I love this snap of a house along the Rhine River, near Stein am Rhein. I took this snap from Germany, pointing south; the house is located in Switzerland. The Rhein River forms the border between the two countries.
Rheinfelden flowers
Type in Rheinfelden into Google, and you’ll be surprised. There is a Rheinfelden, Switzerland; and there is a Rheinfelden, Germany. The two cities of the same name in the two countries of different names are divided by the river Rhine.
Anyway, I took this snap in the downtown area of the German Rheinfelden:
Rhein power
I think there has to be a law in Switzerland: if there is any flowing water slightly larger than a garden hose, then you must build a hydroelectric power plant to capture its energy. Well, if there is such a law, it’s not a bad law to be sure! This is the hydroelectric power station along the Rhine river in Schaffenhausen, in north central Switzerland.
Baccarat
Even if you are not rich and famous, you’ve probably heard of the finest in French crystal, known as Baccarat Crystal.
Well, it gets its name not from the most famous company that manufactures it (Baccarat Crystal) but from the village of the same name.
The village is nestled deep, deep within the Vosges Mountains of Eastern France – and it’s quite a bit like Appalachia, in the United States. Yes, you can come here. No, nobody will try to stop you. But let’s just say, if you were to ask the French Gendarmes about the wisdom of your decision, they would probably encourage you to go somewhere else.
Here is a snap from the village:
And here is another snap:
And here is another snap:
French cow
Since the times of the Holy Roman Empire scholars have continued to ask whether it is possible to take a bad photograph of a good cow – and despite the best efforts of the finest religious scholars and philosophers, the answer is – always – time and time again – a resounding NO!
I took this snap in the south of France, Les Pays des Portes du Haut-Doubs, just a few kilometers from the border to the Jura region of Switzerland.
Alsace lady
I assume its a statue of the Virgin Mary, but to be honest I am not quite sure. Anyway, it’s an artistic a snap as I thought I could take in this incredible sunlight!
Beaune Arch
As artistic a snap as I thought I could take of the gateway to the French city of Beaune, the heart of the Bourgogne region of France:
Marina Bay Sands
I took this snap a few years before Covid. That’s a swimming pool on top of the hotel. It took around USD 4 Bio to build but – at least before Covid – they expected a revenue of USD 1 Bio per year!
Under the wing
Under the wing of an Airbus A380, that is. In any European airport it would probably be unthinkable, but here I am in a car at the international terminal of the LAX airport in Los Angeles, driving directly underneath the wing. There was plenty of clearance – but still, things of this nature are not allowed at most European airports.
In a previous job I worked for Swissport, at the time the world’s largest ground handling company that earned its money by tending to airplanes after landing and before take-off.
But what does this post have to do with IT?
Airports are divided into roughly two groups: those that are private and want to make a profit, and those that are public.
The airport at Zurich is a good example of a „normal“ private airport: if you are a company doing business there like Swissport, just ask for what you need (networks, WiFi, offices) – and the airport is more than happy to sell you what you need.
But Los Angeles is more of a public works type of airport. There are regions at the airport that are totally empty of any IT services or even wireless connections. How do you bring in innovate IT solutions when you can‘t connect to an Internet? Our talented IT crew like Rui and Juan always found clever approaches, but they weren‘t always the best approaches. For example, the network connection to our refueling facilities at LAX was accomplished via a satellite connection, but with a bandwidth measured in the high KB/sec.
Long story short: it‘s really a myth to think good IT services can be rolled out to the whole world. Many companies struggle with overcoming challenges that are no fault of their own!
Avenches
Schilthorn Flowers
Some flowers I caught growing out of the side of the mountain,
Bordeaux church
As artistic a snap as I thought I could take of a church steeple in the center of the western French city of Bordeaux,
FAKE – Alsace drainage
As artistic a snap as I thought I could take of water pouring out of a drainage canal in Alsace, on its way to the Rhein river:
Just for the record: the photos I post are never in any way retouched or enhanced or changed – except for cropping. OK, and maybe a very simple color correction a la Google.
But in this series of blog posts entitled FAKE I publish some rather interesting images I have enhanced in some way. This picture was enhanced using a more severe color correction option offered by Google Photos.
Incredible, spectacular Bordeaux building – 2
Continuing the series, here is another spectacular building I spotted in the western French city of Bordeaux:
Roman toilets
Switzerland is well-known for the cleanliness of its public toilets – and as you can see from this snap of a 2000 year old Roman amphitheater in the Swiss village of Avenches, in fact have well-built toilets is a very long tradition indeed!
Avenches has an interesting history, being just outside the largest Roman town in Switzerland (Aventicum) which, unfortunately, collapsed several hundred years after its founding.
The strange houses of Soulac-sur-Mer
Nestled on the far left side of Europe sits the country of France, and nestled on the far left side of France sits the little village of Soulac-sur-Mer, and nestled on the far left side of Soulac-sur-Mer sits a tiny residential neighborhood where all the houses have ceramic facades and – unbelievably – names!
The name of this house is Les Bleuets:
The village sits right at the top of the Cote d’Argent, so probably this is an attempt by the local chambre de commerce to draw tourists.
Rheinfelden Fountain – in its full glory
Continuing the series, the water fountain in the center of the south Germany village of Rheinfelden is so spectacular, if I showed you the full picture first, your brain would explode. So we took things slow, part by part, in small doses.
Now the time has come to display the full magnificence of this incredible fountain!
Church in the trees
I thought this was quite an artistic snap of a church behind some trees just outside of La Roche-sur-Yon in the Pays de la Loire region of France:
Rheinfelden Fountain – in small doses – 4
Continuing the series, the water fountain in the center of the south Germany village of Rheinfelden is so spectacular, if I showed you the full picture first, your brain would explode. So let’s take things slow, part by part, in small doses:
Stuttgart Willow
I spotted this magnificent willow deep within the Unterer Schlossgarten in Stuttgart:
Interestingly, the willow tree is the origin of the chemical salicin, discovered to have pain-relieving properties and now the basis of the well known drug aspirin.
Rheinfelden Fountain – in small doses – 3
Continuing the series, the water fountain in the center of the south Germany village of Rheinfeld is so spectacular, if I showed you the full picture first, your brain would explode. So let’s take things slow, part by part, in small doses:
Stuttgart Lion
Not really sure about the historical significance of this lion, hidden deep, deep within the bowels of the Unterer Schlossgarten – and I don’t feel really inspired to find out.
Rheinfelden Fountain – in small doses – 2
Continuing the series, the water fountain in the center of the south Germany village of Rheinfelden is so spectacular, if I showed you the full picture first, your brain would explode. So let’s take things slow, part by part, in small doses:
Ill de Napoleon street art
If you go to France you’ll find the entire country – no matter where you look – is filled with works that they call art. And surprisingly, many of them are in fact art! This is a work of art I snapped in the Ill de Napoleon region near Mulhouse:
Rheinfelden Fountain – in small doses – 1
The water fountain in the center of the south Germany village of Rheinfelden is so spectacular, if I showed you the full picture first, your brain would explode. So let’s take things slow, part by part, in small doses:
