Saturday, 23rd July: Today we did successfully make the trip to the Gasometer, which is actually in Oberhausen, to see the exhibition “Magic Places - Natural and Cultural Monuments of the World” (http://www.gasometer.de/en_GB/index.php?pid=3_1).
The exhibition featured large panels of photographs of natural and geographic features, interspersed with mineral and fossil samples on the ground floow. On the next level, there were beautifully recreated cultural artifacts from the Gipsformerei der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin (Replica Workshop of the National Museums of Berlin). The low light was a challenge for photography, but I persevered in attempts to capture the bust of Nefertiti.
The centre of the hall was dominated by the giant sculpture of a rainforest tree that loomed up into the vast space and was illuminated by gradually changing lighting.
On the way in to the exhibition, I had noticed that the the outside stairs leading all the way from the bottom to the top of the 100m high gasometer were actually open to the public. After wandering around the exhibition, I moved outside to take up the challenge of making the ascent. An initial rush soon changed to a steady pace. I started counting steps but soon gave up as the stairwell had a varying number of steps around each quarter. I later established that there were 616 steps to a height of 115m (the total height of the Gasometer is 117.5m), making this one of the largest industrial stairs in the world.
At 30m, I was already looking down on a tree-top climbing activity. The view gradually expanded to take in the river, railway and related exhibition areas. The wind also picked up and my ears were beginning to freeze. It took me more than 20 minutes to make the ascent, breathless but with a feeling of achievement.
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Easy shopping for long legged men
Friday, 22nd July: Greeted with a mild head cold this morning, which fortunately was not yet incapacitating and permitted an excursion to Tonisvorst, north of Krefeld, where there was a factory outlet for a gentleman`s outfitters called Otten.
As a tall, long legged person, it is difficult to find trousers to fit at the usual outlets in the UK and I have always had more success in Gemany. It was such a change to be able to go into a shop and find that there was actually quality clothing off the peg in my size. Within an hour I left with several pairs of trousers at discount prices, as we had arrived during a mid season sale.
On the journey back to Meerbusch, we stopped off in Krefeld to visit the bank and also partake of the excellent Italian ice-cream from one of the ice-cream parlours. Today I checked out kiwi and pistachio balls in a cone.
In the afternoon, we had intended to visit the most recent exhibition at the Gasometer in Essen with Ms Mix. We deferred until the following day to give us more time and instead had a very enjoyable evening playing the board game “Siedler von Catan”.
As a tall, long legged person, it is difficult to find trousers to fit at the usual outlets in the UK and I have always had more success in Gemany. It was such a change to be able to go into a shop and find that there was actually quality clothing off the peg in my size. Within an hour I left with several pairs of trousers at discount prices, as we had arrived during a mid season sale.
On the journey back to Meerbusch, we stopped off in Krefeld to visit the bank and also partake of the excellent Italian ice-cream from one of the ice-cream parlours. Today I checked out kiwi and pistachio balls in a cone.
In the afternoon, we had intended to visit the most recent exhibition at the Gasometer in Essen with Ms Mix. We deferred until the following day to give us more time and instead had a very enjoyable evening playing the board game “Siedler von Catan”.
Mr Heker`s practice, The Cathedral and Synagogue to Essen
Thursday, 21st July: This morning breakfast was followed by a quick check on the business e-mails and removing the accumulated spam comments on the Cambridge Open Studios blog.
The it was off to Oppum railway station to catch the train to Essen to meet with Mr Heker. The first train was a Regional train, stopping at every station to Duisburg. Alighting from the train there, a fifteen minute wait to catch a double decker Regional Express which then took me speedily to Essen.
Arriving at Mr Heker dental technical laboratory “Teeth R Us”, it was a great opportunity to have a tour of the laboratory equipment and techniques with Mr Heker. We then spent a couple of hours catching up on possible tasks and strategies for attendance at the BDA exhibition in Birmingham in October.
Afterwards I was taken on a tour of central Essen, The first highlight was the Dom, the cathedral of Essen. Although only a cathedral since 1958, its origins go back to the foundation of an abbey by Bishop Altfrid in the late AD 850s with a peak of influence in the elefventh and twelfth centuries.
For me, the absolute delight were the modern stained glass windows completed in the 1950s to 1960s by a variety of artists (see http://www.dom-essen.de/index.php?id=263). I took an extensive series of photographs which I hope to edit in the near future.
The tour continued to the Synagogue, renovated and resplendent with its large dome. A police bus was discretely parked nearby, indicating the sensitivities still extant. The interior was delightfully elegant with clean lines, reflecting the modern construction style at the turn of the 20th Century and there was an interesting set of exhibits on the building` history and also Jewish traditions. The technological highlight was a series of two giant cogged wheels that interlinked to show the relationship between the Gregorian and the Jewish calendar. Flash photography not being permitted, I hope that the hand-held or supported photos give unshaken results.
