What a weekend!!!

Now that was a weekend! Have just come back from a couple of days in Hamburg, where the weather was absolutely beautiful, the city was interesting, the food was good, and the Crowded House concert was awesome!

But that wasn't all. Back home in Australia, the Federal election was finally called, and Australia will go to the polls on 24 November. After eleven years of narrow minded individualism, blended with a healthy splash of fear mongering and manipulation, there could be a change of government on the way. What that will look like, and what difference it will make, remains to be seen. The most positive thing likely to come out of this election is that the Greens should win more seats, and potentially hold the balance of power in the Senate.

And if that wasn't enough, it was Hawaii Ironman weekend, and the Aussies blitzed it, with Chris McCormack finally breaking through to win on his sixth attempt, and Craig Alexander coming home second in his first race at this almost mythical event. Over in the women's race, Chrissie Wellington turned in a stunning performance to win on debut, after doing her first Ironman only seven weeks ago in Korea (which she also won!) Chrissie is a friend of my friend Georgie, and I have been hearing a few tales of how hard she has trained, but it is simply stunning how much she has achieved recently.

Anyway, plenty more on each of these in the coming days, but I need to get to bed right now to recover from weekend overload!

Today's photo is from Hamburg, and will be the first of a Hamburg set. It is taken just near the Rathaus (town hall).

Back in the 'Dam

Have arrived home in the Netherlands, and headed straight out of town for a two day meeting. With the travel, time zones and jet lag, it has all been a bit of a blur, but am back home in Amsterdam tonight, and it feels good to be here! Already had a run in Vondelpark, so things are starting to feel normal already! Now I just need to catch up on my crazy email backlog and all the missed phone messages, and I will feel much more on top of things...

Today's photo is another one I took in New York. I caught it as dusk descended, but as the dark came down, my flash kicked in, which produced this really interesting result with the pedestrian crossing and other road markings flaring under the flash. Combined with the long street leading to the changing colours of the dusk sky and the reflections in the building on the right, it made for an unusual image.