuclear energy discussion in germany.

37. Who did you miss?:
my parents, my cat, friends, kyo.

38. Who was the best new person you met?:
k. & j. even though everything's different now, but when i met them i was mildly surprised.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011:
basically this:

i used to think romantic love was a neurosis shared by two, a supreme foolishness. i no longer think that. there's nothing foolish in loving anyone. thinking you'll be loved in return is what's foolish.

-bingo by rita mae brown

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

knorkator – der weg nach unten ( the way down )

Unter den Gräsern
Nähre ich mich von Dunkelheit,
Viele Tage schon,
Besessen und furchtlos.
Kleine Welt,
Die ich ertasten kann.
Ab und zu
Find ich Kupfererz,
Diamanten und Granit.
Doch es siegt
Jener Teil in mir,
Der mich immer weiter zieht.

Zeig mir den Weg nach unten.
Ich hasse den Tag,
Ich hasse das Licht.
Zeig mir den Weg ins Dunkle,
Wo Einsamkeit herrscht,
Kein Spiegel für mein Gesicht.
Wo Einsamkeit herrscht,
Kein Spiegel für mein Gesicht.

Wohlige Kälte
Lindert das Fieber tief in mir.
Feuchter Erdgeruch,
Ich höre mein Graben.
Die Substanz
Des Bodens ändert sich.
Bin ich schon
Durch den Mittelpunkt?
Kein Gefühl für Raum und Zeit.
Dann kommt Licht
Und ein Känguruh
Und ich weiß, ich bin zu weit.

english translation:

under the seeds

i nourish the darkness,

for many days already,

obsessed and dauntless.

this little world

i can palpate.

from time to time

i find copper ore,

diamonds and granite.

but the part of myself

which always drags me along

prevails.

show me the way down

i hate the day,

i hate the light.

show me the way down

where solitude reigns,

no mirror for my face.

comforting coldness

soothes the fever in me.

humid earth smell,

hearing myself digging.

the substance of the soil

is changing.

am i already at the epicentre?

no sense of space and time.

then there is light

and a cangaroo

and i know i'm too far.

show me the way down

i hate the day,

i hate the light.

show me the way down

where solitude reigns,

no mirror for my face.

41.What was your favorite moment of the year?

this year's autumn weather. and the time i spent at the baltic sea.

42. What was your least favorite moment of the year?
the time after the dir en grey concert in august. and the end of the year 2011.

43. Where were you when 2011 began?
wiesbaden, hessia.

44. Who were you with?
work colleagues.

45. Where will you be when 2011 ends?
wiesbaden, hessia.

46. Who will you be with when 2011 ends?

there is going to be a party at my ex co-worker's & friend's flat this year. with a lot of good people coming, good food, hopefully a lot of hilarious moments. i guess this time the new year's change has great chances to be fantastic.

47. What was your favorite month of 2011?
october was definitely a highlight. and july.

48. Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2011?
a little bit more than last year, but still not very much.

49. Did you do a lot of drugs in 2011?

still don't.

50. How many people did you sleep with in 2011?
none.

51. Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year?
opening myself up to someone. should've better keep my mouth shut. and most of the time i'm also ashamed of myself .

52. What was the worst lie someone told you in 2011?
there were none, i guess. i hope. except that life will get better for me. because it's definitely not.

53. Did you treat somebody badly in 2011?
not sure.

54. Did somebody treat you badly in 2011?
no one i can think of.

56. How much money did you spend in 2011?
most of it went into the car. into paying rents. into concert tickets, music. very few of it went into food.

57. If you could go back in time to any moment of 2011 and change what?
oh, i'd change a lot. but i don't know it'd be good. i would definitely change my ridiculous behaviour concerning myself. not sharing my deepest thoughts with people i've not known for long.

58. What are your plans for 2012?
enjoying life. 2012 is supposed to be the year where the world will end as we used to know it. i'd rather stop thinking about consequences and just start to fucking live. maybe getting the huge dead tree tattoo done on my back. or going into the wild leaving all boundaries behind me. that'd be useful.

winter solstice.

2011-12-21T13:09:00.000+01:00

the year is coming to an end, winter solstice is around the corner and christmas lights can be found everywhere you look. time for a few photos. i do not like christmas that much, i much more like the idea of the festivity jul, that people of north europe are celebrating. christmas belongs to christians, i'm not eager to celebrate someone in whom i do not believe in. and also, people tend to turn into crazy monsters around this time of the year, and since i work in a grocery store i experience this madness close to every day.

but the lights and decorations are still beautiful to look at. and this time i have the feeling christmas won't be as stressful as in the years before.

i think there's only one thing left to do while the year is still alive. my annual reflection survey is waiting to be answered.

the last vacation day: meet me at another castle!

