Welcome to the new Blue Lizard!

Lindau, Germany

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:33:00 +0000

2008 06 28 - 1522 Lindau, Germany - L - 01
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

The last stop on our Ham Radio trip, we stayed in Lindau to enjoy a beautiful day on Lake Constance before returning home via Austria and Switzerland. Lindau is situated on an island in the lake and full of old architechture, such as the harbor, with a beautiful panaorama of the Alps in the background.

Die Nacht am Rhein

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:29:00 +0000

2008 06 27 - 2000 Gottlieben, Switzerland - L - 03
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

2008... has it been already 20 years since my last visit to the Ham Radio show in Friedrichshafen? Time flies... Luckily, we were able to combine this trip with a detour via Stuttgart, passing through Konstanz where Ralph was kind enough to balance the Peugeot's wheels, and on to Gottlieben where we stayed again at the cute Hotel Krone right on the Rhine river as it exits Lake Constance. This is one of the first pictures taken with the new Canon Ixus 860 IS, sunset over the Rhine at 10 pm right outside the hotel. The next day, we took the ferry Romanshorn-Friedrichshafen and spent the day at the show, then moved on to Lindau for another new city on our map.

Clouds over Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:23:00 +0000

2008-06-21 01-55-56 - Hong Kong
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

On a recent Asia trip I ended up spending a weekend in Hong Kong, despite American Express Travel doing their best to sabotage my trip. Contrary to the waether forecast, it turned out to be a nice weekend, but hot! Here I am on Victoria Peak overlooking the harbour from the observation tower. Hong Kong is always exciting and so easy to navigate. My Chinese friend from Shanghai was quite surprised that his Mandarin language skills were of limited use in this Cantonese-speaking city :-) Luckily, English works quite well here, one could think that there must have been a lot of Brits around at one time. They also drive on the "wrong" side of the street which always confuses me...

Wild West

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:17:00 +0000

2008 05 25 - 1555 Monument Valley - U - 025
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

Thanks to the favourable Euro exchange rate, we took the opportunity for a one-week tour through the southwestern US. Starting in Las Vegas, we visited Bryce Canyon, Glen Ganyon, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and Santa Fe. A lot of driving, but as you can see in the picture the roads are pretty straight. That is probably the reason why we saw so many Harleys in the area, as opposed to where we live...
At Monument Valley, I talked to a BMW GS rider from Germany who turned out to be on a 6 month trip through North America with his bike, quite an adventure!

Chicago in May

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:54:00 +0000

2008 05 09 - 1826 Chicago - U - 04
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

Our annual trip to the windy city was quite pleasant this time, with decent weather and an affordable hotel room right on Michigan avenue! Aside from the mandatory shopping, we were able to meet many of our friends and enjoy many of the things the city has to offer. This photo was taken from the Diversey Avenue bridge on the way to - of course - Micro Center on Elston Avenue, to stock up on computer gear.

Coffee Lavazza in Turin, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:41:00 +0000

2008 04 19 - 0923 Turin - U 04
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

We were very excited to discover on our trip to Turin the ORIGINAL CAFE where Lavazza Coffee was created.
The excitement was someow less when we could not figure out the menu and finally settled for a "solid coffee", what could be possibly wrong with anything solid. Well, it turns out, in this case it was indeed meant literally: The coffee was a kind of hard foam to be eaten by spoon. Let me just say, very creative, but there are things the world can do without... Otherwise Turin is a cute little town with a lot of history, but we are in Italy, so no surprise here. Definitely not very touristy, and a nice getwaway for the weekend. Since in Italy, good food is a given, and there's enough to see to keep you busy if you don't expect any wonders of the world.

Barcelona, Spain

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:00:00 +0000

2008 03 24 - 1149 Barcelona - L 165
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

Wow! This town is full of things to do and stuff to see, a lot more than you could over a three day weekend. We lucked out and escaped horrid weather back home by driving our little red bus all the way to Spain, at the breathtaking speed of 90 km/h. Once there, we realized that there is so much to do that we had to pick and choose, between architecture (Gaudi etc), history and everything else. Highly recommended, very lively and nice weather too.

