Photoblog - Olympiapark

Frau A and I went recently to Munich's Olympiapark to take photos.  We got up at 4:30am to make it there before sunrise and came back later at sunset (with a nap in between, of course).  We'll show some "natural" photos here, with some HDR/tonemapped ones in a follow-up post for sure.

The Olympiapark was constructed for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.  Of course in Germany, it was designed NOT to be dismantled, but to last.  And it has stood the test of time very well.  Today it continues to host 200+ events each year:  concerts at the Olympic Hall, outdoor movies and theater in the summer, and formal & recreational sports year round.  You can see below where Olympiapark sits realtive to "downtown" Munich, as well as previous photoblog post locations from Nymphenburg castle/gardens and the English Garden.

 

Here's a map of the park.  I added a pointer to the theater which is not labeled (edge of the lake, towards the middle), ands put a box around the "Olympiaberg" (towards the bottom-middle).  Notice that near the Bus/U-bahn symbols in the upper right is the BMW center and museum (labeled as #19).  This will be coming in a future post, since we already saw the Mercedes and Porsche museums in Stuttgart!

 

And here is a photo-map from the Olympiapark home page (but beware, the perspective is from the opposite direction in the two maps...).  The park has about 3 square kilometers of space in what used to be just open meadow.  The Olympiaberg ("Olympia mountain") is 60 meters high with a lookout on top.  It's a nice place to see the sunrise/sunset, and some of the famous churches downtown are clearly visible from there too.  On the best days, you can see the Alps in the south!  Many of the following photos are from that lookout.

We took this photo from the Olympiaberg around sunset.  On the left is the Olympiastadion (stadium), the largest venue.  In the middle is the Olympiasee, a large artificial lake.  On the far right (closest to the water) is the edge of the swim hall.  Behind this is the largest indoor facility, the Olympiahalle... these two can be difficult to distinguish from each other at a distance because of the similar architecture.  In front of the swim hall on the right, on the edge of the lake, is the small outdoor theater (notice the tent-like structure above the stage at the water's edge).

This photo zooms out to the Olympiastadion.  The stadium can hold 69,000 spectators, and was the home of FC Bayern Munich until 2006 when they moved into the fantastic Allianz Arena.  Like the other buildings, it is characterized by acrylic glass and steel cables -- the artistic intent was to imitate the alps.  I find that these look much better from afar than near, but not to say that they're ugly up close.  Interestingly, construction started in a pit leftover from Allied bombings in World War II, and rubble from the city was used to shape the park landscape.

Now looking right from the same place on Olympiaberg, we get the rest of the swim hall and the Olympia tower.  The flat building behind the tower is part of the BWM complex.

The next photo is a little after sunrise (lighting is a bit better), and we had walked down to the lake level.  The Olympiaturm (tower) is overall 291m high, with the observation platform at 190m.  Below the outdoor platform is a revolving restaurant (a full revolution takes 53 minutes).  As of 2004 the tower had registered 35 million visitors.  It was not open so early in the morning, so no photos (yet) from the platform or samplings from the restaurant...

We continued walking along the artificial lake, with some nice morning reflections...

... there are few visitors so early in the morning.  Very peaceful.

 

As you descend from the Olympiaberg, you get better views of the venues and the lake.  Notice the paddleboats - there is a huge swan-shaped one on the left!

 

Close up, we noticed that other paddleboats are in the shape of cars.  This one is a Porsche, of course.

 

Finally, we made our way towards the U-bahn to go home.  This final photo was taken from the pedestrian crossing over the autobahn, looking back at the Olympiahalle.  The hall seats up to 14,000 people.  This is where many large acts put on their music concerts, such as Bon Jovi, U2, and the Meisterin Tina Turner who has performed here 23 times!  It's not the most acoustically accurate venue -- great to rock out, but was not my favorite for Night of the Proms.

 

Frau A and I are ready to get back already.  Olympiapark is a nice space to walk around, jog (but no swimming in the lake), see a concert, or just take photos.

Paris

We met up with one of Herr J's friends in Paris for the weekend. A very short trip, but lots of fun to report...great food, the Louvre, new shoes, loads of walking, and even bigger loads of photos. ("I'm going to bracket that and tonemap the heck out of it!" was something I heard often.

I'm off for a business trip for a few days, and haven't had a chance to sort through all the pictures.

