Flying visit to Kyiv!

At the beginning of November this year I was lucky enough to visit the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv. I was of course even luckier to be visiting with my girlfriend, a native of the city, which meant I was able to get the most out of the very short time we were there. Kyiv is closer to Vienna than London is, so the flight time is just over an hour and a half. In my head it always seemed much further away, it's funny how one's perception of distance seems permanently affected by where you grew up! We arrived in Kyiv after a fast (900 km/h due to tailwind!) but extremely cramped WizzAir flight, landing in what I am informed was typical late autumn/early winter weather: clear air and sunshine until a few hundred metres from the ground, followed by a thick layer of low-lying cloud that blocked out almost all of the rapidly fading afternoon sunshine, leaving the ground level a misty grey

That evening we just went for a short stroll around the neighbourhood where we were staying, in the central district of Kyiv. Of course, the central part of Kyiv is about 4 times the size of the centre of Vienna, if not more. Although it was dark, I was still impressed by the sheer size of the buildings, the width of the streets, and the up-and-down hills lending a very 3D feel to the city, something I always like in a place. We strolled through the very quiet streets and ate at an excellent Asian restaurant before returning to await the most important and fluffiest guest of the holiday: my girlfriend's husky, who still lives in (or in her own opinion, rules over) Kyiv, and who I was excited (though a little nervous) to meet. Aurora (the husky) arrived around 10pm and was indeed excited to see us, though also confused that her usual caretakers were missing from the flat where she lived. She is as beautiful and demanding as the stories foretold, and certainly not above a good night-time face licking when she thinks it will get her what she wants...

The next day I was feeling a little under the weather and my girlfriend had to accomplish numerous beaureaucratic tasks, so I didn't really do much in the way of leaving the house, although I did make the most of my holiday time by finally reading an excellent book, Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge. However, I did make exceptions for the main reason for my visit: ukrainian food! At lunchtime I enjoyed a borshch (the ukrainian version features meat as well as beetroot) and sampled a small bit of Olivier salad (which is salad if salad means "mayonnaise and potato dish", and also v tasty). In the evening we travelled to a large restaurant designed to look like a traditional ukrainian building, complete with massive thatched roof. There I was able to sample a much greater selection of delicacies: salo (thin slices of pork fat with onion, garlic and other condiments), holubtsi (delicious minced meat wrapped in cabbage cooked in a tomato-y broth, my favourite), deruny (potato pancakes), a real chicken Kiev (actual chicken meat not that paste you get from the freezer aisle), and cherry varenyky (sweet cherry filled dumplings, in the chinese sense of the word dumpling). All while being serenaded by a trio of "cossacks" including one man who could make actual bird tweeting sounds by whistling between his teeth. Anyway, in summary: the food was very very good, and I am sad that most of it probably takes at least 4 hours to make so its difficult to cook at home.

On our second and final day in Kyiv I was feeling much better and we set out on an epic sightseeing dog-walk through the centre of the city, which ended up being around 15km or so. The best place to see all the indivdual places we walked past is in this gallery, I think it's best if I just give my general impressions here or this will go on forever! The main thing that hit me is that Kyiv is very big. I don't just mean that it goes on forever, although that was brought home to me looking out from the hills above the Dnieper and realising that the buildings on the horizon were still the same city. No, I mean everything is big. The streets are often six lanes wide and the buildings are twice the height or more of those in Vienna. The general effect is one of toggling a zoom button on the cities I have seen elsewhere in europe, but because everything is bigger in proportion, it doesn't look out of place. We saw innumerable landmarks on our stroll, from the many golden domes of the cathedrals, to the vast triumphal-arch-like foreign ministry to the more modern, actual friendship arch. Throughout it all the beauty but also the variety of the architecture was apparent, as well as the continuing multi-levelled nature of the streets and buildings on the various hills. One final special mention goes to the funicular, which had beautiful stations and fantastic 60s (or 60s-esque) cars with rounded fronts and headlights.

