Francisco

He seemed very happy to see me!
 

A weekend reflection: Prelle

 

Photo from this week's short trip to Bavaria, Germany. Can you see the kind of metal cage hanging over the river? It is called a Prelle, a bounce, aka baker's cage. It was used for water penalties. The penalty was mainly applied to bakers. The weight of bread was prescribed by the authorities. If a baker was caught cheating, he was put into the cage, and dipped several times in the river.

More weekend reflections here.

Wochenende in schwarz und weiss

Meaning: weekend in black and white, in German. Why? Because I took this photo in the small town of Eichstätt in Bavaria, half way between Munich and Nuremberg, 2 days ago. I used to live and work there, 30 years ago. One of the 2 Frenchies in town... This is the huge Residenzplatz, siege of the local prince-bishops. Yep, it is an extremely catholic place! And very lively, over 5000 of the 13.000 or so inhabitants are students at the catholic university.

Anyway, wanna see more b&w? Easy-peasy, just click here.
 

A stroll...

...along the Ill river.
 

A Monday Mural

Wakey wakey, it's lunch time! 

More Monday Murals here.
 

Queuing

 

At the end of October, we still have... June weather, above 20 degrees C every single day. Tourists enjoying their stay.

Одраз за викенд, a weekend reflection

 Looking for a toilet and a coffee... A small shopping mall in Belgrade, Serbia. More weekend reflections here.

Shisha

Ala hookah, aka water pipe. Very popular here. I tried it a few times in the Middle East (damn peer pressure but nothing illegal): not my thing.

More b&w for you right here.
 

Magnets

I always travel light. The only souvenirs/presents I buy for friends and family are fridge magnets. This is in Belgrade, Serbia. 2 of the local "heroes", an antivaxer and a psychopath. Frankly quite shocked,  I decided to buy my magnets somewhere else. Nicer ones. I say no to assholes.
 

Watching people float by

With almost summerly temperatures, tourists are flocking into town, full shiploads. And when they're off of their river cruise ships, what do they do??? Let's take another boat!
 

I can see you!

Eyes wide open in Strasbourg.
 

Game over

I'm not a gamer, but this is fun. Anywho, more Monday murals here.
 

Way too early!!!

Hard to believe, but some Christmas decorations are already up! Come on people, next year, will you start with it in June or July???
 

A weekend reflection

Nice weather last Sunday. More weekend reflections here, ,as usual.
 

Ville et campagne

Meaning: town and countryside. An antique looking antique shop in the town center.

More b&w for your weekend here.

Details

The cathedral is 1007 years old.
 

Albert

 

Albert Schweitzer, the most famous, the most revered Alsatian, a Peace Nobel prize winner. Winter is coming, so someone gave him a hat. Thanks for him!

Light in the darkness

St Peter the Young church, in the city center.
 

Ernesto "Che" Ganesha

Old street art from my years in Barcelona. Stange mixture, Che Guevara and the god Ganesha...

More Monday Murals at Sami's, right here.
 

Winter is coming

In the Petite France area.
 

Not my car!

Taken at a vintage festival, a while ago. More weekend reflections right... here.
 

Closed for business

At the cathedral. More b&w here.

 

Eastward go!

I've been exploring eastern Europe for the last few years, mainly the Balkans. The Hungarian Parliament in Budapest, seen from the Fisherman's Bastion. The European head honchos declared a few weeks ago that Hungary is not a democratic state.
 

Airmail?

Pimp my mail box!
 

Best coffee in town!

Old photo from a street food festival in 2018. The travelling coffee shop. They also have 2 coffee shops in town. Fantastic coffee!!!
 

Safety first!

I don't do roller-skating, but if I ever did, that's the way it would be... LOL

More Monday Murals from all over the world right... HERE.
 

A Belgrade reflection

More weekend reflections here.
 

October theme day: rest, sleep, relaxation

Mi gato! My cat, Rio. Born and rescued in Barcelona, now living near Amsterdam, with his cat friends Willem and Sofia. Resting, sleeping and relaxing 20 hours a day! Hungry at 4 AM...

