Monday, December 10, 2007

This time: the really old tramway in Stuttgart

I thought the post from last week was the last one about the old Stuttgart tramway for a while. But I couldn't resist to take a few pictures this Sunday. Due to the fact of the closure of the Line 15 (see post from last week) the Museum of Historic Tramways in Stuttgart has to move from Zuffenhausen to Bad Cannstatt and today all roadworthy trams were driving from Zuffenhausen to Bad Cannstatt.





The pictures were taken in front of the zoo and botanical garden in Stuttgart "Wilhelma"

More information about the Museum of Historic Trams in Stuttgart on the official Museum Website.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

...and the last time the old tram

We took a ride with the tram today and hiked the way back from the TV-tower to our house.

Details from the interior


And the old tram in front of the Stuttgart TV Tower, by the way the TV tower is older than the tram!

Monday, November 19, 2007

And again the old tramway in Stutgart

The beautiful weather today brought another chance to take some pictures of the old Stuttgart Tramway (Line 15) before it will end the service by December 8.

Nordbahnhofstrasse

An original painted series GT4 without advertisment

At the Prag-cemetery (Pragfriedhof)

Pischek-Street with a nice panoramic view of the Stuttgart downtown

Official Information from the Stuttgart Transportation Authority SSB.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Last days of the old Stuttgart tram way

By early December the era of the old narrow gauge tram way will end. The line 15 will be replaced by the modern standard gauge train. A good reason to take the camera for some pictures. Unfortunately today the weather was not perfect. I took a walk along the part of the track where the tramway goes through the forest.


Already on the new tracks

Of course the modern tram is more convenient, and or sure the SSB (Stuttgart Public Transportation Authority) has good reasons to replace the old trains. But on the other side the old trains bring a certain flair to the city. And for the tourists it's always a joy to explore a city by a nostalgic tram way, think about the tram way in Lisboa, the collection of old trams in San Francisco, or even the cable car in San Francisco.

The turning point close to the Stuttgart TV tower.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Weissenhof, Stuttgart

End of last winter I had a chance to take a few nice pictures from outside of the Le Corbusier-building at the "Weissenhofsiedlung" in Stuttgart during the blue hour.

Le Corbusier Stuttgart Weissenhof ZinsstagLe Corbusier Stuttgart Weissenhof Zinsstag
Last Saturday I returned with friends this time to visit the museum which is located inside the Le Corbusier-building. One half of the Le Corbusier-building hosts the actual museum with documentation about the Werkbund exhibition at Weissenhof, documents from the 1920s including original plans and photos. The other half is restaurated in the original state designed by Le Corbusier. If you are interested in the Bauhaus or architecture in general I can recommend to visit the Weißenhof in Stuttgart.

An impression from the interior:

Le Corbusier Stuttgart Weissenhof Zinsstag

More information about the Weissenhaof is available at the official Weissenhof-Website.

Sailing between the Islands of Tuscany

Earlier this month I spent together with six freinds a week sailing between the Tuscany islands.

The starting point for the trip was Castiglioncello, just south of Livorno. Most of the days the sailing was a little bit poor due the lack of wind, but the trip was great anyway. Our original plans included Bastia in Corsica, but we canceled that since we didn't want to go all the way to Bastia with our diesel engine.

Castiglioncello has a beautiful and quite modern marina. The day we arrived the water had an unbelievable turkish color.

Our first trip led us to the island of Capraia. The island is located on the half way between the Italian mainland and Corsica. Before we planed the sailing trip I didn't even know that there is an island. Capraia has one village which is situated on a hill above the natural harbor. The harbor and the village are conected with the only asphalt street. The harbor is alsmost like the scenery for a pirate movie. We had a great quite traditional meal at the trattoria DOC in the village.

Harbor of Capraia

The next day was the trip to Elba, first stop was Marciana Marina. Another nice village on the northwestern coast of Elba.

Marciana Marina

Still without wind we planed a quite short trip for the next day that led us to Portoferraio, where we stayed in the old harbor which is surrounded by this old city. The harbor was even used at the time of the Etruscan culture.

Portoferraio

Finally with some wind we had a chance for some sailing. the fifth place was Porto Azzuro on the east coast of Elba. Another natural harbor still with some fisherman around. Just another picturesque little town.

Fisherman in Porto Azzurro

For the last evening before we had to return to Castiglioncello we choose a bay to stay on anchor for the night. The bay was called Porto Baratti just north of the industrial city of Piombino. It was a beautiful and quite bay. We took our dinghy for a dinner on the mainland in a quite stylish restaurant we didn't actually expect.

Castiglioncello