Prado museum is a gem of Flemish painting

I went to see the Flemish section in particular. What an experience ...

This is van der Weyden's descent of Christ

Not only a great composition but an impressive sense of detail, look out for the reflection of light in the tears

More to come

Zambesi River and the Mighty Victoria Falls

I was in Africa and wanted to share some amazing fotos.

Metro almost empty on Fridays

I have written already a bit about the Madrid metro and how I like its smell, its efficiency in getting you from A to B really quickly. 

There is one thing about the Madrid metro you should know. On Fridays during the day it is almost empty. I am not sure why. My theory: most Madrilenos are already in weekend mode and skip the working Friday. I will watch the phenomenon closely, but now after months and a long statistical serie I can confirm that Fridays is non-metro day and the crowdiness is significantly lower than on other days.

By the way, the photos shows the Atocha Metro station and railway station where palm trees are growing inside and turtles having a great time.

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The big city feeling

Well, there are positive and negative things to be said about Madrid and the Spaniards. What I like about Madrid is that it is a real city with this typical smell in the metro which reminds me of Paris and London. Weird? I like big city! Cannot get big enoungh.

Frustrating service mentality of Spanish telefonica

It turns out that the internet and data provider "movistar" is actually only the fake name for the old monopolist telefonica. With the same client and service oriented attitude: manana! Oh how do I miss the New Zealand friendliness and quickness in solving your problems!

Surroundings of Madrid

A day out of town: Visit the UNESCO world heritage monastryEl Escorial and more

Swimming pool is not a luxury in Madrid

You might think a swimming pool is something for rich dudes and the like. But I can reassure in Madrid it is something of a necessity! In summer it gets so hot for quite some weeks that you need to refresh by enjoying cool water in your garden ....

Eine wichtige Mitteilung der deutschen Botschaft Madrid: „Rheinisches Kölsch schlägt bayerisches Weizen!“

Also, normalerweise halte ich ja Abstand zu Diplomaten, insbesondere den deutschen Vertretern der Zunft! Habe da nur schlechte Erfahrungen mit den von deutschen Steuernzahlern finanzierten und überbezahlten Beamten in Brüssel und Wellington gemacht.

Aber jetzt habe ich doch mal eine wirklich wichtige Information von den Vertretern der deutschen Botschaft in Madrid bekommen, die mich „zum gegenseitigen Kennenlernen“ - wie es so schön im Diplomatenjargon heißt - eingeladen haben.

Vor drei Wochen hatte in den Räumlichkeiten der Madrider Botschaft das Oktoberfest stattgefunden.

(Fragt mich bitte nicht, warum die gerade auf diese Jahreszeit gekommen sind?!?!)

Ich war zwar eingeladen, aber selbst auf Dienstreise unterwegs und konnte den Termin daher nicht wahrnehmen. Deshalb auch die drängelnde Einladung zum „gegenseitigen Kennenlernen“! Im Gespräche zum Kennenlernen wurde ich dann auch gefragt, wo ich den ursprünglich her komme. Meine knappe Antwort: „Aus dem schönen Rheinland, wo man Kölsch trinkt“.

Die Vertreterinnen der Botschaft waren entzückt und meinten nur trocken: „Jaja, Kölsch! Das haben wir beim letzten Oktoberfest der Botschaft ausgeschenkt, da man keine Fässer bayerischen Bieres in Madrid käuflich erweben kann. Das Kölsch habe aber allen Gästen sehr gemundet und keiner hätte bemerkt, dass die Botschaft die Kölsch-Aufschrift vom Faß, das zum Anschlagen aufstellt wurden, abgerubbelt hatte!“

Naja, das wussten wir doch immer: „Kölsch schlägt Weizen“ und „Kölsch und Kölner gibt es überall auf der Welt“.

Spain: new home!

Dear all,

you might have noticed that I was quite silent on my blog during the last months. But now I am fully online again and will report from strange activities in Spain!

Hasta pronto muchachos

Oliver

A bit Lufthansa bashing

A while ago I had bought an air ticket from Vienna to Madrid. There was a stop over in Munich because the airline - Lufthansa -  does not offer direct flights from Vienna to Madrid but I did not mind. My travel itinerary changed on the day and it happened that I was already in Munich instead of Vienna airport. So I thought Lufthansa must be happy to board me in Munich instead of Vienna saving fuel for the first leg. But no! The Prussian-like Lufthansa employee told me that I am not allowed to do this and boarding in Munich is impossible even though I have a ticket. I could of course buy a new ticket for 800 euro that would take me from Munich to Madrid! Byebye Lufthansa! Never again! What kind of passenger unfriendly policy is this?

Bahrain: underdevelopped island in the Gulf

They do not have cooled swimming pools like in Dubai .... Shocking.

Must sees or things to do in NYC

Grand Central station and 5th avenue. And then you find a German church in Manhattan ...

 

On my way to work in Bahrain, stop over in Dubai

If you like skyscrapers Dubai is the city to be. I could only take pictures of the buidlings next to ours because it is one day after a sand storm and visibility is just clearing up ...

My last drink in NZ

Five chaotic weeks in Madrid ....

Hi all,

yes you have not heard from us for a while. My Spanish is really rusty but it is getting better every day. We are doing fine after all, no appartment rented yet and still on the house hunting ....
I am currently in Dubai, tomorrow of to Bahrain for work

Before and after

On my way to the UN meeting ...

1 Av New York

Melbourne

Well, it is a time ago but wanted to share some fotos:

The summer of 2013 ...

was so incredible that we probably will miss it for the rest of our lives. NZ will be my home for ever ... The foto shows by the way the view on Petone, our lovely Wellington suburb.

The difference between the US and NZ

Is mainly the quality of food. I was in Air New Zealand's lounge and you get good food and an excellent selection of wine for free. Now I have been in the US for six hours and have to stand bad food and no real good wine ... I miss already NZ!

New Zealand style: what's a noodist?

Someone shopping at NOOD = New Objects Of Desire

Stunning view on Mount Victoria

What a moonrise! Want to learn the whole story? Read the article and watch the video ....

Some more things ticked off from my to do list ...

Again some things done of my bucket list. Visited Gisborne and saw Captain Cook's monument and Young Nicks' statue. Some of the most remote areas of NZ between Wairoa and Opotiki, incredible bays in East Cape and White Island seen only from the shores ...

Holiday at East Cape: magnificient ...

to be the first one to see the first sunrise in the New Year. Here some pics: