Domi's Blog

Bühlertal - Mummelsee

2011-08-21T11:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went for a hike with Bolto. We started from my place and then went up along the Gertelsbach waterfalls into the black forest.

The view is fantastic. Over the hills of Bühlertal all the way to France.

Finally we made it to the Hornisgrinde at 1164m above sea level.

From there we went down to the Mummelsee for some refreshment (delicious Käsespätzle and Kristallweizen) and took the bus back home.

Sweden 2011

2011-08-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

After having a fantastic time with our friends in Sweden last year, we decided to get back this year. First we startet in Stockholm and Tyresta National Park.

BBQ in Vansbro (or Dala Järna, not sure). Grilling inflatable plastic sausages is so relaxing.

Fishing is a very manly sport. We also broke a paddle.

Would be a nice postcard.

Maybe I should apply for a retraining as a truck driver. I think, I do have the stash skills required for the job.

Bühlertal cycling

2011-08-21T11:34:00.000-07:00

Living in the Black Forest I finally managed to get a mountainbike. Good decision.

Springtime in Stockholm

2011-08-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

As Claudia is doing her Masters Thesis in Stockholm there is a good reason for me to visit this wonderful city more often. The spring in Stockholm is beautiful and cold, of course.

The lakes are still frozen, but we did not dare walk across.

A nice trip to make from Stockholm is Mariefred. There seems to be something wrong with the windows in this castle.

Sweden 2010

2011-08-21T11:28:00.000-07:00

After a long time without any posts I feel like reanimating this blog. I have had a few fantastic trips which I want to share. Last year we have been to Sweden to visit our friends in Vansbro and Falun. The first night however we spent in Stockholm in a youth hostel located on a ship. Sounds great, but does not guarantee a good nights sleep as the bunk beds are quite bad and there is not enough air in there.

So after the night we had to get out and fool around for a bit then leave Stockholm.

Falun is a lot morethe kind of Sweden that we imagined. Setting up our tent.

There is an ancient copper mine in Falun which used to produce a good share of the worlds copper over a few centuries.

And finally we made it to Vansbro.

Taking a ride with the dressin. Of course includingsome minor accident.

Winter

2010-02-27T00:39:00.000-08:00

Winter has been rather impressive this year. Also I have taken on a new job, or rather the first real job after University life. Along with it I have made the move from Heidelberg to Bühlertal which is about 100km to the south at the edge of the Black Forest.
This is what Heidelberg looked like most of December and January:

Also some pictures from the black forest. Unfortunately it was quite misty so there are no long-distance shots. There are absolutely no hidden strings in this one:

And these are probably the biggest icicles I have ever set my eyes on:

Graduation

2010-02-27T00:27:00.000-08:00

Having gotten through my studies rather quickly there has been a lot of procrastinating to catch up with. I seem to have let it out on this blog. Right after the vacation in the States I have been to Limerick for the conferring ceremonies. My parents and Claudia + her mom were also in on it. So here are some pictures of the graduate in the ceremonial robe:

Graduate + proud mom

Graduate + proud dad

My fantastic supervisors at Stokes, University of Limerick

USA West 8: Death Valley

2009-11-15T02:35:00.000-08:00

The recent days the bodies of some German tourists were found in Death Valley. The name is absolutely justified. In just one day the two of us drank about 12 liters of water. And that only included a rather short hike of only a few kilometers.

Death Valley is rich of rare minerals. So there were a lot of mining companies in the valley.

Badwater is the lowest point in the US.

USA West 7: Alabama Hills Movieland

2009-11-15T02:04:00.000-08:00

Located right on the foot of Mt Whitney is Alabama Movieland, a faszinating landscape that has been featured in Western movies about as often as Monument Valley.

USA West 6: Kings Canyon and Sequoia

2009-11-15T01:48:00.001-08:00

Kings Canyon and Sequoia are located next to each other with the latter being far more famous and frequented due to the large trees.

However for my travelling style Kings Canyon is the more interesting part. The valley sort of resembles Yosemite, but it is not that crowded and offers fantastic hikes.

And there are also some trees of astonishing size.

USA West 5: Yosemite NP

2009-10-08T04:22:00.001-07:00

Yosemite National Park is one of the most visited places in the States. Fortunately most visitors stick to the crowded valley but the hiking paths are still much more frequented than in other parks. Still the sights are absolutely amazing.

