The Last Carnival

Sundown, sundown

They're taking all the tents down

Where have you gone my handsome Billy?

Moonrise, moonrise

The light that was in your eyes

Has gone away

We'll be riding the train without you tonight

The train that keeps on movin'

Its black smoke scorching the evening sky

A million stars shining above us 

Like every soul livin' and dead

Has been gathered by a god 

To sing a hymn over your bones

(excerpts from "The Last Carnival", a wonderful song written by Bruce Springsteen for his friend and fellow E Street Band member Danny Federici who passed away a little over two years ago)

Picture taken in Lüneburg, Germany.

April 2010.

I hope you've had a great start into the new week.

- Dom

Stepping Down The Glory Road

Hello there!

Along with a few friends from university I visited Hedeby (German: Haithabu), the famous Viking Age settlement, yesterday morning. It's located a few miles south of Schleswig in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany's northernmost state, and a relaxed two-hour-drive from Hamburg. The Danish border isn't that far away.

I'd recommend visiting the museum to everyone who's interested in history and living in, or visiting, northern Germany. There's a few reconstructed houses and actors dressed in what they claim to be authentic clothes, too. The Vikings are such an interesting people because they've travelled so far; they made it all the way to L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada. They reached America several hundred years before Columbus and Vespucci, yet the latter two are still credited with the discovery of the new world.

The first picture shows part of a rebuilt house, the second one is a photograph of a handsome Viking for the ladies who follow this blog.

 

Hedeby, Germany. April 2010.

I might upload a few more new photographs soon, so stay tuned, and have a great week y'all!

- Dom

You Poured Sugar On Me

Title taken from a song co-written by Bob Marley and Johnny Nash (yes, Nash, not Cash!). Thanks to a Polish friend, I am now in the possession of a great recipe for a drink that's just about perfect for summer evenings - take three tablespoons of cane sugar, a tiny bit of imported vodka from Poland, and loads of Sprite. Delicious.

Anyways, there's this little monastery in Lüneburg, and today is such a gorgeous day, so I decided I'd go there and take a couple pictures.

I'm gonna visit the Viking Age settlement of Hedeby in Northern Germany tomorrow. Maybe I'm gonna be back with more pictures soon.

Lüneburg, Germany. April 2010.

There's a land beyond the river

That we call the sweet forever

(taken out of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee)

Have a nice weekend!


- Dom

I Can See Clearly Now

"I Can See Clearly Now", a feel good song by Johnny Nash.

The semester has just begun less than one week ago and I already got two presentations, two essays, as well as one exam on my schedule; more to come. The essay and presentation I'm actually looking forward to are both gonna be about the Viking Age settlement Hedeby (German: Haithabu). It's just such an interesting topic.

Since our group has to give that presentation on Hedeby on the 5th of May already, I'm gonna treat myself with a ticket for the Berlin show of one of my favourite bands, She & Him. The singer of the duo is Zooey Deschanel, who also starred in movies such as (500) Days Of Summer, which is a really good one, and Winter Passing alongside Ed Harris.

I'm gonna visit Hedeby next weekend, but until then I won't have the chance to take any new pictures. Therefore I'm just gonna upload a photograph from my archives.

The Salton Sea. 
Southern California, USA. June 2009.

It's so close to the US-Mexican border that my car was stopped and searched by a police patrol. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a great week! 

- Dom

Dark Cloud Rising

There's a dark cloud rising from the desert floor

I'm heading straight into the storm

Gonna be a twister to blow everything down

That ain't got the faith to stand it's ground

(Bruce Springsteen, "The Promised Land")

No dark clouds in these pictures - somewhere along the highway in Arizona, and the Hill Top Motel in what I believe must've been Kingman, Arizona. Not sure though, it's been more than nine months since my road trip. I'd love to go on another, but I ain't got enough time this summer. Got too much on my schedule already.

The weather has been gorgeous all day long so I went out running after I woke up. Now my muscles ache because it's the first time I worked out since some day before the winter came, and it lasted for more than three months around this part of Northern Germany. I'm probably gonna go out and do some long exposures if it won't rain again tonight. 

Yesterday, I found a few postcards I bought from a lovey artist whom I met at Union Square in New York City in July 2009. If you enjoy drawings and paintings, you might wanna check her out.

Enjoy the holidays!

- Dom