Vienna, Austria: Day 2

The problem with Vienna is that people actually live here...Well - that is not really a problem; just when I am trying to take photographs. There are cars, bikes, and people everywhere. The other problem is that the streets are really narrow. All of this together made it more challenging to get good pictures here.

Today Larry and I toured the former imperial palace where Emperor Franz Joseph, and his wife Elisabeth (Sisi) lived. Most of the rooms have the original furnishings in the layout that matches how the family lived. It was amazing. We also had lunch on the palace grounds.

Vienna, Austria: Day 1

Today was amazing. We went to Mozart's house. He changed residences in Vienna 11 times but the apartment that we were in today was where he lived from 1784 to 1787. These years are considered his most productive where he was writing about six pages of manuscripts daily. It was in this apartment that he completed the opera "The Marriage of Figaro". We stopped in a tiny Viennese restaurant and had Weiner Schnitzel with Apple Strudel for desert. Lastly we decided to go to a concert. We saw an amazing performance of pieces by Mozart (including some that were written just steps away) and Strauss.

We are starting to get really tired after all of this excitement...

Prague, Czech Republic: Day 2

Today we went to the Old Town Square, the Mucha Museum, and the Wenceslas Square. The streets were jam packed with people so that made it hard to get some good photos of wide open spaces. If you did not know Anfonse Mucha was a very important artist in the Art Neuvau movement at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The top photo is of a building that he helped design. Art Neuvau is the movement that responded to industrialization. It began at the tail end of Queen Victoria's reign. Some characteristics were the depiction of natural elements and asymmetrical sinuous lines. Mucha designed a lot of the decorative elements in the building in the first picture.

One of my favorite photos so far is the blue and yellow windows. This building was amazing and reminds me Wedgwood plate ware. The last photo is of the Prague Castle at night. It took a lot of work to get this picture to come out. Tripod, camera settings, and selecting the best angle.

Prague, Czech Republic: Day 1

There is a reason that Prague is called one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Everywhere (and I mean everywhere) you look there is a beautiful photo to be had. Poor Larry...constant companion, lens caddy, public transport expert and steward. How can I ever thank him enough for his patience and brilliance? We have only seen a couple of museums because there are too many good photos in the city. The weather has been perfect. Sunny and bright, but not too warm.

A word about the silhouette: I am not sure what is up with this - but you will notice that there seem to be quite a few pictures that depict a black silhouette against a dramatic sky. For some reason I seem to be taking a lot of pictures like this. There is the one of the statures atop the Brandenburg gate, the one of the street lamp on the bridge in Berlin, and this one below of the gate to the castle in Prague. Maybe this is a stylistic convention that will be a signature for me?

   

Berlin, Germany: Day 3

Today was the first day of the conference, and I had an amazing time there this morning. I learned a lot at the sessions and all of the morning and early afternoon sessions were relevant to my work. Since everything in the late afternoon and early evening was about IC topics that we do not apply at my company I decided to take one last opportunity to get out into the city. We went to the Berliner Dom. This was the family church of the Hohenzollern's. They were the ruling family of Prussia, and then with the help of Otto Von Bismark they became rulers of the German empire. This church is where Frederick the Great is interred, as well as 49 other family members.

Berlin, Germany: Day 2

I am here in Berlin to attend a conference. I am the chair of a session, and I am giving a talk. Today was supposed to be a "user meeting" which is usually filled with a lot of useful information about current applications, and new technology that will improve the field. No doubt - it was full of those things but unfortunately the meeting was in German. So, Larry and I went out and found the Schloss Charlottenburg. We also had a lovely lunch outside at a Cafe, found the Kaiser Wilhelm church (which is not visible because of renovation) and ate dinner at a Hoffbrau Haus Biergarten. We had some beers and some great German food.

Berlin, Germany: Day 1

Well, I was not sure if I would be able to update this while was traveling. I was unsure of Internet availability, but I was most unsure of my energy level. Especially Yesterday. We left the US at about 6:00 PM on Saturday 9/15 and we arrived in Paris at 7:40 AM (Europe time). So it made sense that we should have slept on the plane - but that did not happen. Actually, I did not sleep from about 6:30 AM Saturday until about 5:00 PM Sunday...!

But, as you can see, it was worth it. We got to Berlin, muddled our way from the airport to the hotel, and then we went out again to see the Brandenburg Gate, and the Reichstag. I am so glad that I bought the two new lenses before I went.