Archive for the ‘Pictures’ Category

40th Birthday Hiking Trip

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

Since my 40th birthday passed by recently, I invited a couple of friends for a 20 kilometers black forest hiking trip. It led us from Forbach over the Rote Lache pass to Baden-Baden/Oberbeuern, where we took the bus to the station to get back to Karlsruhe.

The weather was warm and sunny, reminding us of the indian summer. Between Forbach and Bermersbach we followed the Ziegenpfad (Goat’s path), which is often used by families with children:

Obviously the inhabitants of the black forest take hunting very serious:

The Holzschuhrank is a locality and a shelter with a fountain and sleeping facilities, sited at a crossing:

Fortunately there were lots of details along our way which were missing in the OSM database, so all kinds of gadgets (such as Garmins, N900s etc.) came to play:

That’s deer ragout with croquettes and brussels sprouts. No, I didn’t take a picture of everyone’s dishes :) :

As we were late and the daylight saving time ended last sunday, it got dark while descending to Oberbeuern. At least the male participants appreciated the displays of the bus booting Linux 2.x :) :

Here’s the trip:

Late Autumn Hiking

Sunday, October 30th, 2011
Hiking trail near Slevogthof

Hiking trail near Slevogthof

After a warm spring and a wet summer, the golden autumn fades out. Today it was cloudy though warm, and we grabbed the occasion for a hiking trip to the Palatinate Forest. The trip lead from Annweiler to the Trifels Castle, the Madenburg Castle and back to Annweiler. We needed almost seven hours for this 25 kilometers trip, due to several rests :) .

The Trifels castle is a well known tourist destination, though it was reconstructed during the infamous Nazi dictatorship. The Madenburg is a well known destination either:

The Madenburg Castle

The Madenburg Castle

It’s a great viewpoint towards the upper Rhine plane:

View from the Madenburg castle towards the upper Rhine plane

View from the Madenburg castle towards the upper Rhine plane

I was surprised by the local gastronomic specialities provided. This is Bratwurst, Saumagen, and yes, Krauts actually eat what they are named after ;-) :

Bratwurst, Saumagen, and Sauerkraut

Bratwurst, Saumagen, and Sauerkraut

I missed the liver dumpling, but that would have been too much.

The wood was relatively dry, so I didn’t find much fungi. Here is one anyway:

And finally, here’s the trip:

Unfortunately two of us needed to leave after Trifels castle due to some severe flu. Get well soon!

Golden October 2011

Monday, October 10th, 2011

Past are a sunny spring, a rainy summer, and some marvellous late summer days:

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»Wo geht’s hier zur Oder-Neiße-Linie?« III

Thursday, July 28th, 2011
The Oder near Frankfurt

The Oder near Frankfurt

As the last trip from Zittau to Frankfurt (Oder) (german language posting) was interrupted by bad weather conditions, I went to Frankfurt again to complete the trip. The trains partly were well crowded. In Sangerhausen the next train was delayed by half an hour, and the train in Magdeburg didn’t wait for 5 minutes, so I (and others) lost an hour waiting for the next one. Fortunately I left Karlsruhe quite early, so the delay did not show any impact.

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»Wo geht’s hier zur Oder-Neiße-Linie?« II

Thursday, June 16th, 2011
Bahnhof Frankfurt an der Oder

Bahnhof Frankfurt an der Oder

Erneut zog es mich gen Osten, heuer um ein Stück über den Oder-Neiße-Radweg zu fahren.

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Ein wahrer Gourmet scheut niemals ein Geschmackserlebnis

Sunday, May 29th, 2011
Tête de veau

Tête de veau

Die Tour

Meine heutige Tour führte mich mal wieder zu einem meiner Lieblingsziele – Wissembourg. Da ich in Neuburgweier auf die Fähre warten musste und mir unterwegs eine ausgiebige Pause in der Sonne gegönnt habe, sank die Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit, die mir MoNav neuerdings anzeigen kann, auf gut 13km/h. Die tatsächliche Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit “in Bewegung” dürfte trotz leichten Gegenwindes 20km/h betragen haben.

