Fireworks and Exploding Chairs - TPF Germany Meet-Up

[Antarctican]

So...... just how late was JC??

layball:

(Ummm, which day....?)

 

[Antarctican]

Well, I'm at Heathrow with a 7 hour wait until my flight leaves. This past week has just flown by. Corinna (and her able assistants, and her family) did a great job of arranging for us to see the local sights, and sample local food, drink and hospitality. It was great to meet up with friends from previous get-togethers, and to make new friends. What a great bunch of people! We had a ton of fun, and shared a lot of laughs.

I won't have a chance to post pics for a day or so. And after seeing the great shots posted so far, mine will pale by comparison. Maybe Colin can post a few in my stead.

 

[Unimaxium]

I'm now back at my home sweet home. I had a pretty decent flight across the Atlantic. Hertz will be happy to know that I bought an album of Cat Empire's from Amazon MP3 while in Heathrow, and listened to that on the flight. They're pretty good!

 

[Rachelsne]

Looks like you all had some fun!

 

[Senor Hound]

So something I always wanted to know...

Is a person from Hamburg a Hamburger? Since you all went there I guess you were Hamburgers for a day, right?

 

[duncanp]

looks like you lot are having a great time,

this is a fantastic shot alex

 

[Corry]

^^^^ Sky, is that a BEER in front of you, Mister?

Don't you have another 4 months til you're 21?


More great pics everyone!!! KEEP THEM COMING!!!

 

[Rogan]

^^^^ Sky, is that a BEER in front of you, Mister?

Don't you have another 4 months til you're 21?


More great pics everyone!!! KEEP THEM COMING!!!

he's legal in europe

 

[tempra]

Monday, Hamburg.

After Sandie, Christiane and I had jumped on the nice comfortable train from Lauenbruck, the rest of the TPF massive headed cross country to Bucholz to collect Chris and Anne-Marie from their hotel. Corinna had been trying to move them from their positions of comfort at Ole Hoop however she had been unsuccessful as they managed to miss catching the train that we were on and headed for the next town to find parking spaces and another train.

Armed with this information, we settled down to a pleasant breakfast of a croissant and coffee and watched the world go by. One lady walked past crying, another walked past laughing. So many stories, so many people - I could have sat there all day watching and taking the odd photograph to see if I could interpret their stories.

I didn't have my camera out at this point due to a fear of greasage and crummage from the croissant, but it might be something I do in the future...

All of a sudden, Christianes phone rang and we were informed that they would be turning up by tube - god knows how close to the city they had to drive, but at least they were on their way. We headed into the underground system and found where the S31 tube was going to stop, and after about ten minutes they arrived.

I took my first shot down there and promptly got told off - of course I took this as a compliment as I couldnt understand a word she was saying!

Busted!

The boys and girls from TPF stepped off the train, and Corinna explained to Christiane the mornings story whilst Hertz added drama from the sidelines

We headed for another tube, and got on the line to the harbour, it was standing room only and with the rocking of the carriages, Hertz managed to get into a rythm with the train - I moved slightly further away at his point!

The time was 11:44 am - I can see it on the telly in the full size shot, and the anticipation grew as we flew along the underside of Hamburg for a date with a boat.

Arriving at the station by the harbour, Corinna asked everyone to hurry in case we missed the boats departure, and everyone did - including the train driver who had seen Hertz's shenanigans on CCTV and floored it to get out of there...

The driver had also radios to the other drivers, and whilst I studied the underground map, the train on the other side refused to stop in case we jumped back on

Once out of the station in the fresh air, the boys found a mysterious object which held their attention for quite a while - "whats the point of a lens without the camera?" was heard

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a sniper taking a shot at me, so I returned fire and it all ended amicably

"Hurry Up!" shouted Corinna "We're going to miss the boat!"

That was enough to send this guy running

So off to the boat we went, singing along the way.

 

[tempra]

Once safely on the boat - well nearly safely, but I'm sure someone has a shot of the leap of faith we had to make in order to get on as the boat left!

We headed upstairs to the outside seating area and settled down for a tour of the docks - I've never seen so many shipping containers in my life.

Corinna stared out to sea (or river) relying on her nautical experience as mentioned in an earlier post and after a quick headcount relaxed to soak up the sights in the harbour.

The locals - not to be outdone - started wielding their cameras as well in an effort to show that you don't have to be part of TPF to take a picture.

Sailing on down the river, we discovered some alien eggs that looked like they were due for hatching..

Swinging my lens back around, I found I was again the subject of sniper attack! It was friendly fire though, she had a Canon

The captain took a well earned break from steering the ship and enjoyed what looked like a bottle of coke...

He told us how he'd managed to park his last ship in a great spot

The guy downstairs in the closed cabin with a microphone couldn't wuite hear what he was saying, so turned the volume up so that even in his distant soundproffed location, he could hear clearly what was coming out of the PA - Chris pointed out that I couldn't take a photo of the sound, I guess he was right - we can but try though eh?

Meanwhile, we spotted Bob playing by the banks of the river - you could tell his name was Bob as he kept on bobbing about

and the work carried on in the harbour, loading and unloading ships with containers loaded with shiny new things to put on store shelves

 

[Hertz van Rental]

Is a person from Hamburg a Hamburger?

No. A Hamburger is a revolting pink thing in jelly. Ask Anty.

 

[Unimaxium]

So something I always wanted to know...

Is a person from Hamburg a Hamburger? Since you all went there I guess you were Hamburgers for a day, right?

Indeed, Hamburger means "from Hamburg". So you should be very wary when ordering a Hamburger in a restaurant there. ;-) Anty discovered this when she ordered a "Hamburger Sauerfleisch" and, instead of getting a Hamburger, got some weird jelly meat thingy.

 

[Unimaxium]

^^^^ Sky, is that a BEER in front of you, Mister?

Don't you have another 4 months til you're 21?


More great pics everyone!!! KEEP THEM COMING!!!

LOL, wasn't the last time I got drunk when I was with you and Joe in Baltimore?

 

[Hertz van Rental]

The meet-up in panorama (the pano is actually done in the camera so the results are often unpredictable but always fun).

The first day the TPF gang were all over the place.




The younger members were soon exhausted...




Jeff just didn't know which way to turn...



...as there seemed to be a TPF member around every corner.




...and at every cultural venue.




Eating. A rare event.




Eating again.




Oh... More eating.




Well, maybe we did eat a lot.




But the end came all too soon and we just faded away...




All that remained was a mysterious image which magically appeared in the drinking area. Some say it is Avis but no-one knows for sure. All we do know is that it is worshipped by the locals to this day (probably in the hope that it will stop us from returning).

 

[kundalini]

This thread is fantastic. Some amazing photos, but the stories behind them are keeping me in stitches. Please keep them coming. Glad everyone had a good time and hopefully everyone will eventually arrive home and dry.