Day 45 Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Our new Airbnb in Mulhouse is lovely. We have nine days here to relax a bit and get ready for the second half of our trip. It is hard to believe but today marks the midway point of our holiday.
This is the view from our third floor balcony.
We are both ready for a restful day. Bob does go for little walk and buys a few grocery necessities. On the way home he walked down this street that has a lot of graffiti art…some better than others!
Day 37 Monday, October 6, 2025
On our drive to Stuttgart we stop at Worms, Germany. Worms is pronounced Vurmz. We passed through this huge gate on the bridge over the Rhine River.
We find a place to park on the street but have to move to a parkade because the street machine won’t take our euros…big surprise! St Peter’s Cathedral is our first stop but we can’t find the door to get inside! 
In our walk around the church I see steps leading into what looked like a private area, but I take a look anyways and it is actually a public garden so we go inside. When I see something like this I am so curious. I wonder what it is, why it is there and where does it lead to? 
Turns out this garden marks the location where Martin Luther refused to recant his beliefs at the Diet of Worms in 1521. This was the beginning of the Protestant Church and its split from the Catholic Church. These large bronze shoes in Worms’ Heylshof Park shoes are part of a 2017 memorial sculpture, which allows visitors to symbolically “step into Luther’s shoes” at the spot where he stood and defended his doctrines.
A ‘Diet’ was an assembly or meeting of authorities to make decisions on important matters. The Diet of Worms of 1521 was convened to determine how political and religious authorities should respond to Martin Luther’s teachings. Because the Diet was held in Worms, it is know as the Diet of Worms which still makes me smile because of course I think of eating worms.
We leave the garden and go back to the church, passing a kindergarten with this colourful mosaic mural.
St Peters Cathedral is another cathedral that escaped destruction during the war. Curious, I did a bit of of research and learned that the high belltowers and steeples of cathedrals were used by the Allies as navigational landmarks and that sometimes military planners made conscious efforts to protect major cultural and religious sites. So perhaps not divine intervention after all?
We do finally find small side door that allows us entrance to the church. There is an art display in the cathedral by a group called Atelierblau. There are some really interesting pieces. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the names of the artists or the works they created. Here are a few of them.
The sign on the trunk reads “A thousand roses for a thousand lives”.
There are several large sculptural pieces that are from the church cloister. I think they were placed inside the church as a method of keeping them safe from damage.
Built with red sandstone between the years 1130 and 1181, the church has a relatively simple interior…
…except for the choir and altar.
Bob noticed a side entrance to the crypt which contains the tombs of early rulers from 990 to 1040 AD.
Outside I see what appears to be ancient graffiti.
This fountain is at the end of part of the old town wall.
More graffiti, only on a tree this time.
This little bird sculpture with its huge beak, ragged wings and stubby body caught our eye…we both really liked it.
The Luther Monument is a group of statues. Martin Luther stands surrounded by bronze statues of the individuals that supported him. Plaques of the towns that supported Luther and the Protestant Reformation are placed on the walls of the monument.
This monument is in a lovely park near the Cathedral.
There is a model of the statue with information in Braille, which was unique.
Back on the road I finally manage to get a photo of the Ausfahrt sign…which simply means Exit. I remember that we found this quite hilarious on our first trip to Germany with our daughter many years ago.
Next stop is Heidelberg where we are going to visit Heidelberg Castle that Bob says is like Versailles. We have a hard time finding the entrance to the funicular, even using Google Maps! Finally I notice a small picture of a train on the wall of what looks like the entrance to a mall…we only walked past it two times! The part of the journey we take is all underground.
We walk to the castle but all we see is ruins…turns out Bob mixed up his castles! It is fine though as this looks interesting anyways. There is an in depth tour through the ruins in an hour and a half but we decide to just wander and see what we can. This gate was built in one night by King Frederick V for his wife as a birthday present.
Our funicular ticket gives us access to the courtyard, the German Pharmacy Museum, and the Big Wine Barrel. We walk through the gate to the courtyard…
…and we are greeted with views of the ruins of what must have been a very impressive castle
Walking through the doorway in the above photo we arrive on a huge balcony overlooking the Rhine River with views of Heidelberg below.