MoNav

Ich hatte die letzten Wochen damit experimentiert, MoNav Stillstandzeiten automatisch erkennen und aus der Berechnung herausnehmen zu lassen. Die einfachen Ansätze haben leider allesamt nicht gut geklappt; die Betrachtung von Genauigkeit und Geschwindigkeit von bis zu 40 Positionsdaten führten nicht zu zuverlässigen Ergebnissen. Um das Kalman-Filter wollte ich mich zugegebenermaßen drücken, aber es könnte sein, dass ich daran nicht vorbeikomme.

Die Strecke

Ich habe heute nicht die Schotterwege durch den Bienwald genommen, sondern bin via Lauterbourg nach Scheibenhardt und von dort aus über den Radweg durch Niederlauterbach, Salmbach und Schleithal gefahren. Nachdem ich 2007 große Teile des Karlsruher Straßennetzes abgefahren und gemappt hatte, habe ich begonnen, die linksrheinischen Dörfer der Pfalz (Neuburg, Hagenbach, Maximiliansau), den Bienwald, Wissembourg und die vorgenannten Dörfer zu mappen. Es ist schon erstaunlich, was sich seitdem alles geändert hat. In Lauterbourg wird gerade ein Areal, das früher einen Supermarkt enthielt, umgekrempelt. Auf der anderen Straßenseite wurden einige Bungalows entfernt und Bagger schaffen gerade Raum für neue Fundamente. In den anderen Dörfern wird genauso gebaut wie in Wissembourg, das vor wenigen Jahren unter enormem Flächenverbrauch ein neues Industriegebiet ausgewiesen hat. Trotzdem sich dort bisher nur wenige Betriebe angesiedelt haben, werden an Wendeschleifen von der städtischen Gärtnerei liebevoll einige Blumenbeete gehegt, und zwischen den Parzellen, die hoffentlich künftig jemand besiedeln wird, wurden junge Bäume angeplanzt. Mich wundert das ein wenig, denn was passiert denn, wenn ein Gewerbebetrieb ein größeres zusammenhängendes Stück erwerben möchte? Muss der dann um die Bäume herumbauen? Aber egal, das stört uns als Mapper ja eigentlich weniger.

Relationen

Für den Rückweg entschied ich mich ebenfalls gegen den Bienwald und bin via Windhof über die Straßendörfer, die ich in Teilen ebenfalls vor Jahren gemappt hatte, gefahren. Auch hier regt sich überall die Bautätigkeit, und gerade als Mapper nimmt man die vielen größeren und kleineren Veränderungen wahr. In Schaidt beispielsweise wurde die Vorfahrt an der zentralen Kreuzung geändert. Via JOSM hätte ich daher gerne die bisher durchgehende Straße an dieser Stelle wenigstens aufgeteilt. JOSM weist mich darauf hin, dass es da irgendeine Relation gäbe, die ich doch kontrollieren solle. Jetzt ratet mal, was ich gemacht habe. Genau. Ich habe JOSM schnell geschlossen und mir gedacht “dann halt nicht”. Fred hat genau diesen Effekt vor Jahren vorausgesehen, als er die Relationen eingefüht hat und ich noch ein großer Fan davon war. Inzwischen haben wir viel zu viele Relationen in OSM, die zu schwierig zu handhaben sind und die Neueinsteiger vor eine viel zu große Hürde stellen. Selbst alte Hasen wie ich einer bin ziehen den Schwanz ein. Ich wäre froh, Wege und Routen wären gleichermaßen Relationen, die gleichberechtigt nebeneinanderstünden. Beide würden dann auf Nodes verweisen, und das Aufteilen eines Weges würde die Routenrelation nicht gefährden oder gar kaputtmachen.

Regionale Küche

Zeit um auf das eigentliche Thema dieses Postings zurückzukommen. Egal wohin ich reise, ich versuche immer, Resturants zu finden, die regionale Gerichte anbieten. Und ich gebe zu, die teils deftige, oft aber auch raffinierte elsässer Küche wirklich zu mögen. Sowohl deutsche Metzgereien als auch deutsche Restaurants sind durchweg langweilig, wenn es um die Verwertung aller Teile der Schlachttiere geht. Versuchen Sie mal, in einer deutschen Metzgerei einen Kalbsfuß oder einen Kalbskopf zu bekommen. Da werden Sie ein größeres Problem haben. Genauso in deutschen Restaurants. Wie oft haben Sie auf einer Karte schonmal Hase, Lamm oder gar Innereien gesehen? Der Deutsche isst sowas eher selten. Ganz anders bei unseren Nachbarn.

In Wissembourg gibt es einige gute Restaurants. Im »Au Saumon« kann man nett draußen direkt an der Lauter sitzen, aber die Karte ist eher mager, und es wird meist versucht, die Tagestouristen mit dem Flammkuchen zu versorgen, der vor dem Restaurant im Holzofen zubereitet wird. Gegen Flammkuchen als typisches Gericht des Elsass ist nichts einzuwenden. Außer dass Sie diesen fast überall bekommen können.

Inzwischen bin ich einige Male im »Restaurant de la Couronne« gestrandet, das direkt schräg gegenüber dem Rathaus (»Hotel de Ville«) direkt am »Place de la Republique« liegt. Hier bekommt man Köstlichkeiten, nach denen man sich in Deutschlad so oft sehnt. Wie eben einen Kalbskopf. Ich gebe zu, dass ich selten ein so aromatisches wie zartes Stück Fleisch gegessen habe. Es zergeht auf der Zunge. Und wenn zum Nachtisch ein Rhabarberragout gereicht wird, wird man schmerzhaft daran erinnert, wie langweilig deutsche Gaststätten mit Schnitzel natur, Wiener Schnitzel, Jägerschnitzel und Zigeunerschnitzel und abschließend drei Kugeln Vanilleeis aus der Retorte doch sind.

Ästhetik

Egal ob man ein Buch, einen Stuhl, ein Mobiltelephon, ein Laptop, ein Stück Software, ein Musikstück oder eben ein Essen betrachtet, allem wohnt eine natürliche Schönheit inne – oder eben auch nicht. Eine Schreibtischplatte mit einem 2mm-Anleimer ist meist weder funktional noch schön. Und eine Software oder eine Landkarte mit 2759 Piktogrammen, die nicht aufeinander abgestimmt sind, ist es ebenfalls nicht. Und ein WordPress-Blog mit dem Default-Theme ebenfalls nicht. Ein jeder von uns nimmt Schönheit wahr – aber eben immer nur in Teilbereichen. Der eine mehr, der andere weniger. Ich gebe allerdings zu, die Leute zu bedauern, die Schönheit nur in einem winzigen Bereich ihres täglichen Lebens und Schaffens wahrnehmen. Ihnen entgeht etwas, ohne dass sie es merken.

The end of the rant

Ich schweife ab. Welch wundervoller Sonntagsnachmittagstrip von gerade mal 62 Kilometern. Danach hat es mir ob des Windes aus Südwest bis nach Wissembourg auch gereicht. Bis Kandel war er aber zugegebenermaßen äußerst willkommen :) .

Can MoNav do bike routing between the Tauber and the Main valley?

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

On sunday (easter 2011) I got up early for a trip I was planning for some time now. I left cloudy Karlsruhe before 6AM, passing rainy Heilbronn and reaching sunny Lauda at 9AM. A nice trip along the lovely valley of the Tauber river began.

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Can MoNav do bike routing from Wissembourg to Wasigenstein?

Friday, April 22nd, 2011

I tend to visit some medieval castles in spring. I usually approach them by car and use the rest of the distance for some hiking. This year, I wanted to know whether I can reach Wasigenstein by bike, and once again, I wanted to test the bike routing capabilities of MoNav.

