Headed up north over the weekend. After all this time in Germany, it was my first time on the autobahn and a bit of speed. Driving north on Saturday was cold and grim, but Sunday was just that, full of sun. On the way back we took a detour through the old east Germany; so many cool old towns and villages. I think I could spend several months in that area.
Seems winter decided to make a final appearance during the last week, but a few days of snow and cold was all it was able to muster. Even Mr. stork has returned. And how long the days are getting once again!
It seems I have survived my first winter in Europe. The days are getting longer, birds are singing in the mornings and I even went for a run in shorts and a t-shirt this afternoon. Had a good weekend on Franconian limestone, so I’m a bit sore. Got a trip planned for southern France in a few weeks, and then a trip back up to the Artic where the weather is still a bit sucky, but I want to try and catch some Aurora’s before I’m forced back to milder latitudes.
Curonian Spit, Lithuania:
Cold, Barren, Rugged. I walked south from Nida, thick fog rolling in and out of the dunes; the Russian border a short distance to the south. I crossed dunes and forest from the lagoon side (frozen) until I reached the barren shore of the Baltic sea.
More from my last few weeks in this small German town. Ahh, how lazy I have become, havent even lifted my backpack in nearly a month now!
I forgot to mention that I spent some time in Czech (not Prague) a few weeks ago. So much cool old stuff to wander around and look at. On a Sunday when I arrived, the streets were nearly empty and I thought I had come to some ghost town. I would spend hours a day sitting in this cool teahouse, just reading or talking or relaxing. Nights were often late and mornings too soon to arrive. It was a good place to relax after the noise and crowds of Vienna.
It seems that winter finally decided to show up last week. Friday was the coldest at somewhere around 15ºF, but it was a brilliantly sunny day, so off for some cross-country skiing it was. The rest of the time I was cruising around on my trusty bike, trying to make up for lost time.
Saturday (above) was cold and windy. I was off on my own, high up on some open fields being blasted by a cold wind.
Riding a bike through a snowstorm. The normal journey time from town to the forest usually takes me around 5-6 minutes, in the snow it was around 35 minutes. Of course I wasn’t helped much by this girly little bike I had: seat too low, my knees hitting the handlebars, tires too skinny and half flat. At least the gears work (usually) and it has cool fenders.
The snow has finally arrived…
Ice cave:
We traveled hundreds of feet up through the frozen darkness, only headlamps to light the way. The roof, sometimes high, sometimes low, peeled off in delicate layers, often nearly reaching the floor. One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.
Seconds after this picture was taken, the entire hanging section collapsed to the ground from just a gentle touch. One definately feels their mortality in a place such as this.