A view of the ruins as seen from the balcony.
It is cold out so we go inside to see the Big Wine Barrel. It is pretty impressive and I take this photo and then walk around the corner while Bob is inspecting the barrel. I come back and tell him “You need to come and see the BIG Wine Barrel!
Here it is!
This wine barrel held 220,000 liters of wine. The stairs I am standing on lead to a platform above the barrel that was likely used as a dance floor! 
Last stop is the German Apothecary Museum. It is warm inside, which I really appreciate. Aspirin was a commercially sold product in 1889. 
This chest of homeopathic medicines from 1890 contains 312 vials of homeopathic remedies.
What is it about chests with lots of little drawers that I find so appealing?
Of course, ground unicorn horns were in big demand as a cure for ailments such as fever, plaque, poisoning convulsions and epilepsy! Unicorn horns were just long tusks from narwhals or other animals but they were an expensive medication reserved for royalty and the very rich. 
An early distillery…
…bunsen burners and a telescope from 1780.
We had such a hard time finding the entrance to the funicular and wondered where this castle was located…well, on our way back to the parkade I Iooked up…and there it was! We both laughed, but then we couldn’t find the entrance to the parkade! We looked everywhere and finally walked down the out ramp, and there was the door to the exit. We checked it out and the stairs outside were right beside the ramp we just walked down…no sign or markers though!
Back on the road to stuttgart…and it is raining again.
Day 30 Monday, September 29, 2025
Today is a travel day to Frankfurt Germany and we have been travelling for month already. Bob says we have to stop and see another Eiffel Tower along the way but it is not quite as impressive as the one in Paris!
We had no idea that this is wine country. There are vineyards on both sides of the road as far as we can see.
The hills around each town we pass are all growing row after row of grapes. We see the odd group harvesting grapes but the main harvest occurred earlier this month.
We stop in Trier and have our picnic lunch on a bench with this view.
The breeze blew water spray and made a rainbow just as I took this photo.
This foot of Emperor Constantine is a replica of one of the largest marble foots to have survived since antiquity. It was part of a 12 metre high seated statue of Constantine.
The Roman Baths are considered to be the largest Roman baths outside of Rome. 
The ruins are impressive!
We are able to walk through the underground tunnels that would have been used as a service level for the maintenance of the bath’s heating system. This is the entrance to the tunnels.
There was a group of schoolchildren ahead of us…probably the loudest group we have encountered on our travels! We took a side tunnel to avoid walking behind them.
There are a maze of tunnels and we are free to explore as we wish. That is Bob peeking around the bend in the tunnel.
We do get a bit lost down here, but it was a lot of fun exploring these interesting tunnels.
Which way should we go!
This photo shows the size of the original baths, although they were never actually completed. The ruins of today are superimposed on the original baths.
The ruins are impressive, but they are only half the height of the original structure!
We pass this lovely garden on the way to visit Trier’s cathedral.
Photos really do not show how beautiful and enormous the trees are. I wish we were able to grow trees this large back home. These trees wouldn’t survive our colder climate.
Trier Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the oldest cathedral in Germany. Construction started in the 4th century and it was built upon the foundations of ancient Roman structures.
And yes, the inside of the cathedral is very impressive.
It has one of the most ornate organs we have seen…
and many huge sculptures with multiple figures. We walk up these stairs for a view of the nave.
This beautiful blue and white Baroque stucco work decorates the choir loft of the Cathedral. It is stunning and unusual. This is the first time we have seen anything like this in a cathedral.
We pass this building on the way to the Nigra Gate. There are many ornately decorated buildings in Trier.
I love watching the bubble makers, and the children trying to catch the bubbles. This fellow made huge bubbles…
and lots of smaller bubbles. I would love to know how to do this.
At the end of the street we can see the Nigra Gate, another UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Porta Nigra, or Black Gate, is the largest Roman gate in Northern Europe. It was part of the defensive walls and gates that surrounded Trier in 200AD. It is incredibly well preserved, especially when you consider that it was completed around 200AD, and it almost two thousand years old!