The park has an incredible set of waterfalls which are several hundred meters high.

USA West 4: Lassen Volcanic NP

2009-10-04T04:43:00.000-07:00

Lassen Volcanic National Park is located in the north of California. The area surrounding Lassen Peak is active with different mud pots, fumaroles and hot springs. This part of the park is called Bumpass Hell and looks similar to some places in the Yellowstone park.

In the east end of the park lies a cinder cone which is believed to have formed in the 1650s. We went up shortly before sunset. Even though the cone is only about 250 meters high it is a very strenous hike as the loose gravel sends you back a step for every two steps made.

The top of the cone offers an amazing view on what is called Fantastic Lava Beds.

USA West 3: Crater Lake NP

2009-09-28T07:38:00.000-07:00

The Crater Lake is engraved on the Oregon State quarter coin. With almost 600 meters it is the deepest lake in the US. There are some nice walks on the hills surrounding the lake.

At one point it is possible to descend all the way to the lakeshore with a great opportunity for diving.

.

USA West 2: Redwood NP

2009-09-27T07:28:00.000-07:00

Redwood National Park is located at the northernmost part of the California seashore. The park protects about half the population of Coastal Redwoods.

Unfortunately the park seems to be located in a similar climatic condition as San Francisco. It is quite foggy and rather cool.

There are a few interesting things about Redwoods and Sequoias: The trees are not only almost immune to fires, they even need fire in order to reproduce. Another interesting thing is that only a thin layer on the outside is alive. The inside of the tree is dead and no longer necessary. For as long as the outer layer still connects roots and leaves the tree is alive.

USA West 1: San Francisco

2009-09-27T07:21:00.000-07:00

Another great time in the States. I have been to the Interpack Conference in San Francisco, presenting the last part of my research. As usual, I have also added some vacation with Claudia which I am going to upload in a few entries.
As a start, there is a representative view of the Golden Gate Bridge seen from the northern side.

EuroSimE 09 Delft

2009-08-21T04:50:00.001-07:00

There has been another long radio silence on my end. A lot has happened and I will put up some more updates during the next weeks. Some time ago in April I have been to the EuroSimE conference in Delft. There I have been meeting up with my friend Dan and my old supervisor from Maryland. After the conference we went up the tower of the Nieuwe Kerk (new church) which is over 100 meters high. The picture below shows the view to the market square.

Canals are very typical for dutch cities. In the background there is the old church with its Pisa-style tower.

Slieve Mish Mountains

2009-02-01T09:28:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we went for a little hike in the Slieve Mish mountains. The hills were coated with some layer of snow and ice.

The beach at the bay down there is the same as the one on the last two pics of this entry from our summer vacation 07.
http://domi-tech.blogspot.com/2007/09/summer-vacation.html

EPTC Conference Singapore

2009-02-01T07:36:00.000-08:00

December last year I went to the EPTC conference in Singapore. As it was my first time there it was a fantastic experience. I got lucky and had a hotel room on the 15th floor. This was the view from my window.

The amazing thing about Singapore is the mixture of everything. There are some british colonial buildings for example. But the weather is much greater than Britain. While I was there it was always about 30 degrees and very humid but still enjoyable.
The best places to get food are these food courts where you can get exquisite chinese, indian, arab and malay cuisine for about 2€ per meal.
A stroll through the arabian quarter...
...and through the indian quarter.
The conference dinner took place at the Singapore turf and racing club. I did not win any money though.
The famous Singapore flyer.

London

2009-01-11T03:32:00.000-08:00

In Octobre I had the chance to pay a short visit to London. Of course I visited the main tourist places such as the tower bridge, seen from the tower of London...

... and the Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.
We also saw a few of the guards with the funny hats. Even though the hat might be supposed to make them bigger they are still quite small.

Killarney NP

2008-11-29T04:14:00.000-08:00

Ballybunnion

2008-11-29T04:03:00.001-08:00

Some pictures from the beatiful Ballybunnion beach. Unfortunately it was way too cold for swimming.The rest of Ballybunnion Castle. There is just one wall left which makes it possible to let it look intact on pictures but that would have been boring.