Carcassonne

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 07:50:00 +0000

2008 03 22 - 1823 Carcassonne - U 16
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

We did a short stopover in this medieval town on the way to Barcelona during the Easter break. A massive fortress with wide walls and narrow streets, and many gift shops, rebuilt as a monument to old times. Unfortunately it was raining and cold, so the pictures all look a little grey despite the location in the warm and sunny south of France.

Dublin, Ireland

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:05:00 +0000

2008 02 24 - 1846 Dublin - L 073
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

February is city tour month it would seem... especially taking into account the low fares on Ryanair from Grenoble to Dublin. The airfare is only 4 cents, however there are charges, taxes and fees (wanna take a bag? 30 Euros... pay for the ticket? 15 Euros, or get this: Check in: 4 Euros).
Anyhow, even despite this Irish accounting the flight was affordable (80 Eur round trip) and the destination well worth it. Dublin is a great weekend getaway and even though a tad touristy, very lovely. It's a bit hard to find beer, they keep trying to sell you Guiness instead. And there is an alarming number of lads wearing skirts in the street, I don't care what you wanna call it. Very friendly folks and all having a good time, until 3 am at least, in the streets regardless of the weather!

The Eternal City

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:57:00 +0000

2008 02 03 - 11 33 05 - Rome U 175
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

It's called the eternal city, so it's no surprise that it took us an eternity to finally make a trip to Rome. February is not the high season and still there were A LOT of people. Being a history fan, it is definitely a must see, where else was so much of the history of modern civilization shaped? It's pretty cool that the logo for the city of Rome to this day is SPQR, to be admired on such impressive things as sewer covers...
If you ever have the time, I definitely recommend spending a few days in this living museum. You might also stop and pick up the lens hood I dropped on the subway tracks and can't find anywhere to replace...

Winter in Chicago

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:48:00 +0000

2008 01 04 - 121528 Chicago 02 Trump Tower
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

Not the best time of the year to visit, but dirt cheap hotels... it was great to spend some time in the city for the first time after we moved from there. Almost makes you a little homesick, despite the -20°C weather!
The work on the Trump Tower is progressing and it's all shiny and new. Definitely a nicer view than the old Sun Times building it replaced.
Who knows what it will look like next time around... it seems like I am taking a picture each time I am in the city. There's plenty of them right here on Flickr!

Singapore and Bangalore

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:10:00 +0000

2007-10-15 1859 Singapore
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

Just returned from a two week trip to both Bangalore, India and Singapore. Quite a contrast between these two cities there is! Bangalore is very dynamic, bustling and chaotic, with traffic jams like you would not believe. You can sense the energy and the economic boom, with a major technology company at every corner.
Singapore on the other hand looks almost European, a city cleaner than Germany and essentially a large shopping mall teeming with tourists from around the world. Definitely worth a visit, especially since it is 30°C all year round!

Dent de Crolles - Hiking

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 20:45:00 +0000

Chartreuse - Dent de Crolles Sep 2007
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

So many mountains, so little time! A nice Sunday afternoon, we ascended to the Dent de Crolles (2062m) in the Chartreuse range ON FOOT! That is, we and plenty of other people who had the same idea, with their kids and dogs, as well as several paragliders who carried their 30kg equipment all the way to the top. About two meters behind the summit cross is a cliff of several hundred meters where the mountain drops off into the Gresivaudan valley. Great for paragliders, not so good if you take a wrong step. Like the guidebook said: it's not hard, just don't take any wrong steps...
Unfortunately, the weather is turning and we will be running out of weekends soon to tackle other mountains. There are still a few more to cover before the snow sets in...