Really, the best thing is to follow this link and see for yourself!

bis bald,

der Tom

In the shadow of the Schneeberg

And with a zap of magical energy, we return to the misty past, September 2017 to be precise. Although I wasn't living in Austria at that time, on my frequent visits I did manage to get in the odd hike. As I mentioned in my last post, Autumn is by far the best time of year for hiking in Austria so I was especially keen to organise something for that time of year.

The Schneeberg is famous as the easternmost 2000m peak in the alps and the easiest big mountain to reach from Vienna. Although the autumn weather is still not too bad, it starts to get a bit chilly on the top of the big mountains. Fortunately, the Schneeberg is faced on the North side of the valley by a ridge of hills reaching just above 1000m high. For our autumn hike we chose a route from the head of the valley up a very small climb, followed by a smooth long descent along the ridge, offering panoramic views of the Schneeberg and some nice Autumn atmosphere.

The usual autumn weather was in evidence, with wisps of cloud blowing quickly overhead, letting through occasional beams of light, and at other times obscuring the Schneeberg almost completely. Our route took us first through conifer forest, then fields of alpine cows, and then into more open forest carpeted with blueberry bushes, where we stopped for lunch.

After lunch we followed the long lazy descent along the ridge, looking out onto cloud-filled valleys that slowly cleared in the afternoon. After leaving the crest of the ridge we descended more steeply and found ourselves circling around from the top to the bottom of a large waterfall carving a smooth algae-covered notch into the rocks. The final part of the journey led us out onto the flat floor of the valley, and we picked up our pace in an effort to catch the hourly train and not be stranded waiting for the next one. Our swift march was rewarded, getting us to the station in Puchberg just in time to return to Vienna without an extended wait.

Please check out the small gallery of pictures at this link, and stay tuned for pictures from the less distant past.

bis bald,

Der Tom

Speckbacherhütte from Payerbach-Reichenau

We now warp dizzyingly forward in time to last weekend! Autumn in Austria is probably the best time of year to hike. It isn't as hot as in summer, and the weather, when it is good, stays much more stable than in high summer. This year has been particularly sunny, warm and dry, even in Vienna, which is normally hidden from the sun in thick banks of fog while the mountains bask in autumnal sunshine

I got a hut recommendation from my former supervisor and after looking it up, I realised there was an area of the alpine foothills near Vienna that I had overlooked. Every time we hiked out of Payerbach-Reichenau we had always headed north, through the narrow limestone gorges onto the high mountains bordering the Schneeberg, or west, towards the Rax. The hills to the south are much lower and less dramatic than these two limestone massifs, underlain as they are by metamorphic rocks instead. However, they still reach up to 1000m in height and situated as they are between these two larger mountains they offer excellent views of both of them if the weather is good.

We set out around 10am in the unseasonably warm sunshine and headed through the village and up the constant gradual slope of the hills, a pleasant change from the steep initial climbs you get on the nearby limestone. The autumn colours were not quite in full swing, but here and there there were splashes of gold and orange in with the green. The route climbs higher and higher through the forest, along a ridge crest. However, views of the surrounding mountains are rare due to the trees, except for occasional parts of the track that emerge into fields for a short time.

We reached the hut in good spirits, eager to test the food recommendation. It was indeed very good, though I was glad of the soup I ordered to keep me warm at the chilly shady table that was the only one unoccupied. Everyone else can read the weather forecast too it seems, and there were a lot of people out and about! After lunch we headed further along the warm and sunny ridge and then downwards again, joining up a wide circle close to our point of departure in the village. Descending the slopes in the afternoon sun we passed through more open fields, filled with cows sunning themselves and opening onto broad mountain views, almost as if they had been planned by landscape gardeners. We easily made it back before 5pm, ready to catch the train back to Vienna for one of the last warm autumn evenings.