Here are some observations:

  • I always thought that printed maps are still more useful when it comes to hiking, as they provide a far better overview of the area. But today I met two couples with printed maps who asked me for the right way. In one case, the printed map was simply wrong. In the other case, they followed some signs and passed the destination without noticing it. I guess that two male hikers will buy some kind of personal navigation device soon, and I also guess that the woman acceptance factor will not be a problem ;) . If you are searching for a great business idea, invent printed maps which are capable of displaying the current location on top of the map.
  • The LCR is not made for hiking trails covered with roots and stones. But it’s a great bike on paved ways. I guess we will soon need more than one routing set for bikes…
  • I took the train to Wissembourg and used MoNav to create the route to Wasigenstein. It really created a nice trip – though I wished it avoided some of the inclines :) . We have been discussing the integration of SRTM data into the preprocessor more than once. Technically it’s not an issue, but it would require some coding work, and the SRTM data set is rather huge.
  • I recently hacked track logging for MoNav. What I need to do next is a trip computer, which provides information about the time and distance already traveled, and the remaining distance and duration. What would be excellent was the calculation of a height profile for both the track and the route. Did I already mention the size of the SRTM data set? Maybe I should search for online services to accomplish that.
  • We have a lot of trails of that area in our openstreetmap data already. But there are still a lot of bits missing. Partly we have the smaller hiking trails available, but some forestal tracks are missing.
  • The N900 and MoNav are a great combo. I switched the N900′s display off when not needed – the battery powered the device for about eight hours. Not that bad, especially when you take into account that MoNav recomputes the route every second.
  • Being a bit tired, I took the road back to Wissembourg, where I entered the train after some supper. The section between Lembach and the Col du Pigeonnier (see the marker) broke my neck due to the incline. As a reward, the rest of the route down to Wissembourg was completely declining. A great joy :) .

Here’s the trip (height profile would be marvellous :) :

Can MoNav do bike routing from Karlsruhe to Strasbourg?

Monday, April 18th, 2011
The minster of Strasbourg, with its unfinished right tower

The minster of Strasbourg, with its unfinished right tower

What a great april, at least concerning the weather! I decided to visit Strasbourg, the great medieval city where I haven’t been for over a year or so.

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1st Black Forest bicycle trip 2011

Saturday, April 9th, 2011
Goats

Goats

Due to the early summer days I did a trip to Rote Lache, a mountain pass between Forbach (Murg valley) and Baden-Baden. I arrived at the biergarten right at noon and ordered boiled beef with horseradish, a traditional meal which reminds me of my grand mother:

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»Wo geht’s hier zur Oder-Neiße-Linie?!?«

Monday, January 10th, 2011
Europa (wikimedia commons, public domain)

Europa (wikimedia commons, public domain)

If I remember corrently, a german satiric mag once translated »The germans are passionated wanderers« as »Can you tell me the way to the Oder-Neisse Line?!?«.

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Recent mapping activities

Tuesday, January 4th, 2011

During the winter months, the mapping activities usually decrease, but I’m not completely in hibernation mode.

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Early winter impressions

Sunday, November 28th, 2010

This year’s winter is an early bird, and some snow offers an excellent opportunity for all kinds of winter sport activities across the black forest.

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Golden October continued

Monday, October 11th, 2010
Klingenmünster as seen from the Landeck castle

Klingenmünster as seen from the Landeck castle

The golden october continued. It allowed for an after work biking trip to the river Rhine last week and yesterday. Today I went to the Landeck castle near Klingenmünster by car. This was not the best idea. There was some wind, but there were no clouds at all. The streets were completely overcrowded, and additionally all the villages growing wine in Rhineland-Palatinate sold their goods along the way.

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Golden October once again

Sunday, October 3rd, 2010
Seebach, Black Forest

Seebach, Black Forest

After a rainy week, this sunday was warm and sunny. Though there was a little wind at the Ruhestein, it was a great trip from Baiersbronn to Achern via the Ruhestein.

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Uncommented Fungi Catch

Saturday, October 2nd, 2010

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Besuch beim Erzfeind

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010
The River Rhine as seen from the port of Lauterbourg

The River Rhine as seen from the port of Lauterbourg

During the last weeks, I collected some extra office hours. Well, the annual release is approaching, and my job requires that I get some stuff managed. Otherwise we’d ship a product our customers would not appreciate.

The weekend will be rainy, and so I wanted to grab some of the last summer sunrails before they are gone. So I just did it and left the office at half past three PM, grabbed the bike and did a nice trip from Karlsruhe to Lauterbourg, Seltz, Plittersdorf and back home. Unfortunately I left the office too late, so the sun was unavailable on the way back. But the rest of the trip was marvellous. There was almost no wind, the air was cool but not cold and the sunrails mirrored by the river Rhine did the rest. The cycleways of the left hand side of the Rhine are great, thanks to the Pamina initiative.

