Giant’s Causeway is located in County Antrim and is seen as the biggest natural wonder in Northern Ireland. Hence, it is no wonder that it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage. The sight is a path like array of over 40,000 pentagonal and hexagonal stone bricks that seem to lead like a path into the sea. The colour of the bricks is a greyish ombré look from a darker grey at the bottom to a lighter grey at the top.
It is not completely sure or proved how the strange shape of the bricks was formed. Some of the latest theories state that the stones originated from volcanic eruptions around 60 million years ago. Liquid lava broke through the earth crust and rose upwards, getting those incredible pillar-like strange shapes. With the time they cooled down and crystallised, keeping this shape. The formation of the stones nearly seems magical or surreal, as they look perfectly shaped and fit to each other just like a puzzle.
Another theory of how the stones came into existence is a little bit more surreal but it also explains how the sight got its name. There was a fight between two giants named Fionn (Fionn mac Cumhaill) at the Northern Irish coast and Benandonner at the Scottish coast who both didn’t get along very well as Benandonner threatened the Northern Irish. In order to teach Benandonner a lesson, Fionn pulled pieces off Antrim’s coast building a bridge to the Scottish side. However, as Brenandonner was a very gigantic and frightening giant, that was a really bad idea. To keep Fionn save, his wife had the great idea of masquerading him as a little baby. When the Scottish giant reached the Northern Irish coast and saw the huge baby he wondered how big the father must be and turned around being scared and impressed.
No matter which of the stories you believe in, Giant’s Causeway is definitely an amazing and very beautiful place. It really felt magical being at such a resilient and historical place and it was definitely a special time.
Volcanic stones
Perfectly shaped bricks
Detailed view at the stones and the sea in the back
This week’s photo challenge of the Daily Post is about ‘repurposed’. There are a million possible ways to interpret this topic… However, as I love travelling I see ‘repurpose’ in different buildings or places I have been such as the ‘Rock of Cashel’ in Ireland.
The Rock of Cashel is located in county Tipperary and was originally used as the home of The Kings of Munster for a few hundred years before the Normans invaded the country. However, Muirchertach Ua Briain donated the castle to the church in 1101 when it became a kind of a monastery. Around Europe, the complex with its special character is one of the most remarkable collections of Celtic art and medieval architecture with buildings that can be dated to the 12th and 13th century.
This week’s photo challenge of the Daily Post focuses on something ‘graceful’.
Gracefulness is a word originated in the philosophical aesthetics during the Greek ancient times. With the ongoing loss of the word’s importance within the modern use of languages, unfortunately, it is used very rarely nowadays. Originally, ‘gracefulness’ embodied the three graces Euphrosyne, Thalia and Aglaia, standing for cheerfulness, festive joy and glamour.
‘Gracefulness’ can be embodied by many different things. It does not have to be a specific person such as a royal. Animals, flowers, nature, buildings or other things can show a certain aspect of gracefulness as well. So here are some capture that I think embody or show a certain gracefulness.
These pictures are all graceful in their own way and were taken during a special time, trip or moment. Sometimes a mystical or magical atmosphere could create a certain gracefulness, sometimes it is the way a human being or animal acts, and sometimes it might be just the seemingly delicate building hidden between massive mountains…
A huge ice bear looking very graceful and light under water in Blijdorp Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Very fine, fragile and graceful ice crystals surrounding a branch
The huge moon seems to be very mystical and graceful spending little light shining during the night
A white swan on the water looking quite graceful and majestic
A very graceful seagull
Horses are always very majestic and graceful looking animals
Along the very massive and huge Cliffs of Moher, a single rock fragment reaches gracefully out of the sea
The huge Cliffs of Moher in Ireland are majestic and graceful themselves, even though they are absolutely massive and big
Kelymore Abbey in Connemara, Ireland, peaking out the rocks and Pollacapall Lough
Calla lily – those are very graceful flowers
Beautiful cross entangled by roses in Glenderlough, Ireland
This week’s photo challenge of the Daily Post is about ‘ambince’. The word ‘ambiente’ originates in the Latin word ‘ambientis’ (Genitive of ambiens) or ‘ambire’ (to surround). An ‘ambience’ can be an atmosphere, environment or surrounding. It creates specific vibes that make people feel good or sometimes uncomfortable if they don’t like the ‘abience’ of a venue for example. If the ambience is right and positive, it could create an imagined world where a person could escape to in order to relax and feel good. Especially through influencing human senses, the right ambience can be created. For example, the right lighting, music, smell, taste or feelings are very important.
