Fotoeins Fotografie

Marienplatz, MVG München, U-Bahn, München, Munich, Germany, fotoeins.com

From the World Outside & Into Munich’s Metro

Above/featured: U-Bahnhof Marienplatz.

After dozens of visits since 2002 to Germany’s Munich, I’ve become familiar with the city’s transport network. For the city’s residents, the day-to-day work commute from the upside and into below can merge into a monotonous grind. The following images within five U-Bahn or metro sitations might challenge that notion with ghost-like and otherworldly appearances.

Georg-Brauchle-Ring

7am morning commute (IG)

Hauptbahnhof

Bahnland Bayern (IG)

Lehel

One foot in front of the other … (IG)

Marienplatz

U6, nach/to Klinikum Grosshadern (IG1, IG2)

Westfriedhof

Comings and goings (IG)

I made all pictures above between 22 and 24 February 2017 inclusive. Alle Fotoaufnahmen sind mit Wasserzeichen versehen worden. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins.com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-buj.

Phnom Penh Noodle House, International District, Seattle, WA, USA, fotoeins.com

My Seattle: good tasty eats

Above/featured: Cambodian-Chinese cuisine, with seafood special on jasmine rice, and crispy shrimp rolls at upper-right. Phnom Penh Noodle House (CID) – 7 Feb 2017.

How far would I go for food?

The distance between Vancouver BC and Seattle WA is 232 kilometres (144 miles) which is a 2.5- to 3-hour drive or a slightly longer trip with the bus or train. Seattle is older than Vancouver by 27 years as incorporated cities (1869 vs. 1886), but despite relative proximity, I’m fascinated by the different paths by which both cities have evolved.

Seattle is famous for its coffee and for her people’s love of a good brew in a cup. With good coffee people want good food. And what’s even better is that these examples won’t bust your wallet.

CAUTION: The following photos from Seattle (2020) you are about to see may cause sudden pangs of hunger. If you get a terrible case of the drools, I claim total responsibility.

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Black Strathcona, Strathcona, Black History Month, East Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, fotoeins.com

Vancouver: Jimi Hendrix’s grandma and Black Strathcona

Above/featured: Hogan’s Alley: Main Streeet at Union Street.

When a wae lad was I, I viewed Vancouver’s Strathcona neighbourhood through the various lenses of my parents, the people on our block, and the surrounding community. That is, I viewed the area as primarily Chinese, in school and on the streets.

As an important teacher, history can often be painful. But an important and unspoken responsibility as city resident and national citizen is recognition and acknowledgement of these past lessons. I learned years later about the destruction of the African-Canadian community with the construction of the Viaduct, which not coincidentally almost eliminated Chinatown. The Viaduct is a remnant of the planned 1960s highway project in the city of Vancouver, but final removal of the viaduct is coming in the next few years.

February as Black History Month has been officially recognized in Canada since 1995. To honour the rich history by African Canadians in the province, British Columbia has also officially recognized Black History Month.

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Fasching, Maschkera, Oimrausch: pre-Lent shenanigans in Mittenwald

This ain’t no Hallowe’en¹.

In southern Germany, this is Fasching, known also as Werdenfelser Fosanacht, to go along with the masks for Maschkera. It’s also about about distinctions and differences by comparison with Karneval on the Rhein.

Festivities take place before Catholic Lent, and the key idea behind the wild colourful costumes and wooden masks is the very pagan origin and ritual of driving out or driving away evil spirits of winter lurking inside people and their homes and welcoming the friendly spirits of spring for a productive growing season.

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Kea, alpine parrot, Homer Tunnel, Milford Road, South Island, Te Waipounamu, Aotearoa, New Zealand, fotoeins.com

Waitangi Day (6 Feb): 15 images from Aotearoa

Above/featured: The kea is the world’s only alpine parrot and on the endangered list; on Milford Road near Homer Tunnel.

On the 6th of February, I’ll be humming “E Ihowa Atua” and “Pokarekare Ana”.

Waitangi Day is a national holiday in New Zealand to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on 6 February 1840. As the founding document of the country, the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is an accord agreed upon by representatives of the Crown (British Empire) and of indigenous Māori iwi (tribes) and hapū (sub-tribes). The agreement is named after the name of the location in the Bay of Islands where the Treaty was first signed. Despite continuing disagreements between the two parties about contemporary extent and redress, I think the conversation and interactions between the communities are at a more advanced stage of integration within the nation’s fabric by comparison with Australia and Canada.

For Aotearoa, the New Zealand government approved in October 2013 formal names of the two main islands in Māori and English:

• Te Ika a Māui (“the fish of Māui”) for the North Island, and
• Te Wai Pounamu (“the waters of greenstone”) for the South Island.

I highlight Aotearoa with 15 images of the following locations:

Akaroa
Auckland
Dunedin
Franz Josef Glacier *
Greymouth
Hapuku (Seaward Kaikouras)
Homer Tunnel *
Lake Matheson *
Milford Sound *
Queen Charlotte Sound
Queenstown
Southern Alps *
Waimakariri River
Wellington City
Wellington Harbour

Asterisks identify locations within the Te Wāhipounamu area in South West New Zealand which was inscribed in 1990 as UNESCO World Heritage Site that includes four national parks: Aoraki/Mount Cook, Fiordland, Mount Aspiring, and Westland Tai Poutini.

( Click here for images and more )