Windmills are a symbol of clean energy today, but wind power is not especially new technology on the Greek island of Crete. In the late 15th century, the occupying Venetians began to use windmills on the edge of Crete’s hillsides to grind wheat. To better catch the wind, they attached fabric-like sails on the blades.
Today, after over 500 years of facing the elements, the sails are gone and the windmills that remain do so in various stages of disuse. In spite of all that, amidst the breeze, it’s possible to imagine the two dozen windmills on the edge of the Lassithi Plateau in Seli Ampelou helping to churn out kilos of ground wheat.
For a glimpse of the windmills and some classic Cretan landscape, open the panorama below. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Europe, Greece, Panorama by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
9 Comments | 20 October 2011
Greetings from Crete!
Difficult to keep track of us sometimes, isn’t it? In one week, after a hop (from Berlin), a skip (to Prague), and a jump (from Munich), we’ve landed on Crete, the almost-southernmost island of Greece.
First morning seaside wake-up call.
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Filed Under: Europe, Greece, Travel by: Audrey Scott
18 Comments | 18 October 2011
A quick visit to a hot sauce store in Berlin turns into an unplanned three-hour hot sauce sampling that made us feel like we just dropped acid.
Have you ever planned a hot sauce tasting? Ever even imagined one? Well, maybe you should.
A few hot sauce favorites from a tasting at Pfefferhaus, Berlin
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Filed Under: Europe, Food, Germany by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
22 Comments | 14 October 2011
What is marriage, if not a leap of faith?
Fourteen years ago, on or around our second date, Audrey and I went skydiving together. It was, as you might imagine, both terrifying and fantastic. And as much as you also might also imagine that it wiped away my fear of heights, it did not. Perhaps it chiseled away at that wall, but it certainly didn’t tear it down. I still swoon thinking about that airplane canopy above 16,000 feet. I still get wobbly above 10 stories.
So here we are 14 years later in Berlin, celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary. What better way to recognize the occasion than to jump (base fly) from the top of a 37-story building?
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Filed Under: Europe, Germany, Travel, Videos by: Daniel Noll
27 Comments | 7 October 2011
Potsdamer Platz. If you look into the past beyond all that new glass and steel, you’ll find an eventful story — a place where a time lapse sequence over the last 100 years would almost defy reason. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Germany, Panorama by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
7 Comments | 6 October 2011
A view of Berlin — its cycles of destruction and renewal and the evolution of its food scene — through the lens of a one-night gastro tour.
If you wish to learn about a place, eat your way to the answer. This maxim resonates no less so than in Berlin, a city whose history tells of a rise from the ashes and from oppression and whose present-day witnesses a continual carving out of its own identity.
For as much as we’ve learned and eaten during our time in Berlin, there was apparently still more to eat, still more to learn.
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Filed Under: Europe, Food, Germany by: Audrey Scott
17 Comments | 30 September 2011
The Great Synagogue (aka, Dohány Street Synagogue) in Budapest is the largest synagogue in Europe (and 2nd largest in the world). We stumbled upon it while strolling around Budapest on an autumn day and were taken back by its architectural design and unusual colorful exterior.
Originally built in the mid-19th century, the synagogue was destroyed by Nazi and Allied bombings during World War II. After the end of the Cold War, the synagogue was reconstructed over the course of a decade with the help of private donations. Today, you can see the Great Synagogue restored to its original glory and in use for its original purpose.
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Filed Under: Hungary, Panorama by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
9 Comments | 23 August 2011
You know it’s been a long day at the beer festival when guys in lederhosen start doing the moonwalk.
-– The essence of the moment, Saturday night at the Berlin beerfest.
More than 2,000 beers from over 300 breweries hailing from 86 countries — all spread out over two kilometers in the middle of the city. No, this is not Oktoberfest.
So many beers yet so little time. That’s the Berlin Beer Festival.
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Filed Under: Europe, Food, Germany by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
18 Comments | 9 August 2011
Berlin’s Reichstag, home to German Bundestag (Parliament). Take a stroll on the rooftop with this spherical panorama. The glass dome is cool, you get a 360 degree view of Berlin, and the whole thing is apparently rather environmentally friendly. Very German. Very Berlin. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Germany, Panorama by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
3 Comments | 18 July 2011
Old, young, black, white, yellow, happy, sad, scared. We’re all people. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Europe, Germany by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
17 Comments | 9 July 2011