For me, the sound of crashing waves combined with the warm golden light of the setting burning sun and the salty smell of the ocean create a perfect ambience where I feel well cosy. However, I also enjoy the feeling and ambience that can be found at concerts and festivals. The atmosphere there is amazing! There is awesome music, everyone is singing along and has fun, everyone seems to be connected without having an actual connection and with the right lighting the atmosphere is perfect. Another great ambient for me is within nature or better, stunning landscape. The sound of the birds, wind and other natural things combined with the stunning views over a countryside, or the beauty of nature, amazing reflections in the mirror-like surface of the water, no traffic or crowds, all that creates a great ambience. However, the perfect ambience is where I feel home. If all the components play together the right way and just feel right now matter how it kind of feels like home.
All those places were part of a special time, were magical in their own way and made me want to come back 🙂
Magical ambience at the We Are Harlot concert at Rock am Ring
Lighting and music create a great ambience at the Muse concert in Munich
Great festival ambience with the warm light of the setting sun at Rock am Ring
Festival ambience at Rock am Ring
Stunning view over Snowdonia mystically covered in fog
Great ambience with a stunning view walking down Mount Snowdon
Stunning waves at the Irish coast
Raging sea at the Irish coast
The warm light of the sunset combined with the fresh air and smell of the sea always creates a lovely ambience – Northsea Zeeland, Netherlands
Northsea beach in Zeeland, Netherlands – absolutely lovely!
Sunshine right before the storm was coming at the Beara Peninsula in Ireland – this creates kind of a mystical ambience
Doo Lough, Mayo in Ireland – looks like a different world
Sun set while crossing the Channel with the ferry – the stripes of the light create a very mystical ambience
Fog always creates a mystical and sometimes scary atmosphere – Glenda Lough, Dublin Ireland
Shadows and light at the Hill of Slane, Meath Ireland
This week’s photo challenge of The Daily Post is about a ‘names‘. A name is something that helps to distinguish and identify a living creature, a thing, a place or person. Hence, travelling around different continents and cities, there are loads of names crossing one’s way. However, sometimes there is not a written name needed to identify something especially when it comes to countries and cities. Landmarks are the signs that symbolise and stand for a city, country or place. Especially landmarks of capital cities might replace a name as identification. Seeing the landmarks, it is directly clear which city it stands for. However, even though landmarks can stand alone, symbolising something that therefore doesn’t need to be named, they have names themselves to be easily identified and to be unique.
Here are some landmarks I have seen…
Eifel Tower – Paris, France
Eifel Tower – Paris, France
Eifel Tower – Paris, France
Moulin Rouge – Paris, France
Big Ben – London, England
Big Ben – London, England
Houses Of Parliament and Big Ben – London, England
London Eye and Houses Of Parliament – London, England
Different typical landmarks of London – London, England
Bobbies in front of the Buckingham Palace – London, England
Queen Victoria statue in front of the Buckingham Palace – London, England
Walt Disney Concert Hall – LA, California (USA)
Hollywood sign – LA, California (USA)
Tulips in the Garden of Europe (Keukenhof) – Lisse, Netherlands
Visiting such resilient, ancient and historical landmarks is always very impressive making the visit a special time. With the different cultures and the stories behind the monuments, they are sometimes quite mystical and magical. Some are also telling the stories of many people who had to give their lives while creating such buildings, during wars or other unfortunate happenings. It is always interesting to step into their footprints and follow their path. Let’s see where the way is leading to next…
A little while ago Sleeping With Sirens and Pierce The Veil announced a co-headliner tour not only within the United States but also for Europe. As the bands are close friends privately they had the idea of touring the world together after hanging out for one evening. Their fans also asked for such a great tour previously. In total, they had 51 concerts in North America and 19 in Europe.
