Weihnachtsbaden Westerland

I hope you enjoyed your Christmas party as well!

Christmas illumination - Saint Petersburg style

Saint Petersburg, Russia, is widely known for its "white nights",
a period from mid-May to mid-July when twilight may last all night and the sun shines up to nearly 19 hours in mid-June.

I visited "Peter" mid-December. And "enjoyed" the long black nights and dull-grey days... ;-))

I took this photo of the Winter Palace, seen from the Palace Square, in the evening time. But I could have taken exactly this scene at 11 a.m. in the morning as well, because the sun started rising at 11:15 a.m. earliest in mid-December...

Good luck it rained all evening long during my sight seeing trip, because without the rain on the square I wouldn't had such a nice reflection of the palace's front on the ground... ;-)

OK, let's continue the photo tour through Petersburg city center...

That was definitely my favourite photo motif during my night-time photo stalk: the Griboyedov Canal with the
Church of the Savior on Blood at its end.

Try to capture the same scene (I did!) during (dull-grey) winter day light and without illumination: agonizingly boring!

What's next? --> Nevski Prospect, the main street of the city of Saint Petersburg.

 Getting out of the identically-named metro station and heading west-northwest you see the tower buildung of the former State Duma, illuminated with its beautiful Christmas decoration.

On Nevsky Prospect (= Avenue) and in other parts of the city center you find this elegant type of winter decoration, while most of the Christmas trees are decorated a bit too colourfully (in my humble opinion).

Of course I had to block the traffic for approx. 10 min. for this time exposure shot... ;-)

Blocking the traffic on the main streets too often was not the very best idea I had this evening, so the next photo I took again from the pedestrian area right of the street. 

Saint Isaac's Cathedral - an island / bastion of calm within the urban traffic.

Saint Petersburg urban racing car, with the logo of the local football club: FC Zenit (Saint Petersburg).

(Not) literally translated: we are the best, strongest and most beautifully... ;-)

Last (but not least): Russian (?) lady's desire and (most) Russian gentleman's ruin:

White sable fur coat - or a new, well-equipped Volkswagen???

Make your choice!

;-))

half time!?

Any comments???

;-))

Royal Christmas market Hohenzollern Castle 2011

Severe sunshine, blue sky, felt 25°C - not really the weather for a German Christmas market at the end of November 2011, but not truly a reason to worry about.

The royal Christmas market on Hohenzollern castle is known as one of the most beautiful Christmas markets in Germany. The prime reason is surely the spectacular castle complex and siting of Hohenzollern castle.

One half of the booths were outside on the castle grounds, the other half inside the historical rooms of the caslte

The Hohenzollern Christmas tree with a height of approx 5 meters

Monument of

Kaiser Wilhelm I. - König von Preussen