Neuschwanstein (literally "new swan stone") is a located near the Bavarian town of Füssen. It was built from 1869 to 1886 by King Ludwig II. The castle was never actually completed because construction was halted after the King's mysterious death (he and his psychiatrist were found dead on the shore of a lake near München).

The inside is almost as beautiful as the outside with motifs inspired by swans, lions, and the works of Wagner. Unfortunately, interior pictures are not allowed.

]]> Neuschwanstein liegt in der Nähe der bayrischen Stadt Füssen. Es wurde von 1869 bis 1886 von König Ludwig II erbaut. Das Schloss wurde niemals fertig, weil der Aufbau nach dem geheimnisvollen Tod des Königs gestoppt wurde.

Das Innere des Schlosses ist genau so schön wie die Außenseite. Die Motive sind von Schwänen, Löwen und Wagners Kunst inspiriert. Leider sind Photos der Innenräume verboten.

]]> Outside of the harbour in Göteborg is a small island, which was once a prison. Three actors show visitors around the island. They can all speak nearly perfect German, English and, I presume, Swedish. The actor that you can see here is a prisoner and explains what the life of a prisoner was like on the island (it wasn't very pleasant). Another actor plays the superintendant of the prison and explains the history of the island. The last plays the wife of the prison's priest and she conducts a tour of the chapel.

I did the tour with my German friend Michael, who generously decided that we should take the tour in German, in order to improve my German skills. Thanks Michael!

]]> Außerhalb Göteborgs Hafen liegt eine kleine Insel, die einmal ein Gefängnis war. Drei Schauspieler führen die Besucher in einem Rundgang über die Insel. Alle Schauspieler können fast perfektes Deutsch, Englisch und natürlich Schwedisch sprechen. Der Schauspieler, den Sie hier sehen können, spielt einen Gefangenen. Er beschreibt das Leben der Gefangenen (es war nicht sehr schön). Der zweite Schauspieler spielt den Meister des Gefängnis und er erklärt die Geschichte der Insel. Die letzte Schauspielerin spielt die Ehefrau des Priesters und zeigt die Kapelle.

Wir machten den deutschen Rundgang, weil Michael, der ein deutscher Freund von mir ist, Lust hatte, mein Deutsch zu verbessern. Dankeschön Michael!

]]> The fortress Königstein ("Kings Stone") was built around 1250. It sits atop a large plateau 240m above the Elbe beside a small town, which is also called Königstein. The walls of the fortress are 2200m long and 40m high. Aside from it's massive height, the fortresses has other impressive defenses e.g. there is long and steeply inclined corridor at the entrance of the fortress, where the defenders could roll down heavy cylinders to crush any attackers. The fortress has never been captured.

Today, the fortress is a popular tourist attraction (especially among mountain climbers). It has an especially good Christmas market in the winter.

]]> Die Festung Königstein wurde um 1250 erbaut. Sie liegt auf einem großen Felsplateau (240m über der Elbe) neben einem sächsischen Ort, der auch Königstein heißt. Die Mauer der Festung ist 2200m lang und 40m hoch. Auch die anderen Verteidigungseinrichtungen sind beeindruckend z.B. gibt es einen schrägen Korridor, wo die Verteidiger sehr schwere Zylindern gegen die Angreifer rollen lassen konnten. Königstein wurde niemals erobert.

Heute hat die Festung viele Besucher (inklusive Bergsteiger). Im Winter gibt es einen tollen Weihnachtsmarkt.

]]> Eine Camera obscura ist einfach ein dunkler Raum mit einer kleinen Öffnung, durch die Lichtstrahlen scheinen können.

Die Lichtstrahlen streinen durch die Öffnung und fallen auf die Wand gegenüber der Öffnung. Auf der Wand kann man das Bild von Draußen sehen (aber alles steht auf dem Kopf). Künstler benutzten die Camera obscura weil die Proportionen der projektierten Bilder genau waren.

Die Camera obscura in den Technischen Sammlungen der Stadt Dresden zeigt die Straße, an der das Museum legt. Man kann umgekehrte Straßenbahnen, Autos und Fußgänger sehen. Alles sieht schwarzweiß aus. Ich vermute, dass es so wenig Licht gibt, so dass unsere Augen die Farben nicht erkennen können.

Statt einer Einzelöffnung hat die Camera obscura in Dresden ein Rad mit vielen kleinen Öffnungen darin. Die Öffnungen haben verschiedene Größen und man kann eine durch Drehen des Rades auswählen. Bei den kleinen Öffnungen wird das Bild scharf aber dunkel.

]]> This photo was taken at a park outside of Amsterdam. My brother and I rented bikes near the city center and spent the entire day riding. We brought bottled water, a few bananas, and some almond cookies.

