Pictures with famiy in friends in Windsor (& Detroit, USA), Toronto and Ottawa. During our vacation we saw our niece, Sophia, for the first time, attending a celebration and ceremony for our recently deceased grandmother (Katherine MacKenzie) and my grandfather, who died in 1998. In addition we enjoyed amusement parks, baseball games, national parks, breweries, farms and great food.
After a few days following our wedding in Switzerland, Natasha and I returned to Canada to visit and to celebrate with family and friends. It was the first time that Natasha visited Canada in the sommer months. A green instead of white Canada pleased her greatly and both of us returned to Europe with cherished memories of our first weeks together as husband and wife.
WARNING - Here are nearly 500 pictures from my recent month in Canada (2. April - 4. May 2006). I planned to travel with Natasha, my girlfriend (now fiancée), and Irina, her best friend, but mistakes by the Canadian Embassy in Berlin prevented Natasha from traveling with me and her best friend. Despite this disappointment, the trip and my sister's wedding were amazing, as you will see.
After a very intense year of stress, 60-90 hour weeks, international business travel and 25 hours of work for a 24 hour day, I decided it was time to fulfill some personal wishes. I have seen much of Canada, but never the famous "West Coast" in all of it's glory. Therefore, I used this time to search adventure and to visit my family and many friends in all parts of Canada. After a wonderful visit with the Simpson family (my step uncle, aunt and cousins - Mark, Allison, Robert and Richard) my friend Andrew and I arranged a road trip. For stories about this trip, visit my "Travel & Adventure" page, but here is a small collection of our pictures.
With great joy and excitement I invited Natasha and Joris for Christmas and New Year in Canada. For both of them it was there first time in Canada. They both quickly won the hearts and admiration of my family and all of us experience a truly magical Christmas, which will remain in memory for many years to come.
A random collection of people, places and things, which I have encountered at various times in Germany since my arrival in 2000/2001. There are many more pictures to come, which either have not yet been scanned or which are still to be experienced and captured. Some adventures, however, where so important, that they have their own gallery.
For the long Easter weekend, Natasha and I battled snowstorms, traffic and mountains to reach Dijon, France. There we spent four magical days in a relatively unknown region of France. With amazing wine, incredible history, castles around every corner and a beautiful landscape, We would definitely return for another visit.
Before our wedding (September 1st, 2007) my father, my sister, my best friend, Natasha, Natasha's father and I enjoyed a short, but adventure-filled road trip in central and south-west Switzerland. The rest of the later-arriving family members also enjoyed a trip to the heart of Switzerland on the day before the wedding. All of us relaxed after a perfect wedding day with a family roof-top BBQ in Zürich.
A wedding gift from September 2007 was a hot air ballon ride. After nearly 30 planned dates and cancellations due to non-suitable weather conditions, we finally rode in a hot air ballon on February 15th, 2008 (merely days after our birthdays). The ride was worth the wait because we enjoyed amazing visibility during the 1.5 hour ride.
Both the country of Switzerland and the city of Zürich continually top the lists of countries & cities in the world with the highest quality of living. If this is true or not may be visible in the many pictures of people, places and events of my life in Zürich and my adventures in Switzerland.
An international conference and a chance to celebrate New Year's in Russia brought me to Moscow only months after my initial arrival in Germany. I was not prepared for such an awesome experience in the true sense of the word. Before my eyes I saw lifelong stereotypes die and new friendships begin in the country, which was a former "enemy of the free world."
From October 26, 2000 to August 29th, 2001 I was a resident of the small medieval city of Tübingen. During this time I worked for Hewlett Packard, traveled Europe, learnt German and changed my life forever. Here are some pictures, which show aspects of that life and that wonderful time - the beginning of my time in Germany.
At the beginning of November I had the chance to be the moderator of an international conference organized by AIESEC. I spend much time with Francois Fleury, with whom we organized a small tour of Paris at night by car. We saw and did many things, which were not captured by photo, but some of the magic of the night is visible in this album. There is even one small video: The Sparkling Eifel (Eiffel)Tower
• Royan 2008 (
description) 
For two weeks in May 2008 I attended French language coarses at the CAREL school in Royan, France. This is a collection of pictures, mostly taken from a fellow CAREL student (Sam Berger), which documents some of my time in and around Royan. Unfortunately I didn't have my own camera with me, but it is quit interesting to see my experiences through Sam's eyes.
• Family ( description)
• Friends ( description)
A random collection of pictures either of or from my friends. Sometimes I was with them, sometimes not, but it is still great to capture these happy moments of their lives. Even though friends may come and go, the pictures are here to stay and remind of great times. "No good-byes, just good memories."
Joris De Kaey, my friend from Belgium, whom I met in 2001 in Tübingen, celebrated a great day on February 17th 2006; the defence of his PhD. He studied theoretical mathematics at the University of Gent. Joris now lives in Amsterdam with his girlfriend Ellen and currently works for KLM Airlines. I had the pleasure to assist with and to participate on this occasion and enjoyed more than a week with Joris, Ellen and family in Amsterdam, Gent & Antwerp.
October 1st - 4th in Kaufbeuren, Germany.
Here is a collection of pictures from the first ever group retreat of the recently created Laboratory for Biosensors and Bioelectronics (LBB), which took place in Aeschi bei Spiez, in southern Switzerland (Berner Oberland).
Here is a collection of events and small picture galleries, which have no particular major theme. Furthermore, they may be major themes, of which there are simply not enought pictures to form an album. The concept may be difficult (or impossible) to understand, therefore, simply click, view and enjoy.
• New York 2008 ( description)
Five days, four nights in New York City! We both visited the city for the first time to see my father perform on stage at Carnegie Hall. Male Welsh choirs from all over the world were invited to form an enourmous 400 male-voice choir; my father being one of those 400. Otherwise, the pictures speak for themselves and we enjoy a magical and exciting time in New York. Some day we will return and perhaps it will be for my debut on the stage or Carnegie Hall!
• Malaysia 2001 ( description)
Another continent, another way of life! I refer to Malaysia as "Asia light" because it seems to have elements of the chaos, variety, colour and lifestyle, which the western world associates with Asia, without having many of the same problems as other countries, such as conflict, widespread poverty, instable governments, etc.
• Mexico 2005 ( description)
This gallery illustrates the progression our my year in the National Executive Board of AIESEC in Germany. Since this is a personal page, it focuses more on the personal moments of the year and with my team, rather than the work, stress and content, which was as equally important as the fun and emotion. Our team was consisted of Andi, Anette, Petra, Robert and myself. Britta, Mark, Emre, Juan, Ola, Angelika, Nilgün and Krista worked closely with us in our headquarters in Bonn, Germany. Of course, we also owe a magnificent year to all those people who cooperated with us in 2004 & 2005.
Separate from the other AIESEC section, this is a collection of pictures over a 4+ year span. Through AIESEC I have had the opportunity to travel to dozens of countries, but the majority of these pictures will have been taken in Germany. Again, since very few people think of taken pictures when they are working, most of the pictures also show a more entertaining side of AIESEC.