Powerful Sights To See

Another travel blog:

Today was a day for a walking tour of the old town (Staré Mésto) of Prague—we headed out the apartment into the old town—only a couple blocks away.  Our first stop was the Old-New Synagogue (Staranová synagóga).  This is the oldest practicing synagogue in Europe (begun 1270) and was very interesting to see—it is fairly plain inside, but there is a lot of history for the Prague Jewish quarter and much of it is reflected here.  There is a very old banner, red, with the Star of David on it that was given to them by one of the past kings.  It is carried by 8 members of the congregation on the occasions of a royal visit to the Jewish Ghetto (no pictures allowed).  They also have a great clock tower that counts time backwards in honor of the fact that Hebrew is read right to left.  We then headed over to the old Jewish Cemetery (Starỳ Židovskỳ Hřbitov).  For a period of a couple hundred (439-1787) years the Jewish inhabitants of the city were not allowed to bury bodies outside of the city and were only allowed to use the small space within—the result is a very small cemetery, say a couple hundred feet on a side that has a couple thousand tombstones and then under each one can be up to 12 bodies—it is believed that there may be as many as 80,000 people who were buried there.  It was fascinating to visit.  Also attached to the cemetery is a converted synagogue (Pinkas Synagogue—Pinkasova synagóga) that lists on the walls the names of all of the Polish Jews killed during WWII.  It is a very humbling thing to see.

Did Someone Say Look Up?!?!?!

The year was 1530 and the Bebenhausen Monastery ceiling needed a little bit of primitive painted sunshine.  This is what they got :)

Looking Up, Again

Once again, it is time to look up at and see what is above you!  While touring Eastern Europe we ended up in Prague which is a wonderful city to visit--though a bit hard to drive around in!  I found this ceiling in the castle--I like the patterns and the seeming randomness of the types of stone--it has been repaired several times over the years and they used whatever local stone they found each time.  It makes for a great patchwork of color and lines.

A Different Perpective

 

Spain, 2005.  I have had the chance to photograph many beautiful churches around the work and the cathedral in Barcelona was no exception.  However, the pictures can start to look the same after a while so I start to experiment with points of view and perspective.  I was particularly happy with this one--this was taken from behind the altar looking up.  I like the flow of the picture and the altered point of view.

More Purty Flowers, Netherlands Style

 

 

And back to The Netherlands again today :)

6/10/2005

Though I was pretty sure that I was past the time, I headed down to Haarlem (ever wonder where that NY neighborhood got its name?!?! ) to see the bulb fields.  And I say a lot of fields, but no blooms.  Darn it.  I think that I missed it by about 3-4 weeks.  Ah well, a reason to come back someday.  Which I will, I really like it here.  I did find 3 or 4 very small plots in bloom and of course took pictures   Iris and Alliums.
I drove around looking at the country side for a while then headed up to the town of Spaarndam mentioned in my green guidebook and this was a great find.  It is a little tiny town perched along one of the dikes.  It also has a small number of houses on one side, but much is perched right up along top.  Also three locks in town and on the third is a statue to the little boy who put his finger in a hole in the dyke all night too keep it from flooding!  The town was a lot of fun though and I am really glad that I headed up there.  They are also having some sort of a festival in the not too distant future (after I leave unfortunately) but several sail boats had shown up and had blocked in one of the locks—the one around the town square.  People were out on the boats just talking and enjoying the company.  I actually had to wait while the pedestrian draw bridge was raised to get a couple of the boats in.

Say Cheese!!!!

Here is another lunch time vacation...a bit of my travel blog from the summer of 2005


6/10/2005

            Cheese anyone?  Lots and lots of it?  I went up to Alkmaar this morning to get to the cheese market that happens there every Friday morning during the summer—and has for a long time!  They have records of their being a scale there since 1352!  650 years of cheese markets—we just don’t have any traditions like that at home.  It was fun to see it and realize that it has been going on so long!  And it wasn’t just a standard market.  The cheese makers lay out their wares—28,000 kg this time though in the middle ages it was close to 300,000 kg!  Anyway, so the cheese is laid out in long lines (we are talking 20 kg wheels and 10 kg balls here) by gentlemen in blue shirts, part of a guild in the market square, or Waagplein.  The buyers and maker reps then sample the cheese and finally agree on a price per kg by slapping hands.  But, each wheel weights slightly different so it all needs to be weighed. In comes another guild, the cheese carriers.  There are 4 teams of 7 men who carry the cheese.  They are dressed in shirts with straw hats brimmed in one of 4 colors so that they can be identified in their group.  The guys in blue load up these cart/sled things (not sure how to describe it—it has no wheels, is completely carried) with up to 8 wheels of cheese and two of the carriers attached ropes on harnesses they wear to the sled and carry it to massive scales.  The carts weigh 150-200 kg total when loaded.  After weighing, overseen by another guild, the carriers then take the cheese over to another area where another guild, dressed in brown, load them on to carts and nowadays then into truck though it used to be onto boats.  In all, it takes about 2.5 to 3 hours to sell all the cheese now though it used to take until midnight in old times.  Needless to say it is a colorful spectacle and they carriers seems to have a great time, and constantly play some with the crowd—taking some people around on the sleds and one cart I saw go by had 8 wheels of cheese and a 4-5 year old girl on it—I assume they took her off before weighing and didn’t charge the buyer for her weight as well! :)

