New York City

New York City, always a place to spend time. But this time I prefered hiking in the mountains over the city and just spend one afternoon/evening in NYC.







View from New Jersey on Manhattan.



Times Square

College Football - The Scarlet Knights from Rutgers

One evening we went to a football match of the college league. The Scarlet Knights from Rutgers university were playing versus University of Florida.

A Walk in the Woods - my steps on the Appalachian Trail (New York State)

In November I have been to the US for another training. 2 weeks in Parsippany, half an hour east of New York City.

The first weekend I used to go hiking the Appalachian trail. I choose the section in the Bear Mountain and Harriman State Park, the oldest part of the trail.





The Bear Mountain bridge crossing the Hudson River

















The Lemon Squeezer

On Indian tracks

Do you know the book "A walk in the woods" by Bill Bryson? After passing by it at the Delaware Water Gap two times in the last year I couldn't leave it there again this time.

So I used the chance and convinced my colleague to run a small part of the 2600 mile long Appalachian trail after arriving in New Jersey on Monday afternoon.



We went up a most of the way up to Mount Nimsi from Delaware Water Gap, having wonderfull views on the Delaware River from time to time.



We will stay until Friday doing workshops on a production site in Belvidere, an hour and a half west of New York City. It's quite rural here and our hotel is in a very small town called Hope, founded by German pilgrims.

See typical Belvidere below...



...and the crossing over the Delaware.

Some impressions from San Francisco

Here are some impressions from the San Francisco trip.


The famous cable cars


View down Lombard street towards Telegraph Hill (Poit tower)




Pier 39 with its famous sea lions


A photo from the 39th floor bar in the Marriott towers. You can see the bar and me reflected in the window and the panorama at the same time :)


Another shot of the panorama


Photo art: How to make a Jolle-"J" with a camera and a streetlamp


View from Twin Peaks towards the city center and the bay


University of San Francisco (USF) main building


Starting the bike tour at the Golden Gate brigde on Saturday


Later follwing old coast trails and roads




Muir beach, a small community north of San Francisco


Muir woods, home of the giant trees, the Coastal Redwoods, which are higher but not so massive like the Sequoias.


St. Pauli girl, the famous German beer (in America) ;)


A so called box car, the new trend in America. Will reach Europe as well, I assume


Typical American post boxes

San Francisco

We had some time to stroll around the city after the conference days, so I saw quite a bit of this town again. More than 10 years have passed since I've been here the last time. Not much changed at a first glance, it is still really wonderful.

Today I venture out on a bike to Sausalito. Let's see if I can make it to the redwoods. It's quite a bit far and steep to go there.

For the moment you'll just get a digital postcard.

America

Having just had a gigantic burger at Cheese Cake Factory, I am sitting in the hotel room packing my suitcase for tomorrows departure. Meanwhile they advertise a company, where you can buy life-insurances in a drive-through. There's nothing more to say. See you in 2 days!

Hickory Run State Park

Today I ventured out to see the surroundings of Philly and started in the Hickory Run State Park, a small but nice natural parc with lots of mountains, gorges, rivers, waterfalls...

It also hosts a rare boulder field which looks really incredible. I was lucky to spot a rainbow next to the lonesome tree that made his way through meters of stones to the surface.



I did some short hikes along the Shades of Death trail and the Stone trail and went to the Hawk Falls. It was hot as hell, over 30° with lots of small but heavy rainshowers, which made it even worse because of the high humidity. But nontheless it was a nice day out in nature with lots of lasting images in my mind.

Philly Tours

I am currently in Philadelphia for 2 weeks work before returning just in time for my birthday party next Saturday. Here you'll find a visual overview of what I am doing here in Philadelphia after work. :)

I hope to see many of you next week in Mannheim.

Big big burger

That's how an American dinner looks like, if you go to the Cheese Cake Factory in King of Prussia near Philadelphia. Hmmmm! :)