Tuesday 12 December 2017

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.

Monday 11 December 2017

Sunday 10 December 2017

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.

Saturday 9 December 2017

Welcome to the kingdom of Bredele!

The bis Christmas market is divided into 11 smaller markets. One of them is dedicated to bredele. Bredele: biscuits traditionally baked on Christmas time. Here are some for you!
Hungry? C ya at the courtyard behind the Rohan Palace!

Friday 8 December 2017

???....?...

..................?....................???
Well, I don't know either.

Thursday 7 December 2017

There be angels

Wondering who is staying in this room... The wings drying (?) on the balcony might be a clue

Wednesday 6 December 2017

Christmas at the garrrison

Christmas at the Aubette, the former garrison building, built from 1765 to 1788. Now a shopping, with a small museum and a ...Starbucks. Although being a coffee multilingual aficionado, I've never been there, as I don't starbucks. Or klingon.

Tuesday 5 December 2017

Venice? Not!

This could be Venice... I have very similar photos taken there. But it's not.

Monday 4 December 2017

Folks, guess it's winter!

It snowed last night, so I hurried up to take a few pictures, as it is very noticeably warmer today, 10 degrees C more, and as it is melting very fast.
Friends in northern latitudes, please stay warm. Others: don't forget the suncream, or umbrella for some!

Sunday 3 December 2017

Not your everyday gargoyle!

Pretty colorful, innit! I am not quite sure if it actually a gargoyle, it might be an art piece.
Strasbourg is a city of gargoyle. I don't think anybody counted them, but there might be several hundreds of them, or more. They are everywhere!

Friday 1 December 2017

December theme day: gift

Hi there. This is me, 7 years ago, recovering from open heart surgery in the ICU, at St Paul's hospital in Barcelona. I was given the gift of life.
A few years later, in Skopje, Macedonia, I suffered a severe stroke. And I died, my "new" heart just stopped. The doctors there, at the university hospital, brought me back, after 2 minutes. Again, the gift of life. Life changing experiences, both of them.
You guessed it, this month's CDP theme day is: gift. Being half german, I just HAVE to tell you that Gift is german for poison...;-) Waiting for german posts about that theme...
Anyway, just click here to see what my dudes and dudettes did about it! Do it now!

Thursday 30 November 2017

Number 3

Third time lucky! After 2 broken trees (see a past post), the big christmas tree (well, a miserly 28 meters tall) is up and decorated. Much bigger than the "big" one on Times Square in New York, a ridiculous 23 meters... Ha, WE BEAT  NYC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Strasbourg, capitale de Noel, capital of Christmas.

Wednesday 29 November 2017

Having some wine at the cathedral


It is getting really cold, barely above freezing. So, a vin chaud, aka mulled wine, aka Gluehwein, is good for a lot of of things: makes you warm, help fighting colds, it it opens the appetite, it boosts the immune system, and so on... Louis Pasteur called it the healthiest of drinks.

Tuesday 28 November 2017

Monday 27 November 2017

Hark the angels

The main street leading to the cathedral. It is even busier than it looks, thousands and thousands of tourists, all of them stopping abruptly (right in front of me, usually) for photos... You won't find many locals there for the next 5 weeks. Well, there is me...

Sunday 26 November 2017

It's christmassing

A butcher's christmas decoration... The 447th christmas market has started, the tourist hordes are coming, all 2.5 millions of them...

Thursday 23 November 2017

The big clock in the sky

I had to be in town early this morning, so I took my obligatory 2nd coffee of the day at the train station. No moon, just a big clock.

Wednesday 22 November 2017

Good morning!

The view from my kitchen window, whilst sipping my first coffee of the day

Monday 20 November 2017

Sunday 19 November 2017

Christmas tree, episode 3

Right. Every year, in time for the opening of the Christmas market, the city puts up the tallest possible pine tree on place Kleber, aka the main square.
Well, it started well. They found a tall one, 36 meters, in the mountains nearby. They cut it, and... it broke into 3 pîeces.
One week later, they cut another one. This one made it to the city, and was put up. The city workers were decorating it, when... they noticed a large crack.
So, this is number 3...  Let's touch wood.
The Christkindlsmaerik, or christmas market, opens next weekend.  I'll keep you posted.