As usual, there's an extended gallery of photos from the hike for you to enjoy (if you enjoy photos) at the link!

bis bald,

Der Tom

Kaunertal, July 2017

Hello! I've been lazy and distracted for a long time, and it probably won't change anytime soon, but I have still taken lots of photos of the places I've been, when I thought they were worth showing. The next ones in the queue are these, from my trip to the Kaunertal not this summer, but last summer, in July of 2017. I was there for a full ten days of teaching students of biology (in fact, of biology teaching) the basics of geology, along with two colleagues, one botanist, and one zoologist. I do this field trip every year and this "interdisciplinary excursion" as it is called is always a highlight of the summer, allowning me to dodge the heat in Vienna and experience nature with some expert company!

Last year I stayed in the valley after my duties were done and I was joined by my girlfriend. My goal was to introduce her to the joys and beauty of the mountains, which I mostly managed, although our first proper foray into the high mountains was met by an unforecast intense rainstorm, which, to be fair, is an important aspect of the alps, if not joyous or beautiful. Thankfully the sun came out in the afternoon and we were able to dry out before strolling down to our destination. Several days were somewhat cooler and cloudier than one might like for hiking, but this at least offered fantastic opportunities to photograph the threatening skies and clouds and take advantage of the many cable cars in the region to get some spectacular views in the gaps between the clouds.

There's a whole bunch of photographs over at the link to enjoy!

bis bald,

der Tom

Tourism & history in Düsseldorf and surroundings

Towards the end of May my parents made their first ever trip to Germany to visit me here in Düsseldorf. It was rather hot for these parts, but perhaps that is still better than constant rain! I'm not so sure, but then again, I live here all the time so I don't have to try and see everything at once in the rain...

It was a great opportunity to go and see attractions I might otherwise be too lazy to see, and some things I wouldn't even have thought to find out existed. One of the first places we visited was the village of Kaiserswerth, just North of Düsseldorf along the Rhine. This was the site of a large imperial palace/castle begun around 900 years ago on the orders of the Emperor Barbarossa, who also decreed that Kaiserswerth be a place where tolls were paid to pass along the river. For over 600 years this quiet seeming village was the point where taxes were taken from river traffic, and it was the site of a number of battles and seiges, culminating in the destruction of the castle and much of the town in the 18th century in wars with the french. It was a fascinating place, with so many old buildings with architecture very different from other places I have seen in Germany and much more like Holland. And the best thing of all, the ruined castle was entrely built out of thick polygonal basalt columns (think the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland), heaven for the geology-loving castle fan.

Another palace was also on the menu, Schloss Benrath, in the South of the city. The heat was really burning down, preventing a long and leisurely stroll in the gardens, but we were still able to appreciate them and the sweeping vistas surrounding the palace while paying a visit to the museum of gardening there and desperately seeking cool refreshments.

We also took several strolls around the city centre, taking in the excellent art galleries and magnificent architecture and comparing and contrasting it to that of the Austro-Hungarian empire experienced on previous trips. Away from the elegant and bustling Königsallee, the city on a bank holiday afternoon was a hive of occasionally rowdy, though not intimidating, activity, with plenty of stag and hen parties weaving their way through the streets. The feel was much more similar to the UK, lacking the simultaneous tourist crowds and refined-looking coffee houses of the first district of Vienna and seeming altogether more lived-in (though in reality, the first district has its inhabitants too). Of course we enjoyed the parks and I was able to locate my favourite inhabitants of the city centre, the ring necked parakeets, who were in full voice and poking their heads curiously out of their nests in tree holes. A worthy supporting role in the entertainments was played by the many ducks and geese competing for bread at the lakeshore beneath the parakeet-filled treetops.

On the Monday, traditionally the day of rest for galleries, we went for a walk along the leafy Neanderthal, blissfully shaded for the most part, though extremely hot in places, especially when we left the comfort of the trees to explore the beautiful old tile and half-timber buildings of historic Gruiten at the end of our walk.