Pikes R Us

Visited a military museum in Germany when I was traveling around with my parents. Not usually my cup of tea, but dad wanted to go and it was interesting. This is set of old pikes on display and I liked the shadows. However, if you look closely at them you can see that they are well used. Yuck! ;)

More Carcassonne

Before we had the wonderful interval of some snow, I had intended to post a few more pictures form Carcassonne so here they are :) Enjoy!

Carcassonne

Here is another entry from my 2005 Europe travels:

Carcassonne! I was here with the family all those years ago and it is even cooler than I remember! A very impressive, completely walled city that sits on a little hill. However, here is where the question of the day comes in How do you hide an entire walled city?!?! OK, it didn’t help that it was raining, rush-hour in the fairly large town/city that surrounds it, and I didn’t have a good map. Now to the other more interesting aspects of finding it—I had to come in a weird way due to lots of construction. That shouldn’t be too bad. However, you can’t drive in the medieval city—and they (the people who live there) all know where it is—so they don’t bother putting up obvious signs!!! And the City Center signs don’t lead you there, they take you to the surround city’s center—no where near and clogged with traffic. But lots of parking areas such that it looks like you are in the right neighborhood. Oh, and the buildings are all tall enough that once in the area, you can no longer even see the medieval city!!! Needless to say, there was much frustration and circling ;) I did finally get there (1 hour later—wanted to stop and ask for directions, but was stuck in traffic and no where to stop!). Turns out the signs say La Cité and evidentially you are supposed to know that that means the medieval part of town.
Argh. But, as I say, I did make it and it was great. The youth hostel is in the city and I have included a picture from outside the bedroom window! I wandered around town—walking the outside walls, for a couple hours taking many a picture and then finally ended up in the town square for dinner while writing post cards and petting a really cute kitty-cat. Then I went out again later with my tri-pod to try some night shots. Though getting ther was difficult, it was well worth it as a stop over on my travels south to Spain.

A little slice of hell...

OK, so I was going to post a pretty picture of a butterfly on lavender today, but I have come down with a cold and I am trying to grade close to 200 exams while feeling yucky! Not fun!  So, I am going with a picture from Cathedral (Duomo) Cupola in Florence.   I think the subject sums up how I am feeling about right now.  OK, no, it  really isn't all that bad, and I am actually blessed with a very good immune system.  I only rarely get sick and when I do it is usually only for  about 24 hours or so, but man, those are a fun 24 hours!  My elementary school secretary said that I actually turned green!  The Grinch aint got nothing on me ;)

Picture? What Picture?!?!

An icon...seen in real life...and it is darned tall!!  Needless to say, seeing the David in person was very impressive.  And just in case you are curious, you are not supposed to take pictures so you don't actually see this one.  I would never take a picture where I am not supposed to! :)  The Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence is a small, though good museum.  David is certainly impressive, though I find the Nonfiti (unfinished slaves) be be equally fascinating.  Seeing the creative process is amazing. 
     Most people only come to see David and the Nonfiniti and miss the rest of the museum.  Most people don't even realize that there is a second floor!  In fact, the average visit time, based on ticket sales and other data the museum collects is just 7 1/2 minutes.  Ummm...wow!  If you ever go, take a little more time to enjoy!  If you are on a tour, make them wait for you :)

Butter or Parquet?!?!

Here is a bit of fun with patterns! When visiting Munich, Germany I swung by the Residenz Munchen which is palace of the old Bavarian monarchs. There were many a goopy decoration as one would expect in a palace but I was especially struck by the parquet floors throughout the palace. Each room was done in a different pattern of inlaid wood. Some were a bit busy for my taste if I were to try to live with them, but the craftsmaship was impressive to say the least.

Ppfffttt!

Hanover, Germany in June of 2005--I found this sculpture just outside of city hall--I think it sums up many a political battle very nicely :)

The Window to Nowhere

While traveling around in Europe I became obsessed with windows for a while. Each country has such different architectural styles and the winds seems to reflect that. This little door/window was taken in Germany. I love the lines of the 1/2 timbering surrounding the window. It has a very primitive/earthy feel to it.

Just Plain Cute!!!

