Brett Stuff

Germany

So long ago, I don't remember the year.
Perhaps, it was twenty-fifteen, but don't quote me on that.

Germany: A Country in Pictures

Oddly, this image is not so much quintissential Germany, it is just an image I like, that in the moment, walking the streets at night seemed magical and other wordly, which is so much what I want out of a travel experience, it is a dark corner, with trash, a light, and a pay phone, I say this, you know, because alt texts are supposed to be a description
It's a phone booth.
So much is lost in the translation.

If I had my druthers, I'd post a single image that captured the essence of Germany for me. But it will take more than just one...

Statue with sword, see, I can start with a description, I believe this was, and all the details should be prefaced with I believe, as who knows two years later, taken at that bombed out Church in Berlin, a very nice way to start the trip, sword and maybe a good reason to use said sword large tree trunk growing through wall, so an alcove in a stone wall with a gigantic tree trunk, a nice bit of castle A slate roof with some sort of Masonry or other guild crest worked into the shingles on the roof, would make for a good dwarven coat of arms, a mark of a clan, something alone those lines, why does this tavern get all the dwarven business, it all comes down to a sigil on the roof that most folks never even notice, located in the heart of the tourist district
The history is relentless and ever present.

Oh, we have our history in America, but it's a different sort of history, the kind that starts in 1492, skips across the sea, and traces is way back through King Arthur, Ancient Rome, the Pyramids, and beyond.

I suppose some would disagree as to where and when that timeline curves...

Castle town at night with the cafe chairs still out, In the states these would have been chained up, I am almost surprised no one took it upon themselves to sit down and have a smoke, perhaps by someone, I mean me The light hit the camera lens just right in this one, the sun making a starburst display, church walls lining a courtyard wiht tombs and whatnot in the foreground, a good artsy picture that thousands have taken before Walking down the back path from a castle, same one wiht the shaka suit of armor later, we came across this gate, I believe it led to someones backyard, so this was a storage area for their garden, it lookde sort of run down, million dollar castle, German Trash cottage
Nothing changes so much as what stays the same... or other witty words to that effect.

I like the odd juxtaposition: empty cafe tables at night, a beacon of hope in a cemetery, and crap lining the way by a tourist destination (someone's backyard, a garden, maybe).

Cigarette Machines

...a whole webpage in an of themselves...

Cigarrette Machines and the like the next nine, originally to be a series on their own, but after two years, its time to cut and run, this was in an alley market, machine just sitting there Outside a liquore store, I think I bought a lottery ticket there, did not win Cigarrette machine by shuttered window, sense a theme, it was not required to show ID, because machines do not care
By an alley, nothing interesting, I had just gotten into the habit of taking pictures, a few more are left unpublished, and who knows how many more were simply uninteresting or unnoticed in the moment Close up of the machine In the lobby of a museum store, I do believe, next to modern art, not shown
ashtray on a window sill close up of machine Alcove in the ramparts where kids or folks or tourists or locals would go and smoke and drink and who knows what else and here be their garbage
Smoke 'em if you got 'em.
What more need be said?

It's not really a criticism, just something I noticed.

As a smoker, in years past, when I visited Ireland, it was glorious all the places one could smoke. They had ashtrays in the armrests of the theater.

And then, in Arkansas, in long decades gone by, I remember smoking in the grocery store with ashtrays placed conveniently right in the aisle.

Ruins

...as in, a country therein...
«just kidding»

Berlin River, by the Berlin Dome, actually, I think that is the Dome of Berlin, we climbed to the top of that which was well worth it, here the sun glares in an overcast sky, river and buildings in glittering shadow
Which images are the best?
Worthy of inclusion?

Forget the name of the town, I bought the lottery ticket here, in these three, we have a modern church, the old ruins, the town, and the river beyond, it is a very nice picturesque scene, which is likely why I took the photo Close up of the ruins, main walls of the santuary going up several stories, reddish, empty, rain coming in from above, grass for a floor, it was all gated up, likely was not a mere twenty years ago, but you know, times change Same town, different view, a nice afternoon, this was, I climbed to the top with company, and then took the long way home by myself, I like exploring by myself, it is often better, it can be hard to daydream with others about, not that I got anywhere on a story, I wonder if those days are slowly fading, of course, I am also filling my time differently, and that does effect the output, these image captions do not just write themselves, hours in a day
Which sights the most spectacular?
Likely to be remembered in a score of years gone by?