USA 13: Florida

2008-11-27T08:13:00.000-08:00

After almost 4 weeks travelling through the rockies our journey was coming to an end. Also the original purpose of the journey, the SMTA conference was approaching. But as we were already in Florida we spent a few days in the Keys and the Everglades.
I do not have many pictures of the Keys. On the first day we went snorkling and on the other days tropical storm Fay was approaching and a few days after we left all tourists had to evacuate the Keys.
There floats your handbag...
Gotcha!

USA 12: Arches National Park

2008-10-24T09:43:00.001-07:00

Arches National Park contains a lot of natural arches that like canyons are formed by erosion of sandstone. In a first step the erosion leaves so called fins standing out from the ground and some of these are washed out leaving just an arch.

The intrinsic geomagnetic forces inside the arch pull up all mass to the center of the arch, allowing for some cool stunts. It is only sometimes a problem to get out of that field again...
...but we managed and kept going to the double arch wich was only a few hundred meters apart.
Landscape arch is one of the longest archest in the world with a length of over 90 meters. It looks very fragile.

USA 11: Monument Valley

2008-10-19T07:53:00.000-07:00

On the way to Monument Valley we first passed the famous horseshoe bend of the Colorado river near Page, Arizona. This is another one of these spots that make their way through calendars and posters.

Also known from calendars, but really famous due to numerous western movies is Monument Valley. Unfortunately I have to add that it looks more impressive on pictures than in reality. The actual valley is way smaller than you would expect. Still it is an impressive sight and worth visiting if you are around anyway.

USA 10: Antelope Canyons

2008-10-04T01:29:00.001-07:00

The Antelope Canyons are located on Navajo land in Arizona. One has to mention that the entrance to the canyons is quite expensive adding up to about 50$ per person for both. I suggest deciding on just one of the two parts. We started in the morning at the lower Antelope Canyon. Because we were among the first people to get in there was very little traffic inside and we could spend some time on taking pictures.

The Upper Antelope Canyon can only be entered with a guided tour. Before the tour every group is brought to the entrance by Jeep. This ride could also be offered as a rollercoaster replacement due to the terrain and the drivers driving style. The Canyon itself is a bit darker than the lower counterpart, but way less quiet as there are several groups going through at the same time.

USA 9: Grand Canyon

2008-09-27T03:36:00.001-07:00

As we were already in southern Utah the Grand Canyon north rim was only a short drive away. The northern side is not as touristic as the southern rim which is in close proximity to Las Vegas.On that day the weather was hot but there were some showers. On the upper left of the next picture you can see some rain.

The most distinctive feature of the Grand Canyon is as the name suggests its unbelievable size. Looking down the walls is comparable to looking out of a plane window. The problem with it is that there was not much to do there. The hike down to the bottom would have to be split into 2 days and is very demanding, so we procrastinated it to the next vacation (sounds PHD style).

USA 8: Bryce Canyon National Park

2008-09-27T02:21:00.000-07:00

A totally different experience is Bryce Canyon, even though it is only about 80km from Zion NP. Despite of it being called a canyon it is more a natural amphitheater. It is full of sandstone pillars that are called hoodoos and were formed by erosion.

We also took a day hike through the amphitheater which was a quite impressive walk between the hoodoos. Can you spot the angry stone golem?

USA 7: Zion NP2: Angels landing

2008-09-17T11:51:00.000-07:00

Angels landing is the name of a very impressive sandstone platform in the middle of the Zion Canyon. The top can be reached by hiking a 5mile roundtrip way with about 500 meter rise in altitude. The last part of the way goes along the brink of steep walls on either side going down a few hundred meters. The view from the top is just magnificient both to the north...
... and to the south.
Even though the pictures suffered a bit from the cloudy skies the lack of sunshine made the hike much easier.

USA 6: Zion NP 1: The Narrows

2008-09-14T10:03:00.001-07:00

Zion National Park is located in the southwest of Utah. We drove down from Yellowstone with stops for rafting on the snake river and some sleep in Salt Lake City. We skipped SLC as the travel guide did not have to say anything interesting about it.The first day in Zion we did a hike along the Narrows. It goes along the bottom of a canyon. That bottom is occupied wall to wall by the Virgin river creating the risk of flash-floods.

Because of the river it is inevitable to get wet shoes.The river is mostly quite shallow...
...except for some deeper holes. "Let's just walk over there for a nice picture!"