2011-11-07T20:16:00.000+01:00

this time we were in saxony-anhalt, another german state. to be precise we visited a small village called burgscheidungen which is near freyburg (unstrut). and there it was. another little jewel of germany's almost forgotten castles.

there were funny little pumpkins everywhere. halloween day! but i officially hate halloween and embrace the day of the dead.

the weather gave its best on this day.

those statues were pretty badly damaged.

oh, a mom :O

wall carvings.

oh noes, it's a portrait of me :O

dad and mom.

my dream vinyl player. buy me one.

preparing for the death.

2011-11-06T09:04:00.000+01:00

every year i have the urge to visit some cemetery, i guess it's some kind of preparation or to confront myself with the possibility of being dead in the future. haha, that sounds like i barely think of being dead, but in fact i do think of death every day, more or less. usually i get the 'need to visit cemetery' thoughts in autumn, which is actually the best time to go. as you can see below, the colours transmit so much more intensity. and death doesn't seem so dead after all.

we visited weimar historical graveyard. my grandparents from my mother's side are buried here. such a beautiful graveyard building, isn't it?

this tombstone was especially beautiful. the marble stone carvings looked like a real photograph. unfortunately you couldn't read the dates anymore.

the russian chapel.

because i was a human, and this means being a fighter.

a quote by weimar's most famous celebrity johann wolfgang von goethe.

views of erfurt.

2011-11-05T08:53:00.000+01:00

one day we visited my brother in erfurt. it was a beautiful sunny autumn day and everything seemed to glow.

there was a device where you could listen to the voices of bats. and you could also locate if bats were flying around. since it was early afternoon we didn't locate any. evening time is bat time of course.

i swear, erfurt has one of the most beautiful inner cities, i've seen to date.

basically says that you should rip off the balls of a nazi. hah.

octopus sighting!

what i also love about architecture: hyper modern houses that fit well into nature landscapes.

a walk by the unstrut.

2011-11-02T08:55:00.000+01:00

the unstrut is a rather small river in the area where i come from. sorry, i don't have pictures of this river except of one, because the surroundings were a lot more interesting this time. this is autumn in all its glory.

castle & park altenstein.

2011-11-01T19:14:00.001+01:00

this castle is situated near the town bad liebenstein, an old spa town in west thuringia. the forests surrounding it are quite magical. if i'd have the choice to go back in time and choose 'princess' as a profession ( haha ), i'd totally want to live here. there's no better place to grow up. at least in my mind.

the castle is under construction at the moment. you can't enter. it burned down in the 80ies and since then they slowly build it back up.

just a little reminder that human beings have to stay on the pathways.

but you know... most human beings give a shit about reminders.

my camera had a huge grease spot on its lense, hence the foggyness.

still cannot get over the fact, that there exists a place called schweina.

the park was totally glorious. especially in all those autumn colours.

entry of a go-through-cavern.

some kind of ink cap.

a young ink cap.

oh what i'd do for a good functioning brain that remembers all kinds of fungus nomenclatures.

dad told me, but i simply forgot.

a small lake with waterfall. idyllic.

this is just a guess. i think it's suede bolete. at least, it's some kind of bolete.

another idyllic place.

diana, goddess of hunt, the moon and birthing.

meet me in meiningen.

2011-10-30T13:58:00.000+01:00

meiningen was a town i didn't visit before. i knew that there was a well known theatre there, but i didn't know this small town had so much more to show. firstly, it's situated in a very idyllic landscape. and it's a very historic place. and it's all so wonderful to look at! there are so many white spaces on my personal sight seeing map that i haven't seen...

the elisabethenburg. it needs renovations here and there, but it's a real gem!

her physical appearance put me off a bit... looks like her intestines are on her body, not in her.

a wonderfully decorated trabant!

queen victoria.

i already forgot who made this picture. i only remember that the pictured girl is the daughter of the old man and it had to do with greek or roman mythology. damn my brain for forgetting stuff.

and some religious motives.

there was an exhibition about georg II. he was also called the 'duke of theatre' because he was very involved in building up the meiningen theatre. they showed ancient musical instruments and his illustrations for some of the plays he was responsible for.

random breasts hanging around.

a poem about sales women.

all in all, this small town is really charming!

october is almost over...

2011-10-28T11:03:00.000+02:00

i'm at my parent's at the moment... 'enjoying' my last vacations this year. we have done a lot of trips the past few days, which helps me not thinking too much. but it's not that easy. my mind spins around all the time as soon i have a couple of minutes for myself. like always...

birthday weekend.