The above image shows the river Rhine near the port of Lauterbourg. The shelter on the other side is a lovely place to enjoy the sunrails. From the shelter to the left, there’s a grit bench. On the right hand side of the Shelter, the Illinger Altrhein is entering the river.

In Munchhausen I crossed the picturesque Delta de la Sauer:

Delta de la Sauer

Delta de la Sauer

Delta de la Sauer

Delta de la Sauer

Delta de la Sauer

Delta de la Sauer

In Seltz I had the chance to test the new ferry. It’s amazing how it crosses the river almost noiseless while you’re not recognizing the motion thanks to the trimaran construction. Even better, its usage is granted free of charge. The more I was surprised that two people are needed to operate it, mainly due to the berthing, which is a rather time consuming process. It’s done by lashing it manually, thus the second employee.

BTW: From today’s point of view, one can barely imagine that and why Germany and France waged so many wars during the last couple of centuries. It’s really good luck to live in times of the European Union.

A nice after work trip. I’ll try to do another one tomorrow if my workload permits, before rain will conquer germany. Here’s the trip:

Autumn fungi of the Oos valley, Black Forest

Sunday, September 19th, 2010
NAF, not a fungus

NAF, not a fungus

During today’s black forest trip I found this tree stub, hosting several inhabitants. I’ll just post the pics, without any further comment:

Tree stub hosting other beings

Tree stub hosting other beings

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Mapping alsacien villages #12745¹

Sunday, September 19th, 2010
Lauter Valley

Lauter Valley

Today’s mapping trip was a lazy one. First I tried to get to a nice restaurant as fast as possible, as its kitchen closes at 2PM. I needed 90 minutes for about 30 kilometers, including the Rhine ferry in Neuburg. Obviously I was hungry:

First the salad...

First the salad...

...then the meat.

...then the meat.

That’s a porc steak, covered by chanterelles. The stuff on the left hand side is Spätzle, a typical food often found in the south-west of germany. Simplified, it consists of the dough of noodles (flour and eggs). Instead of forming and drying the noodles, the dough gets pressed into hot water through a sieve immediately, though. I’m not the biggest fan of wine, but I really like the Gewürztraminer.

I started mapping in Schleithal, where I first added several residential roads. Then I cycled some tracks through the fields. Nearby, a confluence can be found (see the marker). After that I was heading towards Wissembourg, where I also added some residentials. Heck, I thought Wissembourg was completed concerning the residentials, but it wasn’t. Here’s the area:

I enjoyed every single minute of the trip, as it was a cloudy but warm and sunny late summer day. I took the train back home, as I needed some time to get several stuff done – like writing this posting :) .

¹ According to echo $RANDOM

Rhine ferry between Germany and France resurrected

Saturday, September 11th, 2010
Pamina Ferry »Saletio«

Pamina Ferry »Saletio«

Some 5 years ago the previously installed ferry between Plittersdorf (Germany) and Seltz (France) was rammed by a ship. A repair was considered being too expensive, and as there are two bridges nearby, there was no economical necessity to reinstall a ferry line. Nevertheless, the ferry was important to bring the people of both sides and countries of the Rhine riverbanks together, and it was an important connection for tourists and cyclists. The old ferry, built shortly after the infamous second world war, was brought to the harbour of Lauterbourg. It then sunk and subsequently was scrapped.

5 years later (and 700 years after a ferry line at this location has been mentioned for the very first time) the new ferry, called »Saletio«, is being put into service. This weekend a party is taking place in both Plittersdorf and Seltz to celebrate the reincarnation of the cable ferry. It’s built like a trimaran and consists of aluminium (more information in german language):

Aluminium Trimaran ferry »Saletio«

Aluminium Trimaran ferry »Saletio«

As before, there is a short bridge on the german, but a rather long bridge on the french side of the Rhine’s riverbanks. To avoid collisions with ships in the future, huge pylons have been rammed into the Rhine above and below the bridges. Here’s the location of the ferry on a map:

I think it is great that is has been resurrected. I guess I’ll use it every now and then on bicycle mapping tours during spring and autumn.