More relaxing theme day photos right here.

 

Weekend in black and white

Due to a PC problem (damn you, file history!), and finding the solution on the net as usual, I've had to do a clean computer reset, re-upload tens of thousand photos and a lot of other stuff from a providential external hard drive. Upload still going on, therefore an old photo today. If you want to see more b&w, just click here.
 

Running for my life :-)

Strange bestie one can find in Belgrade... From my Jurassic Park memories, this has to be a Serbian velociraptor...

Yummy!

Maybe not everybody's taste... I am French, and we French love our escargots, snails! With some good garlic butter... I've had a dozen last Saturday.
 

Rainy days

 It's finally raining, and getting cold. NICE! Be sure to cover yourselves.

Lovebirds

Seen while having a nice cup of coffee in the "bohemian" part of Belgrade. For more Monday Murals, just click here. 
 

Big puss

Guarding the enormous statue of Alexander the Great, on top of the column, at the main square in Skopje, the Macedonia square.
 

Buenos dias

A Mexican restaurant in Skopje, North Macedonia. More weekend reflections right here.
 

The sphynx

Watching, or sleeping? A friendly cat anyway. Wanna see more b&w? Easy, click here!
 

Црква Светог Марка, church of Saint Mark

 Nice, relatively new Serbian orthodox church in the center of Belgrade, Serbia (former Yugoslavia). With a small smaller Russian orthodox church, just behind.

Shine!

 

I'm usually wearing sandals 8 months a year (no socks!), so I have no use for this... I hope this shoe shiner earns enough to make a living in Skopje, with other people's shoes. 

SXB

SXB, Strasbourg International Airport is situated about 8 or 10 km from the city center. I love small airports! Direct flights to 40 European and north African destinations. With a train to Strasbourg every 15 minutes, it's a convenient airport.
 

Nada Knezevic

According to IMDB, she was the queen of jazz and pop in Yugoslavia. Never heard of her unfortunately.

More Monday Murals here. 

 

Tea time after the storm

The week before I arrived in Skopje, they had a big storm. I suppose that destroyed the umbrellas in the Turkish part of town. Some places there made me thing I arrived in Istanbul... What to drink there? Coffee? No, I had an excellent Turkish tea!!!
 

A weekend reflection

Some building in Skopje, North Macedonia. More weekend reflections here.
 

The harpist

Looks like a Celtic harp... But this was taken in Belgrade, Serbia, and not somewhere in good old Ireland. The young lady was singing and playing, but I didn't recognize the tune. Anyway, more b&w for your weekend right...HERE.
 

The bridge of civilizations

Built in 2013, with dozens of statues of writers, artists, thinkers from Macedonian and world history. The building in the back is the archeological museum.
 

Mother Teresa Memorial

A small chapel in the Mother Teresa Memorial. She was born here, in Skopje, under Albanian rule. Many things in Skopje are named after her, even a highway. Wonder what she might have thought about it... I was very lucky to have met her in the 80es.
 

Alex

This is Alex. He used to be the king of Macedon. They called him Μέγας Αλέξανδρος, Alexander the great. He traveled a lot.  His enormous statue is on the main square of Skopje, North Macedonia.

 

Мурал од понедељка (Mural od ponedeljka, or Monday Mural)

I've spent 10 days in the Western Balkans, just came back. This was taken near the huge fortress in Belgrade, Serbia.

More Monday Murals here. 

Рефлексија за викенд

A weekend reflection, in Skopje, North Macedonia.

More Рефлексии за викенд (weekend reflections) right... here.
 

Ladies watching the sun going down

Aboard a ferry between Corfu, Greece, and Saranda, Albania. 

More b&w right here.
 

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

Tomorrow morning, no ungodly hours for once. Without a computer, with very limited internet (roaming is extremely expensive in the Western Balkans). Holidays!!!

 See ya at the end of next week!