Landscape

(click to enlarge)

Before the snow got everywhere.

Grid

Snow

It's everywhere! Or at least it was last week.

In the way

The tree didn't want to move for a better view.

Lights

Nighttime in Mannheim's Rheinau harbour.

Rusted

(click to enlarge)

Spidey

Technically venomous. But cute.

Window

Parade Square, Mannheim. From the changing room area of a department store.

Almost done

B535 completion. This week they started painting the lines.

Awesome bench

Sky over Schwetzingen

Not edited.

Landscape

Heidelberg in the background.

Tastes like Chicken

Ostrich at a farm in Walldorf. Six feet tall.

Have a Seat

Fast

Trees

Terraces

Number Six

"A forward entrenchment to defend Heidelberg in 1622 at the junction of three paths coming from Plättelshöhe, Kohlhof and Gaiberg."

Not everyone loves trashcans

Yep, shotgun.

Green

Algae.

Sheer Size

Imperial Dome in Speyer, consecrated in 1061 AD. Note tourists at bottom for size comparison.

Show and tell

Explaining how energy is being produced and distributed in Mannheim.

Willow

Memorial

For 48 officers and 1842 enlisted soldiers of the 2nd Royal Bavarian Engineer Battalion who died in WW1. In Speyer.

Stairs

Bilingual #3

Bilingual #2

Table

Horns

Fake Aurochs ("Back Cattle") at an enclosure in Mannheim. Real Aurochs died out in 1627 and would have been twice as big.

Tall

Postcard #3

Wadi

Ray of Light

Bridge #2

Bridge #1

Barely Legible

"In this area, guarded in the depression between Gaisberg and Königstuhl,  Tilly's troops in 1622 erected one of five mountain camps."

Note: Tilly's troops = the enemy.

Water

Ensemble

Castle

A Cloud

(click to enlarge)

... from the inside this time.

Tower

(click to enlarge)

Teltschik Viewtower, Wilhelmsfeld. 41 Meters high, at 530m elevation. 192 steps to the top. Built in 2001.

Forest

(click to enlarge)

Not HDR.

Another Postcard

(click to enlarge)

Ant Land

(click to enlarge)

I've counted eight anthills in the area, at least close to the path. At least three of them about 8-10 feet across, which is about the maximum for their kind. There's probably more. This one was the only one i saw that took advantage of a collapsed tree for structural purposes when building the nest.

All of them formica rufa, red forest ants. They're freaking awesome - eat anything up to the size of mice, if they find a dead one. Do not touch - even a single bite itches, and these hills have up to 5 million of the little ones living in them.

Strategic Location

(click to enlarge)

Strategically built nest at the entrance to the already posted hut. Located such that they get sun most of the day, while also keeping dry under the hut's outcropping roof. Pretty small nest though, i'd say probably only about a hundred-thousand inhabitants.

Hut

(click to enlarge)

"Prinzensitz", Wilhelmsfeld

Bilingual

(click to enlarge)

Playground

(click to enlarge)

Location: Dossenwald forest, Mannheim.

Lights

(click to enlarge)

Scenery from the Königstuhl mountain above Heidelberg at 1 am. Parts of Heidelberg at the bottom, Mannheim on the right-side horizon.

Training

(click to enlarge)

... for the "Dragonboat" race event in Ladenburg next week. 16 guys and girls paddling, one steering and a little girl sitting at the bow beating the drum to give the paddle rhythm. The team from Ladenburg shown here is called "Roman Dragons". Part of the local soccer club. Cute.

They're expecting about 60 boats to participate in the two-day race event btw.