Travel & Landscapes (Photos / Reports):

Majestic And Beautiful - Canada Photos And Travel Report
It was a Television show, what else, which lead me to Canada in 1997 for the first time. Due South was the reason to travel the TransCanada Highway – from Toronto to Vancouver in 4 weeks.

It was one of those organised travels, in fact a bus-round-trip, well rather a bus-once-through-trip. In order to have a bit more time at Toronto and not to be thrown directly into the group chaos I flew in two days earlier. The Indian taxis driver who brought me from the airport to the hotel was exceptionally courteous and lovely and explained to me what I must see.

At 4 am the following day I awoke; certainly because of excitement and also because of curiosity. Quickly dressed I went down to the lobby to undertake my first scouting trip. That went a bit more extended than I had originally planned. I walked from the hotel for 2 hours with the direction harbour. Toronto is the city in which you feel absolutely save. Do you know that feeling when someone is following you in the street and you do not know what this person wants from you? This was non-existent here even not so early in the morning where the streets were completely empty and only occasionally you ran into some folks.

I have to mention that I took my video camera and not the still camera for this trip. The videos or parts of it will be available on this page quite soon.

I did a boat tour on the lake and went up the CN Tower from where you have a great view across the lake. A bit worrisome are the glass floors from where you look 342 metres straight down to the street. It has something of a space feeling somehow.
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The Frenchman and the Ox - Ireland Photos And Travel Report
My first acquaintance with Ireland was, let's say a bit bumpy. The decision to spend my holidays in Ireland was this time not based on a movie or a television show. I was simply curious.

To make things easier I didn't go by car and two ferries. It would have been too time consuming although I do love ferries. I flew. This also meant that I had to sit on the to me wrong side of the car. Having arrived at the airport I asked the immigration officer to put a stamp into my passport. The disadvantage of the European borderless travel is that you don't get them anymore. That he did gladly and said grinning that I owe him now 5 Euros. Oh dear, this kind of humour I have to get used to.

It was a Vauxhall Meriva I got. I wanted a smaller car but it had four wheels and what has four wheels can be moved. The car was almost new but my pre car renter seemed to have had a heavy fight against one of the small walls bordering the Irish roads. It was pretty obvious that he had lost. The passenger's side was completely mangled. So what, it drove. To drive on the for us wrong side of the road is no problem form e. I did it numerous times in the UK. But I needed some adjusting time to put the gears in with the left hand. The first gear didn't want to co-operate and thus I proceeded to ignore it completely by starting with the second gear. The gears by the way are exactly there where they are for the cars on the right hand side.

And adjusting time I got enough while searching for my first hotel near the Sir John Rogerson Quay. Up I drove the road along the river Liffey on one side and back down again on the other (one way roads). I tried every bridge in order to make a left-turn at the harbour to get to my hotel. A friendly worker at the train station eventually explained what bridge I had to take in what way to reach my goal. At that time I controlled the car.

To tell you beforehand: Ireland has a massive problem with parking lots. At least in the areas I have been to. In the cities and towns almost all are used or have parking meters run out of time after one or two hours and the parking garages close quite early so that a late evening stroll is almost impossible to undertake. In order to check into my hotel I parked at a for construction closed off bus stop directly opposite the hotel. Big Mistake!
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Fire And Ice - Iceland Photos And Travel Report
If you are looking for warmth, beaches and lazy leasure time, travelling Iceland is not for you. If you do look for calculated adventures, spectacular landscapes and the simple life, an Iceland travel is a must!

The typical first time tourist tour is along the A1, which is the main road circling the island. The name A1 suggests (at least to German travellers) that it is a big travelling road with many lanes. In fact, the A1 is in parts a small road and sometimes you drive on gravel. If you should want to travel on your own, make sure your rental car is a 4-wheel-drive.

If you want to go off-road, make sure to have a GPS onboard. And rest assured off-road you want to go. Most of the massive waterfalls lie off-road and I was adventurous enough to drive a Toyota Yaris over rock and water.

All over Iceland you can speak English. Everyone understands you. As a tip. Do not make overnight stay reservations in advance. I stayed at farmhouses that all have a B&B (Bed and Breakfast) sign. The people are absolutely lovely and very helpful. And upon arrival you are most often greeted by the farm dog(s). There were many occasions I wished I could simply take one of them with me. ;-)

I declared Iceland as the land of the waterfalls. And what waterfalls they do have. There are no tourist paths to walk to them, so make sure to have the right shoes!!! I saw some tourist trasping around in light sandals. Not very good for rock climbing. In Iceland you find unharmed nature reservoirs. You can climb up onto volcanoes (mostly in the Myvatn area). Do not wonder if you smell foul eggs there. Sulfur and geological activity can be seen and smelled all over Iceland. Iceland also features the largest Icefield Europe can offer. The opening sequence of Batman Begins was shot there.
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Blame it to Billy Boyd - Scotland Photos And Travel Report
It is August 2002 and I need a massive break from work, a change of tapestry so to speak. Now a nature travel has always been a great stress reliever for me and thus it was natural to do exactly that; a travel to nature. But where to go? And most of all where to go to when you only have 10 days? This planet is simply too big to travel for one lifetime and my list of countries I haven't been to is a real long one.

So I did what I usually do, I let my favourite film/TV series decide. I went through the cast of the LOTR films and looked up where they come from. Now, New Zealand has been on my list since 1985 but I don't want to hurry through there I want to take my time and it's already written in stone that I shall go in 2006. So that left USA, Denmark, England, Wales, Scotland - Scotland? I had never been to Scotland before. And since I'm kind of spontaneous, I went to the travel agency, booked a ferry and in October 2002 I finally hopped into the car.

See, I don't need a fancy hotel. I rather stay among the locals, go to the pubs, eat their food, drink their drinks and listen to the local legends and fairy tales. And that was exactly what I did. I arrived in Scotland early in the morning and simply chose the smallest roads (all the B ones) I could find on the map.

Thus I eventually arrived in Moffat by pure accident. Complete strangers invite me over to their tables in the local pub and I don't remember how but somehow we came from Lord of the Rings to the King Arthur legend. I spent half of the night listening to tales and all the tips what I must see (brilliant tips no holiday guide features). Packed with hand-drawn maps and a ton of well-wishes I move on the next morning, further north.

At the Isle of Skye a fisherman took me out, just for the fun of it. I was thrilled. You park your car off-road and climb up a hill to take pictures and by-passing tractors honk and the driver waves.
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