Blog Posts in Category: Locations

Munich U-Bahn Stations

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Landscape Short Link

When the weather is bad and one has a friend visiting with the purpose of photography, ideas on what to do can be somewhat challenging. We ended up deciding to go exploring some of the more interesting U-Bahn stations in Munich, as it turns out they can be quite varied and interesting, just not the ones which I normally. We ended up spending two days underground taking these photos, they end up taking a lot longer than you might expect. As finding a moment with nobody in the photos can be very challenging, and when you have to wait 10mins between trains, the photos with trains in can take a while to get right. The photos are in the order in which we visited them, which was purely logistical. It was certainly a fun way to spend a few days, and I will certainly go back for another go at some stations, perhaps in the less sociable hours of the night in an attempt to capture trains and no people. Marienplatz Oberwiesenfeld Olympia-Einkaufzentrum Westfriedhof Böhmerwaldplatz Candidplatz Josephsburg

Veitsberg

Alastair BegleyAustria, Winter Walking Short Link

A lot had changed in the mountains since the previous weekend on Schellschlicht, as a significant amount of snow had fallen during the week. The weather forecast in the morning looked stunning, with high cloud forecast for the afternoon before more precipitation in the evening. We also needed a short day as Becky had to drive the van back to the UK the next day, so we settled on an early ascent of the Veitsberg, which had a book time of 4h15mins if the ridge on from the Veitsberg was excluded. The walk was really enjoyable from the get-go, as the autumnal colours were just stunning, and with a snow line down to only just above the car park gave us some really beautiful scenes with autumnal trees covered in plenty of snow. A rare combination thanks to a late autumn and a reasonable amount of early snowfall. Despite the snowfall we made good time, and were soon at the start of the ridge up to the summit. Here was where the day progressed from great to outstanding, as the views were just spectacular due to the clear air, green. Read the full article…

Schellschlicht

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

We had planned on doing the Gartnerwand traverse, but due to wind gusts in excess of 100km/h on the Gartnerwand while we were heading there on the train, we decided to abort to a plan b (or was it c) to head up the Schellschlicht, hoping that the larger mountains to the south would protect us from the strong southerly wind. The walk up was mostly in the forrest, which was surprisingly still full of beautiful autumnal colours, and when we were treated to glimpses out of the forrest the views were wonderful. As we ascended we eventually climbed out of the forest and were able to appreciate a view uninterrupted by trees, which just became better and better as we climbed up. The summit provided us with an excellent panorama, where we enjoyed (a quick) lunch while everyone appreciated the view. The reason for the quick lunch is that despite the wind being significantly weaker than to the south, it was still fairly strong and was very cold. The descent was down a relatively gentle ridge, which provided us with a lovely backdrop looking south to the larger Austrian. Read the full article…

Berlin Landscapes

Alastair BegleyGermany, Landscape Short Link

After a last minute change of plan due to poor weather at Lake Garda, we decided to head to Berlin for a long weekend as the forecast was nice there where we booked the trip. Unfortunately the forecast changed before we went and resulted in Thursday and Friday being inside days, however did this provide an opportunity for reflections on the wet ground. Thankfully Saturday and Sunday were very nice days, which enabled us to explore Berlin.

Autumn in Munich

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Landscape Short Link

After an aborted trip to cycle in the mountains due to a broken down car, we decided to make the most of the sunny autumnal day with a walk along the Isar and then down through the Englischer Garten. Due to the very warm weather we have had until recently, it was still a little early for the full autumnal colours to be out in Munich, however there were still some lovely colours around.

Brecherspitz – Neuhaus to Spitzingsattel

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Walking Short Link

We headed back to the classic circuit of the Brecherspitz with some friends who were visiting Munich as it is very easy todo with public transport and is also an enjoyable route with an nice ridge, wonderful summit views, an excellent Alm on the descent and a bus to save the knees from Spitzingsattel. We made quick time up to the Ankel Alm, which was unfortunately shut in the week due to it being the end of the season, although this did mean that we could eat our lunch by the alm. It was here that we started to see some lovely autumnal colours appearing on the deciduous trees. Once we joined the ridge the views were wonderful, and just kept improving as we climbed higher. The north ridge was fairly quiet which was pleasant, although this did give us a shock when we arrived at the very busy summit. After admiring the views and a few photos we started the descent down to the Obere Firstalm for a well earned beer and Kaiserschmarrn, before the easy descent down the road to the Spitzingsattel.

Col Rodella Paragliding

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Paragliding Short Link

After muddling up my days and doing a Hike and Fly on the day which ended up being a better XC day than forecast, I was hoping for a repeat of the same today. Unfortunately this was no to be, as the base remained as low and the high cloud came in as forecast. After a very leisurely morning waiting for the day to start, I eventually started to get ready when it seemed that there was a good chance of staying up. Unfortunately as I finished getting ready to launch the wind changed 180 degrees and meant that I had to walk to the other start. Not wanting to repack everything, I just walked with a bunched glider which was just about ok, other than being very warm in all my flying clothes. Arriving at the alternative start, I then had to wait more until this start place started to work, however eventually I was able to launch. The thermals were all very weak, and the challenge was to get high enough to transition to the big cliffs. I came very close to managing to get enough height, but. Read the full article…

Col Pelous Hike&Fly

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

With the forecast for XC not looking that great, I decided to do a Hike&Fly instead as this would be a more enjoyable day than sitting and hoping for good flying conditions. Although as it turned out, the day was great and I should definitely have gone to do an XC as an hour after I landed I could count over 50 pilots above Marmolada, and as I parked up for the night in the Sella Pass there were another 50 pilots enjoying the evening thermals on Saas Pordoi. I decided to head up Col Pelous as it was a decent walk to the summit, which promised fantastic views, and it certainly delivered. Despite there being no rush on the walk up I endured a pretty fast pace and did the 4.6km walk with 860m of ascent in 1h32m elapsed time, stopping only for a few photos on the way up. Due to the fast ascent I arrived at the summit a sweaty mess, with most of my clothes soaked in sweat. Therefore I decided to enjoy a chilled out lunch on the summit in the sun while everything dried. Read the full article…