View allAll Photos Tagged Schengen
Walkers cross a bridge from Sweden into Norway, two countries that are part of the European Schengen free travel area. There is no border check or customs, even though Norway is not in the EU. Location is Elgåfossen, I'll update the geolocation when I have my usual devices.
I appreciate that national borders are a highly charged political issue all round the world, so please judge this work on its artistic merit and not on how closely it reflects your own views!
Cropped and (attempted) processing on smartphone.
An hour or so later, 99-1741 returns downhill at Hammerunterwiesenthal with some unexpected sun brightening the scene. The small "D" marker in the foreground designates the German border. On the other side of the little stream is the Czech Republic. In the DDR days standing here may have been inadvisable. Today with the Schengen agreement the border hardly exists, but the after a year of Covid lockdowns there was still a bit of excitement in simply walking across a national border again.
The site as it stands today dates back to the 1950s and 1960s. Although these lakes are artificial, they were not created for tourism or leisure purposes.
Before the 1950s, Luxembourg exploited local sand pits in this area. In other words, quarries from which sand, gravel and pebbles were extracted for construction purposes. When the quarrying stopped, the artificially created basins filled up with groundwater. This is how the Remerschen lakes came into being.
flight CV777 ( Los Angeles LAX-Toulouse-Blagnac TLS ) landing at the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport May 26,2017
TL;DR Swiss choo choo.
After my 2019 trip to England with Blair Kooistra, Mark Perry and Glenn Courtney, I ventured on my own to Switzerland, with the idea of photograhing the BLS car ferry trains operating between Kandersteg and Goppenstein and other railroads in Switzerland.
These car ferries provided passengers the ability to turn a three hour drive around the Bernese Alps into a 20 minute train ride through them. These trains were powered by vintage Re425 locomotives, built by Schweizerische Lokomotiv-und Maschinenfabrik in Winterthur between 1964 and 1983 for the BLS.
As always, not all things go as planned. After departing the group and heading my own way at London's Heathrow airport, I experienced some of the worst food poisoning I've ever had. I spent the first three days of my six day trip bed-bound in Spiez. It was literally "coming out of both ends".
Those three days were set aside to photograph the scenes around Spiez and take a shot at the car ferries and it never happened. I pushed on in my trip, and told myself I was going to return to photograph the Re425's on the car ferry at some point. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the EU shut its borders and I cancelled my three week trip to Europe - which had multiple days set aside to shoot in the Kandersteg area.
In the early Summer of 2021, the Schengen region of Europe opened their borders for American citizens, with the stipulation that you had to be vaccinated or provide proof of a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours of departure from the airport in the States. I considered going, but the idea of a Q-Tip up my nose was not very enticing, as I had gone the entire pandemic without a test. A few days later, word got out that BLS was planning on retiring the Re425's from car ferry service. I manned up, got tested and started planning the trip. My goal was to depart the morning of July 20th, from Duluth. I'd connect in Chicago, Newark and then onward to Zurich; where I'd meet an Instagram and plane spotting acquaintance there who expressed an interest in railways as well. The goal was to have five days in Switzerland. Two on the car ferries, one around Spiez and one for plane spotting Zurich. It was only a few hours after listing myself for the flights that my Swiss friend learned the term "railroaded."
I was supposed to leave at 8:12am Tuesday. The phone rang for M345 to Ranier for an 18:55 on duty on Monday. After a 12 hour trip up, a short stay and an even shorter trip home, I was ready. Of course, the excitement, stress and overall nervousness of the trip kept me from sleeping even though I had just worked all night after being up for most of the day.
6am Thursday came quick and Southwell was in my driveway to take me to the airport for a 7:59am boarding on a flight that had no open seats. Ugh. The con of standby travel. The final boarding call was made and I was still standing in the terminal, waiting, hoping, that someone would no-show. One minute before the doors closed, I was handed a boarding pass by the gate agent with a seat assignment. Things started to look up, until I got to Chicago. Weather the day before wreaked havoc on United's flights. Cancellations galore. Employees non-revving to get home have a higher boarding priority than I do and all of the Newark flights were full. I looked at Dulles, which was United's other hub for a flight to Zurich. Same issue. Lunch time came and went and I was stumped. Am I going to be stuck in Chicago? Should I give up and head home? I figured I'd make something out of the situation and got on a half-full Airbus to Miami where I met a friend for dinner. Next step; get to Newark.
