Author: kenritley

Zwiefalten Flowers

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Yes, that’s Zwiefalten – not Zweifalten – and you can see some earlier snaps of this mind-blowing Southern German monastery that I took here. In fact, even the insects surrounding this place must soak up the goodness, because on a recent trip I spotted an insect almost as big as a man’s head. I also spotted a fish in a small brook that was almost the size of an American alligator.

If you step inside, there is a very real risk your brain will explode. And as you can see from the outside, the stunning sights are hardly less interesting:

The mighty Sequoia trees of France

kenritley

Continuing the series . . . It’s amazing – I’ve lived in Europe for over 20 years, never really paying much attention to whether you can find the mighty Califormia Giant Sequoia trees here or not – but, once I spotted one, it seems I am spotting them all over the place!

Here is an example of a Giant Sequoia tree I spotted in the Parc du Champ de Mars in Colmar, in Eastern France:

There is a small plaque beneath this behemoth, which reads

Sequoia Sempervirens

provenance: California

Don du peuple americain

au peuple francais,

a l’occasion de bi-centairre de

la Declaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen et du

Bill of Rights of the United States

1789-1989

Parc du Champ de Mars

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Colmar is an interesting city on the border between France and Germany. As you can see from this snap – and indeed, as you can see from just about anywhere in Colmar – there was significant damage from centuries of war that leaves ancient buildings standing next to new ones:

Roulade au Poulet

kenritley

Idea from a friend of mine in the UK: chicken breast (Poulet) that I butterflied and pounded even thinner, wrapped around a tiny piece of sausage (Nürnberger Bratwurst) and including thin slices of cheese (Emmenthaler Käse) in the roll (Roulade), finally wrapped with slices of ham (Vorderschinken). I then wrapped it very tightly in aluminum foil, and baked at 220 C for 30 minutes:

The amazing thing is that, after baking, it retains it shape very firmly, almost like the more well-known Fleischkäse.

Amazing Neuenkirch – 1

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Although there are probably other countrie in Germany that have more, nevertheless Switzerland has its fair share. Here is a snap of the medeival walled village of Neuenkirch, just a few miles from where I live:

This is what it looks like when you peer through one of the gates to the village, and here is a plaque that shows the gate was built about a generation before Christopher Columbus ever set out for America:

The might castle Kyburz through the trees

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I see this view every morning on my daily 15 km Nordic Walk through the forests of north central Switzerland,

It harkens back to a time when life was influenced strongly by famous family dynasty, such as the Hapsburgs, Kyburzs, and others. These families may have faded into history, but we are every much as bit influenced and controlled by other famous family dynasties today, such as the Kochs and Waltons.

In a city of fountains, this one stands apart

kenritley

If you’ve been to Zurich then you know how it is. Every streetcorner has a fountain, and the fountains are old, and they have clean, fresh water, and you can drink it. The people stop and the children play, and the Carabinieri toss their cigarettes into the street and move on. The worst thing is the smell.

Wait – stop – that’s what Hemingway would say.

I would say that of all the water fountains in Zurich this has to be the most unusual:

It even has a little plaque so that you can read about it’s history:

Dead standing tree

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What kind of a tree this was – I don’t know.

Why did it die – I don’t know.

Who made the decision not to chop it down – I don’t know.

But I do know this was an artistic a snap as I thought I could take of a dead standing tree in a grassy clearing of a forest where I take my daily Nordic Walk.