One of these 19 concerts in Europe was in Cologne, Germany. Supporting act for this evening was the 2012 founded US Metalcore band Issues from Atlanta, Georgia. They are also classified as Post-Hardcore, Nu Metal and Contemporary R&B. The band was created by former Woe, Is Me singer Tyler Carter (rap and clean vocals). Further members are AJ Rebollo (lead guitar), Skyler Acord (e-bass), Josh Manuel (drums) and Michael Bohn (screaming vocals). In 2013, their first EP ‘Black Diamonds’ charted on place 96 (US Charts), 2014 they released their debut album ‘Issues’ (Rise Records) as well as a second EP ‘Diamond Dreams’. The newest album ‘Headspace’ was released in 2016. The band’s musical style tries to combine the actual pop style with metal, just as Nu Metal combines Heavy Metal with Hip-Hop. As supporting act they did a really great job and animated the crowd. I didn’t know the band before, only one or two songs that I really liked. After seeing them I liked them even more.
Supporting act Issues
First main act of the evening was Pierce The Veil, a 2006 founded Hard Rock and Post-Hardcore band from San Diego, California (USA). The band consists of the brothers Vic (vocals, rhythm guitar and keys) and Mike (drums) Fuentes as well as Tony Perry (lead guitar) and Jamie Preciado (bass). After their successful full-length albums ‘A Flair For The Dramatics’ (2007) and ‘Selfish Machines’ (2010) under Equal Vision Records, their success rose extremely with the album ‘Collide With The Sky’ (2012, Fearless Records) that reached place 12 on the Billboard Top 200. The fourth album ‘Misadventures’ (Fearless Records) was released in 2016 and started with place four in the US Album-Charts.
Musically, the band can’t be classified as only one style. The music combines harder with softer guitar riffs, clean with screamed vocals, acoustic with electric guitars and different genres such as Metal, Rock, Punk and Pop. As they also use instruments such as pianos, Spanish guitars and castanets, their fans also classified them as ‘Mexicore’. The texts are mainly written by Vic Fuentes and are based on personal experiences, family, friends, relationships and are inspired by their tour experiences.
I really liked their gig. They seemed to have a blast on stage and animated the crowd to jump, sing and clap along. Despite jumping and running around themselves on the stage, the music itself sounded great. At the end of their concert Kellin Quinn, the singer of Sleeping With Sirens joined the band as guest vocalist before he and his band had their gig themselves.
Pierce The Veil rocking the stage
Crowd clapping and waving along
Pierce The Veil enjoying the stage
Vic Fuentes and Jamie Preciado
Vic Fuentes animating the crowdGreat atmosphere
Pierce The Veil having a blast on stage
Kellin Quinn joining Pierce The Veil on Stage
Steam effects making the show more dramatic
The last band of the day was Sleeping With Sirens, an in 2009 founded Post-Hardcore band from Orlando, Florida (USA), consisting of Kellin Quinn (vocals), Justin Hills (bass), Nick Martin (lead guitar), Jack Fowler (rhythm guitar) and Gabe Barham (drums). Until now the band released four full-length albums which are the debut album ‘With Ears To See And Eyes To Hear’ (2010, Rise Records), ‘Let’s Cheers To This’ (2011) and the acoustic EP ‘If You Were A Movie, This Would Be Your SoundtracK’ (2012) which started on place 17 of the official Album-Charts (US). In 2013, they released their third full-length album ‘Feel’ which started on place three of the official US Album-Charts and 2014 ‘Madness’ (Epitaph Records), the fourth album, was released and started on place 13 of the official US and Australian Album-Charts as well as place 26 of the official UK Album-Charts. Musically, the style can be classified as Post-Hardcore. However, the band tries to use as little breakdowns as possible and sees themselves more as a Rock band. Kellin Quinn’s outstanding and unique sounding voice makes the band even more outstanding and special. He uses a mix of clean and screamed vocals, however, the main part of the songs is sung with clean vocals. Further genre influences that can be found might be Pop-Punk, Pop-Rock, Metalcore, Emo and Alternative Rock. This crossing of different genres, as well as the unique voice and their talent, make them a very outstanding band. The texts are written by the band themselves and are about topics that bother the band members.
