Ryan Hellyer

Tag: Deutschland

  • More from Landschaftspark

    Some more photos from my trip with Steffi to Landschaftspark in Duisburg.

    Steffi at Landschaftspark in Duisburg

    Landschaftspark, Duisburg
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  • Landschaftspark

    Landschaftspark

    Landschaftspark is a park in Duisburg, Deutschland designed to show off the former industrial nature of the area. I spent a pleasant afternoon there with Steffi. There are some amazing steel structures to walk around. I recommend checking it out if you are ever in the area.

    Steffi at Landschaftspark in Duisburg

    Steffi at Landschaftspark in Duisburg
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  • Paternoster lift

    Steffi and I went to the Duisburg city hall. Apparently time has stood still there, as they have a Paternoster lift still in use in the building! Paternoster lifts consist of a series of open compartments that move without stopping. To get on and off, you need to jump on very quickly to avoid getting squished! I suspect this would not pass health and safety regulations in most countries.

    Ryan Hellyer in a Paternoster lift

    Steffi beside the Paternoster lift

    Duisburg city hall

  • Visiting Steffi in Duisburg

    I had an awesome time visiting my friend Steffi in Duisburg. Lots of yummy Germany beer (and strange mixtures of beer and fruit) and of course awesome company.

    Ryan Hellyer and Steffi

    Steffi

    The mighty Renault Twingo
    The mighty Renault Twingo. This eccentric (yet very cool) little car was our transport in Duisburg. It’s lowered and capable of 160 kph on the Autobahn 🙂
    A very strange but tasty beer, called a Bananenweizen. It's a mixture of Weissbeer and banana juice!? Thankfully it tastes pretty good :)
    A very strange but tasty beer, called a Bananenweizen. It’s a mixture of Weissbeer and banana juice!? Thankfully it tastes pretty good 🙂

  • Sophienkirche

    I stumbled across this rather plain looking church by accident. I had noticed a ridiculously large number of bullet holes riddling the building beside it, so walked around to try and figure out what it was for. It turned out that this church beside it was the place where Martin Luther King Jr had famously presented a sermon in 1964. The USA government did not want him to travel to East Germany and so had stripped him of his passport, but the USA border guards allowed him through despite this, and he proceeded to pack out a full church for a sermon. After that success, he followed it up with a second sermon at this church (called Sophienkirche).

    I never figured out what happened in the building beside it, but I’m guessing there was some sort of battle between the Soviet and German soldiers there in 1945.

    Sophienkirche, Berlin

    Bullet holes beside Sophienkirche

    Bullet holes beside Sophienkirche

    Bullet holes beside Sophienkirche

  • How do people deal with me?

    Apparently this is what people resort to when stuck in Europe with me for a whole month!

    Victoria Argyle smoking from a huka
    Smoking from a huka.
    I tried it too but I don’t recommend it. It’s kinda icky. Caffeine is still my drug of choice.
    Frederick convinced Vicki that kissing the arse of the solider brought good luck ...
    Insanity kicks in after a while and they start believing anything they’re told. Frederick convinced Vicki that kissing the arse of the solider brought good luck.
    vicki_argyle_heidelberg1
    Two bad photos in a row, so I thought I’d better include a nice one 🙂

  • Cologne

    After traversing the Rhine, Vicky, Vikas and I headed north to Cologne. We didn’t spend much time there, but the huge Cathedral in the middle of the city sure is an impressive site. Construction started in 1248 and didn’t finish until 1880! It was the tallest man-made structure in the world until 1884.

    The Cologne Cathedral
    The Cologne Cathedral
    3D image of the inside of the Cologne Cathedral
    3D image of the inside of the Cologne Cathedral
    koln_dom_3d_1
    Another 3D image of the inside of the Cologne Cathedral

    Cologne was decimated after 262 air raids by the Western Allies during World War II. By the end of the war essentially all of Cologne’s pre-war Jewish population of 20,000 had been deported or killed. The photo below shows the devastation of the city.

    koeln_1945t
    Cologne in 1945. To see the full devastation in detail, view the high resolution version. Thanks to Wikipedia for the photo (which I obviously did not take!).

  • Rhine river

    Vikas took Vicki and I up the scenic Rhine river. There are Castles everywhere along the banks of the river.

    rhein_randomcastle2

    rhein2_mod

    rhein_panorama2

  • Hockenheimring

    Vickas took Vicki and I to the Hockenheimring in Germany, the home of the German grandprix. There were no cars racing that day, just testing. But it was nice to see (in person) the track I’ve driven around in so many video games.

    hockenheimring1

    hockenheimring2
    Random car circling around the Hockeheim grandprix track. Any ideas what kinda car this is?

  • German cows

    Ya know how in the movies the cows in Germany have bells on them? Well apparently those crazy Germans actually do attach bells to the poor cows! I have no idea why they do this. Imagine how insane you would go if some dork attached a bell around your neck! Every time you moved you would hear an irritating bell sound.

    blackforest_cow

    blackforest16

    I took the photos in the Black Forest in south western Germany.