Toscana

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 19:31:00 +0000

Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

We had the unbelievable luck to be invited to a four day stay at a winery in Chianty, Tuscany, Italy with friends from Chicago this fall. Needless to say, we tasted a lot of wine and saw some amazing sights, such as the Ponte Vecchio in Florence on this picture.
I must say that Tuscany is really, really beautiful in the fall, the weather was perfect and the people friendly. Lots of great wine and great food!
Check out the photos on flckr for great pictures from Panzano, Greve, Pienza, Siena, Montalcino and Florence!

Hiking to the "Pointe de la Sitre"

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 12:29:00 +0000

2007 08 26 - 1318 Pointe de la Sitre Hike Uli 10
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

A beautiful Sunday afternoon in Grenoble, we invited some of our coworkers to join us on the hike to the 2195m Pointe De La Sitre summit in the Belledonne range just east of Grenoble. This is one of those peaks that we can see from the house, so we thought we needed to check it out. It has been a while since I went up that high, past the treeline and into rocky territory. Since Grenoble is an outdoor paradise, this trail was pretty busy with people from 0-80 years old it seemed. Unfortunately, the 6 hour trip reminded me how out-of-shape I really am, so we will be taking a few more before the season is over and it gets to snowy.

Three days in Prague

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 12:20:00 +0000

2007 08 14 - 2053 Prague Uli 058
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

While the bus was in the shop and got re-TüVed for 2 years, we went on a short last-minute trip to Prague to check out this beautiful city. While it is true that there are MANY tourists, the town is truly worth seeing and feels authentic with streets after streets of historical buildings, monuments, squares and castles.
There is a decent international cuisine available for those few who don't like dumplings every day. The prices aren't cheap but coming from France everything seems affordable :-) Public transportation is fantastic and for a small fee there are trains, trams and buses that take you everywhere. Click on the photo to go to our flickr page and check out the remaining photos, we have posted a selection from the many we took.

Lockheed Super Constellation

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 11:40:00 +0000

Lockheed Super Constellation
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

The Air Show at Bourget-Du-Lac (near Aix-les-Bains) had lots of classic airplanes, including this Lockheed Super Constellation from 1950. A beautiful but somewhat hot day in the mountains that we also used to take a bike tour around the Lake Bourget with an evening spent in picturesque but tiny Aix-les-Bains. Looks like a future weekend camping opportunity....

Summer vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 07:37:00 +0000

Windmill on Mykonos

We finally had an opportunity to visit Greece, land of blue skies, windmills, beautiful beaches and Ouzo. I must say it looks just as pretty in reality as on the pictures! Everyday the sun shone, and there are so may photo opportunities, we took over 1000 pictures in two weeks. It'll be a while to upload them all! Athens, Naxos, Santorini, Paros, Mykonos, Delos, Aegina and more Athens; so much history, friendly people and a relaxed atmosphere. A great summer getaway and not too touristy... Recommended!

It's raining again in Normandy

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 21:09:00 +0000

2007 06 Normandy 094
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

Following a business meeting in lower Normandy, we took the opportunity to spend a few extra days in this very green region of France and tasted a lot of excellent cheese (and learned that raw milk cheese is SOOO much better). Unfortunately, this trip did not turn out the camping trip we wanted it to be, so we drove 2550km in the bus - from hotel to hotel. Luckily, we had not forgotten the umbrellas, and they were needed! We were able to cover Caen, Evreux, Livarot, Camembert, Arromanches, the US military cemetary at Colleville, St. Lô, Bayeux, Mont St. Michel plus St. Malo in Bretagne.
Check the flickr page for more pics as they are being uploaded.

Camping at Bormes les Mimosas

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Thu, 03 May 2007 20:10:00 +0000

Camping, Bormes les Mimosas, April 28, 2007
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

Our very first camping trip in the bus that we have had for two years! Drove down to the mediterranean coast over the long weekend of May 1st , not superfast through the moubtains but quite enjoyable in the old Turbodiesel. We set up camp at the Camp du Domaine campground at Bormes-les-Mimosas, some 35km west of St. Tropez and right on the water. It turned out to be quite enjoyable, the bus is very useful for camping especially with the gas tank filled and a nice tent docked to the door. It is even possible to drive off with the tent standing! Planning has commenced for a few more trips this year, such as Normandy and Spain.