We pay 6€ each to climb inside the gate. This ‘window’ has a pile of coins, perhaps people making a wish?
A view inside the gate.
We can see the Trier Cathedral from the second level of the gate.
Grafiti has been around for a long time. Some of the dates on the walls are hundreds of years old. I do really hate this practice of defacing monuments.
There is Bob, I sent him down to the street so he could take a photo of me in one of the gate arches.
Here I am.
These carved decorations are still in remarkably good condition.
Walking back to our car we stop for a photo of the Electoral Palace. We had our lunch in its beautiful gardens which have many white statues and small ponds.
Another gorgeous tree.
The clouds are moving in on our drive home.
Big black ominous clouds.
We arrive at our Airbnb in Frankfurt. It is smaller than our last place but cozy and has everything we need.
Day 62, Sunday, October 29, 2023
“Vincent van Gogh arrived in Arles in February 1888. This was the start of an intense period of activity for the artist, in the Mediterranean light. Indeed, it was his most productive era and during this 15 months in Arles, Van Gogh produced over 300 paintings and drawings, thus forging one of the most important periods in the history of art. In May, 1989, Vincent left Arles for the Saint-Rémy de Provence asylum, leaving the name of Vincent van Gogh linked to that of Arles forever.” ~ Arles Tourism brochure.
Vincent spent a year at the asylum before moving to Auvers-sur-Oise in May 1890, where committed suicide on July 27th 1890.
Today we are going to follow Vincent’s footsteps as we walk through Arles, looking for the places where he stood at his easel creating some of his most loved paintings. Arles has placed a copy of each of his paintings at the location where Van Gogh would have stood.
First stop is the courtyard at the hospital in Arles. Vincent stayed at this hospital three times between December 1888 and May 1889. 
I feel like I have walked into a painting…
In the old hospital buildings there is also a wonderful photography exhibit by Pierre Vallet. We later see some more of his work on display in the Arles Amphitheatre.
There is a sculpture of Van Gogh in the courtyard.
On our way to the next location we pass an old church that is hosting an AI exhibition. The audience is invited to sit and interact with these AI games.
Here are the screenshots of some of the other games…notice that one of them has a character named Bob.
We pass a shop window with a creepy window. Halloween is only two days away!
Arles is a pretty town. We are trying to follow the not very clear map to find the next location when I notice…
this plaque set into the sidewalk. So now we just have to follow the plaques, and it feels like a treasure hunt!
The stairs of the Trinquetaille Bridge was painted from this spot.
We climb the steps and cross the bridge, walking beside the Rhône River to our next destination.
We pass these ruins which are Roman baths…looks interesting but we are on a mission.
We pass a couple of old stone façades, just one wall left standing. Back home it would have been torn down.
Starry Night over the Rhône…too bad the river cruise boats are in the way of our view, but we are able to pick our several of the landmarks in the painting.
We make small detour to check out the remains of a bridge that was destroyed in the bombardment of Arles in 1944. There are many reminders of both the First and Second World War in every town and city that we have visited.
Then we pass a little carnival that was just getting set up. I thought it was interesting that they have chairs for the parents to sit while their children are on the rides. 
Unfortunately the Yellow House that Van Gogh shared with Gaugin was also destroyed during the bombardment. It stood on this very street corner.
Several young boys were hanging about and one of them, Leron (in the blue jacket) asked me to take his photo. They were fun.
Van Gogh’s next painting was done in the amphitheater, so we buy tickets to go inside, even though the plaque is outside for tourists to see.
The Amphitheatre painting shows the arena full of people, but there aren’t many people here today.
I took some black and white photos in the passageways beneath the seats. I like how the light streamed in through the openings and all the old stones.
We climb to the top of the amphitheatre tower and get a great view of all the very French rooftops.
And up in the tower what do I find? Graffiti! It has been around for a long, long time.
Set in one of the stones at the top of the staircase to the tower is a sea shell, partially buried in the stone and just below it another stone block that is full of smaller sea shells. I love it when we notice these little kinds of details, details that I am sure many people don’t ever notice.