To prevent the issue of flying standby, I bought a ticket to Newark. 13:00 departure, sweet. I can sleep in, as its now pushing midnight and I've been up for almost 40 hours. Just as I laid my head on the pillow, I get a notification from United saying my cushy afternoon flight was cancelled. I quickly rebooked on the only available option: an 8am out of Miami. 5am came quick, and I was headed back to the airport. Five hours of tossing and turning wasn't enough, but we were one step closer to Switzerland. It quickly became evident that my 72-hour COVID test was going to expire before boarding the 767-300 for the trip across the pond and I'd be denied entry. So, with only an hour prior to boarding, I left the terminal, spent $250 on a rapid test and
got my results in 15 minutes. Security wasn't completely atrocious, and a few minutes later I was boarding the flight to Zurich, only 3 days late.
The Northern Lights faintly danced as we crossed the Atlantic and sleep was limited. We arrived in Zurich early, early enough that I got a few minutes of plane spotting in before boarding a SBB train for Zurich-Main station to meet my Swiss friend. We met, got some breakfast and boarded another SBB train for Spiez and eventually Fruitigen, to check off a bucket list shot that Lötschberg I fell in love with after watching Scott Lothes' *AMAZING* slideshow on Swiss railroading. With one shot done, we turned our focus on the Re425's. We boarded a regional train, rode over the famous Lötschberg Pass and soon enough we were at Kandersteg. Seven hours of sleep in 96 hours had me struggling. We walked the trail from the station to a driveway overpass, made famous for the backdrop with the Bernese Alps looming above the double tracked line. Within a few minutes, one of the big brown boxy Re425's was in the viewfinder and all of the stress, exhaustion and hunger (I was starving!) was made worth it.
My Swiss friend and I parted ways. He was heading home, and I was headed to a hotel in Spiez; where we planned we would meet up again the next morning for another day of railfanning the area. Shortly after trying to mime my way through ordering dinner, I checked the standby list for the flight home on Saturday the 24th. The flight was filling up, so, I regretfully had to cut the trip short by a day to avoid being stranded in Switzerland (I can think of worse places to be stuck in). I boarded the flight, and flew west, where one of my favorite moments of the entire trip happened while clearing customs at Newark.
Customs: "Anything to declare?"
Me: "Nope"
Customs: "Any puchases?"
Me: "Nope, not even Swiss chocolate."
Customs: "How long were you out of the country for?"
Me: "Umm, 22 hours."
Customs: "You went to Switzerland for 22 hours?"
Me: "Yeah.. Long story."
Customs: "Welcome back, have a good one."
Finishing up, I actually don't know if the Re425's ever did get pulled off the car ferry trains, and if they didn't, maybe I'll make a trip next year. But if they did? I'm glad I at least got one photo to prove I saw them.
Remerschen - Moonset @ Haff Réimech
Naturschutzgebitt Haff Réimech: lb.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturschutzgebitt_Haff_R%C3%A9imech
Remerschen: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remerschen
© all rights reserved
Please take your time... and enjoy it large on black
The Zugspitze is the highest mountain in Germany. It is located at the Austrian border in the town of Grainau of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria. The border between Germany and Austria goes right through Zugspitze mountain. There is a border checkpoint at the summit; since Germany and Austria are both part of the Schengen zone, the border crossing is no longer staffed. The Zugspitze belongs to the Wetterstein range in the northern Kalkalpen. It gets its name from the any avalanches (Lawinenzüge in German) on its steep north slopes. A dream day on the highest peak in Germany.
View from the Zugspitze platform looking south toward Zugspitzplatt
like walking on clouds.
De Zugspitze is met 2962 meter hoogte de hoogste berg van Duitsland en ligt in Zuid-Beieren, op de grens tussen Duitsland en Oostenrijk. Drie van de vijf Duitse gletsjers zijn op het Zugspitzmassief te vinden. Op het zogenaamde Zugspitzplatt bevinden zich twee kleine gletsjers. Men kan verder vanaf dit dak naar de top klimmen. Hier zijn uiteraard wel goede bergschoenen voor nodig en wat ervaring.
© all rights reserved
Please take your time... and enjoy it large on black
The border between Germany and Austria goes right through Zugspitze mountain.
There is a border checkpoint at the summit; since Germany and Austria are both part of the
Schengen zone, the border crossing is no longer staffed. The Zugspitze belongs to the
Wetterstein range in the northern Kalkalpen. It gets its name from the any avalanches
(Lawinenzüge in German) on its steep north slopes. A dream day on the highest peak
in Germany
The holy cross just catch a glim's of sunlight
Kleinwalsertal (little Walser valley) is a part of Austria, but only accessible from Germany to the north, and thus is an Austrian "practical exclave" or "pene-exclave". It used to have special tax free status which became obsolete when Austria acceded to the EU.
It is a commune of the state Vorarlberg which is the most western state of Austria. It consists of three villages which are situated along the River Breitach: Mittelberg, Hirschegg, and Riezlern.
The valley is famous in Central Europe as a ski and hiking resort. The 5,000 inhabitants, who are called "Walser", provide 12,000 beds for tourists.
