03 .. SAKURA /, 3.0 .. Planung und Anreise   

Wie immer

Wie immer habe ich zu spät angefangen. Es ist der 12. März und ich habe den Flug für den 2. April gebucht. Jetzt habe ich drei Wochen für JRP, Hotels, und eine Reiseroute.

Es wird wie immer in Streß ausarten, obwohl ich dieses mal eine gute Ausrede habe: die Kirschblüte. Es ist kniffelig sie zu treffen. Sie dauert eine Woche, höchstens zwei. Wann das sein wird, hängt ganz von der Wetterlage ab. In den letzten Wochen wurde der Termin mehrmals korrgiert, aber irgendwann muß ich buchen.

Neben der Kirschblüte gibt es noch zwei weitere Punkte auf meiner Liste: das Takayama Matsuri und das Nikko Matsuri. In Takayama war ich 2006 und habe die Festwagen gesehen; im Museum. Auch sonst ist der Ort definitiv eine zweite Reise wert. In Nikko war ich 2004 auf meiner ersten Reise. Damals  habe ich mich total im Zugplan verzettelt. Am Ende blieben mir 3 Stunden für Fotos. Hier gibt es Nachholbedarf.

Off Topic   

Fire Department

Beside Japan I have some other hobbies. I am a member of the voluntary fire department. This is also the reason for als the fire dept. pictures from Japan. Unfortunately there are pictures from me at the scene.

This fire was 2008 close to the train station. Lucky for me that I just came back from Hamburg and that I had my camera with me.

This was the backup team of Vol. Fire Dept. 26. They were waiting for nothing to happen. Because if the come into action, something went wrong. All respect to the people in the „second row“ who cover the six of the guys in action.

And I really found an very old picture from 2007. This was a fire in a super market. Is was in charge (somehow) of ladder 4. I went up with the member of th professional fire department. But at the shift changeover his replacement never showed up. So I went up alone. Only the driver of the ladder supported my actions from the ground. It was a relaxing job. After that fire I nearly missed every big one in Lübeck.

Off Topic   

NLC

Sometimes in July and August you can see NLC in Lübeck. These are clouds in the higher atmosphere, that are illuminated by sunlight. Even at night. They are very high, so that that shadow of the earth doesn’t hit them. On the picture you can see a color change at the top of the clouds. This is the beginning of the earth shadow.

NLC stands for noctilucent clounds. They are located in the mesophere (76-85 km high). For comparsion: an airplane is flying at 10 km, and Felix Baumgartners mindblowing jump was from 36 km height. He need a space suit because there was no atmosphere left to breath. And this was only half way to the NLC clouds.

NLC are not fully understood now. We don’t know when and how they appear. There is no water in the mesophere. The air in the sahara desert contains 100 million times more water. But they are there and they are amazing. The move and change shape. They are rare. In Lübeck auroras borealis are usally not visible. NLC are a good substitute.

Another benefit of the geographic position of Lübeck is something, that in scandinavia is called midsummer. We do not have a sun above the horizont at night. But the sun is also not very deep below the horizont line. So the sky is not dark either. And in the north it is not blue. It shows colors we know from sunset. Dusk is changing to dawn without real night.

The picture above shows the 5 churches of Lübeck at midnight on June 21st. Churches are usually built in east-west-direction with the tower in the west. As you can see, the camera is facing north.

Off Topic   

High Water

The city center of Luebeck is located on an island, surrounded by the river Trave. The river ends 10km away in the baltic sea (a very nice beach area). Under certain wind conditions the water of the baltic sea is pushed into the bay of Luebeck and further into the river. Then the water level rises. Usually not much, usually around 50cm above normal. But sometimes it rises higher and starts to flood the lower streets in the northwest of the town. The streets are only 1m above sea level.

This happens usually two or three times in a year around the winter storm season. The people living in this area are aware of this and adjusted their homes and lifes to it. The ground floor does not has a carpet. Furnitures can be moved upstairs or are resitant to water. For sure, it is not convenient, but the old houses have that much style and charme, that you will make this sacrify to your life.

Like always, I prefer pictures taken at night. Btw… the picture above is no HDR and it is also not post processed. It is right out of the camera. A lucky shot.