ROADTRIP!!!

I'm off, for a week or 2, to south-eastern Europe, to Hungary, Serbia, Kosovo, Crna Gorn (aka Montenegro, the black mountain, hoping I wont start WW3 there), Macedonia, maybe Greece, eventually Turkey. Plan subject to my whim. Not sure about internet strength down there, I might not be able to post every day.
Anyway, c ya, leaving in a few hours, at 3 AM, yawn.
Oh yeah: no plane involved. Coach, trains, ferries.

Light from above

Tis the weekend, and it's black and white! Join me here!

Lunchbreak

On the new wooden floating walkway on the Ill river.

Green

It is very hot. hings tend to dry out. Thanks to the almost nightly thunderstorms, but please: no flooding!!!

A whiff of eastern Europe...and of Paris

Some parts of St Peter the Young church reminds me of places I've seen in Eastern Europe...

And some others, newer ones, of the Sainte Chapelle in Paris

An indoor church mural

Still at St Pierre le Jeune, St Peter the Young church.
More murals here

Saint Pierre le Jeune 2

Nice chandeliers!

St Peter le jeune

Young St Peter church is  "relatively" new , 1031 AD. Some parts like the crypt being from the 7th century, built by Irish monks By far the most beautiful church in town! I show you more in the next few days. Meanwhile, have a look at the Wiki page.

Weekend in black and white

Brought today from the magnificent maze and garden of Horta, Barcelona.
Click here to see more magnificent black and white photos. Do it now!

All on board?

High season for boat tours! Haven't been on one of them since...may 2006, I think.
Anyway, loooooong queues to get tickets!
The same boat from further away:

Summertime...

And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high

Your daddy's rich
And your mamma's good lookin'
So hush little baby
Don't you cry

One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll fly to the sky

But till that morning
There's a'nothing can harm you
With daddy and mamma standing by

One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll fly to the sky

But till that morning
There's a'nothing can harm you
With daddy and mamma standing by

Stitching

Old photo... Actually a composite of 7 photos, with the help of a little program called Microsoft Image Composite Editor, aka ICE. free, very easy to use. Without it, this photo would have been impossible, and it is one tall lady!!! 142 meters/466 feet.
The technique used is call stitching.

A Monday Mural, with love

In fact it's simple: I love you.
Seen in Paris, near the Place de la République and the Bataclan.
Many more lovely Monday Murals here.

New kids in town

They are pedestrianizing a street along the river in the old city center, the quai des pecheurs, or Fischerstade. There will lots of riverside bars and restaurants, and these little boats. I've read somewhere that will be free to use. Might be fun!

Sunrise

This morning, just before 6 AM
More heavenly skies here.

Liberty enlightening the world???

AKA the statue of liberty. Not just in New York! There is another one in Paris, and of course in Colmar, where she was created. Colmar is 65 km south of Strasbourg, the birthplace of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, who created it. You can visit his home and museum, just follow the signs...
Now, seeing the actual state of liberty, freedom, in the USA, with this worst ""government"" ever, some alsatians and French want it back, me included. You just cannot spit on a present!
More b&w here, as usual.

Place St Thomas

Little painting today, the merry go round near St Thomas protestant church

Under surveillance

As you all (should) know, we've had/have a terrorist problem. Contrarily to the US, where terrorists are mostly white male trump cultists or politicians trying to make America great again (mega BS!), here in Europe, they are actually "Muslim"  terrorists, although their "faith" has absolutely nothing to  do with Islam.
Anyway, the cathedral here in Strasbourg is under heavy guard: army, police, guards... You have to open your bag to enter, and there restricted visiting times. I'm not going there often anymore, as the queues are always long, and I can't "faire la queue", do the queue, due to my disability.
I was lucky a few weeks ago, on a rainy day: no queue, alleluia! This is the main altar

Proud flag

LGBT flag on a boardwalk, in front of the Council of Europe

A Monday Mural

Yesterday morning, I ventured into a semi-abandoned industrial zone, looking for today's mural. This is what I found.
More Monday Murals here.

City Daily Photo monthly theme day: spirit

December 25th, June 25th...We-hey, we passed the half year mark!!! Do you feel the spirit of Christmas growing in you yet??? No??? No worries, it's gonna be here soon enough! Meanwhile, enjoy the summer. Or the rain down under.

Skywatch Friday

One early morning last Spring...
Click here to check more Skywatch photos.

Aliens...

Already 20 years since they landed, and still no sign of fantastic artifacts... Didn't they come to save the world from the human infection???
More b&w here.

Have a seat...

...and watch people go by, at the Vasco de Gama shopping center in Lisbon, Portugal.

Orangerie

Crikey!

