Look Up Look Down - Heidelberg

Look Up, Look Down challenge hosted by Travel With Intent.

October 2012 - Heidelberg Germany

It was a dark and gloomy (and chilly) morning when we visited Heidelberg Castle (German: Heidelberger Schloss), a famous ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps.

Looking down from the top.

Travel Photo Thursday

October 2012 - Amsterdam

FEBO is a chain of Dutch walk-up fast food restaurants of the automatiek type. Founded in 1941 in Amsterdam, FEBO is most notable for this automatic format: a counter is available for purchasing French fries, beverages, and hamburgers. Other FEBO snacks can be bought from the automats. The primary automat-vended items are krokets (croquette), frikandellen (minced meat hot dog), hamburgers, Kaassoufflés (melted cheese in a wrap, breaded and deep-fried), and similar items.

The FEBO motto De Lekkerste (Dutch) is translated as "The Tastiest".

According to the company website, FEBO has almost 60 shops all over the Netherlands, with 54 being franchises. There are 22 shops in Amsterdam alone.

FEBO was originally a bakery named "Maison FEBO" after Ferdinand Bolstraat in Amsterdam, founded by Johan de Borst (1919-2008). While the concept changed, the name was shortened to just "FEBO".

Weekend Reflections

Posting at Weekend Reflections.

October 2012 - Strasbourg France

Weekend Reflections

Posting at Weekend Reflections.

October 2012 - Cruising the Rhine Germany

Dreaming of France

 The rules for this meme are: Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
Maybe we can all satisfy our yearnings for France, until we get there again.

October 2012 - Strasbourg France

A souvenir shop (one of many) selling toy storks.

Source for the following information.

Storks have been a part of the Alsatian scenery for many centuries. Once very numerous, they would return every year from Africa to announce the coming of spring in France. However it seemed they were becoming an endangered species in recent years. Luckily, efforts were made to help the storks return and establish their nests in the Alsatian trees and chimney stacks. This goal was well accomplished as they now have returned more numerous than ever. Since the inception of stork parks, some never leave, even during the winter months. They stay put all year long much to the delight of the Alsatian population, as storks are the symbol of happiness and faithfulness. As everyone knows, it is the stork that brings babies wrapped in bundles, firmly held in their beaks. Alsatian custom used to have a child who wanted a little brother or sister place a piece of sugar on the window ledge to attract the stork, in the hope it would leave the precious bundle in exchange for the treat.

You can read more about our trip here.

Dreaming of France

 The rules for this meme are: Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
Maybe we can all satisfy our yearnings for France, until we get there again.

October 2012 - Strasbourg France

A magnificent day for a boat ride along the canals. You can read about our trip to Strasbourg here.

Dreaming of France

 The rules for this meme are: Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
Maybe we can all satisfy our yearnings for France, until we get there again.

October 2012 - Strasbourg France

Isn't this so colourful and so French!

Dreaming of France

 The rules for this meme are: Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
Maybe we can all satisfy our yearnings for France, until we get there again.

October 2012 - Strasbourg France

Oh what I wouldn't give for some good pate. It is hard to find in Toronto and when we are in the States it is even harder. We have found a great cheese shop near us and the pate does look inviting. I'll let you know how it is when we try it.

I do have a really good recipe in My Recipe Box.

Dreaming of France

 The rules for this meme are: Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
Maybe we can all satisfy our yearnings for France, until we get there again.

October 2012 - Strasbourg France

Our World Tuesday

Linking up with Our World Tuesday and Travel Photo Discovery.

August 2012 - Normandy France

Image source

We were lucky to take a river cruise in France from Paris to Normandy last year.  Visiting the beaches of Normandy (clicking on the link will bring you to my detailed post of the day) and the Canadian beaches and museum.

Time Travel Thursday

I'm posting at Budget Travelers' Sandbox.

Time Travel Thursday


October 2012 - Sailing the Rhine Germany

It was a rainy afternoon as we sailed the Rhine but we still managed to get some photos of the magnificent castles.