Due to the terrain there is no direct access by car to the other parts of Austria. Therefore the Kleinwalsertal can only be accessed via Oberstdorf, a nearby village in Germany.
From 1891 Kleinwalsertal enjoyed a customs union with Germany, a free border, and used the Deutsche Mark. Since Austria joined the European Union in 1995, followed by the signing of the Schengen Agreement (1997) and the introduction of the Euro (2002), this special status no longer applies.
From Wikipedia
In this nice place I spent my holidays until yesterday!
Circular Walk Remerschen 1 - Wintrange
Circular Walk Remerschen 1: www.visitluxembourg.com/en/place/walking/circular-walk-re...
Wintrange: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wintrange
Remerschen: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remerschen
Schengen: www.schengen.lu/
The Beautiful Luxembourg
Plus d'infos... (FR)
parismuseescollections.paris.fr/fr/maison-de-victor-hugo/...
Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory and city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean (Strait of Gibraltar). It has an area of 6.7 km2 and is bordered to the north by Spain (Campo de Gibraltar). The landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar, at the foot of which is a densely populated town area, home to some 32,688 people (2022 estimate), primarily Gibraltarians.
Gibraltar was founded as a permanent watchtower by the Almohads in 1160. It switched control between the Nasrids, Castilians and Marinids in the Late Middle Ages, acquiring larger strategic clout upon the destruction of nearby Algeciras c. 1375. It became again part of the Crown of Castile in 1462. In 1704, Anglo-Dutch forces captured Gibraltar from Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession, and it was ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It became an important base for the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars and World War II, as it controlled the narrow entrance and exit to the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar, with half the world's seaborne trade passing through it.
The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations, as Spain asserts a claim to the territory. Gibraltarians overwhelmingly rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in a 1967 referendum, and for shared sovereignty in a 2002 referendum. Nevertheless, Gibraltar maintains close economic and cultural links with Spain, with many Gibraltarians speaking Spanish as well as a local dialect known as Llanito.
Gibraltar's economy rests on financial services, e-gaming, tourism and the port. With one of the world's lowest unemployment rates, the largest part of the labour force are resident in Spain or non-Gibraltarians, especially in the private sector. Since Brexit, Gibraltar is not a member of the European Union but negotiations are under way to have it participate in the Schengen Agreement to facilitate border movements between Gibraltar and Spain. As of March 2023, talks seem deadlocked.
Polish border Town (on the eastern bank of the river Oder) on the border with Germany. It is connected with Frankfurt (Oder) on the German side by a bridge, Because Germany and Poland have both signed the Schengen treaty, there are no border controls.
Remerschen - Milky Way @ Haff Réimech
Milky Way: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way
Biodiversum: www.visitluxembourg.com/fr/adresse/parks/reserve-naturell...
Naturschutzgebitt Haff Réimech: lb.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturschutzgebitt_Haff_R%C3%A9imech
Remerschen: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remerschen
The site as it stands today dates back to the 1950s and 1960s. Although these lakes are artificial, they were not created for tourism or leisure purposes.
Before the 1950s, Luxembourg exploited local sand pits in this area. In other words, quarries from which sand, gravel and pebbles were extracted for construction purposes. When the quarrying stopped, the artificially created basins filled up with groundwater. This is how the Remerschen lakes came into being.
Frontera España-Portugal en el puente internacional sobre el río Miño, entre Tui y Valença do Minho; al fondo, Portugal
Promenade @ Haff Réimech/Remerschen
Biodiversum: www.visitluxembourg.com/fr/adresse/parks/reserve-naturell...
Naturschutzgebitt Haff Réimech: lb.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturschutzgebitt_Haff_R%c3%a9imech
Remerschen: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remerschen
GOOD NEWS!
I’ll officially start taking reservations for Italy workshops from the 30th of June and I have opened spots till summer 2021.
Italy will open its borders next June 3rd (at first it will be only for countries in the Schengen area) but before I start again leading workshops I want to understand how to apply all the safety measures in my power to protect my guests; that’s why I delayed the opening a bit.
To discover all the tours, visit the link down here!
Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory and city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean (Strait of Gibraltar). It has an area of 6.7 km2 and is bordered to the north by Spain (Campo de Gibraltar). The landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar, at the foot of which is a densely populated town area, home to some 32,688 people (2022 estimate), primarily Gibraltarians.
Gibraltar was founded as a permanent watchtower by the Almohads in 1160. It switched control between the Nasrids, Castilians and Marinids in the Late Middle Ages, acquiring larger strategic clout upon the destruction of nearby Algeciras c. 1375. It became again part of the Crown of Castile in 1462. In 1704, Anglo-Dutch forces captured Gibraltar from Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession, and it was ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It became an important base for the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars and World War II, as it controlled the narrow entrance and exit to the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar, with half the world's seaborne trade passing through it.