Their concert was absolutely amazing. All the members seemed to have a blast on stage, enjoying the fans singing along, jumping clapping and moshing around. Halfway through, they added a few acoustic songs which were the cover version of the Go Go Dolls’ song Iris and Roger Rabbit. For Roger Rabbit, Kellin Quinn added a few beat-boxing beats which made the song even more special, as it’s a slightly different version than on the EP.
Sleeping With Sirens rocking the stage
Justin Hills animating the crowd to sing alongJustin Hills enjoying the stage
Jack Fowler having fun on stage
Kellin Quinn and Jack Fowler joking on stage
Sleeping With Sirens having a great light show
Kellin Quinn, Justin Hills and Jack Fowler rocking the stage
Kellin Quinn enjoying the mystical acoustic vibes
Kellin Quinn’s voice acoustic was really amazing
Iris and Roger Rabbit as acoustic versions
Kellin Quinn and Justin Hills enjoying the stage
Kellin Quinn and Nick Martin
Kellin Quinn of Sleeping With Sirens
Amazing atmosphere (Kellin Quinn)
Kellin Quinn of Sleeping With Sirens
All three bands were absolutely amazing, professional and seemed to have a great time with a lot of fun on stage. They really did what they love and delivered great performances. The light show and some special effects with confetti and steam underlined the show and suited the music perfectly, creating a quite intimate and magical atmosphere.
However, unfortunately, the sound and volume were poorly which seemed to be a technical issue of the club. The volume was way too loud which made it hard to hear specific instruments and facets of the singers’ voice. All sounds, voices and instruments seemed to just mosh together in one undefinable tangle of notes. Even tough, I’ve been to other concerts before, except a very small gig of Carl Barat in England, this was the loudest concert I’ve been to which made me feel a little uncomfortable at the end. However, I think the technic was to blame and not the bands themselves. The venue itself, the E-Werk in Cologne, was really suitable and has a great and unique atmosphere. With it’s interior it combines something classical with an old industrial fabric-like building style. The main room fits up to 2000 visitors and is used for different kinds of events such as concerts, banquets, galas, fairs, exhibitions, product presentations and many more.
In total, it was a special time and an amazing evening with really talented and passioned bands that I’m really looking forward to see again in 2017.
This week’s photo challenge of The Daily Post was about something ‘resilient’. As I really like travelling and experiencing different cultures I already have seen some very old and resilient monuments or places such as the Via Apia or the Colosseum in Rome as well as Stonehenge in England. It is a breath-taking feeling standing there many years after those places where built and thinking about what the people did there in the past. It is quite fascinating how long those places already exist. There were no technical tools making it easy to build them. All they had were very easy tools which cost many people their lives.
Around two years ago I went to the prehistoric Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England as part of a trip to Bath. It is an in the Neolithic age built monument and was listed as one of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage in 1986. Stonehenge is a stone circle which was erected in four stages. The first built ditch and earth band have a diameter of 87 meters and are dated around 3100 BC, which was the earliest phase of the monument. Between 2400 BC and 2200 BC the first bluestones of total 82 have been raised. Some of them weight about four barrels and have been carried from the Perseli Mountains in South-West Wales. It is assumed that rivers alongside the Welsh coast have been used to transport the stones to their final place in Amesbury, meaning that the stones travelled on a way of around 386 kilometres. The final circle consists of totally two rings, an outer one and one in the centre of the earth band.