Until then, here are a couple of lovely skies. We were lucky to have some very dramatic clouds, changing constantly through the days. (And happy that the rain held off until Sunday night)

Pansies

When we visited at the beginning of May, Nymphenburg Gardens didn't have many formally planted flowers, with the exception of beds of pansies in two locations.

I've always liked pansies, but never thought they were that special. Until our May Day morning walk.

The pansies planted by the main palace had the most amazing effect from the night's rain.

 

   

 

In front of the cafe were beds of a different variety of pansies. These were sprinkled with pollen rather than rain drops, but were the most vibrant, frilly pansies I'd ever seen.

 

Google Doodles Quiz - Part 7...Historic Milestones & Achievements

In this prior post we briefly described Google Doodles and had a quiz.

Now it's time to guess the Historic Milestones and Achievements whose dates were recognized with a Doodle:

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

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Answers below:

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#1    Berlin Wall starts to fall
#2    First Ascent of Mt. Everest by Edmund Hillary
#3    First Hot Air Balloon Flight
#4    First [Airplane] Flight
#5    First Human-made Object to Orbit the Earth (Sputnik)
#6    First Human Landing on the Moon

Observing the Culture's Language

We've been watching The Big Bang Theory on DVD lately (great show, if you haven't seen it!!). The basic premise is geeky young scientists befriending (and in one's case, dating) the hot girl across the hall - and all the funny misadventures that ensue.

In the first season's sixth episode, the boys attend Penny's Halloween party and have trouble interacting with the other guests.  As they sit together on the couch amid a room of beautiful people socializing, the follow conversation ocurrs:

Leonard: I want to get to know Penny's friends...I just don't know how to talk to these people.

Sheldon: Actually, I might be able to help.

Leonard: How so?

Sheldon: Like Jane Goodall observing the apes, I initially saw their interactions as confusing and unstructured. But patterns emerged. They have their own..."language," if you will.

Leonard: Go on.

Sheldon: Well, it seems that the newcomer approaches the existing group with the greeting, "How wasted am I?"  Which is met with an approving chorus of, "Duuude.

It struck us that standing in Marienplatz or outside the Hofbrauhaus is a great place for a similar experiement.  Seemingly overnight - as May turned into June - the predominant language in these areas switched from German/Italian to English.  Listening to the young American tourists and groups kicking off their summer study abroad, we found ourselves making a similar observation.

The standard interaction?

Dude, how many beers did I have last night?

The beer here is, like, so good.

Yeah, but they're, like, sooo big!

Have you been to the Hofbrauhaus yet?

Ahhh...Munich in summer, from the point of view of the under-21s!

 

Recent Adventures

If the small sample of my Google Reader is any indication, most blogs out there recently have had some sort of "I've been a bit of a slacker about posting lately because _____" post. 

This one is not much different.  For me, it's definitely a little bit of spring fever, a large dose of trying to adjust to working from home, and most recently an unexpectedly eventful adventure in LASIK  and allergies.

I'd been toying with the idea of LASIK for a few years, and even had the testing done a couple of years ago while in the US for Christmas. In the end, I partly chickened out, and partly thought it might be better to get it done in the city where I lived and could get followup care. However, that also meant doing it in Germany and, potentially, in German.

One thing you'll learn about me is that I might take a looooong time to make up my mind, but when I decide, I go full steam ahead and quickly. There were about 10 days between me calling for an informational appointment and having the procedure. Contacts just don't work for me, and glasses are difficult where sports (especially skiing and diving) are involved, or wearing sunglasses. But recently, I realized that my photography style didn't work well with glasses either, as I was constantly having to remove and clean off my glasses where they were smudged by being squished against my eyelids by the viewfinder.  After a little internet research, I found that the LASIK place in the neighborhood had an English version of their site and (best of all!) offer a sedative before the procedure. Really, it's better for everyone involved if I have a sedative before something like that!

Good Riddance, glasses and contacts!

So, all went smoothly (the "mild sedative" was far too mild, in my opinion, but I made it through with no problems) with the surgery. However, I neglected to mention Neosporin as an allergy. I'm not allergic to any real drugs and all the German doctors here that I had told of the allergy laughed it off and said "we don't use that here." Nor did I think it came in eye drops...oh, but it did. After a day and a half of using the antibiotic drops, it kept getting worse. By the time we were able to see a doctor on Monday afternoon, my eyes were half swollen shut and the skin around my eyes was badly blistered. Would have been a good Halloween costume, but was a bit concerning.