We take another detour to visit the The Roman Theatre of Arles. It is a 1st-century Roman theatre, built during the reign of Caesar Augustus. Bob is sitting consulting our map to figure out where to go next, as we have wandered off the path laid out by the plaques in the sidewalk.
I just love the way the stone steps have been worn down by countless footsteps over the centuries.
We pass this poster of a young man who is carefully looking at another poster
We walk through this old building to reach the square on the other side…
to look for the painting, Café Terrace At Night. We find the cafe but there is no sign of the plaque with the painting. We find the location which must have been very close to the spot where Van Gogh stood.
I noticed that the café isn’t open so I went up to take a peek in the windows. Everything inside looks ready to receive customers, and there is the plaque that we were looking for! However….
I think it has been closed for a while, as there is a pile of old mail on the ground at the door. Too bad, It would have been nice to go inside for a drink.
Walking through this plaza I notice another photography exhibit but it is getting late and we still have one more painting spot to find, so we decide not to go in.
But we do a quick peek inside the Church of Saint-Trophime. We never know what we will find behind church doors. Every church is different, ranging from quite austere to the incredible elaborate.
We find the park where the next painting should be located and a monument to Vincent but we can’t locate the painting. Pansies have been recently planted for the winter garden around this monument.
Bob checks out one part of the park and I go look in another. The tower is part of the Roman Theatre that we sat in earlier.
Finally we find it! But looking at these photos, I think we should have turned around and taken the photo of the garden in the other direction. Guess we were getting tired. There were three more spots on this walking tour but they are almost on the town’s outskirts and we have once again run out of daylight.
It is only 45 minutes to Nîmes and here we are driving in the dark once more. One more interesting fact, the whole old town of Arles is a UNESCO World Heritage Site!
Day 9, Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Some street art on the way to pick up our car rental at the Gare de Lyon on the far SE side of Paris. 
Finding the Hertz car rental is incredibly difficult. We follow Google maps which basically takes us in a big circle right back to where we started, right beside this huge poster advertising the Rugby World Cup which takes place Fri, Sep 8, 2023 – Sat, Oct 28, 2023. We think it is probably good that we will not be in Paris during this time.
Finally after asking several people for directions a delivery man tells me that we need to go upstairs and cross the street. Voila! Success. They do have our reservation but we have to wait 45 minutes for them to clean the car. Once in the car we discover that our Peugeot does not have plug ins for USB’s, only some other strange looking plug. Luckily a Hertz employee was walking by and I asked him for help. Another 15 minute wait and he brings us a device that plugs in to the cigarette lighter that has two USB ports. We are finally on our way, heading to Chartres to visit the cathedral. We do amazingly well getting out of Paris and to Chartres, My navigation skills are still pretty good and Bob did a great job driving.
Our first view of the Chartres Cathedral, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. “Partly built starting in 1145, and then reconstructed over a 26-year period after the fire of 1194, Chartres Cathedral marks the high point of French Gothic art. The vast nave, in pure ogival style, the porches adorned with fine sculptures from the middle of the 12th century, and the magnificent 12th- and 13th-century stained-glass windows, all in remarkable condition, combine to make it a masterpiece.” ~https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/81/
Bob didn’t want to drive across this narrow bridge so we park on the far side of the river.
I think this is a river,or perhaps a canal?
On the way to the Cathedral we pass this window and I peek in to see a lady working. We knock and a lovely bookbinder opens the door to her workspace.
We chat in French and I manage fairly well. I tell her about the St. Albert Paper Arts Guild and show her some of my work, but somehow only managed to get this one photo. I was a bit nervous, trying to chat with her in French about bookbinding, but she was very gracious. Her name is Sylvie Le Jannou but I was not able to find a website. She did give me a card but it only has her name and email.
The Chartres cathedral is huge!
The view towards the altar. We took several photos of the stained glass but it kept looking very washed out…
…when the colours are actually brilliant.
There is a lot of controversy about the restoration that is taking place. The light areas in the photo below have been restored by covering everything with a sort of plaster, but it is not historically accurate. I think I prefer being able to see the old stones, they have a sense of age and history that the ‘restored’ areas do not. In the photo of the altar you can see the faux marble pillars. 