The park is home to a flock of chickens. Here I am trying to hand feed one a cookie.

]]> Dieses Foto wurde in einem Park außerhalb Amsterdams aufgenommen. Mein Bruder und ich mieteten Fahrräder in der Innenstadt und fuhren den ganzen Tag. Wir nahmen Wasser, ein Paar Bananen und Mandelkekse mit.

Im Park lebt ein Hühnervolk. Hier versuche ich, einen Hahn zu füttern.

]]> Like every computer science student with even a mild interest in computer graphics, I wrote a very simple raytracer while I was in university. This picture is all that remains of that project.

The scene consists of four solid spheres surrounding a large spherical mirror. There is also a flat mirror far behind the camera, which is why there are four small reflections in the middle of the spherical mirror.

]]> Wie jeder Informatikstudent mit auch nur dem geringsten Interesse an Computergrafik schrieb ich einen sehr einfachen Raytracer während meines Studiums. Dieses Bild ist das einzige übriggebliebene Ergebnis dieses Projekts.

In diesem Bild gibt es vier feste Sphären die um einen sphärischen Spiegel liegen. Es gibt noch einen Spiegel hinter der Kamera. Deshalb sieht man vier kleine Reflexionen in der Mitte des sphärischen Spiegels.

]]> This picture was taking with my cellular phone camera on the ski slopes in the city of Oberwiesental (literally "above meadow valley"), a small city in the Sächsischen Schweiz. The Sächsische Schweiz (Saxonian Switzerland) is the German part of a small mountain range that runs along both sides of the Elbe valley. In addition to providing convenient skiing to people living in Saxony, the Sächsische Schweiz provides stunning scenerie for the entire Elbe region.

The fellow with the jester hat is a Gary Maynard, a friend and colleague of mine.

]]> Dieses Foto wurde auf der Skipiste in Oberwiesental mit meiner Handykamera aufgenommen. Oberwiesental liegt in der Sächsischen Schweiz und bietet den Leuten in Sachsen einen passenden Platz, um Ski zu fahren.

Der Mann mit der Narrenmütze ist Gary Maynard, der ein Freund und Kollege von mir ist.

]]> This photo was taken by my Uncle Ed (using my camera) in the Red Sea. The fellow to my left is our Dive Master.

At the end of this particular dive, we chose an unusually boring spot to make our safety stop. The bottom was sandy and there were no interesting fish around. So we spent five minutes taking pictures of each other (and breathing off nitrogen).

]]> Dieses nahm mein Onkel Ed (mit meiner Kamera) im Roten Meer auf. Der Mensch links von mir ist unser Tauchmeister.

Am Schluss dieses Tauchganges, wählten wir einen ungewöhnlich langweiligen Platz um den Sicherheitshalt zu machen. Der Boden war sandig und es gab keine interessante Fische zu sehen. Deshalb benutzten wir unsere fünf Minuten, um Fotos von einander zu machen (und um Stickstoff auszuatmen).

]]> This picture was taken with my cellular phone camera from the back of a horse while riding though a small community in Oberloschwitz. Loschwitz is a district of Dresden that lays to the north of the Blue Wonder (a moderately famous bridge).

The stable that I was riding with, Stall Irmisch, is excellent because, among other reasons, they are located several hundred meters up the Elbe valley slope, providing excellent views of Dresden and the surrounding country side. Unfortunately, my riding skill makes it more practical to take pictures while walking slowly through the city rather than galloping next to the cliff edge.

On this particular day, I was riding Doru, my favorite horse. Before becoming ill he was an excellent jumping horse. He has since completely recovered but is no longer able to jump competitively. He is still exceptionally spirited but friendly and well trained.

]]> At the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), there is a beer hour every Friday, which is hosted by each department on a rotating basis. While most sessions consist of a few crates of beer and some bread and cheese, the computer department has a reputation for hosting elaborate beer sessions. We picked a carnival theme for this one (previous themes include beer tasting, casino night, and 80s video games).

In this picture, Gary Maynard, a friend and colleague of mine, is standing next to the 16 crates of beer that we purchased.

]]> This photo was taken at a park outside of Amsterdam. My brother and I rented bikes near the city center and spent the entire day riding. We brought bottled water, a few bananas, and some almond cookies.

Here Kevin is feeding two goats some of our cookies. This was a huge sacrifice on his part as he considers Dutch almond cookies the most delicious food in existence.

]]> This photo was taken from the bow of the SS Thistlegorm in the Red Sea. The fellow standing on the prow pretending to be Leonardo DiCaprio is the Dive Master.

