Barcelona, day two: stone and salt

After a day like yesterday, sleep came easily. Deep, uncomplicated. The kind that resets things properly. For today, the plan was simple and ambitious at the same time: Sagrada Família and the beach. Architecture and horizontality. Stone and salt. The basilica was easy to reach by metro. Barcelona’s underground system works smoothly, even if it feels louder and more cavernous …

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Grey morning, moving towards the big city

The sunrise never really showed up. It stayed hidden behind clouds, leaving the morning grey, damp, and slightly unfinished. Not what we had imagined the night before. When the sneezing started, we took it as a hint. We packed up and moved into the car. The angler nearby hadn’t caught anything either, which felt oddly reassuring. Still, the night had …

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Barcelona, with and without a camera

Sunday in Barcelona leaned heavily toward shopping. The weather helped, soft, inviting, and so did the fact that many shops were actually open. T-shirts, ashtrays, postcards, shirts, trousers, scarves. Everything distributed evenly across a dense labyrinth of streets. We wandered through it calmly, immune to most tourist offers, which felt like a small personal achievement. Somewhere along the way, we …

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Crossing the border to spain, learning the coast

Crossing into Spain didn’t come with a dramatic shift, but the tone changed quickly. The first coastal towns along the Costa Brava were unmistakably tourist-oriented: promenades, compact beaches, everything arranged for short stays and long summers. It didn’t bother us. We were passing through, not checking in. Near La Selva de Mar, we touched the Mediterranean for the first time. …

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From provence to spain, before breakfast

The night in the vineyard was short. Not because it was uncomfortable, but because the wine harvest waits for no one. At five in the morning, enormous machines began moving through the rows, efficient and indifferent, harvesting grapes in the dark with industrial calm. Somewhere between sleep and waking, it became clear that staying was no longer part of the …

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From Berlin to the alps – on the road to Chamonix

Back in 2013 we set off on a road trip that would take us from Berlin all the way down to Spain. I was travelling with my former girlfriend Susan, and as with most good road trips, the real journey started long before the destination ever came into view. Leaving Berlin meant hours of asphalt, changing landscapes and that quiet …

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Istanbul – city on two continents

istanbul ist die größte stadt in der türkei und mit 13,7 mio einwohnern die 4. größte der welt, sie liegt auf beiden Seiten des Bosporus, der meerenge zwischen mittelmeer und schwarzem meer.  damit die einzige Metropole der Welt, die sich auf zwei Kontinenten befindet – Asien und Europa.   um 10:30 landung istanbul bei nieselregen und feuchten 11°C – ein …

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amman – 2nd day revisited

wie in einer parabel kehre ich den letzten tag an den anfang zurück und entspanne in der warmen sonne und dem kühlen wind auf dem zitadellenhügel der über downtown thront durch die ruinen spatzieren   den blick schweifen lassen   und den muezzin von oben lauschen – mehr braucht es nicht   die nächste morgensonne wird mich bereits forttragen, gen …

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desert castle loop – on history’s trail

Durch zufall lerne ich leonardo aus buenos aires kennen und wir entscheiden uns die desert castle tour zu machen, zu zweit können wir den preis ein wenig drücken. Alle gebäude die wir heute besichtigen wurden von den umayyaden errichtet, dem 7. größtem imperium auf der welt, sie beherrschten das landgebiet vor portugal bis arabien! Um 9 geht’s los, der fahrer …

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  3. Sunrise and sunsets are probably the best-est of times to explore Hampi. It looks like a veritable lost world and…