Hopefully you enjoy these assorted snapshots from the weekend! Chosen not for their accurate representation of all that we did, merely for their presumed aesthetic value.

bis bald,

der Tom

Velbert-Nierenhof to Nordrath - early summer in NRW

Let's flash back to May, the end of the spring, or the start of the summer. Which one you choose probably depends on the weather as you step outside... Despite the relative flatness of the Düsseldorf area, I knew that my summer would feature a two week trip to the Alps for both teaching and recreatonal hiking. Given this, I thought it would be a good idea to do a small amount of training, however token.

I ended up finding a stretch of the Neanderlandsteig between Velbert-Nierenhof station and Nordrath that consisted of a gentle and continuous upwards climb from start to finish, gaining about 300m and ending with good views from the high ground north of Wuppertal. I started the hike on a glorious spring/summer day, with the temperature hovering around that just-right level it never manages at any other time of year. The sun was shining brightly but it was still just low enough in the sky to add some dramatic backlighting to the newly green leaves of the trees. I headed on slowly up and up on a constant gradient, surrounded by sparse beech forest, sandwiched between the brown leaves and the green canopy overhead.

The birds were singing loud and clear, and I spotted several interesting ones on my journey. After tracking down a blackcap singing in a dense bit of undergrowth over a stream, I entered the most beautiful part of the walk, an area of denser forest along the small stream, nestled in the fold between two hills. The mud around the stream was rich and dark, offering the perfect contrast to the glowing green of the backlit ferns standing in the babbling water.

Moving on after my lunch, things briefly became more exposed, offering wide views over glaring yellow swathes of oildseed rape set in acres of freshly ploughed fields, and then occasional fields of long, swaying grass, looking almost abstract if you zoomed in close. As the afternoon drew on, the sun continued to shine. By the time I reached my goal, the Kahlenberg (identical in name to the hill above Vienna), I had climbed enough to get a good view over the surrounding rolling landscape, passing as I did so many fields of livestock, orchards and people on large machines engaged in making hay. I very much enjoyed this hike in what felt like a somewhat quieter, more rural context! I hope you enjoy the photos, accessible by clicking this, same as always.

bis bald,

der Tom

A stroll in Surrey

I took advantage of the easter holiday period to indulge in a brief(ish) train journey under the sea to the United Kingdom. The good thing about Easter holidays is that they are also holidays in the UK, unlike all the religious holidays in Germany that aren't bank holidays on rainy Brexit island. That meant that I could hang out with my friends in the daytime, and not just lurk in a cafe waiting for them to get off work!

My friend Tim was good enough to find a hike route for us both, and by chance it was in the vicinity of Guildford, where yet more friends of mine reside. At a slightly too early hour we boarded the train in central London, on our way to rural Surrey, our excited canine companion Widget in tow.

Meeting up with our Guildford contingent we set out, Tim expertly deciphering the navigation notes and steering us through the countryside. I personally find it rather tricky to navigate using the supposedly simple verbal instructions that usually come in walking guides, so I was very grateful for his helmsmanship, which also left me free to catch up on the last 2 years (oof) with my other friend.

Though I've not hiked extensively around Düsseldorf, I've still seen enough of the countryside round the city to have a general feel for it, and it slightly surprised me to realise that rural Surrey is actually much more remote-seeming and 'countryside-ish' than Düsseldorf's environs. I never did any 'local' hiking while still living in London, so it totally passed me by that there are some very open spaces if you head out in the right direction. I guess even in Bucks where I come from it can feel very rural, but its hard to notice that sort of thing in the place you grew up.

We passed over a great variety of landscapes: bluebell-festooned woods, shady streams, rolling fields dotted with huge ancient oaks, sandy heaths, and, finally, the sweeping curves of the tamed river Wey heading into the centre of Guildford. Just the right length of hike to work up a good hunger for a riverside pub visit!

Please enjoy the small selection of photos from this most english of walks!

Bis bald,

der Tom