2011-10-13T10:40:00.000+02:00

my birthday was october 7th, and like always i worked on this day.

i got the weekend off, though, so i visited my parents.

kani & polyphon - a local music veteran. he's amazing.

so is this boy. jimi hendrix-like. his skills were mindblowing.

autumn colours.

2011-10-03T19:41:00.000+02:00

my favourite season started.

japanese garden in kaiserslautern.

2011-09-28T09:17:00.000+02:00

i visited a very dear friend of mine on the weekend and we have decided to give the japanese garden in kaiserslautern a visit. it was such a wonderful day.

in the forests.

2011-09-09T09:04:00.000+02:00

it's that time of the year again.

random.

2011-09-07T09:30:00.000+02:00

a few random pictures.

under the bridges.

2011-08-31T10:19:00.000+02:00

nici and i on tour in wiesbadens little rivers.

one day on a castle.

2011-08-30T10:10:00.006+02:00

finally coming to an end with all the photos.

went to castle rheinstein with nici, sascha and nici's mom and grandmom.

one week before the dir en grey concert. i was already feeling ill.

current stuff.

2011-08-23T09:26:00.006+02:00

my new tattoo. it's almost two months old now.

before the dir en grey concert.

after the concert.

on friday the mailman delivered this. dir en grey's dum spiro spero package. love.

buga '11 in koblenz.

2011-08-18T08:47:00.016+02:00

the buga is a german federal garden show which takes place in a different city every year. i've seen two bugas, one in my home state thuringia and now the one in koblenz. basically you can get gardening ideas from these shows. i find it very beautiful visually. it also gives you great advice in terms of ecological aspects.

these two pictures were made in eltville.

this building has to do with bionics. you go through it and hear the sonar sounds of bats. the building itself was created as the visual outcome of these sonar sounds. it is complicated to me, but the sounds were beautiful nonetheless.

'the changes of a forest'-building. you had a great view onto koblenz from here. and it was a really interesting exhibition about the forests of our earth. telling about imbalances, uses and what danger human kind is to our trees.

a plant that i find very fascinating: the cypress spurge.

their little blossoms are so delicate.

aloe vera.

they had several mentha with different smells. delicious! i loved the chocolate mint! i didn't know that so many different mints exist. there was a peach mint, melon mint, the pretty normal peppermint, and my alltime favourite lemon balm.

there also was a small raptor exhibition. i love these birds so much. they're so intelligent!

parts of the whole buga area was situated on ehrenbreitstein fortress. it's so spacious that i promised myself to return and explore it further someday.

huge anient cannon. it was at least 3 metres long. impressive.

on the roofs of the fortress they built little gardens. this one has a roman touch.

dad.

wild grasses, sedges, rushes and grains - an iron age garden.

fennel blossoms.

the '50ies' garden.

another exhibit: ceramic worlds. lots of pottery. i love clay for its pristine structures.

those ruinous buildings have a great appeal.

this text basically tells us that we would be in intensive care already with the symptoms that our forests show.

storm coming up.

at the end we had a look at all kinds of roses. i love smelling them. i'm always rather sad when they have beautiful blossoms but don't smell at all. what's the point in that? the odor of a rose is all what a rose needs.

and the drive back.

baltic sea chronicles VI.

2011-08-17T09:47:00.008+02:00

last part. caution, this part has lots of photos.

my vacaction book. jonathan safran foer is my newest lyrical discovery. he writes beautifully.

fauna.

houses.

next: buga '11 in koblenz.

baltic sea chronicles V.

2011-08-16T08:47:00.005+02:00

a few pictures of the sunniest days we had at the baltic sea.

i'm almost done with the baltic sea pictures.

sorry, guys for always being so late with everything. at the moment i'm suffering from a huge emotional breakdown, and i find it hard to do anything. everything is so secondary to me.

i'm not even able to shoot proper images... and the pictures i shot months ago are so... too happy. it feels like i've lived a fake life...

baltic sea chronicles IV.

2011-08-07T07:49:00.013+02:00

so we visited the sea aquarium on fehmarn. underwater worlds galore! sharks! sea urchins! dangerous fish! need i say more? afterwards we went walking by the beach. i touched a jellyfish. i love jellyfish.

the bridge that leads onto fehmarn island.

the walk.

the sun showed after 3 days!

dada looking for the ships coming in. i love this photo so much.

baltic sea chronicles III.