We finished with an evening meal in a Greek restaurant (Artemis) before I finally caught the train back to Meerbusch via Krefeld Oppum.
The it was off to Oppum railway station to catch the train to Essen to meet with Mr Heker. The first train was a Regional train, stopping at every station to Duisburg. Alighting from the train there, a fifteen minute wait to catch a double decker Regional Express which then took me speedily to Essen.
Arriving at Mr Heker dental technical laboratory “Teeth R Us”, it was a great opportunity to have a tour of the laboratory equipment and techniques with Mr Heker. We then spent a couple of hours catching up on possible tasks and strategies for attendance at the BDA exhibition in Birmingham in October.
Afterwards I was taken on a tour of central Essen, The first highlight was the Dom, the cathedral of Essen. Although only a cathedral since 1958, its origins go back to the foundation of an abbey by Bishop Altfrid in the late AD 850s with a peak of influence in the elefventh and twelfth centuries.
For me, the absolute delight were the modern stained glass windows completed in the 1950s to 1960s by a variety of artists (see http://www.dom-essen.de/index.php?id=263). I took an extensive series of photographs which I hope to edit in the near future.
The tour continued to the Synagogue, renovated and resplendent with its large dome. A police bus was discretely parked nearby, indicating the sensitivities still extant. The interior was delightfully elegant with clean lines, reflecting the modern construction style at the turn of the 20th Century and there was an interesting set of exhibits on the building` history and also Jewish traditions. The technological highlight was a series of two giant cogged wheels that interlinked to show the relationship between the Gregorian and the Jewish calendar. Flash photography not being permitted, I hope that the hand-held or supported photos give unshaken results.
We finished with an evening meal in a Greek restaurant (Artemis) before I finally caught the train back to Meerbusch via Krefeld Oppum.
On over-fit septuagenarians
Wednesday, 20th July: A gentle start to the day before beginning to update my computer here in Germany, which took till early aftenoon. Then it was off to collect Mr T from the railway station in Oppum, returning from a family visit to my sister and her children.
Mrs T dragooned me into accompanying her and two other of her friends to a water exercise class for the rheumatoid at a swimming pool in the nearby town of Krefeld. Forty five minutes of vigorous exercise later left me pleasantly fatigued and amazed at the stamina of septuagenarians.
Confirmed the final details for tomorrows travel and visit to Mr Heker, to discuss a forthcoming business trip to the UK.
Mrs T dragooned me into accompanying her and two other of her friends to a water exercise class for the rheumatoid at a swimming pool in the nearby town of Krefeld. Forty five minutes of vigorous exercise later left me pleasantly fatigued and amazed at the stamina of septuagenarians.
Confirmed the final details for tomorrows travel and visit to Mr Heker, to discuss a forthcoming business trip to the UK.
Flight to Duesseldorf with optical illusions
Tuesday, 19th July: Packed bags, had a last minute haircut before catching the taxi to railway station. The journey on the Stansted Express was uneventful and I arrived early at the airport. A queue began to form in front of the check in desk, but with a subconscious gap, as if Harry Potter himself was taking space in the queue under his invisibility coat – an illusion maintained until other travelers passed through the gap on their ways to their separate destinations.
Stansted was relatively quiet and security particularly tight. It was a shoes and belt off day, rather precarious as todays trousers were loose around the waistband. Fortunately they did not drop. Post security, it was the usual wait with a cup of tea for the call to gate.
Todays plane looked small on the tarmac, being a turboprop Bombardier DASH 8. However, with a lower flying altitude of about 7600m, it promised to be visually more interesting.
This was justified during the flight across the Channel on a still day. The sea was remarkably calm and with the blue sky, it seemed more like part of the sky. The flees of container ships and faster ferries left white contrails and seemed to be flying rather than floating.
The illusion was shattered when the continental coast came into view and was replaced by another interesting phenomenon. There was a clear algal bloom changing the sea from light blue to cyan. It could only be a thin layer as the ships passing through left a darker trail of original sea colour behind them.
Low continental cloud then obscured the view until we were closer to Duesseldorf.
Arrived at Mrs T's with a fresh supply of English tea bags to see her through the coming months.
Stansted was relatively quiet and security particularly tight. It was a shoes and belt off day, rather precarious as todays trousers were loose around the waistband. Fortunately they did not drop. Post security, it was the usual wait with a cup of tea for the call to gate.
Todays plane looked small on the tarmac, being a turboprop Bombardier DASH 8. However, with a lower flying altitude of about 7600m, it promised to be visually more interesting.
This was justified during the flight across the Channel on a still day. The sea was remarkably calm and with the blue sky, it seemed more like part of the sky. The flees of container ships and faster ferries left white contrails and seemed to be flying rather than floating.