After several trips to multiple eye doctors and an allergist, we luckily learned that it was all an allergic reaction, not an infection. Poor Herr J...it took an entire week for me to go from looking like someone had beaten me badly to just looking like someone had made me cry! I tried to cover with sunglasses as much as possible so that he wouldn't get any evil stares, but he was a good sport. I'm finally almost back to looking normal. Unfortunately (or fortunately) Herr J was kind enough not to document the horror show with photos. He did, however, bring me food and make me milkshakes when I felt too sick to eat. Such a great guy!

The German medical system being as thorough as it is, the allergist insisted I come back this week for three more visits, for allergy testing. Every day is an adventure here...even the simple things!  I'm really happy I don't go into an office daily, since they won't let me shower from Monday morning till Thursday afternoon! Washing up in the sink is a little odd, and I'm planning on a long hot bath tomorrow after all the tests are finished! 

Since it appears all the tests are normal (not a surprise), we can just have the entire experiment for our amusement. After removing the plastic and patches (days 1-2), the nurses went to town on my back with a permanent green marker (days 3-4). It's like some bad, homemade tattoo of a board game or something!.  

Day 1 & 2

After 3 visits this week - well over 2.5 hours waiting, with a grand total of around 10 minutes of actual meeting with a doctor or nurse - the conclusion was that I'm not allergic to anything other than neomycin (key ingredient Neosporin). In a very common German medical move, the doctor issued me an "Allergie Passport" that I'm supposed to carry with me at all times in case I have an accident. I could see this if I had a life-threatening allergy or a lot of them, but somehow I think that if I'm in a hospital without the ability to communicate, Neosporin is really not going to be on the drug list... However, I guess I'll keep it in my wallet. 

As for the LASIK, I'm loving being able to wear sunglasses outdoors and trying to get used to not wearing glasses. Except for the allergy, I've been completely pleased with the results and so happy I finally decided to do it!

Now trying to get back to to fun of enjoying spring in Germany and writing about it.

Munich Sites - Nymphenburg Gardens

For another early morning photowalk, we decided to check out the spring flowers and birds at the Nymphenburg Gardens.  While it was a little early in May for all but the earliest babies, we did remember why this is such a great place to pass a few hours.

Of course, after arriving to find perfect sun and a view unobstructed by any people, it was just our luck that the front of the Schloss was covered in scaffolding. We'd been there just a week or two earlier to feed the swans in the afternoon and it was not under construction! 

   

The canals and garden are a popular spot for a stroll, and when the water freezes in the winter it becomes a venue for Eisstockshießen (similar to curling).

The number 17 tram lets off just in front of the canal leading up to Schloss Nymphenburg (the far right on the map below). We usually walk up this way to see the swans that live in the fountains and lake in front of the Schloss.

 

I'm not sure why some swans puff up their wings like classical, royal looking swans and others keep them flat, but the the ones here often hold up their wings and look quite majestic.  These two are enjoying a little morning preening or flirting or posturing...not sure whether it's two males or a male and a female, but it was mating season and they were all acting strange.

 

The palace itself long served as a summer palace for the Bavarian royal family. The first baroque castle was built around 1675, but was much smaller.  The major enlargements - especially the vast gardens - were added in the first half of the 1700's in the reigns of Max Emmanuel and Charles VII Albert. 

There are a variety of beautiful buildings surrounding the castle. 

You can tour the castle also, but the gardens and grounds are a nice way to spend a couple of relaxing hours (and with no admission fee).

Once you pass through the gates into the gardens, you'll see vast gardens (more walking gardens that tons of flowers) with fountains, ponds, and statues of Greco-Roman gods and goddesses.

Looking back at the castle from inside the gardens, we see a goose family out for a stroll (along with a lot of human families and dogs).

 

As you continue through the gardens along the canal, there are lovely tree-lined paths, leading to the Cascade (#23 on the map), a set of waterfalls and more statues of gods (Poseidon is hanging out there, of course). 

Throughout the park (especially on the north side), there are many little hidden beautiful areas, with small gardens, sculptures, and buildings from various eras. As well as wildflowers and various ducks, geese, and swans.  

 

  

And of course there's a lovely little cafe and restaurant, where you can stop for a meal, or a traditional snack of kaffe und kuchen (coffee and cake).