2011-08-04T09:08:00.012+02:00

we also were in lübeck-travemünde. lots of fisher boats and huge trawlers. the weather was pretty bad by now ( which would change on the next day. ) again, we only saw the haven and a tiny bit of the old town, i'd really like to revisit.

in the background you can see the maritim tower. an ugly beast, in my opinion.

this ship is supposed to be famous, but i forgot the name. i think it is the 'passat', though.

coast guard. these ships are used constantly in german tv series.

this dog enjoyed the sailing as much as i did. the wind going over your face just soothes you.

these huge ships impressed me a lot.

baltic sea chronicles II.

2011-07-28T12:35:00.010+02:00

the houses up there were so gorgeous! the old ones were equally as great as the modern ones.

one day we visited neustadt in holstein.

living and dead jellyfish. there are thousand of them and every is different!

army ships, coast guard ships, ancient ships, you can find all of them here!

and we were in kellenhusen. another small town. i can't say a lot about this city, we just walked by the beach.

baltic sea chronicles I.

2011-07-28T08:47:00.010+02:00

it's already gone almost a month - the time i spent my summer vacation at the baltic sea. it's definite, that i will return again. it was so refreshing. even though the weather wasn't sunny most of the time, it still was just perfect. i'm a total sucker for open water and marine lifestyle. it's so pure to me, minimalist that i am.

we stayed in haffkrug, former fishing village near scharbeutz. i could've walked these beaches all day long and never get tired!

an information plate in low german. i love this accent!

i bought myself new wellingtons. they look wonderful but have one mistake. they don't prevent from having wet feet. i couldn't bring myself to giving them back, though. now i can only wear them when it rains, but i can't stomp around in puddles or small rivers or water in general. except if i don't wear socks. it's not annoying, then.

the water was warmer than i thought! especially on dreary and rainy days.

i found a toy sheep on the beach the other day. i named him mr. maple. inspired by the master detective sheep mrs. maple in 'three bags full', a detective novel from leonie swan. i really liked this book and it immediately sprung to my mind. i'll take him everywhere now. the adventures of mr. maple.

dad and myself.

i have spent hours looking for nice stones. i also brought a nice collection back home. other things i've found were a crab claw, mussels, feathers and ambers ( at least i think they are ). it becomes an addiction as soon you start searching stones.

the rheingau.

2011-07-23T10:27:00.005+02:00

the rheingau is such a beautiful little landscape, with lots of wine-growing districts, cute towns and a long, long history.

i love wandering around in this area.

the germania statue of the niederwalddenkmal.

and one last picture from right before we made our trip to the baltic sea 3 weeks ago. sorry, for looking a bit evil.

pfalzgrafenstein castle.

2011-07-22T09:10:00.008+02:00

another great castle right on a little isle in the river. the upper middle rhine world is full of surprises :D

it was raining all day long but for a short span of time sun was peeking out of its clouds!

on the way home the sky turned dramatic again.

views of wiesbaden + self portraits.

2011-07-21T10:46:00.006+02:00

castle rheinfels.

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imagine a castle in the deepest medieval times, with catacombs, tunnels and a lot of rooms - that's rheinfels castle.

cats are stupid. well, actually, not.

found a treasure map. and never truly found out where the treasure was.

homeland #4. macro-worlds & old masonry.

2011-07-19T10:01:00.006+02:00

more pictures from one month ago.

medieval spectacle on castle kapellendorf.

peace be with thee.

he lifted those guys up. pretty amazing.

wherever she was, there was eden.

homeland #3. erfurt zoo, village surroundings.

2011-07-18T10:18:00.013+02:00

we made a bicycle tour around our village as well. i love to discover new places, even though i was living in this village vor 20 years.

the other day we made our regular zoo trip. the erfurt zoo is so beautiful now. they constantly rework their concepts. that day there was a jungle event going on with fireworks and african bands playing. really great.

random pacifier hanging around. seems that a lot of families loose these.

these were totally rad.

as were the elephant shrews.

and the porcupines were amazing! it was the first time for me seeing one of them showing its spikes in full beauty.

going to the fireworks.

homeland #2. farms, sculptures, nature.

2011-06-21T07:53:00.009+02:00

the panorama museum of bad frankenhausen.

sculptures by lotta blokker.

homeland #1. castles.

2011-06-20T08:58:00.006+02:00

there's still so much to see in thuringia. and i'm growing fonder of it everytime i visit.

water castle heldrungen

old thuringian dialect. the poem is about a lithic frog on a wall of the castle and the meaning behind it hanging there. unfortunately they were missing some letters.

sundries.

2011-06-18T08:26:00.007+02:00

flowers.

visiting my brother.

receiving dir en grey's uroboros cd.

neroberg visit.

the high-wire forest adventure course. pretty dodgy.

my dear husband. yes. that'd be my car.

self portraits.