USA 5: Yellowstone 3: Geyser Basins

2008-09-13T10:46:00.001-07:00

Old Faithful is definitely the most popular geyser in Yellostone, if not in the world. It erupts quite reliable about every 90 minutes. It is located close to the parking lot and all important facilities such as restrooms, restaurants and gift shops. This results in a lot of people waiting to see its eruption as you can see on the next picture. I won't put up any pictures of the geyser itself as it is rather unspectacular compared to the others in the park. A cool thing is that for all the predictable geysirs there are estimates shown in the visitor center.The Castle Geysir is only about 15 minutes walking distance from Old Faithful and there is only a fraction of the people there.

Another cool thing are the hot pools. In there live different microorganisms that are specialized on certain temperature regions. So the colour of the pool can be interpreted as a thermometer, only the scale is different than we are used to. The cooler (or rather less hot) regions are red and the hotter, almost boiling regions are blue.
Grand Geyser is the tallest predictible geyser on earth. The eruptions reach about 60meter (200ft) which is an impressive fountain.

USA 4: Yellowstone 2: Mammoth hot springs

2008-09-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

Located at the northern end of the Yellowstone park are the Mammoth hot spring terraces. These are the result of years and years of water flowing down, cooling and depositing calcium carbonate. The fascinating formations and the wonderful location make it a highly interesting attraction. Did I already mention that these volcanic features smell pretty bad?

After visiting the hot springs we drove a bit further north to the border of Montana. There is a very nice river that is fed by a stream of almost cooking volcanic water. At the junction is a fantastic place to hop into the water, pick a spot with the right temperature and enjoy the view. In our case the sight was rounded up by a stag on the other side of the river.

USA part 3: Yellowstone 1: Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

2008-09-13T09:52:00.001-07:00

Oh, now we are even getting down to the second sub-level of headlines. Anyway, after Grand Teton we drove up to Yellowstone where we stayed for 5 days. On the way in we had the first encounters with wildlife and saw some geothermal features. This picture shows a Buffalo hanging around at a mud pool. It is somewhat ironic that buffalo beef patties can be bought at the shops throughout the parks. Yes, it tastes actually pretty good.
Our first Campground was close to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. We explored it on a full day hike. The hike goes past a few parking lots which is funny, as these are the only places where one meets other people.
One of the first things we bought in the park was anti-bear pepper spray. Fortunately we did not need it.
The canyon itself.

USA part 2: Grand Teton NP

2008-09-08T09:06:00.001-07:00

Before entering Yellowstone we came through the southern neighbour, Grand Teton national park. The peaks reach up to almost 4200 meters and were covered with snow even in late July.

Event though there is snow on the peaks, it was quite warm at Jackson lake, so we could not resist and jumped in.
Definitely one of the most impressive places I have ever taken a swim.

USA part 1: The Beginning

2008-09-04T11:57:00.001-07:00

Hi,
I am finally back from my long conjoined vacation/work stay in the US. As I have way too many pictures for one entry I am going to split the work and post them in different entries over the next few weeks. The start of my journey with Claudia was Denver. From there we first went up Mt Evans, which is a 4350 meter high mountain. The peak can be reached american-style by car.

From the parking lot to the very peak there is a short walk. This walk can be surprisingly demanding as the body has had no time to get used to the thinner air.

From the top of the peak we flew back down...

... and went up north towards Wyoming, "The Cowboy State". There we have been to Yellowstone and Grand Teton, which I am going to post soon.

Long time, no see

2008-07-20T10:36:00.000-07:00

I have gotten a bit lazy with this blog recently. The last months have been full of work. Some of this I have presented at the EuroSimE conference in Freiburg. An interesting feature of the Freiburg old town are thiese little water channels. Seems to be a good challenge for drunk people.

I have also taken a little time of in south France in St. Tropez. This was a really welcome break from the weather and work in Ireland. The area is very high society style but boasts scenic views over the sea.

The yacht harbour is THE place to see and be seen. It is also a fantastic showcase on plastic surgery.

Tomorrow I will be going to the US for some vacation and the SMTA conference where I will present more of my research. After that I am sure to post a lot of pictures from the Rockies, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, some wild west landscapes and Florida.

Easter in Connemara

2008-03-30T03:08:00.001-07:00

Over Easter my parents stayed in a small cottage in Cleggan, which is 10km north of Clifden in Connemara. This place had enough space for me and Claudia to join in.

