Back in August I got to leave the USA for the first time and I really wanted to make it count. Luckily The Proper People gave me some inspiration for places to go and within my tight time budget I got to visit a couple places.
The main was the famous Peppermint Power plant in southern Germany. This place was a bit of a challenge. It's sealed up pretty well with boards and chains around the doors but there's a small busted window on the lower level. The main challenge was getting myself and my 40lb camera bag inside without damaging either of us. I ended up having to stack some left over cinder blocks up far enough that I could get a leg over, with the power of adrenaline and thunder thighs I managed to get into a rather uninviting basement area via a very soggy and pliable wooden chair. Once inside I walked up a small flight of stairs to see the main turbine room. It had just rained with the clouds parting so the reveal into the changing rays of sunlight made me smile like a cheshire cat. With all the fresh rain dripping in it was a little hard to make out what could be a footstep or just water dropping but in the end I got in an out without being seen. One of the major disappointments was sometime between the Proper People's visit and mine some asshat decided to spray-paint the control panels on the wall opposite of the windows. It was heartbreaking honestly, whatever happened to "take only photos, leave only footprints"?.
The less exciting but still interesting visit was the abandoned NATO radar station on the border of Italy and Switzerland. Honestly the more interesting part was the views on top of the mountain rather than the actual structure. It's covered in graffiti from floorboards to rafters with only a few angles one can get without getting the "art". The radar dishes were very cool to see but with night coming and a storm on the horizon I figured it best to leave it for now. I did learn from a local that it's now owned by a foreign investor that has some sort of plans for it but wasn't very keen on sharing details with the locals.
While driving through Norway I also managed to drive by the old abandoned house with a tree growing through the middle. Its right off the side of the road on a farm that was freshly manured so between not wanting to vomit and ruin my new shoes I just snapped a quick shot from the road.
I wish I had gotten to see more but between the landscape shots that aren't very applicable to this site and the time constraints I only got to see these two places. I have a few others marked down and I'm hoping to study in Copenhagen where access to these places will be a lot easier then.