Saturday 18 November 2017

Thursday 16 November 2017

Post 500

I lived in front of Parc Monceau in Paris for a few years, and it still is as beautiful as 34 years ago

Tuesday 14 November 2017

Monday 13 November 2017

A monday mural

Be sure to wear some...?... in your hair
More Monday Murals here.

Sunday 12 November 2017

A weekend reflection

Rain, more rain, hail, Noah's flood parts 2 and 3, and a little sunshine in between...
More weekend reflections here.

Saturday 11 November 2017

Now, you wait a minute, mister!

This ain't no Strasbourg! You're cheating!
Yo dude, weekend away, in grey (not gay) Paris. Chill.

Thursday 9 November 2017

Wherever I go...

These boots are made for walking! Perfect shoes for travelers, not just for aussies!

Wednesday 8 November 2017

Monday 6 November 2017

A monday mural

Victor Hugo, one of France's greatest novelists and poets.
"Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face".
More Monday Murals here.

Sunday 5 November 2017

It's a cold and rainy day...

... so, let's take the time travel machine, and go back to Genova, Italia

Friday 3 November 2017

Thursday 2 November 2017

Socks, drugs and rock'n roll

After looking for 3 weeks for an appropriate post for yesterday's theme day, a few hours after posting, I came accross this yesterday...

Wednesday 1 November 2017

Wine, knack(wurst) and rock'n roll!

November City Daily Photographer theme day: rock'n roll. A hard one... To tell you the truth, Strasbourg is not a rock'n roll kind of place. Well, except for one place, the very excellent Bretzel Airlines. What could be more alsatian than a bretzel??? Well, don't answer this one.... Choucroute (aka sauerkraut), wines, and on, I know, guys...
To see more rock'n roll photos, click here.

Tuesday 31 October 2017

The tree is up!

Every year around this time, the city puts up the tallest christmas tree they find, on place Kleber, our main square. This year, it didn't go as planned... They found a 36 meters tall tree, but it broke when they cut it down. This is plan B, only 30 meters tall, 100 feet. The christmas market opens on the last weekend in november, time for the city workers to make the tree christmassy, by attaching more branches (right now, the tree is...meager), and to decorate it.

Monday 30 October 2017

Saint Jean

St John church was a former monastery church. Built in 1477, and heavily damages during WW2, it is now home to a monastic fraternity (whatever this means. I saw a nun unlocking the door this morning). I love the simplicity of it!
A close-up of the lion above the entrance:

Sunday 29 October 2017

Saturday 28 October 2017

Reformation

The town is very busy this weekend, lots of protestants from all over France, Germany, Switzerland, celebrating 500 years since Father Martin Luther, catholic priest, augustinian monk, father of 6 with Katharina von Bora, a nun, absconded his "true" faith, to embrace another "true" faith (...).
Now, the region here, Alsace, is predominantly protestant. A few catholics, jews, muslims, others...And our neighbors, Switzerland and Germany are very protestant as well. Followers of a guy who wrote a treatise about jews, Von den Jüden und iren Lügen, "about jews and their lies".  In the treatise, he argues that Jewish synagogues and schools be set on fire, their prayer  books destroyed, rabbis forbidden to preach, homes burned, and property and money confiscated. They should be shown no mercy or kindness, afforded no legal protection, and these poisonous envenomed worms should be drafted into forced labor or expelled for all time. He also seems to advocate their murder, writing "we are at fault in not slaying them". 
What a nice example to follow.
You know the rest: suffering, death, racism, narrow mindedness, hate, intolerance, bigotry, Trump...

Evangelicals are boycotting the celebrations. I wonder why.