The Spirit of Ecstasy

"Strive for perfection on everything you do" Sir Henry Royce

Just by chance I was wearing a polo shirt from work when we went to visit BMW Welt. I got to talk to one of the guys who are there to make sure nobody puts his hands on these pretty expensive examples of British engineering (albeit BMW owned). After a while he nodded to a colleague and we were given the chance to enter the glass barrier, where we were given a thorough tour of this Phantom II. We were allowed to sit down inside (me and my wife hoping that the children don´t break anything in the back seats!) and, to top it up, the guy took a couple of family photos.

I made it clear that I don´t work for the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars (in which case I would not have been as impressed by the car), but rather for the aerospace sibling. Maybe they thought I was an executive coming from Goodwood to check the courtesy standards!

Whatever the case, it was highly enjoyable.

Picking up your car with style

Hats off to BMW for a truly impressive place to pick up your car (not mine!).

VIP Flight

I have never flown in First Class (yet, you never know). So far all I managed to do was getting into this one a long long time ago, which was also configured as a VIP aircraft.

En un país muy muy lejano...

At the end of my walk on the first evening, I spotted this van parked in front of a backpacker´s hostel. I could not help smiling at it, as I was really feeling far far away (from home), and it was no fairy tale.

El reposo del gigante

Tiovivo de época

Este tiovivo estaba en el vestíbulo este de la estación de Leipzig. Creo que era de los años cincuenta y éste no era el único coche con un aroma y un acabado especial. Una delicia para grandes y pequeños.

Leipzig - Hauptbahnhof

While my daughter was in the Opera, I went for a walk and ended up in the main train station. They have a few old trains on exhibition. If you add the rain outside on Sunday morning, it makes for a perfect plan.

Mercedes AMG

Mercedes Welt Berlin

Quite amazing where children can celebrate their birthday parties these days. This is not a museum, it is a car dealer. And of course it is also a good place to keep parents entertained. The most expensive car in there is just above €500k with a few around the €200k mark. Not sure if they sell many of those though.

El futuro ya está aqui

Chevrolets

Apart from the cars, I actually like the colours of these photos. I thought they would not come out very nicely but somehow the big lamps have done a good job and the noise is reasonable for ISO800 (I have an old camera!).

Cadillac (x2)

Close to the hotel, there was a meeting of (mostly) classic cars. They were amazingly well preserved and although it was getting late and light was not that great, I ran to the hotel for my camera. Funnily enough, a couple of days later we had a shuttle service to take us back to the airport, so we had just under two hours of enjoying this other Cadillac.

Máquina expendedora de...

Al pasar pensé que era una máquina de tabaco o de condones, pero no, se trata de una máquina expendedora de recámaras de bicicleta...

Vending machine...
At first I thought it was just another cigarette or condom vending machine, but no, it´s a vending machine for tubes inside bycicle tyres...

Tándem familiar...

Otra joya encontrada en las calles, un tándem para ir con el hijo/a. Me parece una idea genial...

Another one of those it is difficult not to stop and take a shot, even if just with the mobile phone. A tandem bike for an adult and a child, great idea...

Call a bike...

Estas bicis están repartidas por Berlín y pertenecen a DB (el equivalente alemán a la RENFE). Te puedes dar de alta y cuando necesitas una bici, simplemente llamas para obtener el código de acceso que deshabilita el candado electrónico. Después, cuando llegas, vuelves a llamar para decir donde la dejas y el precio depende el tiempo de uso.

Reconozco que esto me recuerda lo de las
flores...


This bicycles are spread in Berlin and other cities in Germany and they belong to DB (the railway company). Once you are logged as a user, you just have to call a number to get the code that unlocks the electronic lock. When you are finished, you call again to tell the whereabouts of the bicycle and you are charged by the minute.

I must admit this reminds me of the flowers business...

Sidecar...

Las calles de Berlín son una fuente inagotable de vehículos interesantes.

Berlin has an endless supply of interesting vehicles.

Esto no es la Habana...

Aunque no abundan tanto como antes, todavía se pueden encontrar bastantes coches americanos por las calles de Berlín. Yo supongo que son los coches de los soldados que estaban en la parte oeste y que no se llevaron de vuelta.

Este lo encontré ayer en Kreuzberg y es el perfecto resumen de esta ciudad, donde edificios nuevos y casi en ruinas conviven uno al lado del otro.

Dicho esto, no tengo la más mínima idea de que coche es, marca, año, modelo. Un Chevrolet?


Although not that many as before, quite a few american cars can still be found in the streets of Berlin. I guess they used to belong to the soldiers stationed in West Berlin before the Wall came down and it was not worth bringing them back to the States.

I found this one yesterday in Kreuzberg and it is actually a good summary of this city, with the mix of new and old buildings everywhere.

I have absolutely no clue about the car, neither brand, year or model. Help would be appreciated. A Chevrolet?

Día de la bici en Berlín...

El domingo que viene es el día de la bicicleta en Berlín. Hoy, dando un paseo, he visto algo que se ve con cierta frecuencia, bicicleta estropeadas. Alguno se ha vuelto a pie a casa esta tarde...

Next Sunday will be Bike´s day in Berlin. Today I went for a walk after it stopped raining and I saw something which happens from time to time, bicycles needing an urgent repair. Somebody will need to walk home tonight...