Better than the history channel

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Tue, 01 May 2007 20:34:00 +0000

Pyramid in Gizeh
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

Liz and I went on a 11-day excursion to Egypt to catch up on the history of this fascinating country. Since the Nile cruises were booked, we decided on a cultural expedition instead and that's what we got! Every morning up at the crack of dawn, or before, we covered dozens of monuments, museums, archaelogical sites, and tourist attractions. Not everyday we get to have a friendly AK47-wielding tour guide... Check out our hundreds of photos on Flickr to share some of the awesome sights. This picture is of the 4600 year old Kefren Pyramid in Gizeh near Cairo. That is pretty damn old!

Easter Monday - It's time to take a hike

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 20:50:00 +0000

2007-04-09 Chartreuse Hiking 32
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

Finally, the winter is over and the Chartreuse mountains, right behind our house, are inviting for a nice weekend hiking tour. Because it is still pretty cold, and there is snow above 1200m at least on the northern slopes, we picked a "très facile" trip, some 3 hours long.
Starting in Saint-Même-le-Haut, we climbed roughly 260 m to the spring of the Guiers Vif river which ours out of the rock right underneath a cave. Pretty cold and wet, but quite unique - and we got to venture into the cave! Check out the pictures on flickr...
By the way, we did not encounter any flying bells during the entire Easter weekend. I don't have the heart to tell our French hosts that bells can't fly... everyone knows that the easter eggs are obviously delivered by bunnies!

We'll always have Paris...

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 21:36:00 +0000

It was time for another trip to Paris... always worth a visit and the weather this time was "fantastical". We need to thank our SUV-driving friends for global warming and this opportunity to have lunch "al fresco" and sit in the park. It is not often that we get to do this in the middle of February - or have the option to ride the motorcycle to work.
Of course, a weekend isn't enough, we will have to go back soon.
The winter is pretty much over in France and the flowers are coming up... time to prepare for the gardening season.
Next weekend we will extend the antenna mast to 8m. Did you know that the Eiffel tower only survived because it was used as an antenna mast in the early days? Gripping.
On our walking tour we stumbled into the RUE COLBERT, complete with GALERIES COLBERT and the GRAND COLBERT restaurant. Couldn't resist to send a quick email to our hero Steven Colbert... who even pronounces his name in French! We'll see if he likes it...
Thanks for stopping by and come back soon for more pictures from France!

The Great Wall of China at Ba Da Ling

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 07:10:00 +0000

2007-01-21_Great Wall Ba Da Ling_007
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

Just returned from almost two weeks in China. January is not the best time for a business trip there and I caught a bad cold. This photo is showing where it probably came from... pretty darn freezing and windy in the mountains.
Unbelievable how many people were there despite the bitter cold. In summer, it must be a zoo! We walked all the way up to the last tower. It is very impressive that this wall was build so long ago, and still stands. However, despite the effort it had no effect in preventing Mongolian invasions into China in the end... but makes for a great tourist attraction, complete with a Starbucks at the entrance.

A day in Zürich

noreply@blogger.com (Liz & Uli) — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 14:09:00 +0000

Zürich Limmatufer Panorama
Originally uploaded by bluelizardinfrance.

On our way home from Fürstenfeldbruck we stopped halfway for one night in Zürich - that's about all one can afford. $13 for two coffees at Starbucks? This is worse than Chicago! On the upside, we had a lovely day, it wasn't cold and the sun was shining. Zürich is a lovely old town and the houses in the old center often have their building years indicated. 1500 is not a very old one. Lots of pictures taken, check them out on flickr!
Happy new year!