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Yesterday was a rainy day in Luzern so we headed off to the Transport Museum. We had heard that it was worth it and we had heard correctly. Lots of old trains (who knew the Swiss were pioneers in developing the technology to convert electricity to mechanical energy? Besides the Swiss, I mean.), old (and new) cars, and old (and new) planes. They even have some space related stuff there. All-in-all it was an interesting way to spend a dreary day.
Later we had our first meeting and meal with our tour group. Since this is the inaugural “Best of Switzerland” tour there will be…wrinkles, which just serves to keep us on our toes. Yesterday there was an issue with the original meeting room they booked for our orientation, so we met on one of the many tour boats for a “Cruise To Nowhere.” We never left the dock. After a short walk to see the Lion (see below), we had a nice dinner in a small restaurant and then called it a day.
Enjoy the photos!
Transport Museum, Luzern, Switzerland, 5/23/16
Remind anyone (ahem…Karen) of The Amazing Race?
Transport Museum, Luzern, Switzerland, 5/23/16
This one's for Brady!
Transport Museum, Luzern, Switzerland, 5/23/16
Some of their inclines are so steep they utilized custom cars. We could have used this the other day going up and down Mt. Rigi.
Transport Luzern, Switzerland, 5/23/16
The famous Lion of Luzern.
Luzern, Switzerland, 5/22/16
The day before we saw lots of folks sailing. Looked like a lot of fun. Nice backdrop, too.
Today was our first full day in Switzerland and, despite all of the forecasts I'd looked at, it turned out to be a beautiful day and perfect for an outing. So we took a boat trip, then a ride up a cog wheel train, and found ourselves at the top of Mt. Rigi (1798m, 5899'). The train was pretty interesting. At times it was so steep that the folks sitting on the uphill side (me) had to brace themselves to keep from sliding out of their (my) seat.
The peak was a different world from the warm lake cruise we had enjoyed. Strong winds and chilly temps (at least to us Floridians) made it … invigorating. But the views, oh, the views. Wow.
We walked about the top and then hiked a few miles down the mountain, stopping for lunch and a beer on the way. When you consider that a flight of stairs is normally a significant altitude change for us, this walk was a warm up for things to come. It was wonderful.
The path was crowded with young and old. Extremely well maintained, there were many benches to enjoy the views, fireplaces pre-stocked with wood to cook your lunch, and vistas around every corner. It was great and our legs are feeling every foot of it. Totally worth it. We earned our beer/wine tonight!
The photos below are just a meager sample of what I shot today. Damn, we're having fun.
Mt. Rigi, Switzerland, 5/22/16
Mt. Rigi, Switzerland, 5/22/16
Mt. Rigi, Switzerland, 5/22/16
Lunch was tasty, and what a view!
Mt. Rigi, Switzerland, 5/22/16
Mt. Rigi, Switzerland, 5/22/16
Some people are more interested in taking selfies than where they are. I can't tell you how many times we saw this kind of behavior. To each their own, I suppose.
All ages were up there and on the trails, from younger than this fellow to significantly older than us. The really tiny hiking boots we saw are awfully cute.
Mt. Rigi, Switzerland, 5/22/16
These benches were common and a nice place to catch some alpine rays.
3 hour drive to Miami
10 hour flight to Zurich
75 minute train to Luzern
10 minute walk to the hotel
Total: 27 hours since our heads left a pillow
View from our hotel room: well, just see below:
Luzern, Switzerland, 5/21/16
In the photo below, our hotel is the building with the flag. Stay tuned, we've only been here an hour and we already realize it's going to be awesome!
Luzern, Switzerland, 5/21/16
There are many things that suck: gravity, taxes, the New York Yankees, but what I’ve been busy reacting to recently is aging. Now, don’t get me wrong, getting older certainly beats the alternative, but I’m still getting used to the fact that there are some things I can’t do anymore and, just as often, some things I don’t want to do anymore. One of the latter is why I bought my new camera. When we head out on trips where we’re hauling our gear on our backs (as compared to the back seat) weight has become more and more of an issue. With my old camera gear, I needed a dedicated, specialized bag to carry the body and two (or three) lenses. My minimal kit (Canon 7D, 10-22mm lens, 24-105 lens) came in at close to 8 lbs., and that’s without the other crap I need as support gear (back up disks, iPad, chargers, batteries, etc.). When we returned from our last overseas jaunt, I told Patti that before our next major trip I was buying a new camera. If you read my last post, you’ll know I did just that, picking up an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mk2 which comes in under 2 lbs. Last time, I said I liked my new camera and the intervening months have only made me like it more and more.
