RyanHellyer.net

“One man. One hockey stick. Many WordPress challenges.”

How do people deal with me?

Apparently this is what people resort to when stuck in Europe with me for a whole month!

Victoria Argyle smoking from a huka

Smoking from a huka.
I tried it too but I don't recommend it. It's kinda icky. Caffeine is still my drug of choice.

Frederick convinced Vicki that kissing the arse of the solider brought good luck ...

Insanity kicks in after a while and they start believing anything they're told. Frederick convinced Vicki that kissing the arse of the solider brought good luck.

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Two bad photos in a row, so I thought I'd better include a nice one :)

Cologne

After traversing the Rhine, Vicky, Vikas and I headed north to Cologne. We didn’t spend much time there, but the huge Cathedral in the middle of the city sure is an impressive site. Construction started in 1248 and didn’t finish until 1880! It was the tallest man-made structure in the world until 1884.

The Cologne Cathedral

The Cologne Cathedral

3D image of the inside of the Cologne Cathedral

3D image of the inside of the Cologne Cathedral

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Another 3D image of the inside of the Cologne Cathedral

Cologne was decimated after 262 air raids by the Western Allies during World War II. By the end of the war essentially all of Cologne’s pre-war Jewish population of 20,000 had been deported or killed. The photo below shows the devastation of the city.

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Cologne in 1945. To see the full devastation in detail, view the high resolution version. Thanks to Wikipedia for the photo (which I obviously did not take!).

Rhine river

Vikas took Vicki and I up the scenic Rhine river. There are Castles everywhere along the banks of the river.

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Hockenheimring

Vickas took Vicki and I to the Hockenheimring in Germany, the home of the German grandprix. There were no cars racing that day, just testing. But it was nice to see (in person) the track I’ve driven around in so many video games.

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Random car circling around the Hockeheim grandprix track. Any ideas what kinda car this is?

German cows

Ya know how in the movies the cows in Germany have bells on them? Well apparently those crazy Germans actually do attach bells to the poor cows! I have no idea why they do this. Imagine how insane you would go if some dork attached a bell around your neck! Every time you moved you would hear an irritating bell sound.

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I took the photos in the Black Forest in south western Germany.

Technik Museum Speyer

Vikas Aggarwal took Victoria Argyle and I to the Technik Museum Speyer in Germany. They had all sorts of different types of locomotion including trains, planes, automobiles and underwater submarines.

We got strapped to the side of a Boeing 747 and taken for a flight. It was quite blustery but I managed to snap the following pic just after takeoff.

What it looks likes when you are strapped to the side of a Boeing 747!

Flying on the side of a Boeing 747 at full pelt can be quite windy, I recommend taking some goggles along.

 

German submarine

My plans of becoming a sub-mariner were squashed as soon as I entered this thing. It is the most seriously cramped place I

And to really put paid to my sub-mariner plans, these torpedo bays are only meters from the bedroom area.

And to really put paid to my sub-mariner plans, these torpedo bays are only meters from the bedroom area.

Cosmonaut suit

A Cosmonaut suit.

Vickas decided to go first-class instead of wing-class.

Vikas decided to go first-class instead of wing-class on the Boeing 747.

Boeing 747

Boeing 747

This was actually taken at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, but it seemed like an appropriate place to put it.

This was actually taken at the Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, but it seemed like an appropriate place to put it.

More from the Black Forest

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Photos in the Blackforest

When in the Black Forest, we all went photo crazy with lots of pictures to be taken of the beautiful scenery.

Vikas Aargarwaal lining up another master piece

Vikas Aargarwaal lining up another master piece

Vicki taking a photo of yours truly

Vicki taking a photo of yours truly

Fabian shooting a small stream

Fabian shooting a small stream

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Images from the Black Forest

Vikas Aggarwaal took us to the Black Forest in south western Germany. The scenery made it feel like home :) We took a short Gondola ride to the top of a ski field (summer season) and went on a scenic walk through the forest.

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