The SS Thistlegorm was a 128m long merchant ship sunk by German fighters in 1941. It lies about 30m below the surface and is a very popular dive site. The interior is filled with ammunition, trucks, motorcycles and light-armoured vehicles, while the surrounding area is teaming with fish (and two locomotives that were thrown out of the holds).

The two dives that I made at the Thistlegorm are among my favorite. They were well worth shivering through the six hour boat trip that began at 3am.

]]> Burano is an amazingly picturesque island in the Venetian Lagoon. In addition to it's pastel houses, it is famous for it's (disappearing) lace industry.

]]> I took this picture while taking the tram to play badminton one weekend. It shows the normal tram route information but with an error dialog above it. The text in the dialog reads: "Ein gleicher Name ist bereits im Netzwerk vorhanden." or "The same name is already present on the network."

]]> My brother Kevin and I arrived early at the Eiffel Tower in order to visit it before it was completely overrun with tourists. We also chose to walk up to the second platform, rather than take the elevator, to avoid waiting in line (and also because we are big fans of physically punishing holidays).

Unfortunately, access to the first platform was blocked by a locked gate. Several of our fellow climbers were able to phone their tour leaders, who were waiting at the base of the tower, and have them contact the tower staff. About twenty minutes later an embarassed and very apologetic man came to open the gate for us.

]]> The opening months of the BioInnovation Zentrum in Dresden were not completely trouble free. Here the Dresdener Feuerwehr is investigating another (later determined to be false) alarm while the tenants enjoy a few minutes in the sun.

]]> This picture was taken inside one of the smaller tombs surrounding the great Pyramids at Giza by an Egyptian Tourist Policeman.

While the tomb itself was interesting, the process involved in being allowed to see it was even more so. Ostensibly the tomb was closed but, when I asked the Tourist Policeman guard about it's contents, he offered to give me a tour for 50 Egyptian pounds (<US$8). Also, the tomb was quite dark and flash photography was absolutely forbidden...

]]> Collecting kisses is a fairly common stag night/bachelor party/Junggesellenabend activity. Here Falko is demonstrating how seriously he takes it.

]]> In January of 2005, my brother Kevin came to visit me in Germany. During a train ride to Prague, my brother introduced me to the game "Boggle", which I implemented quickly and crudely on my laptop.

In this picture, we are trying to play Boggle in our hostel in Naples but Simon (whose name we decided to pronounce simon-eh), is thwarting us. He seemed to enjoy the heat produced by my laptop and also the attention that he got whenever he sat on it.

]]> In this photo my boss John is dressed to attend a Kiss concert.

]]> In 2000 I was working for a startup company in Boston with my friends Ajay (center) and Michael (right). This picture of us pretending to work in a boardroom was taken for corporate propaganda purposes.

This is one of the few pictures of (a fat looking) me wearing a suite. I shows off my old square haircut and spaghetti-splatter tie nicely.

]]> A very pessimistic T-Shirt that I saw at the Dresden Stadtfest in 2005. The literal translation would be: "One can (absolutely) not eat as much as one would like to vomit".

In German, as in English, vomiting can be used as a metaphor for extreme intellectual discomfort e.g. the poverty was so extreme that it made me sick/puke/vomit. So the meaning of text on the T-Shirt is that there is so much to be sick about that one would not be able to eat enough to vomit over it all.

]]> In this picture, my sister Kris is eating a pretzel near Marienplatz in Munich. Kris had arrvied from Toronto only a few hours before but still had the energy to see most of the old city before collapsing in the evening.

Also, the women who sold me this pretzel was the first person, with whom I wasn't already acquainted, to complement my German.

]]> Hiking up Mount Sinai to see the sun rise is a fairly popular activity for tourists in Egypt. Unfortunately, our tour group arrived at the base of the mountain on the day after Ramadan, so there were no camels to take people to the summit (which must be ascended by foot).

Everyone in my tour group, except myself and one other fellow, chose to return to bed rather than hike up the mountain at night. We had to hike quickly to make it to the top before sunrise. Afterwards, on the peak, I felt very cold because the exertion of the hike was over and my sweat started cooling. But every other aspect of the experience was simply fantastic!

]]> From a distance, the great pyramids at Giza look quite smooth and regular. But up close they appear to be a nearly random arrangement of irregular blocks. Here my Aunt Cecil is posing near one of their bases.

]]> This is a picture taken from somewhere in the Grand Harbour in Valetta, Malta.

]]> My sister and father sitting pool-side at the Tuscan villa we rented during our trip in the summer of 2005.

]]> One of my colleages used this picture as his desktop background for nearly two years. The position, angle and field of view make the picture blend nearly perfectly into our office background, as seen from his desk.

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