Garden Visit : Mohnfelder in Osthessen

Not a "garden" that I visited, but a field with a rare kind of crop in flower not often seen in Germany. 

In a remote part of Hessen, close to the former border two hours north east of Frankfurt in a sparsely populated area, large fields of poppies are grown: Papaver somniferum - the opium poppy - is in flower these two weeks in June. Each year, when the fields show up in white and pink, photographers flock to this area to capture these beautiful delicate flowers, whose petals in fine shades of white and pink only last a day.

In Germany one needs permission to grow opium poppies even for non-commercial purposes - these fields are harvested to make poppy food stuffs, poppy seed oils and for medicinal purposes. 

with cornflower

unfolding buds

It was a fine summer day, rye and barley fields ripening, larks singing in the air above the fields.

 I tried to capture the wavy golden textures of the grain in a series of semi-abstracts (they are best seen very large). 

rye

 Motacilla flava - Western Yellow Wagtail

a double exposure

.... off to the next flower!

Blickachsen 2017

Hard to believe but it has been two years since the last Blickachsen Exhibition in my home town Bad Homburg  ( Blickachsen 2015 ). And who would have thought that I would maintain this blog up till now and find something to write about each week? 

"Untitled (schräge Bank)" -  Markus Wilfling

"DN100 Stadtmöbel"

Bad Homburg's Kurpark is full of resting benches - it is a nice theme to work on as one can see from the works of Wilfling and Pitsch&Schau .... This huge bench is made from drainage pipe.

A large gherkin: "Der Gurk" - Erwin Wurm

.... the severely cut back yews on either side might but don't belong to the exhibition. 

 another large gherkin-like structure ... "Roter Keil" - Johann Feilacher

"Kreisgruppe" - Joannis Avramidis

"Kopf im Kopf" - Alfred Haberpointner

This is not a photoshop distortion but a very ingeniously crafted sculpture.

"Isabella" - Jaume Plensa

"Big Be-Hide" - Alicja Kwade

"Blue Hour" - Raul Walch

Why does this remind me of Bhutan? 

"7 Anrufungen" - Karl Prantl

"Pavillon de Vin" - Joana Vasconcelos

"Placements" - Manfred Wakolbinger

"Three Equal Volumes" - Ewerdt Hilgemann

These three rather cold stainless steel installations led to my most interesting organic monochrome abstract photographs.

On the opening day young ladies in historic costumes offered drinks from Bad Homburg's mineral springs.  

Wanderlust : Toledo

Bisagra gate

On a recent trip to Madrid, when I had a day off, I took the train from Atocha railway station to Toledo where I had never been before. Spanish trains are very punctual, efficient and fast, contrary to my belief based on misled assumptions from Chris de Burgh's song about God and the devil playing chess which would predict a lengthy ride. The ride was 30 min for a distance of 73 km - that is quite an impressive average! 

 Toledo sits on a horseshoe-like bend of the river Tajo (Tejo when it runs into Portugal). Its skyline is dominated by the cathedral (left) and the Alcazar (right).

Toledo has been a town since Roman times, and is now a UNESCO world heritage site, with lots of monuments of Christian, Jewish and Muslim origin. 

The cathedral is absolutely spectacular. I have rarely seen such splendour - Catholic of course, but never mind :).

The "Chorgestühl" 

There is a spectacular "hole" in the ceiling with a skylight where sun rays float in and strike a glorious Baroque altar piece.

a proud Maria

I can't imagine she was as happy with the turn of her son's life later ...

 the more recent bishops are all painted wearing their glasses 

swallows, swifts and pidgeons circle the tower

Here a different architecture: One might think to be in an old mosque in moorish style. No, it is the Synagoge Santa Maria la Blanca from 1180. 

Furthermore El Greco is a son of the city. "El Greco's house" can be visited, with a few pictures and many contemporaries' paintings, but beware: it is not the place where he lived and worked - it is more of an imaginative "approximation" by a rich 20th century donor. 

In the Cathedral the old sacristy has El Greco on display.

Toledo is a uniquely pretty town to walk, up and down the hilly cobblestoned streets, wandering tourists protected by a sort of lining put up against the glaring midday heat. 

Toledo, Spain, not Toledo, US. It becomes obvious when you turn around and inspect the station, built in 1919 in remarkable neo-moorish style. 

Enjoy the visit!