Need I say more?!?! This little mini horse was living on a farm near Tienhoven in the Netherlands. Most cute!

Lions....Tigers...Christians?!?!

Roman Colosseum. At night. Most Cool.

10 Little Peppers, All in a Row

Time to look around Barcelona! All of it :) Started out heading north from the youth hostel a couple of block to the Mercat San Josep. This is a huge fruit, vegetable, meat and fish market and one of the best I have even been in around the world. It was beautiful and the stand owners took so much obvious pride in their wares that they were presented beautifully. I mean, even the green beans and cherries were all lined up! So, I spend about an hour wandering around and taking pictures. A couple people looked at me a bit odd as it really is a working market, but many of the merchants seemed happy to have me photograph their stalls. They had obviously spent a lot of time setting them up and were proud of them. I love the order to this picture, and the contrast of colors--always been one of my favorites.

Did you say Haarlem or Harlem?!?!

In honor of the tulips being in bloom in the Netherlands right about now, here is a picture I took while traveling there in 2005. I was pretty sure that I was past the time, but I headed down to Haarlem (ever wonder where that NY neighborhood got its name?!?! :-) ) to see the bulb fields. And I saw a lot of fields, but no blooms. Darn it. I think that I missed it by about 3-4 weeks. Ah well, a reason to come back someday. Which I will, I really like it here. I did find 3 or 4 very small plots in bloom and of course took pictures :) Iris and Alliums.

The Light of Faith

Quick post today before heading off to give my final exam. This photo comes from Croatia in 2005. I joined several of the Pepperdine students on a mission trip there over spring break and caught this picture in the main cathedral in Zagreb. It was interesting to visit as I had been to Yugoslavia as a kid and this was the first time I have revisited a piece of land which was now a new country!

To The Top Of The World

OK, its been way too long since I posted so you get a big one today. Here is an entry from my journal from when I visited Switzerland in August, 2005. Enjoy!

Wow. Incredible. Amazing. Awe Inspiring. Wonderful. Ok, just a couple words that can describe today! So, it has been raining on me and Switzerland for the past week or two. But not today!! I got up this morning and the sky was completely blue—not a cloud to be seen! I was hoping for that but really didn’t expect it. So, instead of going for that small little cog wheel railroad I tried yesterday I headed to Grindelwald to take the train up the top of the Jungfrau!! The peaks were completely clear and these are some of the highest Alps there are!!! A few clouds would form briefly on the peaks—enough to make the pictures interesting and then dissipate. It was incredible. Forget the Deutsches Museum (Ok, I liked that too) but today was really my kid in a candy store day. I just kept stopping and saying wow! And no people didn’t think I was weird, they joined me!

So, it is a cog-wheel train up and it takes a little over an hour with one train switch—quite an incredible, and pretty journey. Expensive though to say the least—round trip was $112! But, that included all the things at the top. Still—but hey, it takes you to the highest train station in Europe. -- 11715 feet high! There is actually an observatory up there and a viewing platform around it that you can walk out on which is where I started. It looks out and around with an amazing panorama. The Jungfrau on one side and another of the really high ones right next to it. Behind you? A really long glacial river and the rest of the Alps to your south. And in front? A wide open view over Grindelwald and green hills as far as the eye can see. You are kind of on the cusp of the glacial Alps here. So, spent quite a while taking pictures here. Next was a trek across the glacier over to a secondary hut perched around the corner with a view out over the Eastern Alps. The hike is about 45 minutes and, yup, you guessed it, beautiful! Had lunch there and then to top it all off I ended lunch with a cup of coffee. But hat sounds so mundane. I was actually standing on an outside viewing platform in the sun with my coffee, Baileys, and cream looking out over the snow capped Alps on a clear day. I can honestly say that it just doesn’t get any better than that. This was a truly ideal moment for me and a great way to end my travels here in Europe. I still have 5 days to go and some sights to but it doesn’t matter, this is an incredible memory to end the trip with.

After hiking back to the main lodge (OK, skating on tennis shoes down the snow ) I wandered through the “Ice Palace” which is a pretty cheesy, though still fun carved passageway through the glacier with several ice sculptures. That leads you out to the “Plateau” which is an open space on the other side of the observatory and looks west out over the Alps. More pictures here! And then, I am afraid that it was time to head back—I had been up there close to 6 hours after all! I skipped one train connection on the way down to do some photography in the green meadow region (lots of meadow flowers--including the one at the top of this post) and then finally made it back to the car. The only real drawback to today is that I didn’t think I would be on the top of the mountain anywhere near as long as I was, or out on the glacier and snow. So, I am afraid that I won’t need a light to read my book in bed tonight, the sunburn will be plenty! Ouch :) I did find a pharmacy (Apotheke) still open at the train station and after much searching we found some aloe that I am bathing my face in :) Yes mom, I knew better!