Weekend in black and white

Click here to see more b&w photos.

The tube

Not the London tube, just a trendy, and expensive, shoe shop

And back to Strasbourg!

After a week about Porto... We have very high water in the river, big parts of the region are flooded. You can't walk on the 'quais" at the moment, and believe me: swimming is not an option!!!

One of six...

One of the 6 bridges crossing the Douro river in Porto. Moody weather.

Proud peacocks! Or is it just one, with 2 heads???

A Monday Mural. Click here to see more murals.
Might be a Gandaberunda.

Ebb and flow

Natural patterns on a sandy beach

Aeroporto do Porto

Fancy and big international airport, the 3rd I'm flying to or from on mainland Portugal.
Check out the other B&W pics on Dragonstar's very excellent blog!

Take it easy...

...take the tram! Porto is extremely hilly, lots of up and downs, leg breaking. So, take it easy!

Matosinhos praia

A day at the beach! Praia=beach, in portuguese.
Click here to see more Weekend Reflections!

São Bento

Porto, day 2 1/2. Porto boasts the most wonderful train station... The exterior: nothing much to write home about. The interior, now that a whole other story! 20.000 azulejos tiles, not 2 the same.
More about it here.
Senhor, in the corner: SMILE!!!
And I wonder how many of the people visiting the station, actually take a train... I didn't today, but I did it before! ;-)

A bird's eye view on the Eiffel bridge

Hi folks, I'm in Porto, Portugal, home of the port wine!
Gustave Eiffel not only built a tower, but he was a bridge builder as well.  The Don Luis the 1st bridge, here in Porto.
I also decided to christen the seagull... He didn't fly away when I came with my camera, he seemed to want to be on the picture. So, birdie, I name you Gustave. Live long and prosper.

A monday mural

Off for a few days. I should be able to post. If not, see ya next weekend!
More Monday Murals here.

How much for that doggie in the window?

How much is that doggie in the window?
The one with the waggly tail
How much is that doggie in the window?
I do hope that doggie's for sale

I must take a trip to California
And leave my poor sweetheart alone
If he has a dog, he won't be lonesome
And the doggie will have a good home

How much is that doggie in the window?
The one with the waggly tail
How much is that doggie in the window?
I do hope that doggie's for sale

I read in the papers there are robbers
With flashlights that shine in the dark
My love needs a doggie to protect him
And scare them away with one bark

I don't want a bunny or a kitty
I don't want a parrot that talks
I don't want a bowl of little fishies
He can't take a goldfish for a walk

How much is that doggie in the window?
The one with the waggly tail
How much is that doggie in the window?
I do hope that doggie's for sale

Christmas???

The christmas lights are still on, even in my street! Makes the town shinier, warmer, which is a good thing in this bleak january weather.

Weekend in black and white

Not Strasbourg... But still easily reachable from here. A lady, seen in Venice last spring. Nice dress, signorina!

More black and white here.

Post 556, aka the hearty one

Seen on a wood pile this morning. Old toilet doors???

Slow mail

Post from the fishmonger only.

The new(est) bridge

After the road bridge, the train bridge, the pedestrian bridge: the tramway bridge. All of them across the Rhine River, and joining Strasbourg (pop. 277.000) to the german neighbor city of Kehl (pop.10.000). The tram bringing everyday about 10.000 shoppers, workers, tourists to Kehl, it gets really busy... A daily invasion. Why, will you ask? Cigarettes, tobacco, petrol, food are cheaper. And many other things are of better quality.
Me? I go there once a week, takes me half an hour.

A monday mural

Strange beasties indeed.
More Monday Murals here.

Doors

A pedestrian street in the city center was entirely redecorated by it's inhabitants last summer. 3 of the doors in that street.

Man in black

Spotted in Strasbourg!!!

Global warming

Real april weather, 13 degrees C, rain, flooding... And snow in Florida, north America "colder than Mars"! Despite of what some idiots may say, global warming is a FACT!!! Weather is not the same as climate!!!

The winged lion

This is no lion king! This is how Saint Mark the Evangelist is traditionally depicted, a winged lion. This statue is now inside a fortified bridge, and used to be part of the cathedral. Quite a scary sight at night...
You can see a different version of it in Venice, on... St Mark square of course. His relics are supposed to be there.

Eleanor

Storm Eleanor is upon us, so big trouble. I almost flew into the bakery this morning...The rain stopped, but no trains at all, over 171 km/h guts of wind, the top part of the big christmas tree in the city centre was blown away, 21000 households without electricity, 9 people injured so far, lot of damage, flooding, roads closed...

