First direct sunlight

The photo on the right shows the first sunlight I have seen since approximately December 13th or so. The wait may have been worth it, but then the clouds closed again and it started raining.

The photo was taken on my way home (Vienna -> Lausanne, ~1000km) which normally takes around 9 1/2 hours by car, but took me about 11 hours yesterday, because of rain, snowfall, freezing rain, ferocious bears and totally crazy Germans on the road.

But it wasn't as bad as it might sound (well, the Germans were, and one Italian who thought he was German and drove accordingly - all hail ABS!), because I discovered the thing for long drives: audiobooks. Before leaving Vienna I, ahem, acquired Phillip Pullman's "The Golden Compass", and burned it to a measly 9 CDs. Then off I went, and for the next 11 hours the mellifluous tones of the voice actors were only occasionally punctuated by the soothing announcements of my GPS and the harsh curses I sent after drivers who wanted to kill me.

That is the way to travel - if you can't go by train, that is.

In other news, I took approximately two and a half boatload of photos with my new lens, and am still deliriously happy with it. Also, I have a new camera, a small Casio EX-V8, courtesy of my Japan-fairing sister (Oh, how I hate her: She even got paid for that trip!), which is brilliant and small and will henceforth ride in the breast-pocket of my jacket. The photo above? That's the Casio. Well, and some tweaking in Picasa.

As evident by the long post, I have much to tell, so expect regular boasting posting again, with details about the new camera, many new photos, how I liked Pullman, bookbinding and much, much more!