Hello my lovelies!

How are you today? Welcome to this week’s Weekend Coffee Share! How has your week been?

If we were having coffee today, we’d have met up early to drive to Essen together. We’d have got coffee on the way and gone in my car while listening to Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book on the car stereo. This particular version is narrated by Sir Derek Jacobi and features the voice of Andrew Scott as Jack Frost. It’s a really good production!

Why are we going to Essen, you might wonder. Today I’m part of a guided tour around UNESCO World Heritage Site and former coal mining complex Zeche Zollverein. The tour is for hobby photographers and gives access to some places that are not open to the general public. The industrial complex covers an area of 100ha.

The tour was a lot of fun! We walked around for the better part of 3 hours, and we had a gloriously gorgeous day today. Perfect conditions to photograph Germany’s most picturesque coal mine! The mine was decommissioned thirty years ago, and while it is really well preserved and informative, several areas show the evident decay that comes from disuse. Plus, there’s still the smell of steel, coal, engine oil and all-over industrial activity throughout the complex. I spent most of my life living and working in industrial places, so that cold smell of steel and dust and long-dead furnaces and machines strangely smells like home to me.

Over the day, I made several more friends, got invited to join local photography groups and might even have the possibility for future freelance work for Ruhrgebiet.TV who organised the whole gig.

I’ve uploaded some impressions to the album Zeche Zollverein Fototour on Facebook.

It was also the first time I took River Song and her mate Snowblind FieldNotes for their first outing. Travel journalist in her element!

If we were having coffee today I’d tell you that I had to take my dad to hospital this week. They think he’s got pneumonia, plus they changed his meds, so he’s had all sorts of side effects and he’s being thoroughly checked through at the moment.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I had a proper Skype chat with my thesis supervisor this week. We agreed that I can write about the concepts of home, family and place in Australian literature for my thesis. She actually said that she thinks it would also make a good PhD topic and was impressed with the idea. Now I’m just looking for Australian titles I can study, so if you have any suggestions I’ll happily read them.

I’m still playing catch-up with my A-Z posts. Some I couldn’t do yet (E was for Essen, which is the city I was in today) and others I’ve been looking for photos. I’ll try and post them tomorrow, though.

Anyway, that’s my week. How has your week been? It’s still nice and warm out, so how about we put our feet up while sitting on the patio, drinking coffee (or something cooler) and you tell me all about you, your week and how the A-Z Challenge is going for you?

And once you’re done here, I’m sure the other Weekend Coffee Sharers would love to see you too!

Thank you for having coffee with me today! Same time, next week?