Next three are castle rampart walls that lined a city, I would have to look it up, maybe I will attach the iternary one of these days, the houses in the distance are the focus, only slighly hinting at the rampart roof A long shot down the rampart, showing the roof, houses to the right, this is probably the best overall view, to get the feeling But it is the wrong feeling, here we have an almost cave like view, through a wall, tower, or whatever, highlighting, the passage, someone blocking the light on the other side in siloette, grafitti to the side
And then, there are those that call back to my youth?

What I would have given to be able to run amuck on castle walls in days gone by...

Ruins, some nun lived here, the main church, they had two workers clearing off vines, restoring the place, but mostly it was do what you want, there was no easy way to get down inside, but I doubt anyone would have stopped us if the desire was there A field of stones, the foundation of a nunery, nicely cleared, would have made a wonderful park if it were not in the middle of no where Different wall, corner, near a museume in a tourist city, I recall The Pattern from the Amber series, as I so often do in images of this sort, and yearn for a good story in which to fall, but knowing I will not, studying some aspect of computer programming on the slate for the afternoon, writing captions no human will likely ever read, on the docket for the morn
Finally, there are those images, which call back to the youth of a country, a religion, and times barely remembered...

Castle lit up at night, view from a bridge, long exposure, lights illuminate the castle walls, a thing of beauty, and the boats on the river with lights of their own
It was a journey, a trip, that was like a Fairy Tale in so many ways.

A castle by the side of the road, castle is the wrong word, a tower, who kows how old, turned into some sort of business, and the train passing right by, no train in this image Red train half fills the shot, so it is a set of three And in the third, the train fills the scene, going down the river, I am guessing the Rhine, the trains went down the short, right next to the river, with high frequency, likely every ten or fifteen minutes, whatever constitutated the safety margin, it was a high traffic route
Though, this is the sort of pictorial juxtaposition I seem to love the most: the past, rushing to meet the future.

Germany

...in review...

When I saw this, I was reminded of the Upvote Images for Reddit, it shows brick pavers, in a sort of arrow motif, think cobblestone, all plastered over, except for a bit which forms an arrow out of six or so bricks
All in all, I'd give the place a thumbs up, an upvote, if you know what I mean.

Castle with motorcycles parked at the base, a nice big castle Path in the woods with streetlamps set up
Past & Present - Nature & Man


Here we have a view of a river, boat going down the middle, quaint houses on either side, looks very pretty a statue of a hog or a pig, something alone those lines, guarding a staircase
So, once again, what's the good stuff, the things I wish to remember?

A random orange sticker that reads No Magida, who knows the full intent, the main text having been scraped away, still those words ring true, or their inverse
In short, what was magical?

Another path in the woods wiht a sign showing the way Dogs are not allowed to poop in the park, it is a rather graphic sign
Lent themselves to the start of stories.

A window, a hole in the castle wall, filled with the debri from a night of partying Cemetary crosses, I will guess the first world war, somewhere else I have a similar image posted
Or the end.

Knights fingers doing the shaka thing Stencil graffiti of a dragon Berlin Cafe in the bright of day, all empty, same cafe filled up after a marathon, I recall a runner wrapped in a plastic sheet, sitting there
Or better yet, things that were stories in and of themselves.

Waiting to get into a castle, everyone lined up, like a scene out of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Or call-backs to the stories of my youth.
Willie Wonka, anyone?

I am getting sick of writing captions, fingers tired, time to sit, a castle overlooking a river, foggy day Boat in the middle of river, turing around, I shot hundreds of photos that day, how few remain, though, in the taking, there is the doing, and later, the viewing, and finally the posting, I will only look at this page a handful of times, I like knowing the quantity of pages is here, but very few of the individual pages have much meaning, after all, how many of my novels do I intend to reread this year... or next
Which is not to say we did not make any stories of our own...

A sign of a town, I am told some of my ancestors lived here, but as the years go by, that sort of thing means less and less, one does not normally make a relationship after decades or a lifetime of silence
Or recall stories of our own...

Ah, the final image, the airport, I may have to blur that face a bit, airports have some wonderful architecture, and I like the glittering lights, archway at the end of a very long concourse, they had huge fifty foot walls surrounding the airport, sight, sound, security, likely all three
And then, as always, it was time to depart and return to the Real World, once more.

More Stuff

Take Me Home

Move along, now.
Nothing more to see, here.

I'm serious.
That means you.

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