'Mind the Crap' coming soon...
Posted at June 24, 2004 12:50 (UTC) from Dresden, DE
Hacked off by crappy food I was served in restaurants several times within the last months, I decided to open a new category "Mind the Crap" on my blog.
There, I will list all the restaurants I would not recommend to anybody for a nice evening out in town.
Thus, come back and see the list if you want to avoid crappy food in Glasgow, London, Honolulu etc.
An important British-German day...
Posted at June 24, 2004 12:24 (UTC) from Dresden, DE
Since Tuesday (June 22nd, 2004) it's is finished. On this day the cupola with the 7 meters tall golden cross was hoisted on to the roof of the Frauenkirche here in Dresden.
The cross has been crafted by a son of a Lancaster pilot who bombed Dresden on February, 13th 1945. The money for rebuilding the cross was collected by British Dresden Trust whose president the Duke of Kent is, the Queen's cousin. After the cross' reconstruction was finished it could be seen amongst others in Coventry and in London's St. Pauls Cathedral. In February 2000 Dresden Trust has presented the cross to the Frauenkirche Foundation Dresden.
Since the allied attack of Dresden in 1945 and from then on for more than 50 years the ruin of the church has been the the quintessence of terror people suffered during the Bombing War the Allied Powers carried out throughout Germany during World War II.
Heated discussions about the sense and the justification of these bombings are currently hold in Germany as well as in Britain. However, notwithstanding the results of these discussions, the bombing was a war against the civil people and many refugees like thousands of them in Dresden. Dresden was mainly destroyed by fire bombs and the resulting fire storm as it also happened in Hamburg before.
The tragedy of Frauenkirche's destruction, however, is that it wasn't hit directly by a bomb. Burning wood and stones from surrounding buildings were falling into the church through its windows. The entire pews started to burn and because of the chimney effect the large dome caused, an enormous heat inside and the flames wore the inner sandstone pillars down. Burned out the church towered above the city's ruins as a sign of hope for its last night. In the early morning hours of February, 14th 1945 the church finally collapsed because the pillars could no longer withstand the dome's heavy weight. From then on it remained as a ruin until 1993/1994 when the rebuilding started.
Aloha!
Posted at June 7, 2004 00:28 (UTC) from Honolulu, Hawai (USA)
After 19 hours flight I arrived here in Honlulu on June, 3rd (My thanks to Virgin Atlantic and United Airlines), I had two interesting and quite amazing days. Yesterday, I have been snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. The bay was created from a former vulcano crater, when the ocean had eroded one side of the vulcano and the water came in. Snorkeling in the Hanauma Bay Reef is like swimming through a large aquarium. It's amazing to see all these colorful fish. You must see it for yourself!
After it, I went in and on the top of Diamond Head, another crator which also dominates the view from Waikiki Beach. If you ever want to know how hot feels, go in it. It's like in Hell's Kitchen. ;-) Maybe, they should rename it to Diamond Heat. LOL I have never visited a hotter place before. The result of it is now a bad sun burn ;-( despite proper use of sun lotion.
Today, GGF11 started, the reason why I am here. It takes place in the Hilton Hawaiian Village, a very nice area located directly at Waikiki Beach ;-) I also got to know Jim and Savas in real today - very friendly guys.
