Archive for Juli, 2009

Meeting Friends and Doing Sports

Dienstag, Juli 7th, 2009

Today was a full day meeting many friends. Some I met for breakfast or a tea.

Erlangen Friends

Erlangen Friends

Then I went to the artistic cycling training and practiced for my upcoming performances.

Artistic Cycling Girls from Erlangen

After that I went to the artistic gymnastics training. It was nice to see some friends from years ago. And it was even more fun to do gymnastics, especially on the horizontal bar, as they unfortunately did not set up the uneven bars.

Artistic Gymnastics

Artistic Gymnastics

And as I still had some energy left I went to the juggling meeting. But as somebody had brought a delicious home made cake I actually did not do anything other than chatting.

Friends after a Long Day

Beer Garden

Sonntag, Juli 5th, 2009

I met a friend of mine on the outskirts of Erlangen which is the beginning of Franconian Switzerland. We went to a farmer’s beer garden even though we both only drank apple juice.But is was nice and quite there with a beautiful view that my camera could not capture.

Erlanger Umgebung

Rock Climbing

Samstag, Juli 4th, 2009

Rock climbng in Franconian Switzerland is great! My former climbing partne and I went to a cliff between Goessweinstein and Obertrubach, just near Allersdorf. Good that it did not rain in the morning even though the cliff we went too was still moist when we arrived. The nice warmup climbing routes were too wet so we had to start with the harder routes right away. But it was still great fun.

Franconian Switzerland Limestone Cliff

My friend was still really good despite not having rock climbed so much lately. He did all the lead climbing.

Getting Ready to Rock Climb

Climbing the Overhang

Pulling through the Overhang

I still enjoy climbing overhanging routes. This one I tried many years ago. It is called „The Swallow“. It seemed easier than I had remembered, despite some grips being wet.

The Sparrow Route

In a nearby village they were just setting up the „Kirchweih-Baum“, or as it is called in the Franconian language: „Kerwa-Baum“. It is a very tall cut pine tree where all the branches except the ones at the top have been removed so it then looks like a „Stekkala“ (I am trying to write in Franconian language, but I am having trouble with the correct spelling). It then has a ring with colored banners hanging just under the top. That tree it is usually setup on the main square of the village. Here is a picture (sorry the top of the tree did not fit onto the picture) of the „Kerwa-Burschen“ (they guys probably all belong to the local voluntary fire fighter group) setting up this special tree. It is probably not an easy job after quite some beers.

Kerwa-Baum in der Fraenkischen Schweiz

Berries and Icecream

Freitag, Juli 3rd, 2009

It is great to be in Germany and see my parents. But I have to get used to the chilly weather, especially at night. It is a great time to have a garden: All the berries are ripe! For dessert you just go into the garden and eat the sweet cherries, red current, black current, raspberries and strawberries.

Cherries

Red Current

Black Current and Raspberries

Strawberry

In the afternoon I met friends at the icecream parlor in Herzogenaurach. „Beim Carlo“ felt like it used to. Very nostalgic. I think I last went there to have delicious icecream when I was still in school. Some things just do not change.

Leaving Blue Beijing

Donnerstag, Juli 2nd, 2009

We wave had some beautiful blue sky days. And it is hot – last week it went up to 41 degrees Celsius – but a pleasant very dry kind of hot. Like a dry sauna. Today I am leaving for a trip to Europe. So here some last pictures of Beijing from the airport and from the airplane.

Blue Beijing Skies

Beijing Outskirts and Blue Sky

Beijing Northern Mountains and Fields

Beautiful Day

Mittwoch, Juli 1st, 2009

Wow, today again was such a beautiful day. Not just blue sky – but also so clear. I could see the Western mountains from the East side of the city. It was so crystal clear. I could have ridden my bike without wearing my anti-pollution mask. But I am used to wearing it and it does serve as a face protection too.

Beijing Western Mountains on a Blue Sky Day

Chinese Door

Office