Saturday, March 21, 2009

Spring is here










"Parle-moi d' amour!" Great crested grebes are performing a cute mating ritual on the pond.



We took a walk in cold wind under blue sky and discovered a part of Hamburg on foot which is one of our favourite things to do on weekends with good weather.



It was really cold! We stayed in the streets and did not head for the shore of our beautiful Alster "lake" -- actually an artificial lake formed from the river Alster. It is nice there, but the wind was too cold. It felt like zero!


The Alster in summer
In the Middleages, people of Hamburg created a reservoir by building a dam into the Alster which drove a mill. Later, when sailing became popular, this was a space to find recreation in sports. Swimming was possible still in the twenties/thirties. Now, water quality has been improved to the point that it is possible again to swim in the Alster. But nobody does; it is not forbidden, but not recommended either.

6 comments:

Diane Cransac said...

Adventuring is so much fun isn't it? I also love to wander into the unknown. Never know what will be around the next corner! It looks beautiful there...

Anonymous said...

I enjoy visiting your blog so much. you always have something new and interesting to see.

Anonymous said...

It was below freezing here last night and very frosty this morning, but lots of evidence of spring coming.

Your lake looks lovely.

Rayna said...

Nice to live in a city, where there is always something magical to see. The 'burbs are boring - ask me how I know.

I have missed reading my favorite blogs but am starting to catch up.
Thanks for the history lesson and the little tour.

Judy said...

Love your Spring pictures....even though it was cold you found the Spring flowers!
Hard to believe that you found time to tutor me on web sites too! LOL

xo

Judy said...

p.s. I love your Great Crest Grebe pictures. We only have the pied billed Grebes here....yours are far more spectacular!

xo