The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations, as Spain asserts a claim to the territory. Gibraltarians overwhelmingly rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in a 1967 referendum, and for shared sovereignty in a 2002 referendum. Nevertheless, Gibraltar maintains close economic and cultural links with Spain, with many Gibraltarians speaking Spanish as well as a local dialect known as Llanito.
Gibraltar's economy rests on financial services, e-gaming, tourism and the port. With one of the world's lowest unemployment rates, the largest part of the labour force are resident in Spain or non-Gibraltarians, especially in the private sector. Since Brexit, Gibraltar is not a member of the European Union but negotiations are under way to have it participate in the Schengen Agreement to facilitate border movements between Gibraltar and Spain. As of March 2023, talks seem deadlocked.
Remerschen - Milky Way @ Haff Réimech
Milky Way: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way
Biodiversum: www.visitluxembourg.com/fr/adresse/parks/reserve-naturell...
Naturschutzgebitt Haff Réimech: lb.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturschutzgebitt_Haff_R%C3%A9imech
Remerschen: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remerschen
Das alte Schloß
Muskau Park (German: Muskauer Park, officially: Fürst-Pückler-Park Bad Muskau; Polish: Park Mużakowski) is a landscape park in the Upper Lusatia region of Germany and Poland. It is the largest and one of the most famous English gardens in Central Europe, stretching along both sides of the German–Polish border on the Lusatian Neisse. The park was laid out from 1815 onwards at the behest of Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau (1785–1871), centered on his Schloss Muskau residence.
In July 2004, Muskau Park was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The park covers 3.5 square kilometers (1.4 sq mi) of land in Poland and 2.1 km2 (0.81 sq mi) in Germany. It extends on both sides of the Neisse, which constitutes the border between the countries. The 17.9 km2 (6.9 sq mi) buffer zone around the park encompassed the German town Bad Muskau (Upper Sorbian: Mužakow) in the West and Polish Łęknica (Wjeska, former Lugknitz) in the East. While Muskau Castle is situated west of the river, the heart of the park is the partially wooded raised areas on the east bank called The Park on Terraces. In 2003 a pedestrian bridge spanning the Neisse was rebuilt to connect both parts.
On July 2, 2004, UNESCO added the park to its World Heritage List, as an exemplary example of cross-border cultural collaboration between Poland and Germany. It was added to the list on two criteria: for breaking new ground in terms of development towards the ideal man-made landscape, and for its influence on the development of landscape architecture as a discipline. The park also stands as one of Poland's official Historic Monuments (pomnik historii), as designated May 1, 2004, and tracked by the National Heritage Board of Poland.
A fortress on the Neisse at Muskau was first mentioned as early as the 13th century under the rule of Margrave Henry III of Meissen. The founder of the adjacent park was Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau (1785-1871), the author of the influential Remarks on Landscape Gardening and owner of the state country of Muskau from 1811. After prolonged studies in England, in 1815 during the time when the northeastern part of Upper Lusatia fell to Prussia, he laid out the Park. As time went by, he established an international school of landscape management in Bad Muskau and outlined the construction of an extensive landscape park which would envelop the town "in a way not done before on such a grand scale".
The works involved remodelling the Baroque "Old Castle" - actually a former castle gate - and the construction of a Gothic Revival chapel, an English cottage, several bridges, and an orangery designed by Friedrich Ludwig Persius. Pückler reconstructed the medieval fortress as the "New Castle", the compositional centre of the park, with a network of paths radiating from it and a pleasure ground influenced by the ideas of Humphry Repton, whose son John Adey worked at Muskau from 1822 on. The extensions went on until 1845, when Pückler because of his enormous debts was constrained to sell the patrimony. The next year it was acquired by Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, who employed Eduard Petzold, Pückler's disciple and a well-known landscape gardener, to complete his design. Upon his death in 1881, he was succeeded by his daughter Princess Marie, who sold the estates to the Arnim family.
During the Battle of Berlin, both castles were levelled and all four bridges across the Neisse were razed. Count von Arnim-Muskau was dispossessed by the Soviet Military Administration in Germany and since the implementation of the Oder-Neisse line in 1945, the park has been divided by the state border between Poland and Germany, with two thirds of it on the Polish side. Not until the 1960s did the authorities gradually accept the legacy of the "Junker" Prince Pückler. The Old Castle was rebuilt by the East German administration in 1965-1972, while the New Castle and the bridges are still being restored. The Englische Brücke ("English Bridge") across the River Neisse has been repaired and was rededicated on 17 October 2011, after having been demolished with explosives in 1945.
After the Revolutions of 1989 the German and Polish administration joined forces in the redevelopment of the park ensemble. Since Poland entered the Schengen Area in 2007, visitors may freely explore both parts of the park without border checks.