Around 2000 BC within the third stage, some Sarsen Stones have been transported around 40 kilometres to their final destination. Some of those stones weight up to 50 barrels It is assumed that they needed a minimum of 500 people to carry the stones on land, as it was not possible to transport them on the water. The Sarsen Stones form the final ring on the outside of the monument. Within this circle there were five ‘trilithons’, which are two straight stones covered with one lying stone on top, forming the shape of a horseshoe. The form and arrangement of the stones we see today were rearranged around 1500 BC within the last stage.
It was very incredible and impressing to stand right in front of such an old, resilient monument. The fog and quite dark lighting made it an even more mystical and magical experience. It was a special time visiting Stonehenge and it was a great feeling standing at such an old place.
As this was the last photo challenge of 2016 I want to wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017!! 🙂
StonehengeClose view of the stonesOuter circle with the trilithonsVery foggyRearranged bluestones and trilithonsWider angle from the other sideCan you see the sheep?The fog is getting tighterFinal view
This week’s photo challenge of the Daily Post is ‘path’. A path can be a physical way someone is walking on, for example for a walk in the park or the hike up a mountain. But a path can also be meant symbolically for a direction of someone’s life situation or the aims a person is trying to reach. In the last years there were many paths I was walking on literally or symbolically. Especially regarding summer holidays, I travelled loads of small paths or bigger roads. One quite impressive route I was travelling on was the Ring of Kerry in Ireland around two years ago.
Ring of Kerry, which is officially named Iveragh Peninsula, is a very famous panoramic tourist trail, showing a very mystical and unspoilt region of Ireland. There can be found really beautiful lakes and beaches. One of the many gorgeous places there my path led me to was the Upper Lake which is part of the Killarney National park. The Upper Lake, the Lower Lake (Lough Leane) and the Middle Lake (Muckross Lake) together are almost a quarter of the whole park. However, they are not interlinked and every lake has its own ecosystem, but they join at the Meeting of the Waters. The Upper Lake is the smallest of the three lakes and located between rugged mountain scenery in the Black Valley or upper Killarney region.
As the weather was amazing the day I went there and there was no wind at all, the view was amazing and the landscape was reflected perfectly on the water surface 🙂
Stunning scenery
Blue skies
Awesome reflection
Such a great landscape
Beautiful nature
Stunning reflection
Amazing sky
It looks like a mirror
Many shades of green and blue
Beautiful view
It was definitely an interesting path to go with magical views and I had a special time there.
One of my absolute highlights this year was the Slaves (US) concert in Cologne. They are a Post-hardcore band from Sacramento, California (USA), founded in 2014. Currently, the members consist of Jonny Craig (vocals) and Colin Vieira (bass). So far, they released 2 full-length albums through Artery Recordings named ‘Through Art We Are All Equals’ (2014) and ‘Routine Breathing’ (2015). After their European Tour in 2016, they announced that they would start writing a third album. Their music style is influenced by Emarosa and Dance Gavin Dance, for which Jonny Craig has been a former vocalist. The lyrics are written on a very personal and emotional basis and Jonny Craig’s voice sounds very soulful.
Slaves close to the crowd
Jonny Craig and Colin Vieira of Slaves
Slaves creating a great atmosphere
Slaves enjoying the stage
Jonny Craig animating the crowd
Such an amazing voice
Jonny Craig animating the crowd to sing along
Jonny Craig enjoying the stage
Spot on – the lighting created a really good and mystical atmosphere
Slaves having a blast on stage
Jonny Craig surfing the crowd
Jonny Craig enjoying the show
Right in front of the crowd
Supporting act of the band was Fall of Gaia, a German Metalcore band from Castrop-Rauxel, founded in 2013. The band consists of Sebastian Stolz (vocals), Trey Bals (guitar), Denis Dzieza (guitar), Alexander Buxmeier (clean vocals), Tobias Schymik (bass) and Stefan Buchwald (drums). In 2014 the band released their debut EP ‘I Will Prevail’ which was produced together with Daniel Haniß from Eskimo Callboy. Afterwards, they released their debut full-length album ‘Grovestreet Stories’ without the support of a music label in 2015.
