More from Bonn and Köln....

Here is Raúl, ruler of all he surveys (the part of the Rhine that runs through Bonn at least)

And doing foolish things with a cannon, I don't think it's loaded at least

And here is his marvelous palace, where he works (2nd floor, window just to the right of centre)

Nice view from there to the city :)

We snuck into the Münster in Bonn, it really has a strangely ancient feel to it, unexpectedly peaceful too, despite being in the middle of the city

As we left, we witnessed a miracle: blessed Jesus ducks who could walk upon the surface of the water- jealous Antti?

And to Köln, and the wonderfully interesting streets down by the river, a nice change from the totally commercial and modern centre of the city (no pictures of that part, just imagine a city)

Full of wonderfully imposing churches, nothing like striking the fear of God into the hearts of mere peasants.

And finally the riverfront at Köln, strikingly similar to Bonn, but with extra people. Not surprising given it's the same river and all I suppose. So, if you would like to see more, come visit Raúl in Bonn and take a day trip to Köln, he's got a sofa bed arriving this week just for visitors!

Hope the new year is treating you all well, and I miss you all!
Kiri

After listening to this song I could not forget you guys!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHpSCHxb780&feature=related

Köln

Hey!! Greetings from Northern Westphalia! Sorry for my delay in not posting any pics lately on the blog, but I have been tied up in adjusting to work around here after stopping for so long after I left Canberra. The following pics are from a trip myself and Kiri took to Köln just after the new years.

Enjoy and happy new year,

Raúl

The biggest and meanest Cathedral I have ever seen! You leave the Central Station in Cologne and you have this huge massive ugly beast looking down at you and giving you a big "fuck you". The Köln Dom is from the 13th Century and it took around 800 years to be fully built. Up until the mid 19th century it was the worlds tallest building.

The Dom is a fat little bugger...

Typical medieval narrow streets in downtown Köln.

You can almost imagine the people in the middle ages walking these narrow streets and and looking up at the Munster and it gave them the creeps.

Couchman in da Haus! (Kiri in all her green bag splendour)

Another huge church, this one I believe it is called St Martins Church, and it is still f****g massive!

Kiri with the waterfront area by the Rhein river as a backdrop.

Hej hej!

Have a great week end, dear friends!

Cheers from us!

Man has walked the moon, and Brazilians have walked the ice. Very happy aunt Rosely, mum Iara, grandmum Guiomar and Ri to be in the middle of a frozen lake.

Swedish invention, need no further explanation... ;-)

Christmas at the Svahn's. Mamma, me, pappa, Ri, cousin (and movie star) Michael, Rosa, Gui-Gui and Iara.

Better than the electric car.....

The air car! What will they think of next that we can all ignore? What new marvel shall all the genius of the human race create that will be snuffed out by greed and selfish interest?
Ah well, we can dream...
http://www.theaircar.com
;)
K

Individualists

Dear Friends,

Hyvää Päivää

While you've been blogging your selfish daily doings and your individual experiences, we've been conspiring for a more humanistic post...

Ferry from Helsinki:

Och Suomi


And my new asset:

More pictures from the end of 2007

My courtyard in the snow


Alvarina freezing



View over the valley from my window

Mom and I

Anto and Dott. Cara, the surgeon that saved my hand

Anto the day after the operation

eating pizza with my hand-injured fellows at the hospital

view from the hospital

my roommates eating the gourmet hospital food

After the operation...

Antonietta, one of my roomates

My roomates (Alessia and Simona) at the hospital

With Paolo and Giulio in Venezia

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Ciao ragazzi,

I hope you are all fine and enjoying Christmas holidays withyour beloved. Here in Sardinia it has been a 24-hours non-stop eating with family and friends, just like at Kioloa last year with some of you (still remember that with joy). I wanted to congratulate with Kia and Raul for getting the jobs and with Kiri for having her first paper published. Well done, Canberra survivors! All the ANU will be proud of you!
Life in Italy has been fine, apart that I have been hospitalized tohave surgery to my left hand a few weeks ago. Luckily all is fine now, the hand will be functioning well soon, according to the doctors (but when I see that idiot that broke my finger in Canberra I am going to chop his head off!!).
A trip to Venice before the operation and snow in my village after helped to cheer me up. And the great news is that I got a very good consultancy job in Laos for twoi months. So, in January and February I will be useful for society again, after 3 months of easy-cozy life in the Sardinian countryside. Just what I needed before heading back to exciting Canberra to finish my PhD. Paula and Marteen, please hang on there, do not leave!
Enjoy some pictures I took over the last few months.

I send you a big hug and wish you a fantastic 2008. May the New Year bring you all you wish.

Anto

Venezi: Biennale of Art. by Cheri Samba (Congo)





Venezia: Biennale of Art. Spanish pavillion


Venezia: unexpected visitor at the Biennale


Venezia: Biennale of Art: with my sister and brother-in-law


Venezi: Biennale of Art: diving into the lagoon




Venezia: Anto with Giulio (right) and Paolo (left) at an opening of an architect studio on the Canal Grande



Venezia: gondolino on the Canal Grande

Merry Christmas from Raúl and Kiri!!

It's alive!!! It's Alive!!!!

Heyyy!!!

Today has been a good week! We managed to resurect the two furnaces we have here in the lab from the dead! When I got here, they had 2 hight temperature furnaces sitting there which did not work. Not so anymore! Thanks to the skills of doctor Frankenstein here, and his lovely assistants (actually they did mot of the work) managed to bring them back to life after a year or so of them gathering dust! This means I might be able to start running experiments after the new years!! Yay!!! And the cool thing is that in here you can get diploma students to run the experiments for you! Double yay!!!

Hugs and merry Christmas to everybody!

Raúl

Myself, Vera (left - PhD student) and Julia (right - Diploma student) pretending to be operating the furnace.

After a long while (e.g. a year), the furnace finally fires up to 1300ºC!!!

Green car!

Hey!!!!!

I know this is not exactly about my life in Bonn, but I thought I could share this with you guys. Check this Austrian blog out, which shows different models of green, emission-free electric cars, hybrids, solar cells, and highly efficient batteries. It is important that people are made aware that there actually exists technology in the world that can run without the use of fossil fuels. I also recomend viewing of "Who Killed the electric car" to further understand why it is important to know that these breakthroughs exist. The website is called Green Car and you can access it by clicking its name.



The very Swedish Volvo ReCharge, a plug-in hybrid. Richardson and Kia should think of this one :P