Where have you been?

One of the many stories of individual heroics during war time is the story of B24H, aircraft #42-95023. After a mid air collision with a B17 the pilot of the doomed aircraft, 2/Lt Ellis, was able to a steer the plane away from the towns of Cheshunt and Waltham Cross into a nearby field. The pilot and crew perished in the crash but no one on the ground was injured. Although some remain skeptical of the details in this incident, the towns dedicated the plaque shown here. A link to details of this crash as well as other B24 crashes and information can be found at B-24.net.

One of the first places I visited once I moved to England was the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial. It is located about 10 miles West of Cambridge in the town of Madingley. It was a cold and quiet Winter day when I visited, January 6th 2005 to be exact, and I was basically alone in the cemetery. It was eerie to walk among so many headstones but it filled me with a sort of nationalistic pride to know that American soldiers helped win such a monumental victory for Western Civilization. As I stood between the rows of nearly 9000 head stones and thought of the almost 500,000 American Military dead and the 60,000,000 overall dead the enormity of World War 2 and its impact on humanity was overwhelming.

It also made me think of my friends currently serving in the US Military. It is sad that future generations of Americans will only be able to shake thier heads in disbelief about how recklessly we sent our sons, brothers, and fathers to die in the desert because of a bunch of lies.

Information about this cemetery can be found on the American Battle Mounments Comission website here. There is a PDF at the bottom of the page with excelently detailed information about the cemetery. I recommend everyone visiting Europe make it a point to visit this or other similar sites.

Two pictures of the cemetery; one showing the vast field of graves and the other the main drive of the site.

I said that I could not find any information about Warsaw's very first escalator but I actually have. So, for all of those who emailed me enthralled by my tales of moving staircases please enjoy the following link:

Who likes esclators?

An old photo from Cambridge. Some punts on the River Cambs.

Back from vacation and back into the swing of things lets start again with some regular posting. Here is a final view of Malbork Castle. Sort of a strang view out of one of its windows.

Today we spent several hours (again) in one of the government offices working on getting me a Residence card. I have a temporary Visa but there are still a few hoops to jump through before I get the real thing. On our way to the building we walked through (and up) one of the more important sites for the city of Warsaw: the cities very first escalator. It is not suprising that I have been unable to find a tourist website with informaiton but just know that the existing escalator has been upgraded since the original and that there are Communist era statues of workers and the soldiers who cracked the whip on them near the base.

Farewell all, my girlfriend and I are off for vacation in the Polish Tatras. We will be back in just over a week and I will do my best to upload some photos asap. Hope you all have a nice week and I will talk to you soon.

A photo from Marbork. This tile is located above a well within the castle.

We have reached a milestone here at OC_Photography, post number 100! I hope you are happy with my blog's content and continue to vist. Heck, if you really like it tell a friend! Keep sending emails or posting comments and I will do my best to suit all request.

This photograph shows a World War I memorial to the brave souls from the Scottish city of Torrance who gave their life to protect our freedom. The country is filled with both WWI and WWII memorials like this along with an American Military Cemetery located near Cambridge. I plan to post several photos from the cemetery over the next few weeks so keep an eye out for them. Also watch out for photos from our trip to the Tatra Mountains coming soon!

Our little Kobra has had a rough life. We saved him from a shelter where he had been a resident for over two years. In that time he received minimal medical treatment or caring attention. Once at our place he quickly adapted to live in a family and is now a very happy and loving kitty. He had regular skin infections as well as irregular shits before we began him on a chicken/rice only diet. Since then he has had more energy and nicer fur, only one outbreak of the skin thing, as has been regular when it comes to bathroom habits. It amazes me how drastically his diet has effected his health - it makes me wonder about the shit I eat...

Although nothing seemed to happen last week I ended up being very busy. Running here, running there, I never had a chance to sit in front of the computer. Summer time is the slow season for teachers as well. Go figure.

In celebration of the release of Scottish reporter Alan Johnston here is another Scotland photo. It is not Lochgoil in Argyll where the Johnston's have their family home but another one from Loch Ness.

I have seen Gary Busey on the local bus several times and, believe it or not, I think he lives near me in Piastów. Actually, I think the person I see is really a Polish woman who looks like Gary Busey. Usually Polish women are very attractive, no matter what their age, but a female Busey - I think not.

While looking for a link for dear old Gary I came across the following blog: Davezila. I have no idea who Dave is but he is right-on when it comes to "Manpris" which are unfortunately popular with the men in Poland. Someone should really tell them...

Dave also mentions marabou and, while I only half understand what he means, the link leads to something that looks like a stork. The photo above shows a statue of a White Stork nesting that sits atop the well at Malbork Castle. I can't find any information about this piece specifically but I found a neat vitrual tour of the castle here.

I thought I had better show the entire castle rather than just the entryway. It is a neat castle, well, the remains thereof, but was unfortunately closed when I rode by. I was only able to click a few photos from the outside.