Pfalzgrafenstein Castle is a toll castle on the Falkenau island, otherwise known as Pfalz Island in the Rhine river near Kaub, Germany. 

The keep of this island castle, a pentagonal tower with its point upstream, was erected 1326 to 1327 by King Ludwig the Bavarian. Around the tower, a defensive hexagonal wall was built between 1338 to 1340. Later additions were made in 1607 and 1755, consisting of corner turrets, the gun bastion pointing upstream, and the characteristic baroque tower cap.

The castle functioned as a toll-collecting station that was not to be ignored, as it worked in concert with Gutenfels Castle and the fortified town of Kaub on the right side of the river. A chain across the river forced ships to submit, and uncooperative traders could be kept in the dungeon until a ransom was delivered. The dungeon was a wooden float in the well.

Unlike the vast majority of Rhine castles, "the Pfalz" was never conquered or destroyed, withstanding not only wars, but also the natural onslaughts of ice and floods by the river. Its Spartan quarters held about twenty men.

Dreaming of France

 The rules for this meme are: Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
Maybe we can all satisfy our yearnings for France, until we get there again.

October 2012 - Strasbourg France

Dreaming of France

 The rules for this meme are: Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
Maybe we can all satisfy our yearnings for France, until we get there again.

October 2012 - Strasbourg France

Oh, the PLACES I've Been!

The Tablescaper dropped by and invited me to post at her weekly meme Oh, the PLACES I've been!


October 2012 - Dusseldorf Germany




Sculpture dedicated to the jesters of Carnaval.

The Dusseldorf Carnival also known as the “fifth season” is one of the biggest cultural events and long-lasting traditional festivities in the Rhineland, Germany. 

Another highlighting part of Dusseldorf Carnival is the climax Rosenmontagszug (Rose Monday) Parade or Mardi Gras where about a million Jesters ‘fools’ dressed in screaming colors and uniforms make their way around the city, shouting out the traditional ‘Helau’. A Large number of spectators line the pavements for more than two and half kilometers long to watch this spectacular view, hoping to catch the candies thrown from the various floats.

The Dusseldorf Carnival comes to an end on Ash Wednesday when the mourning fools get together to burn the Hoppeditz, the statue of an eloquent jester and get themselves ready for the next year’s event.

inSPIREd and Dreaming of France

 The rules for this meme are: Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
Maybe we can all satisfy our yearnings for France, until we get there again.

Sally hosts inSPIREd Sunday!

Killing two birds with one stone this week, I thought I'd post some additional shots from the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Strasbourg France which we visited in October.
I will cover the astronomical clock in another post as the cathedral itself is so amazing.

The Strasbourg Cathedral soars out of a huddle of medieval houses, with a spire of such delicate, flaky, lightness it seems the work of confectioners rather than masons.





At 142 metres (466 feet), it was the world's tallest building from 1647 to 1874, when it was surpassed by St. Nikolai's Church, Hamburg. Today it is the sixth-tallest church in the world and the highest still-standing structure built entirely in the Middle Ages.

The Strasbourg Cathedral is also highly unique due to the fact that it only has one spire. The north spire was completed in 1439, but the planned south spire was never built. Why the south spire never got built is still under debate. What is known however is that the single spire of the Strasbourg Cathedral quickly became a landmark of the region, which is probably one of the reasons they keep it in its asymmetrical form.

During World War II, Strasbourg's Cathedral was seen as a symbol for both warring parties. Adolf Hitler, who visited it on 28 June 1940, intended to transform the church into a "national sanctuary of the German people" or into a monument to the Unknown Soldier; on 1 March 1941, General Leclerc made the "vow of Kufra" (serment de Koufra), stating he would "rest the weapons only when our beautiful colours fly again on Strasbourg's cathedral". During the war, the stained glass was removed in 74 cases from the Strasbourg Cathedral and stored in a salt mine near Heilbronn, Germany. After the war, it was returned to the cathedral by the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives section of the United States military.

 I can just imagine these gargoyles spouting water on the tourists on a rainy day!