The illusion was shattered when the continental coast came into view and was replaced by another interesting phenomenon. There was a clear algal bloom changing the sea from light blue to cyan. It could only be a thin layer as the ships passing through left a darker trail of original sea colour behind them.
Low continental cloud then obscured the view until we were closer to Duesseldorf.
Arrived at Mrs T's with a fresh supply of English tea bags to see her through the coming months.
Redundant interview?
Monday, 18th July: Woke up too soon after a late night and, after a short breakfast, walked through the blustery wind to the BBC Radio Cambridgeshire Studio on the Cambridge side of the A14, following Mr Harper's program on the way. Greeted by a smiling welcome from Mrs Carman, it was almost directly into the studio.
The interview discussion was almost anticlimactic as the Apprentice Final had already become history – nice guy wins quarter of a million to start a new business (yawn) had been overtaken by a runaway audience interest in the novel uses of old red telephone boxes. Mr Dee finding interesting local tales of red phone boxes being used as mini libraries and shop displays and a historic display of a WWII evacuee (I later posted information about the Cambridge Open Studio in a phone box).
The avuncular Mr Harper took on the subject professionally and we had a good 10 minute interview before returning to the real hot topic of the day – phone boxes. After a friendly conversation with Mrs Carman, it was back on the walk home
There were practical personal lessons – I was still talking too fast in the interview. New danger – rabbiting on (though at least I stayed on topic).
There was a personal benefit, preparation for the interview had generated a series of notes of broader interest – I therefore set up a series of Twitter posts for the next few days linking to the Issuu book. The notes also provided the possible foundation for a future book.
In the evening we visited the cinema to visit the last of the Harry Potter films, The Deathly Hallows Part 2, which we thoroughly enjoyed as a family, though it did raise questions about discrepancies with the original book.
The interview discussion was almost anticlimactic as the Apprentice Final had already become history – nice guy wins quarter of a million to start a new business (yawn) had been overtaken by a runaway audience interest in the novel uses of old red telephone boxes. Mr Dee finding interesting local tales of red phone boxes being used as mini libraries and shop displays and a historic display of a WWII evacuee (I later posted information about the Cambridge Open Studio in a phone box).
The avuncular Mr Harper took on the subject professionally and we had a good 10 minute interview before returning to the real hot topic of the day – phone boxes. After a friendly conversation with Mrs Carman, it was back on the walk home
There were practical personal lessons – I was still talking too fast in the interview. New danger – rabbiting on (though at least I stayed on topic).
There was a personal benefit, preparation for the interview had generated a series of notes of broader interest – I therefore set up a series of Twitter posts for the next few days linking to the Issuu book. The notes also provided the possible foundation for a future book.
In the evening we visited the cinema to visit the last of the Harry Potter films, The Deathly Hallows Part 2, which we thoroughly enjoyed as a family, though it did raise questions about discrepancies with the original book.
Last Open Studios day and completing work for Business Startup interview
Sunday, 17th July: The last day of my Cambridge Open Studios was accompanied by a steady stream of visitors, with a break over the lunch period. Today's guests were more sight-seers than serious buyers and it was good to see some younger families too.
At the end of the day, I was astonished to find that I had had about 120 visitors over the Open Studios weekends. Now it was over and the pictures came down, the studio turned back into a garage – until the next year.
The startup business notes expanded into 12 separate pages of an illuminated book. Writing a couple of relevant paragraphs took me into the night. I used the BBC i-player to view the Apprentice Final. This allowed me to skip over the filler repeats within the program. It was interesting to see the business plans by the four finalists be presented and taken apart. I was delighted when Tom, inventor and the one person who seemed to almost be out of place due to his positive, constructive and just plain likeable attitude, actually won on merit.
The notes were finished as a PDF book, sent a copy to the Andie Harper Show and uploaded to Issuu for good measure to share with anyone interested. I'd watched the Apprentice Final and, at 4am felt sufficiently well prepared for the Monday Radio interview.
At the end of the day, I was astonished to find that I had had about 120 visitors over the Open Studios weekends. Now it was over and the pictures came down, the studio turned back into a garage – until the next year.
The startup business notes expanded into 12 separate pages of an illuminated book. Writing a couple of relevant paragraphs took me into the night. I used the BBC i-player to view the Apprentice Final. This allowed me to skip over the filler repeats within the program. It was interesting to see the business plans by the four finalists be presented and taken apart. I was delighted when Tom, inventor and the one person who seemed to almost be out of place due to his positive, constructive and just plain likeable attitude, actually won on merit.
The notes were finished as a PDF book, sent a copy to the Andie Harper Show and uploaded to Issuu for good measure to share with anyone interested. I'd watched the Apprentice Final and, at 4am felt sufficiently well prepared for the Monday Radio interview.
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