Fall Of Gaia animating the crowd
Fall Of Gaia having fun on stage
Sebastian Stolz of Fall Of Gaia
I think Fall Of Gaia was a very good supporting act for Slaves who got the crowd right from the beginning. Everyone could hear and see that they love what they do, had a blast on stage and animated the fans to jump and sing along. As soon as Slaves entered the stage the crowd was caught by their energy and by the great atmosphere. The band seemed to be very grateful and happy to be able to be on tour as they had some issues and restructuration regarding the band. This lead to a slightly shorter set as planned, as the new musicians had to learn all the songs in a very short time. However, the fans were happy that the tour wasn’t cancelled and sang and jumped along having an awesome time. The atmosphere was amazing, mystical, cosy, magical and kind of personal as the venue was a very small one. The MTC in Cologne is a small club venue for parties and mainly Rock or Indie Bands. Around 300 people can fit in the venue which creates a really cosy and personal atmosphere, what I really like. The acoustic and lighting was also good and very raw which in my opinion was perfect as the music could speak for itself. At the end of the concert, both bands stayed at their merchandise stands for signing and pictures while selling their merch. The guys were very friendly and nice, taking their time to talk to everyone.
MTC Cologne
For me, the concert was absolutely amazing and one of my highlights this year! I had a special time and hence, I was even happier to hear they’ll come back next year for another tour with a new album! I’m really looking forward to that 🙂
It’s the fourth Advent and nearly Christmas. All four candles of the Advent wreath are burning, symbolising the end of the waiting time. But why is one candle lit every week?
Advent wreath
At the time when there was no electricity, the rooms were dark without the light of the candles during the moody and dark winter time. Hence, the people lit candles to get a bit of light. For the Christians ‘Christ’ also symbolises light and light symbolises hope. Therefore, lighting candles every week until the Nativity symbolise the increasing light and hope and should keep the demons away. The tradition of lighting a wreath with four candles already existed among the Teutons as they celebrated the rebirth of the light (Jul) on the 21st of December. They light the candles starting with the fourth and ending with the first. However, the theory of the Advent wreath’s origin in this tradition is not yet completely proved. The tradition of the wreath itself is stated to origin from a German Lutheran pastor around 1900 who created the wreath for children of a youth institution.
Modern Advent wreath in golden coloursFloral Advent wreath in red and green
During the Advent time which comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning arrival, many people start decorating their homes with mainly green and red colours. Green symbolises the hope and trust, whereas the red colour symbolises Christ’s blood. The tradition of decorating the houses with green branches already existed a very long time ago. However, having whole trees in the houses and decorating them is not as old as the other tradition. It originated less than 400 years ago around 1419 among wealthy families. Advent wreaths were more usual among poorer families. At the beginning, the trees were hang in the rooms and decorated with mainly sweets, apples, nuts and gingerbreads. On New Year’s Eve, the children were allowed to eat the decoration after they were removed from the trees. Between 1730 and 1880, the decoration was exchanged with candles, baubles and glittery tinsels. Around the 18th century, the tradition was brought to the USA and the first official public tree was arranged in New York. However, unfortunately, there is no exact or clear origin of the tree’s tradition. Further theories say that the tree was a tradition among the medieval times where the tree symbolised the tree of temptation which was decorated with sweets and apples on the side of the well-behaved, and empty on the side of the bad-behaved. Furthermore, the tradition seemed to be originated as mainly protestant tradition whereas the Catholics only had the manger instead. Nowadays, the different traditions come together as one and are common in most of the families within Christians. The houses are decorated in the brightest colours and shine or sparkle everywhere.
Christmas tree in Birmingham, UKWhite Christmas tree decorationSmall Christmas tree with typical traditional colours
With all the different traditions the Christmas tree and Advent wreath are definitely things that should not be missed during the Christmas time which therefore becomes a special time every year.
A Special Time Creative 