It comes with a pretty hefty learning curve, however. It has been described as the most customizable camera currently on the market and the folks that say that aren’t kidding. I’ve been setting it up just the way I want it and, in order to figure out what the hell I’m doing, I even bought a book to explain the various options. It’s helped.
While trudging up this learning curve, I decided to exercise one of the advanced features this camera offers. It’s called the Hi Resolution mode, and here’s how it works. The camera normally takes a 16MP image. However, when it’s in the hi-res mode, it takes a 40MP image by taking 9 separate images, moving the sensor half a pixel in a different direction each time and then combining the images into one ginormous image. It needs to be on a tripod for this to work and the scene needs to be static since any movement would show up as a blur. The sweet spot for this is landscapes and, hey, we’re going to Switzerland this spring. There’s a pretty significant chance I’ll be taking a landscape or two. I thought I’d give it a test.
So, the other morning I took a couple of test shots from the parking lot at work. See the images below. The first one is a normal 16MP shot, the second a hi-res version. The camera was not moved between them (the slight differences between the two is due to a crop/straighten I did…the camera was uneven on the GorillaPod I was using). I was about 550 yards from the base of the building shooting at a 35mm equivalent 52mm.
16MP VAB, KSC, FL, 2/4/16
Hi-Res VAB, KSC, FL, 2/4/16
Below are two extreme close ups of the flag. Note how, even without clicking on the image to zoom in, the stars are crisper and how you can now see the vertical grooves in the panels of the VAB in the high-res version. Sweet. This won’t be a feature I use every time, but it will be used.
I like my new camera. Still.
16MP Close up, VAB, KSC, 2/4/16
Hi-res Close up, VAB, KSC, 2/4/16
We have a significant trip coming up next spring/summer (stay tuned) that will require us to spend a lot of time carrying all of our gear about for a couple of weeks. I have reached a point where my DSLR gear is just too damn heavy for me to lug about for any extended periods. I had told Patti that the next trip that involved that type of situation would require a new camera/lens that was: a) significantly smaller, b) significantly lighter and c) capable of taking the type of pictures that I want to take with the type of control I’m used to.
I bought a new camera last week.
It’s an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mk2 with a 12-40 (24-80 35mm equivalent) f2.8 lens. It’s also small, light and full of features that I didn’t even know I wanted. I have about 6 months to get comfortable with it before we head overseas so I have hit the ground running. As I type this we are in an absolutely beautiful VRBO in Harlem celebrating my wife’s birthday with family & friends. This birthday happens to end with a zero so this trip has been planned for quite awhile. Needless to say we’re having a blast and I’m exercising the camera as much as possible. I’ve attached some shots from today for your pleasure. These are all straight out of the camera with zero modifications.
I like my new camera.
Central Park on a beautiful December day, NY, NY, 12/5/15
Fish counter at Zabars, NY, NY 12/5/15
Central Park North, NY, NY, 12/5/15
Harlem Church, NY, NY, 12/5/15
Santa Claus boarding the subway, NY, NY, 12/5/15
At least for us they weren’t. They were $18 for the two of us, and totally worth it.
We went camping up near Gainesville a few weeks ago to celebrate what we thought was the breaking of the long Florida summer. We were … mistaken. It was hot and humid with mosquitoes threatening to carry us away. This is not exactly an inducement to go hiking in what can accurately be described as swampland, so we hit the internet to see what else we could do under more comfortable circumstances. And by “comfortable” I mean “air-conditioned.” Gainesville, for those of you who don’t know, is the college town for the University of Florida. We discovered that it has both a Natural History and Art Museum on the campus (next door to each other, in fact) so we decided to get all cultural and check them out. Patti also read that the Natural History Museum had a butterfly garden that had received rave reviews so we put that on the list. Turns out both museums have free entry, but the butterfly garden cost $10 per person, $9 for Florida residents. We coughed up the $18, went through the airlock doors (to prevent the butterflies from escaping) and HOLY COW!
Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL, 10/10/15
As soon as we walked in, we saw the photo to the right: a woman taking a selfie had a butterfly land on her screen. They were landing on kids, cameras, plants, railings, everywhere. There were thousands of them and they were beautiful. The actual walk through the garden isn’t very long, but we found ourselves just loitering about watching them, and watching the kids watching them. It was totally worth the price and an extremely enjoyable experience. It was also a LOT better than sweltering in the October Florida heat.
PS: I’m writing this on November 1st and we’re still waiting for things to cool off. <sigh>
Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL, 10/10/15
Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL, 10/10/15
Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL, 10/10/15
Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL, 10/10/15
Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL, 10/10/15
Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL, 10/10/15
“Gonzo” Eastern Screech Owl, Viera, FL, 4/11/15
“Owliver” Great Horned Owl, Viera, FL, 4/11/15
“Bella” American Kestrel, Viera, FL, 4/11/15
I’ll try (almost) anything once.
Playa Grande, Costa Rica, 3/9/15
During our week in Costa Rica we had a front row seat to some excellent surf, at least compared to what we’re used to seeing. I even dragged these bones out with my niece and nephew and took a lesson. I told the instructor that I will go out “until I hurt myself.” I was out for much longer than I expected. I was out for long enough.
The instructor told us that a big swell was heading our way on Thursday and that the spot where those in the know would be was just down the beach from our house, so I headed out there that morning and tried my hand at shooting surfers (in the photographic sense). It was fun. And, man those people had a good time too!
Playa Grande, Costa Rica, 3/12/15
Playa Grande, Costa Rica, 3/12/15
Playa Grande, Costa Rica, 3/12/15
Playa Grande, Costa Rica, 3/12/15
Playa Grande, Costa Rica, 3/12/15
Playa Grande, Costa Rica, 3/12/15
Playa Grande, Costa Rica, 3/12/15
This one's for Bill. If Patti's really lucky, he'll comment.
(I'm off to a surf lesson…more later!)
The blue line is our path on the Moorea day trip on 9/26/14
As I mentioned last time, while we were on Moorea we took a 4X4 tour of the island. After seeing the photos and doing some research, this rapidly rose to the top of my “must do” list, particularly since the majority of tour time would be spent aboard ship. It was a good call. On our first morning we walked directly across the street to Alberts Tours and hopped into the open back of a Land Rover on facing benches where we would spend the next few hours bouncing around the island on sometimes dicey roads seeing the sights. First stop was the Hilton where we picked up 3 other couples for the morning: a retired couple from Michigan, newlyweds from New York and a young couple from Australia. (Interesting note: of the 6 people we picked up, 4 were chemical engineers.) The map above shows the path we took that day. We drove by Cook’s Bay and Opunohu Bay, drove to the top of Magic Mountain and the Belvedere, saw a bunch of agriculture, stopped at a pearl store and learned a whole bunch. Random fact: Captain Cook did not anchor in Cook’s Bay but in Opunoho Bay. So much for logic.
All in all we had a great day that was totally worth the investment in time and money. I took some beautiful pictures and spent an enjoyable morning with some interesting fellow travelers.
Patti says:
Yeah, it was a fun tour and we learned a lot. For instance, if you are prone to motion sickness, take Dramamine beforehand. This was a lesson learned the hard way. I was unable to enjoy the beautiful view from the Belvedere, the architectural site or the presentation on pearls. Fortunately I did not embarrass myself in front of all the tourists (or gross them out either) as the pearl shop had a conveniently located restroom.
The Paul Gauguin cruise ship anchored in Opunoho Bay, Moorea, 9/26/14
View of the lagoon from Magic Mountain, Moorea, 9/26/14
View of a lagoon pass, Moorea, 9/26/14
View of the Agricultural Lycee (Agricultural School/Station), Moorea, 9/26/14
Pineapple field, Moorea, 9/26/14
Interior shot of lush land & beautiful mountains, Moorea, 9/26/14
Interior shot of lush land & beautiful mountains, Moorea, 9/26/14
The view from the Belvedere, Moorea, 9/26/14
The World as We See It 