The wall of the sanctuary is absolutely amazing. The detail of the carving is incredible. The screen has forty niches along the ambulatory filled with statues telling the life of Christ. I particularly love the donkey.
We missed the tour of the crypt and the opportunity to climb on the roof of this cathedral by an hour. I guess we need to do a bit more research on times for tours and opening hours when we plan our day. We almost missed seeing this labyrinth. The chairs are moved once a week so that people can walk it.
One more view of this enormous cathedral, before we head back to Paris.
The buildings in this part of Chartres are ancient.
And although some of them are in really bad shape, I have no doubt that they will be repaired rather than demolished.
I thought that this cat in the windows should be a painting.
As we leave I notice another example of street art. I saw another walking back to the car and I thought it looked like a Banksy, and this one could be too? Turns out there is an exhibit of Banksy’s work here in Chartres. We missed that too. 
There are lots of cars on the road and the closer we get to Paris the slower they all go. Our 75 minute drive takes quite a bit longer.
It is busy when it takes 11 minutes to go just over 2 1/2 kilometres! We are both happy to get home and glad our first day with the car went so well.
Day 46, Thursday, October 10, 2019
Today was a quiet day. Bob went for a walk to check out the transit system and neighbourhood and I worked on my blog, caught up on some emails and took it easy. The big excursion for the day was going for a few groceries before dinner.
Day 47, Friday, October 11, 2019
Walking to the bus I notice many houses have very attractive front entries.
We can see Hohensalzburg Fortress high on the hill above Salzburg. Tour guide Bob informs me we will visit there on Tuesday.
We can see beautiful green alpine meadows in the hills above Salzburg.
We pass dairy cows right in town just a couple blocks from the train and bus station. The advertisement above the cows gave me a chuckle. 
We pop into a downtown church when we get off the bus. It looks like a community church from the outside, with big cheery murals on either side of the door. The inside is much less ornate than many of the churches we have visited and there is lots of information on community programs and events. Nice to see.
We stop at some food stands selling wine and beer, and have a bit to eat. These giant doughnuts look interesting but we pass. They are as big as small plates!
The gardens around the Mirabell Palace are beautiful. In the movie ‘The Sound of Music’ Maria and the children dance around this Pegasus fountain and sing ‘Do Re Mi’.
The grass contains elaborate knot patterns decorated with flowers. These are freshly planted pansies, hundred of dozens of them!
The Zwergerigarten is a surprise. It is the oldest ‘Dwarf Garden’ in Europe and was built in 1695. Yes, a Dwarf Garden! We had no idea there was such a thing. 
This fellow insisted on trying on Bob’s baseball cap!
The collection of 28 marble dwarf sculptures was sold at auction in 1811. 17 of the sculptures have been recovered and put back into the park in their original positions. Here are some of these curious sculptures.
We have tea and cookies in the garden and then I draw for a while.
I used a new brush pen that I got just before we left for holidays. I think it is going to take a while to get used to. I used a water brush to create value with the water based ink in the pen.
I sketched the mountain this morning waiting for the bus. Drawing these dwarves I was starting to get a feel for how to use this pen. A water brush and white crayon were used to add some value.
Walking through the garden there are some more knot designs created with flowers in the grass.
There is a small Orangerie…
with some goldfish, a turtle and a few birds.
Looking back towards the Mirabelle Palace.
The two towers in the background belong to the church we visited earlier.
These young girls were enjoying the Pegasus Fountain, and I enjoyed watching them.
There seems to be several unicorns here in Salzburg.
I have time for a quick sketch of a beautiful enormous tree while waiting for Bob.
There are a lot of big trees here.
We have never seen a giraffe quite like this before!
We walk along the river heading towards the Old Town.
The Old Town and the Castle on the hill make a striking view.
People are out enjoying the warm weather.
This is the house that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lived in with his family until he moved to Vienna in 1781. His family occupied the entire top floor. We were looking for a free film and somehow ended up in the museum instead, so we had a quick look around.