The albino wallaby at the small zoo in the Orangerie Park.
Btw, smoking is now forbidden in any park here now. Strasbourg is the first french to introduce this municipal law. Yeah mates!

Esperando pelo metrô...A Monday Mural

Oriente, probably the nicest metro station in Lisbon!
More Monday Murals here

Don't push!

Weird name for a restaurant: granny in the nettles. It is based on an old french expression, don't push granny in the nettles, ne pas pousser mémé dans les orties, which means don't overdo it.Not sure if I want to eat there...Although, it could mean the exact opposite. Well, we'll see.

The sky above

Amazing sky, 2 days ago

Harley days

Old picture from my Barcelona blog.
The weekend is, of course, black and white! Just click...HERE!

Family outing

Exploring the surrounding, with mum and dad to protect us!

European Court of Human Rights

RIP, human rights.

Aaron Lordson, aka post 700

I came across this togolese singer this morning... Now, there are many street entertainers in town, some good, some rather awful. But this guy stands definitely out, with the soul in his voice!
You can find many videos on YouTube... Go for it, he is really good!

A monday mural, ay caramba!

A mexican-themed restaurant in Olhao, Algarve, Portugal. Well, not sure about storks in Mexico (probably) but there are thoudands in the Algarve, thousands! So, I guess the artist wanted to add some local color to his mural.
As usual on monday, you can see many more Monday Murals here.
Good dentist, btw.

Rue des Tonneliers

English: cooper street. One of the oldest streets in town, near the Ill river. Making wine barrels since at least 1240 AD, big ones. No coopers left in town nowadays, as far as I know.
I'm quite happy with my work today, so, very exceptionally, I'm including the original photo.

Bredele anyone?

We call them bredele, small breads. A small part of a nearly infinite variety of biscuits or cookies you have here. They are traditionally eaten at Christmas, but you can enjoy them all year long. There are shops that sell nothing else. If you love butter and sugar, go for it!

The way to...

The way to a windy beach, under grey and threatening Portuguese skies...
Weekend in black and white is here. Click!

Light

Gorgeous light in the cathedral a few weeks ago

Last summer...

...aka 2 weeks ago, before the big gates holding back the huge, giganormous amounts of rain opened. Floods everywhere now, even some whole vineyards washed away. WHAT WILL WE DRINK THEN?????

Olhao by night

Well, another shot from the Algarve, the lovely town of Olhao.

Cliché day, monday murals day :-)

Well. I just came back from a mostly grey, windy and wet week in Portugal. Had a good time though.
In Portugal, everybody knows people eat and live from PEIXE, fish. 365 cod recipes, as the saying goes. A friend of mine has a restaurant at the Ribeira market in Lisbon, specializing in cod. He created many more recipes, as you can do about anything with cabalhau, cod. According to him, there are many more than just miserly 365 recipes.
My personal favorite is bacalhau com natas, Heavy, but sooooo good!
Monday is mural day, Monday Murals. I took this photo in Faro, Algarve, last Friday. Now, the time CLICK has come!

Chuva, rain

Well, my holidays, vacaçoes, finish where they started, in (still???) rainy Porto. Going home north tomorrow, where it is warm!!! Porto is beautiful in the rain!

Welcome to the Oriente!

Several train stations in Lisbon, Lisboa, are architectural masterpieces. There is beautiful Rossio station...Well, this where I arrived today, a gare do Oriente, the Oriente train station. Well, you'll find it on many blogs, websites, postcards, and so on.This is my take.
This is a scheduled post, as I am busy for the rest of the day. Sorry, flks, will be back live tomorrow!

Bones aplenty

Faro is the capital of the Algarve region, and also the main airline hub for the area. Most tourist fly into Faro, but don't stay there, preferring their beach resorts.
As for me, having been there countless times, I like Faro! And there are things to see there that you wont see in your beach resorts. Like this chapel made of human bones... Part of the town's very very richly decorated cathedral. Actually really over the top to my taste.
And yes, the skulls are real!

Blue

Well, what can say? Here is where I spent my day.
I could have called this post: red. I look like a cooked lobster, despite of the 50 sun cream...

Futebol!

High time for me to find a desert island, with no internet, no phones, no TV, no radio, no newspapers... And NO FOOTBALL!!! It's starting soon, be warned!
Anyway, a cow on a skateboard??? Might be for something else, who knows...

Out and about, and on a walkabout

Well, this is not Strasbourg...I needed a break, after this dreary winter. A beach break. A portuguese beach break. So, here I am in Olhao, Algarve, southern Portugal, just above Africa, yet another of my old homes. Seville is nearby as well. More about my portuguese adventures tomorrow, when I go (re)discover the Ria Formosa