This is the view from the bedroom on the harbour of Cleggan with the hillscape of Connemara in the back.

Of course we also went on a little hike in Mayo. There was a great view. On the picture below there are some rainclouds approaching. Fortunately it was not raining long.

I am not going to show you my pictures of Kylemore Abbey, as it is one of the most photographed places of Ireland anyway. So you have to do with a picture of us.

And as an extra here is some proof for the existence of black sheep! There is a secret to observing sheep and I am going to share it with you: If you approach them walking they are just running away very quickly. But if you are perfectly disguised, they won't even take any notice of you. This perfect disguise of course is to be driving by car.

Keeper Hill

2008-02-02T13:51:00.001-08:00

Some time has gone by without new posts so I feel like an update is long past due.
After about 15 degrees last weekend an event with scarcity value has occured this weekend. There was snow in Limerick! I took the opportunity to go for a hike on Keeper Hill near Limerick with Simon.

After climbing a bit upward the hill it got remarkably colder with fog wind and deeper snow which made the hike a good experience.

A brief update

2007-11-24T11:46:00.001-08:00

Some time passed since the last update so this one was past due. I was quite busy moving into a new apartment and my work is keeping me on a short leash. Still I managed to go for a hike to the Galtys to klimb Galtymore. As it turned out it was very foggy. But the intensity of the fog was only second to the fierce wind that was blowing from a certain height. The only possibility to find the right track was by using the compass and following a part of that wall that forms the county border between Tipperary and Limerick.

On the way back we also met some evil irish black metal beasts.

As an extra I got these pictures of Heidelberg. They were taken during my vacation in Germany in September.

Summer Vacation

2007-09-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

After a long time off I finally found some time and the right temper to put some pics from my summer vacation online. I have been on tour with Claudia and Anja and Markus from Germany.
Like the common tourist we started our tour in Dublin including a visit to the Guinness brewery at St. James Gate. I absolutely do not recommend visiting this place as it is a dull and uninspired tourist rip-off. The only good thing is the pint at the gravity bar at the end. Other than that Dublin is a nice city including interesting spots such as the castle or Kilmainham prison.

After Dublin we made our way across the midlands to the wes. The two following pictures were taken at the Clonmacnoise monastery.

Our travelmates Markus and Anja from my point of view.

We also went for another hike in Connemara. The view was great because there were different layers of clouds so that at some point one could be between two layers of clouds on top of a hill. Unfortunately it was not possible to capture that equitable so you have to do with this one:

The last part of our journey was the famous Ring of Kerry.

About 2 hours by boat are the skelligs. These are two little islands of which one holds old cloister buildings dating back as far as the 12th century. This island can be travelled to only on small fishing boats. On the way there we even saw a swarm of dolphins. The smaller island is inhabitated by thousands of birds. What looks like snow on the following picture is actually an enormous flock of birds.

At last we even found a nice beach near Inch were the water temperature and the weather allowed for swimming.

And even some bit of flying. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy has this to say on the subjectof flying: "There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." (Douglas Adams)

The Galtys or: A change of seasons

2007-08-15T13:24:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we went out for a little hike. This picture was taken at the beginning. We walked on a nice trail and the weather was beautiful.

After about 1 hour we arrived at the Lough Muskry and experienced a sudden change of weather, as you can see:

But if you don't like the weather, just wait 10 minutes and it will be different:

Some showers later we arrived at the peak of Galtybeg mountain and had a wonderful view over the whole Galtys. We had only a quick break up there, because the wind nearly blew us off the peak and then made our way back through lots of high grass and even more water and mud.

Same trip, different people

2007-08-15T12:30:00.000-07:00

Just one week later and I did the same trip again, to show Claudia the beauty of the Aran Islands. The next pictures were taken on the Coast of Galway, you can see the Burren in the background.

On the beach of Inishmore, in the background are the hills of Connemara. We tried the sea once again, and again it was too cold. So we just had lunch at the windy beach and enjoyed the view.

And here is the promised picture of the iron age fort on top of the cliffs.

Galway and Inishmore

2007-07-25T12:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend some postgrads organized a trip to Galway and Inishmore. After we had set up our tent we went straight into the Galway nightlife. The streets were full of people: Artists performing their shows, people queuing for the last Harry Potter and a lot of people walking from pub to pub.
Here you can see the happy group on one of their first drinks.