This street was the inspiration for the song ‘Silent Night’. It is a long street so no idea exactly where this inspiration transpired.
This door had interesting marks scratched on it that looks very old.
Here is the entrance to the “Silent Night’ street.
As we explore some of the side streets, we pass this ‘House of Pleasure’, and yes, it seems to be that kind of pleasure!
We also see some graffiti that I quite like. Note how the little ledge is incorporated into the image. Very clever!
This little sidewalk fountain had red roses stuck in small holes in the paving. I wonder why?
We check out the Marionette Theatre, but unfortunately there are no performances while we are here.
While we wait for the bus home I notice an empty store front where someone has written on the glass windows with a black felt pen. It is an interesting different sort of graffiti.
Day44, Tuesday October 8, 2019
Our little apartment has a masonry stove that keeps us toasty warm. One box of wood keeps us warm for 24 hours.
On our way in to Linz we see this ‘green’ apartment. Lots of gardeners must live here.
It took some time to find the bike rental company. They weren’t easy to locate. We pass this big mural during our search.
I thought these bikes were quite interesting. They fold up compactly.
We start out on our bike trip along the Danube. Bob wants dot take my photo while I was still in one piece!
There are some great views along the way…
and some wooded trails. I did quite well until the killer hedge tried to get me…and then there was the vortex railing! If I got too close it tried to suck me in!
Bob left me at a coffee shop to rest and sketch and he went a bit further down the river, crossed a bridge, and then returned on this strange looking ferry. 
These flowers are much like the anenomes we grow at home only much larger.
We see the long barge steaming down the river.
This curious mural is on a building near the café where I waited for Bob.
The trees here are so big. I found out that the average temperature here in January and February is -3 Celcius and -4 Celcius. So much warmer than our winters, no wonder the trees grow so large.
Our selfie along the Danube.
I need a few breaks on the ride home, so a photo is a good excuse for little rest 😉
These river cruise boats remind us of our cruise on the Nile, where the cruise ships were lined up 6 or 7 deep along the shore. Passengers had to walk through all the ships, sometimes walking across the water on a narrow board between the ships, to get to shore.
This wasp was really big!
We take our bikes back. They are in a building which is an incubation centre for start-ups. Looks like these steps are a place to relax, or even snooze. 
We see two souped up go-carts being wheeled into the building.
I am happily surprised to discover Gerstäcker, a huge art store, in this building. After our ride I spend at least an hour exploring and find some new drawing pencils, and two really nice hardcover Hahnemühle Sketchbooks, a 10″ square and a 8.5″ x 12″ rectangular one. They were really reasonably priced too! I couldn’t resist even though my suitcase will be a lot heavier.
Nearby is an industrial area called Mural Harbor. Artists from over 25 nations created more than 100 works of art on warehouse buildings.
It is getting dark and it is raining so we drive around and see what we can from the car before heading home. There are some pretty impressive works here. These are all at least 10-12′ tall or larger. I particularly liked the cat and mice.
When we get home Bob tells me that I rode 24 km. and he rode 38 km. No wonder I am tired! Good thing he didn’t tell me how far we were going to ride before we started.
Day 29, Monday, September 23, 2019
We only have one day in Dresden so we walk outside and do not visit any museums. On our way to the old town, this bus gives us a chuckle. We are pretty sure that its destination is not what we phonetically sound out!
We walk through the Zwinger Palace grounds.
There are a lot of beautiful buildings here, which is surprising because Dresden was heavily bombed during the Second World War.
I don’t know what these buildings are but we enjoyed walking about and looking at their exteriors.
We go inside the Dresden Cathedral, which was heavily damaged during war but was restored by 1962.
Here are photos showing the damage caused by the bombing.
We walk along the Elbe River, looking for a bathroom, or WC as they are called here. They are few and far between! We do find this lovely terrace where the trees form a canopy over the whole area.
While we were still looking for the elusive WC’s, that were marked on our map but didn’t seem to be anywhere to be found, we discover this beautiful big tree that begged us to take its photo.
