I wish we had more time when we were in Heidelberg. I feel we only scratched the depth of the city and want to go back there in the Summer since it was cold,rainy and grey the whole time we were there. I did have time to stop to take this picture of the this unusual sculpture with the Heidelberg castle in the background.
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Heidelberg Sculpture
We toured Köln with Claudia, a truly awful guide. Most of the guides we had on our Viking River Tour were exceptional but not Claudia. She was so awful we eventually turned off our headsets and strolled behind her. We got tired of hearing her psycho babble about World War 2 and how awful the Americans were. Köln was the most bombed city in Germany and the destruction was truly awful but we wanted to learn about the culture of the city, not a faux history lesson on the war. Once she pointed to a picture of Eisenhower and refereed to him as General MacArthur, her knowledge was not only prejudicial but inaccurate.
However she did point out one thing we might not have noticed on our own. This is the beautiful terrace garden and sculpture along the back of the Cologne Cathedral. Pretty on a gray rainy day but probably wonderful in the Spring and Summer.
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Cathedral Garden Köln
Wine was really important in the 15th Century. Fresh water supply was not always available and this was especially true if a castle was under siege. Each castle we visited had a large wine cellar. At Marksburg Castle it was on the ground floor near the stable. While these barrels are huge they aret not as large as the one in Heidelberg Castle which is thought to be the largest wine barrel in the world and almost impossible to photograph.
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The Barrel Room at Marksburg Castle
Social media is on fire with what a fucked up year 2016 was. We are coming to grips with the fact that not only has Facebook become the new obituary page of the cyber newspaper but that any time some one dies hundreds of people feel a need to eulogize. It seems like thousands of people died this year from Bowie to Debbie Reynolds, each week brings a new shock of loss.
Not only that but we elected a fascist as President and hate and racism seem to be driving society all over the world. Great Britain left Europe and the USA seems to want to join Russia and Korea as the new axis of evil. Yes 2016 was fucked but how did it treat your personally?
Not a bad year for us. We settled in to our new home in Pittsburgh and our daughter bought her first house outside Chicago. We made new friends and got reacquainted with old friends. We spent a month at the beach and a another month touring Europe and thank God we have our health. In any case I am sure 2017 will also be full of surprises. May you all stay healthy and happy and join me in a toast, fuck off 2016, thank God for another chance.
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Happy New Year!
The Black Forrest always makes me think of Hansel and Gretel and delicious cake. Which is more interesting when you think that the witch in was pretty much gonna bake those kids. I knew we were going to the Forrest to see nature and cuckoo clocks and I am not really enamored of cuckoo clocks but do love nature so I was in.
I didn’t spend much time looking at clocks though because I found the glass works. I have always been impressed with the art of glass blowing and glass sculpture. The craftsman here were maybe not as good as the ones we saw in Biot, France but they were amazing artists all the same.
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Glass Blower
Finished Product
Last time we visited Holland we took a tour of the UNESCO site at Kinderjik. The Windmills of Kinderdijk are along the Rhine River in Holland south of Amsterdam. They are used to manage water and eliminate flooding and have been in existence since the 15th Century.
This is a view of the inside of one of the mills that is not currently operating and functions currently as a museum. These are the huge gears that are used to keep the mill turning.
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Gears Inside the Windmill
This year is the first time in a long time we will be home on Thanksgiving. Normally we venture to Boston and spend Thanksgiving with family but because of our heavy travel schedule, this year we will celebrate at home. I love our neighborhood this time of year. Neighbors are involved in high end home decorating in Regent Square and some have a great sense of humor. This one is on my street. Thanks neighbor!
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Happy Thanksgiving!
We had been touring for a month and the last thing I wanted to see was another European Church. It was our last day in Europe and we had spent about five hours at Prague Castle. I was tired. However my bride of 45 years insisted we had to see The Child of Prague. I had no idea what it even was but have learned Happy Wife, Happy Life so I grudgingly agreed. It is truly one of the most interesting religious artifacts I have ever seen.
The Infant Jesus of Prague or Child of Prague is a 16th-century Roman Catholic wax-coated wooden statue of child Jesus holding a globus cruciger. It is on display at a very small Church of Our Lady Victorious in Malá Strana in Prague. It is very beautiful and difficult to photograph due to all the reflections.
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The Child of Prague
I am fortunate. I know a lot of very creative people and successful artists. I have even had the honor to help train some of them. There is one woman though who is really unique in that she is a successful commercial and fine artist and she is successful in multiple disciplines.She is in some respects my teacher because she has gotten me to change the way I view different photographic subjects.
Frequently when my wife and I go off on assignment together…hey it’s still an assignment even if we assign it to ourselves, we find certain views and look at each other and say, “Oh that’s an image for Susana.” We found a few on our junket through Europe and so here is the first image for Susana.
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For Susanna #1
My wife and I both took too many images inside the BMW Museum in München. We talked later how compelling it was. The museum was so beautiful and the displays so complete the photography was almost a compulsion. In most museums you can’t take photos and in most who would want to. I don’t need a picture of a painting hanging on a wall and the glare off the frame thank you very much.
It should have been the same here, I mean how many images of engines do you need? Yet the displays were perfect and you could feel the speed.You could tell by watching the people. We would pause, stare at a car or motorcycle. You could see the fantasy play over our eyes, we were IN the car, feeling the speed and oh yes it was good.
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Speed Dreams
Imagery Photography 