Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Surfing on a river





While in Munich we took a walk in a park. We discovered people surfing on the river that ran through it. I like the sign that warns about the concrete structure that both causes the wave and bodily damage. The sign has a rule: one surfer at a time. I has a fine suggestion: experienced surfers only. Good idea.

Monday, June 21, 2010

When the cows come home






I can never quite figure out whether I should upload the last photo first or not. but, Below the balcony of our place in Schwangau every day at 5 pm they would come in for milking. So, the one with the woman in the distance is the start and the rest should make sense. I'm going to try starting with the end and see what happens.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Shutter doo-dad in Malta



I have no idea if this stops the shutter from hitting the wall or what. I just thought it was very cute.

Budapest 6: Castle hill






Various pictures looking from Castle Hill on the Buda side, some on top, some looking over to the Pest side and some to the pest. So many photos....

Budapest 5: Bridges






Lots of bridges. Walked over the chain bridge and then the more gothic looking thing had the last bolt hammered in (sorry engineers...I probably have that term wrong) by Franz Joseph in the 1890s.

Budpest 4: Danube flooding





All the rain for the last month in the North (and in Budapest) have caused the Danube to rise. My friend and I were going to go on a cruise of the River, but no boats were allowed out.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Budpest 3: Statues/public art I liked






I think Budapest likes to decorate itself up pretty well. They are not keen on the memorial to when the Soviets pushed the Germans out. The King is of St Stephen who turned the Magyars over to Catholicism nearly 1000 years ago. The guy falling was a 16-year-old freedom fighter in 1956. He did kill some people and when the uprising was crushed he was arrested and tried. They waited until he was 18 and then executed him--and others, of course. The man on the bridge is of Imre Nagy, he was the leader of the effort to get more independence from the Soviets. You can't see it in the photo, but he's looking towards the Parliament building. The colorful thing on a wall commemorates the day in the late 1500s when the Hungarians stopped the Turks--it was after the Maltese stopped them in 1565. It's modern, I believe.

Budapest 2: Art Nouveau






Not much of this architectural style in the US. I like it.

Budapest 1: Roman Aquincum






I left Malta for a short side trip to Budapest, Hungary. What a lovely city. One of the things a friend and I looked at was Aquincum, the Roman HQ for the Province of Pannonia. The Hungarians found the Military City (where the legions were) and the civil city. We didn't see the Military one (unclear if it was for visiting). They have excavated about 1/4 of the ancient city and it is mighty impressive. Great Museum with just the last year's finds. We concluded the Hungarians took their ancient history very seriously, as they have been at this archeological work since the end of the 19th century. So, a wide view (but NOT the whole expanse), a wall, some of the evidence of the ONE of the public baths.