Category: Travel

I learned about skiing in Davos as a corporate spouse, tagging along in prior years during the World Economic Forum. In those relatively recent but bygone days, WEF took place in January, and its attendees and their entourages snapped up all the accomodations for miles around. That meant particularly empty ski slopes, and I enjoyed two trips there, skiing in blissful solitude.

After a couple of years off, WEF returned this year, but in May. Meanwhile, back in February, I was trying to plan a ski trip somewhere in the US, but the lodging and lift prices, as well as air fare (whether in dollars or miles) were a bit pricey (read: ridiculous) for my taste. “Hmm, what about Davos?” I decided on a bit of a whim to check for mileage award availability. IAD-ZRH nonstop for 60k miles and $12 in fees. Hmm. What about hotel? Six nights, single room in Davos by the station, $300, with breakfast. Not per night – six nights. Hmm. How about lift passes? Stowe or Killington, weekend day pass $175+. Davos, entire region, five days, $300.

That was, as we say, that.

 

Starting to prepare for my bike trip (Passau to Wien along the Danube), so I’m trying some experiments with my Insta360 One X2 camera.

For today, I rode my usual ‘longer’ route, down the Beach Drive/Rock Creek cycle trail and back up the Capital Crescent trail. It was a bit cloudy this morning and the recent (torrential!) rains left quite a bit of mud and detritus on the road and the cycle trail.

Here’s the first video, a short sequence along the Georgetown waterfront by Key Bridge. 360 cameras take video in all directions at once, and you can reframe, pan, and zoom in the editing app after the fact. Some of the effects can be a little dizzying, but it’s fun to try to make interesting shots.

Next up is a segment along Beach Drive. Here, the camera is mounted on my helmet, for a drone-like vantage point. You can see the mud on the road from what must have been quite a flood in Rock Creek.

The last video was taken along K Street NW under the Whitehurst Freeway, ending with a view of Rosslyn and the Key Bridge. There’s a really bad, old joke about Jimmy Carter and Key Bridge, Rosslyn, etc. But I’ll spare y’all.

Finally here are a couple of photos from the One X2. They’re based on the same 360 shot, reframed and lightly adjusted for better exposure/contrast.

Next up, perhaps some low-light shots or music?