Hobbies


Cooking	Now that we have time enough, we enjoy to cook together. Not necessarily every day, but quite often. Our preference today are the simple dishes of the Mediterranean, consisting of only few but first class ingredients. Many of these dishes are vegetarian, and we try to have about half of our meals out of the vegi cookbook.


Modeling	Currently, i spend a lot of time, mostly in winter, building models of cars and locomotives of the former "Denver & Rio Grande Western" narrow gauge railroad, in On3 scale. On3 means you have to build it yourself, finish it yourself, but you can be proud of it.


Steam Engines	Over the past months i have bought some model steam engines (statioary engines) from various builders. Currently i am restoring some of them, others do not need restoring at all. Pics will follow as soon as there is progress ...


Traveling	While travelling, we try to chase trains wherever we can, and sometimes we even go somewhere exclusively for the train pictures. A trip thru Alaska allowed us to follow the ARR and the WP&RR in 1999 browse photos here. in August 2000, we were lucky enough to ride trains on lines where there is no regular passenger service any more in the Andes of Peru. Read trip notes here, browse photos here. In February 2001, we visited El Salvador and Guatemala to ride on steam trains. Read trip notes here, browse photos here. in September 2001 we drove and hiked thru all of Colorado to visit whatever is left from the former network of the Rocky Mountain 'Wild West' railroads and steam trains. We have also seen just a few of what Utah and New Mexico have to offer. Browse photos here. March 2002 we visited Sugar Mill Railroads in Cuba to see the last steam operations on the island, and we were just lucky to do this - it all has disappeared by now. Browse photos here. in November 2002 we visited the volcanoes of La Reunion island in the Indian Ocean (with no steam at all). In August 2003 we went to see and ride historic steam trains in Brazil. Browse photos here. In November 2004 we took the opportunity to ride the Old Patagonia Express in Argentina. Read trip notes here, or browse photos here. In May 2005 we visited the railroad on the island of Corsica (CFC - Chemin de Fer de la Corse) Read trip notes here, or browse photos here. in October 2005 were able to see some of the railroad of Costa Rica. Read trip notes here. In October of 2006 we made a trip thru New Zealand to see the 100th anniversary of the Dunedin railway station and ride on a steam train all along New Zealands mainline. A very well organized and unforgettable trip. Read trip notes here, or browse photos here. October 2007, Morocco. We board a train down to Southern France, from there a ferry to Tanger, Morocco, and train again to Rabat, Morocco. From there we explored the south of the country by car - and enjoyed a very interesting and very beautiful trip in an 'moderately' islamic country. Read trip notes here. in September 2008, everything is prepared for a five week trip to Western Canada, for a lot of mountain wilderness experience, and plenty of train experience as well. Read trip notes here. in summer 2009, we rig up our VW Camper car for a trip to Norway, starting in early August. Read trip notes here. in spring 2010 we made a trip to East Germany to see the remaining narrow gauge railways of Saxony. Read trip notes here, or browse photos here. in January 2011, we made a trip to East Germany again, to make some winter pics of the 'Zittauer Schmalspurbahnen', in really freezing cold weather (there are no trip notes, it was just too short). browse photos here. in March 2011, we made a trip to Madeira island, to go hiking and spot flowers (which was not such a good idea, because also there, the flower season seems to start in mid may, just as here. in April 2011, we made a trip to Malta island, mainly to celebrate my 60th birthday. An interesting place, Malta. end of May 2012, we made another trip to Madeira island, again to go hiking, this time using private accommodation not hotels. in September 2012, we made a trip to the East of the USA. Read trip notes here, or browse photos here.


Glider Flying	In spring and summer, i like to take my glider for a flight in the skies over Switzerlands mountain ranges, or later in the year over the Alpes Maritimes in the south of France. In the meantime, however, i have given up flying.


Photography	I use 35 mm equipement for photography (currently mainly a Nikon D200, with lenses such as the fixed focus lenses AF-S 1.8 28mm Nikkor, AF-D 2.8 60mm Micro Nikkor or the AF-D 2.0 135mm DC Nikkor). I have a Canon G7 as my Point-and-Shoot camera, and i am quite happy wit this,


Puzzles	are Ruth's specialty, they occupy sometimes most of our living room, and they seem to take all winter to complete


Whisky	in 2002, we have started a small collection of Single Malts The aim is to not drink more than we buy ... . Update 2007: the collection is still there, we do drink less than we buy ;-))

last change: January 2013