I have to admit that the Irish are impressive drinkers.
We have been out until about three in the night. When we came back, we decided to go for a swim. Unfortunately our enthusiasm was killed by the rocks on the beach piercing into our feet.
Next day we went on to Inishmore, were most of the Irish went right back to drinking.
Me and some other guys delayed drinking a bit and rented cycles. The island has wonderful beaches and also some nice cliffs. A cool thing is the fort from the iron age that is built directly on the cliffs, so that it is open to one side. I could not make really good pics of that one, but I will as soon as I get back there.

What kind of a weird tree is that there on the beach???
Here comes the solution:

Stokes on Kart

2007-07-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

To get some distraction from work we went to drive go-kart. It was really a lot of fun and I even scored the second place.

This video shows some of the action that was going on on the track. Look at the picture above to identify which driver is me. :)

A lesson in geography with Ryanair

2007-07-07T07:48:00.000-07:00

Probably everyone who has taken a flight with Ryanair knows those posters that depict the destination airports and their countries. One of these can of course also be found on Kerry Airport in Ireland. But there is quite one funny thing about this one and it is not the fact that there are only two destinations.

I have posted a hint in comments if you are getting tired of searching.

Boating on Lough Derg

2007-06-21T01:03:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we decided to go for a relaxed sunday of boating on Lough Dergh, which is very close to Limerick. We started with a rental boat in Killaloe.

The lake is very nice and there are several small islands.

On one of the islands there is an old abbey which dates back to the 7th century. There we went for a small stop to chat with the cows and recover from the noisy boat engine.

CTVR Annual Meeting

2007-05-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

This week there was the annual CTVR plenary meeting in Ennis. Meeting - a great alternative to working...
The first day of the meeting consisted of the check in to the hotel, some greeting words and a couple of informative presentation. Of course there had to be a great finish to the day, so we went to the medieval dinner at Bunratty Castle. To get a good start the group first entered the Pub to warm up.

After that the banquet started accompanied with Simpsons Style medieval entertainment.

The most Simpsons thing was the quite funny fact, that the medieval lady that served our table had a strong polish accent.

Of course everything had to be authentic, so there were no forks...

As a special extra I have uploaded a small excerpt for you as a video:

Election

2007-05-04T14:43:00.000-07:00

And now for something completely different: It is election time in Ireland. Of course I do not want to deprive you of the lovely cast of characters that is courting for the grace of the voters.
I've picked the 3 best posters for you. The funny thing is, that they are all in the same party, and Berties Team. I will hand in Berties Pic later.

Number 3: Great balancing act between juvenile erotic and adult seriousness. I especially like the Haircut and the decent make up.

Number 2: Nomen est Omen. With that name you don´t have to be afraid of anything.

My Number 1: Here everything is a hit. The perfect optical blend of haircut, overwhelming mustache, yearning look into the distance, in combination with the striking name. Try saying it, there's music to it: Willie O'Dea

Road Trip

2007-05-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went on a small road trip through the Burren and back along the beach. I took many pictures and it was really hard to decide, which to publish. The first thing that we saw was a megalithic tomb in the Burren. To be honest, the picture conceals that it is very close to the road. But still it is impressive to see something that is about 4000 years old and still standing.

After that we drove along the coast. We even went down to the water on that coarse-grained saand beach. But the water was extremely cold.

From that point we went on a small hike up the hills on the left.

The ground there is very rocky (Irish: Boireann-great rock). The walls on many of my pictures are something typicl for Ireland: In the 19th century there was a lot of unemployment in Ireland. So the politicians decided on an employment-creation measure...

The hills that you can see on the other side of the bay are Connemara.

The road continued along those cliffs, that turn into the cliffs of Moher further south.
Since we were already in the vicinity of the cliffs of Moher we decided to stop there for sunset. It turned out to be a good decision, since the official facilities were closed at this time. So we could even walk to the restricted areas. :)

Interested, what lies behind the edge on the picture above? Here it is: About 200 meters. This is a sight, that makes you feel really small.

Rock of Cashel

2007-04-21T03:02:00.000-07:00

Before I start with more traveling reports I want to show you an Irish curiosity: Family Butchers. Sounds like a killer to me... "Uhm, I'd like the, eh, student special please..."