Back to work

Well, guess the holidays are over, for most people...

Hardest day of the year... The january theme day!

Here we go again...The day I have to choose my best photo the year. Well, bloody hell. The City Daily Photo theme day.
Well, after changing my mind about 568 times in 2 weeks (mostly today), I came bout this, the port of Genova, in Italy. I know, it's not Strasbourg! But hey, I am a born traveler, always planning trips. So, Genova is one of many easy reachable from Strasbourg. Lame excuse, I know, but this is simply, maybe not my best, but definitely a top favorite.
My chums from CDP made their own choice here. Well, click now, what are you waiting for?
Oh yeah, don't forget to leave a comment!
This said,

Happy new year!

Welcome, 2018!

E gleckichs Nej Johr, feliç any nou, bonne année, Frohes Fest und guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr, Καλή χρονιά, Bliain úr faoi shéan is faoi mhaise duit, buon anno nuovo, 新年おめでとうございます, שנה טובה, happy new year, godt nytt år, bona annada, feliz Ano Novo, la multi ani, Счастливого Нового года, próspero año nuevo, नवीन वर्षाच्या शुभेच्छा 2018 हार्दिक शुभेच्छा,
Manigong bagong taon, Yeni yılınız kutlu olsun, DIS chu' botIvjaj. 2018!!!

Not Strasbourg!!!

Looking at the grey ky, at the very dark clouds outside my windows... I so need holidays!!!
Cefalu, Sicily, last August.

Musica!

Wish it was summer... Wish I was in Italy...

Early morning in Germany

On my way to the shops

Cross-border

A french tramway in Germany. Since april 2017, there is direct tram from Strasbourg to Kehl, our neighbor city on the other Rhine side. Very very convenient!!! Germany is a good deal cheaper than France for many things, such as food, tobacco. Taker me 25 minutes, instead of a good hour before. Over 10.000 people use it every day, many commuting to work.

Good place for...

...a merry go round, in the shade of the cathedral!
Most of the christmas market is closed, with a few stalls remaining at the cathedral, till the 30th. Hurry up!

T'is the day

Wishing you all a very Strasbourg christmas!

Noel!

Moderation

Enjoy your weekend, everybody!

Christkindelsmärik

The entrance to the main of the 11 christmas markets, on place Broglie. The word means Child Christ's market in alsatian, the 447th. We're in France, but we're of our alsatian culture, traditions, food, and so on, and our own language, which has absolutely nothing to do with french, as it is a germanic language.Close to the Amish's ¨Pennsylvanian Dutch. We are probably around 500.000 alsatian speakers worldwide, the city of  Castroville, Texas, included.
 So anyway, last year , that sign disappeared, the city fathers wanted to be "more french". Big angry outcry!

Janus

The Janus fountain, by Tomi Ungerer. 2-faced head and fountain, erected to celebrate Strasbourg's 2000 years, in 1988. The first roman camp was situated there, and was called Argentoratum, in 12 BC.
Why Janus? He was the roman god of beginnings and endings, usually depicted with 2 faces, since he looks at the future and the past. The month of january is named after him.
So, basically, we're a roman town... This might explain my lifelong love of pizza...lol

Getting closer

Some wonderful decorations in town. 5 days to go...

Need some ideas?

Any last minute present to buy? Here in idea... Available at the Christmas market, until the 24th.

City lights, part 2

Or when a tree gets the blues

The place at the back of the garden

Nice place for tea, brunch and... jewellery, just behind the cathedral.

No Santa

A different decoration: no Santa, no rendeers, no bears, penguins, baubles or artificial  snowy landscape to be seen. Refreshing!

Last sunday

More black and white here, on Dragonstar's very excellent blog!

You've got mail...to write

Did you write to the Père Noèl (Father Christmas, aka Santa)? Here is his mailbox. Hurry up!

A coffee, please.

Sorry, we're closed.
More b&w here.

A beautiful sunday

So, which tree would you choose? They look all the same... The christmas tree market on place Kleber, last sunday morning, during the heaviest snowfall in years. Yep, 13 days to go!
BTW, the snow was all gone by the evening.

A Monday Mural

More Monday Murals here! eanwhile, have some M&Ms!

Fun!

Some heavy snowfall this morning, so everybody had a lot of fun! Well, I was trying not to fall on my nose (or other parts): wrong shoes. I was successful.