The Frauenkirche Dresden, or Church of Our Lady is a Luthern Church that was almost completely destroyed during the war. Only parts of its crypts remained intact. The interior is very beautiful with luminous pastel colours and lots of light.
“On 13 February 1945, Anglo-American allied forces began the bombing of Dresden in World War II. The church withstood two days and nights of the attacks and the eight interior sandstone pillars supporting the large dome held up long enough for the evacuation of 300 people who had sought shelter in the church crypt, before succumbing to the heat generated by some 650,000 incendiary bombs that were dropped on the city. The temperature surrounding and inside the church eventually reached 1,000 °C (1,830 °F). The dome finally collapsed at 10 a.m. on 15 February. The pillars glowed bright red and exploded; the outer walls shattered and nearly 6,000 tons of stone plunged to earth, penetrating the massive floor as it fell.” ~Wikipedia
Check out this link for more really interesting information on the rebuilding of the church.
The crypt was huge, not what we were expecting at all. There were modern sculptures displayed here. This one shows ‘Construction’ and ‘Destruction’ opposite each other.
This burned and twisted cross is from the original church.
Here is the church from our vantage point in the square outside. The dark stones are the ones that were from the original church.
The Fürstenzug or Procession of Princes is the largest porcelain mural in the world. It is 101.9 metres (334 ft) long and 10.5 metres (34 ft) high. This very long mural depicts 35 Dresden rulers from the 12th to the 20th century. There are also 59 scientists, artisans, craftsmen, children and farmers in the mural.
This is an impressive sight, and the detail is amazing. It is also amazing that this mural survived the bombing of Dresden with minimal damage.
We notice a doorway…looks like Bob is ‘walking towards the light’!
The doorway opens on this courtyard with a different horned animal on each pillar. I think someone liked hunting?
Back to the Zwinger Palace and Bob discovers that we can walk up to the elevated walkway for some great views of the palace and its grounds.
Statues line the walkway and this dome is over the entrance to the grounds.
There are some interesting sculptures on the interior walls of the palace and one of the walls has fountains all along its length.
There is some work taking place on the outside wall of the palace and I really liked the graffiti on the construction barricades.
We end our day with a ride on the ferris wheel. It has been many years since we were last on a ferris wheel.
Here are some views from the top of the ferris wheel. The people and cars below are very tiny!
Day 21, Sunday, September 15, 2019
The 1,316 meter long East Side Gallery is the longest open Art gallery in the world and it is also the longest surviving piece of the Berlin Wall. 118 artists from 21 countries began painting the East Side Gallery immediately after the wall came down and it officially became an open air gallery in 1990.
The sign says: Erection of the Wall, 1961, Fall of the Wall, 1989, Painting of the wall, 1990 and Restoration of the Wall 2009
Walk along the wall with us.
A Trabant, cleverly painted to look like it’s breaking through the wall is a well known image. 
We see a white Trabant soon after seeing this. 
The graffiti n the back-side of the East Side Gallery is interesting too.
We stop for a snack and listen to some music along the banks of the Spree River before continuing our walk along the open air gallery.
Honecker and Brezhnev in a ‘brotherly socialist kiss’ is another famous image.
At the end of the wall we walk across the historic Oberbaum Bridge.
Apparently all the hanging shoes are street art.
Next we take one of the old trams to Mauer Park which is the site of a huge flea market and a gathering place for Berliners and tourists alike.
There are people everywhere!
The people on the hillside are watching karaoke performances, which happen here every Sunday. There is also an ongoing 3 on 3 Basketball game in the foreground. Did I mention that there are people everywhere? Bob figures probably over 20,000 people in the park today and I think we are older than 99% of them!
After sampling some of the food trucks wares, we make our way up to the karaoke viewing on the hillside and have fun watching the performers. Some were not the best, but the audience was very supportive and everyone gets a big round of applause. Here is a video of the first performer we saw. In a few places I now realize I need to move the camera a bit more slowly when panning, but take a look.
This lady was selling some rather interesting pins, and offered to let me take her photo for a small donation, and yes, they were those kind of dicks!