Last week was very great. Claudia was here for a visit and we did some more traveling and hiking. A very nice trip was the Rock of Cashel, about 1 hour from Limerick. It is an old fortress with an abbey nearby.
On the next picture you see the picture, that probably every visitor takes. Shame on me.

There is a graveyard in front of the building with many nice celtic crosses and old graves.

After seeing the rock of Cashel we walked to the abbey nearby. The cool thing was that there were no other people, so we had a lot of time for strolling around and taking pictures. On the next picture you can see the Rock of Cashel on the hill in the background.

Cliffs of Moher

2007-04-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

Last week my parents came to Ireland for a visit. I was really happy to see them here. Of course we visited some attractions. Cliffs of Moher is a standard for most tourists in Ireland. Thats why it is unfortunately also quite commercialised. There is a big visitors center and you have to pay for the parking. Still the cliffs are impressive. It is like a huge wall of rock that falls steeply into the ocean.

Connemara National Park

2007-04-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went with Radu and Serban on another hike. This one was in Connemara National Park. After about two and a half hour driving we started our hike.
Basically the route covered all the hilltops that can be seen on the panoramas and goes around a horseshoe along a ridge. It was a very long and exhausting hike. But the view from the hilltops was among the best that I have ever seen.

At this point we were almost on the first hilltop. We still looked happy, because we -danger: bushism- misunderestimated the remaining way.

This picture shows the great view into the valley from about the middle of the hike.

Carrantouhill

2007-03-25T11:24:00.000-07:00

After a long time of looking and at least 10 test drives I finally found a car. I even had to drive to Dublin by bus on Friday, to visit some cars there, because they are much cheaper and the selection is bigger.
Even though it feels strange to drive from what used to be the passengers seat, the change is not as hard as I expected.

On Saturday I went on a hike with my flatmate Radu and Serban who lives in the same building. We went out to climb Carrantou Hill. It is located on the famous ring of Kerry.
On the starting point of our hike we could see the hilltop crowned with clouds in the distance 900 meters above us.

The landscape in this area is just great and even the weather was nice on this day.

After two and a half ours we reached the peak. For my part it was about the most that I could walk. But it was a very rewarding experience and there are more trips to follow for sure.

Radu, Serban and Dominik at the peak

Lá Fhéile Pádraig

2007-03-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

Today I have visited the St Patricks Day parade in Limerick. This day celebrates Saint Patrick the patron saint of Ireland (373-493). He played a great role in converting the Irish to Christianity.

I was quite surprised, that at first the parade was of quite military nature.

There were a lot of armed soldieres, even tanks and WW2 airplanes.

After a while and lots of heavy machinery the parade began to turn more into what I expected. There were a lot of organizations, clubs and entertainers.

The main attraction for the kids were these guys. The kid in front of me was so frightened that she did not want to stay, after one of them came too close.

In case somebody is wondering if I am also working on something - Yes I am but there is not so much I can write about it so far. More to follow.

Officially enroled

2007-03-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

Today I got my student Id card and I am now officially enroled.

I also had some more paperwork to do, which brought me into the city of Limerick. I am really fascinated by the fast changes of the weather. About 30 minutes before those pictures were taken there was not a single blue spot in the sky and it was raining cats and dogs.

New Room

2007-03-04T03:23:00.000-08:00

Hi,

I have moved into my room in an apartment building in Limerick that is located halfway between city center and University. So far the weather is good, with little rain.
The next days I will go to the Univesity to get the remaining paperwork done and start working.
Another thing that I have to do is to get a car, so that I can see more of the country and provide you with more pictures.

There is also a comfortable living room that I share with my housemate from Romania, or as he said Transilvania. Whats itching on my neck by the way?

The apartment is located in the first floor of this building. I have encircled the window to my room.

Getting ready

2007-02-28T01:54:00.000-08:00

Hi, welcome to my blog. Here I will keep you updated on what is happening on my research as well as give you an excerpt of my leasure activities.

A couple of weeks ago everything started. I visited the University of Limerick hoping that this might be an interesting place for a PhD research.
In the meantime I got accepted and I am going to Ireland on March 3rd. Still I want to show you some of the impressions from my first trip there.

The University is located at the river Shannon. It is about 30 years old and has about 13000 students and 420 faculty.

King Johns Castle is one of the main attractions of Limerick.

"For Sale: Development opportunity"
Sounds like a good plan. Indeed there is a lot to develop on this building.