This guy from the Dominican Republic got a great round of applause, but more for his dancing than his singing.
Some of our fellow audience members. 
One of the performers from Afganistan got lots of people up dancing.
The flea market was closing by the time we got around to visiting it. As we passed by this booth I overheard a guy say to his girlfriend “All these glasses and you still can’t see my point of view!”
There were lots of groups of performers. Here is one video and here is another. I can’t figure out how to edit them, so just stop watching when you have seen enough.
This sign on an artist’s booth makes me laugh. Today was a nice change from the sight seeing we have been doing. It was really relaxing, a lot of fun, and great people watching!.
Day 68, Saturday, November 11, 2017
We changed our plans to visit the town of Siena today so that we can go to the Uffizi Gallery. In hindsight I think we should have planned for more time in Florence, a week was just enough to be a tease. There is so much more I would have liked to see here. ‘sigh’
It is so easy to miss the small sights when surrounded by such majestic ones. I thought the artist who added his or her touch to the official street signs was very clever, especially David carrying the big white ‘do not enter’ bar.
Florence is the birthplace of Carlo Collodi, the author of Pinocchio. I made a new friend but I think Bob has been telling a few fibs lately!
We tried to visit the Library again. We were told we could come Saturday morning and the library is open until 1:30. However when we arrive just after 12:00 we discover that ‘visiting hours’ ended at 11:30! No library visits in Florence for us.
This ‘statue’ on the steps at the Uffizi Gallery surprised a few people when it moved!
We are lucky and there is no line up at the Uffizi Gallery. In the summer the wait to get tickets can be as much as five hours! I discover some Italian artists whose work I really like. These paintings seemed to call to me from across the room, begging for a closer look.
This drawing by Bellini from 1500-1506 is about three feet long!
I think this incredibly beautiful painting ‘Madonna and Child With Two Angels’ 1460-5 by Filippo Lippi is my favourite. A photograph doesn’t do it justice.
The Uffizi is a ‘U’ shaped building with two long wings connected at one end.
The ceilings of both upper wings of the Uffizi are beautifully painted, each panel different from the next…
and they are very long hallways!
There are many Medieval paintings… 
I particularly liked all the detail in this Adoration of the Magi from 1423 by Gentile Da Fabriano
and the wings of these little angels. They make me think of parrot wings.
I was surprised to see this large Roman copy of an original bronze sculpture from the 3rd Century. I drew a sketch of the original bronze when we visited the Correr museum in Venice. 
Different angle, same boar.
We stopped for tea and a yummy fresh fruit tart in the museum café. Two pots of tea and one tart were ‘only’ $30.00 Canadian, but we had a great view! 
Rested and refreshed we continue our visit. I saw many paintings that I ‘know’ from reproductions. I feel very fortunate to be able to stand in front of the originals.
Francesca’s The Duke and Duchess of Urbino.
La Primavera, 1480, and…
The Birth of Venus, 1485, both by Botticelli.
Michelangelo’s The Holy Family, known as the Doni Tondo painted in 1507, and…
Titian’s Venus of Urbino from 1538. This painting was considered so risqué at the time that it was concealed by a sliding panel until the end of the 16th Century!
The ceilings in many of the Gallery rooms were also beautifully painted.
We had a great view the Ponte Vecchio from one of the second floor windows.
Bob read that this painting was badly damaged by a Mafia car bomb explosion in 1993 and was later restored. I did a bit of research if you want to read about it.
There are several paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci in this gallery but I am most interested in The Adoration of the Magi San Donato in Scopeto. Da Vinci never finished this painting so it gives insight into his creative process. I found it fascinating. The painting was being restored for six years and was only returned to the Uffizi in March of this year. This link allows you to zoom in for a closer look.
We managed to see a lot in the 4 1/2 hours we spent at the gallery. Several of the rooms were closed, which was probably a good thing. We never would have managed to see it all if they would have been open. On the way home we pass this rather small, curious door to apartment #9.
One last view of Santa Croce. We learned that a Spanish tourist was recently killed here on Oct.19th, by a piece of masonry the fell from the ceiling. 
trudymason.com 