Category: Culture

Posted in Culture, Travel

Morocco and Lanzarote

Posted on by pierreo

After a few days in Andalusia, a few more than initially planned, we were finally on our way.  Having left Spain late the previous night, we woke up approaching Casablanca, in Morocco, with wonderful sunrise views of the Hassan II Mosque, reputedly the largest in the world outside of Mecca.

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As we approached, the views improved and we could clearly see that this was no ordinary place.  However, we are here looking at the back of the mosque and the better views are from the front.

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There is a large square in front of the building, but still not large enough to be able to take the whole view in one shot, even with my widest angle lens; this is a composite of several photos, which is why this is slightly distorted.  The minaret is 200 m high! I am told that the muezzin who goes to the top to call worshippers to prayers five times a day has an elevator to facilitate the task!

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This is the only mosque in Morocco which is open to non-muslim visitors and I was really looking forward to the planned visit.  However, since we arrived on a Friday, and relatively late on the Friday, we were unfortunately not able to go inside – a real shame.  We were therefore limited to taking pictures of the very decorated facade and doors from the outside.

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Everything seems gigantic, especially when compared to the human scale – notice the man dressed in white to the right of the gate in the shadows.  However, it is very harmonious and quite peaceful and inspiring.

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This is all we got to see of Casablanca – we were then bussed about one hour away to Rabat where we whizzed around the Royal compound for a short glimpse at the Royal Palace.  We were supposed to stop and get out – we were told we could stop and get out – but at the last moment, it seems that again we were at the wrong place at the wrong time and since a lot of people were going to mid-day prayers, the security officers prevented us from stopping.  All I got was this shot of the Royal mosque from the moving bus…

MorBlog007 Continue reading “Morocco and Lanzarote” →

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Andalusia 2013

Posted on by pierreo

Our trip to Andalusia continued in Cordoba, another city that was heavily influenced by the Moors who occupied it until late in the 15th century.

Cordoba was ‘freed’ earlier than Granada and Ferdinand and Isabella established their royal seat here while they were fighting for Granada.  They lived in a former Muslim palace which is now known as the “Alcazar de los Reyes Catolicos” or Palace of the Catholic Kings.  It is clear, however, that the origin of the buildings and gardens has nothing to do with catholic kings.

One look at these gardens and you know immediately who designed them.

The palace itself is not very interesting, and there has not been a significant effort to make the interior look like it must have either during the Moors’ occupation, or the later royal affectation, which was not very long as the royal court eventually moved to Granada instead.

However, the gardens are the real attraction of this palace.

There are fountains everywhere and several different levels which are all just slightly different from each other.

This group was added later, I am sure.  It is the representation of Christopher Columbus requesting funds from Ferdinand and Isabella for his trip to India via the Atlantic Ocean.  We all know how that ended.

However, there were conflicts in what we heard from different guides.  Granada was freed from the Moors in January 1492 and the court moved there soon thereafter.  So in Granada, they claim that this discussion took place in the Alhambra.  In Cordoba, they claim that this occurred before the court moved and therefore it happened in Cordoba.  Looking at several sources of information (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Wikipedia and Royal Greenwich Museum) there is consensus that the decision to go West was made in January 1492 but only Wikipedia mentions that this occurred in Cordoba while Britannica does not say where the final agreement took place.  It could be that it is not documented and therefore both cities have a legitimate claim!

The other major attraction of Cordoba is the Mezquita, the most confused building in the world.  It started life as a Mosque and is now the Cathedral of Cordoba.  There are contrasting views throughout the building, with clearly Muslim architecture surrounding obviously catholic details.

When they established (and built) the cathedral inside the old mosque, a lot of the building was left unchanged.  There are thousands of columns supporting the roof around the core which is now the cathedral.  This is an “illegal” photo!  I took it with the camera sitting on the floor so that I could have a longer exposure.  Immediately after I took this photo while sitting on the floor, I was told to stand up as sitting is not allowed!

Continue reading “Andalusia 2013” →

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Granada 2013

Posted on by pierreo

I first came to Granada, in Andalusia, Spain, in 1999.  I only spent 2 nights there on a tour of Andalusia.

The pictures I took back then can be seen on my other site: www.twimpg.net

Bee and I stopped in Granada for 4 nights before our Eclipse Cruise – more on that later.  It was a great opportunity to see the Alhambra again, and discover more of this wonderful historical city.

We arrived just before lunch – lunch time in Spain that is, so got to the hotel around 1:30 PM.  We stayed at the Alhambra Palace, just a stone throw away from the Alhambra itself.  On the way to the restaurant for lunch, we saw our first glimpse of the outside wall of the complex and the imposing fortress.

In the afternoon, we went to visit the town and stopped at the main cathedral.  It is a very impressive building that was designed and built after the moors were chased out of Andalusia and Granada was the seat of the Spanish Royal family.

We discovered that, on week-ends, the gardens of the Generalife are opened to the public in the evening, after sunset.  We had therefore booked for going there on our first evening.

We tried to be early (I did not have to try very hard!) so that it would not be too crowded and we succeeded.  The one palace on the Generalife was almost empty and very peaceful.

It is amazing that this was built in 1400 when the rest of Europe was in the “Dark Ages”! Granada was actually a place of great learning during that time, with scholars from all over the known world visiting and lecturing thousands of ‘students’ who came there to learn.

From the Generalife, we had a good view of the Alhambra complex, but could not go there.  Actually, we probably could have walked around there too as most of the area around the Alhambra is public, but we only found that out on the next day, during our daytime visit of the palaces.

The detailed work of carving on the stone and the wood is always incredible in these buildings.  It is amazing that this survived during the last 700 years.  Notice how the patterns are different on top of each archway over the doors! Continue reading “Granada 2013” →

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London 2013

Posted on by pierreo

I do not want to be constantly late with new posts to my blog.  And I have also decided to try and be more regular in the posts, so those following me are not disappointed week after week when nothing new comes along.

I am not going to post something every week, but will try to do something at least monthly at the start.

And here we go with a short trip to London.  Since it was a short trip, I only took 4 cameras and not my big one! The pictures come from my little Casio Exilim and some have been “improved” in Photoshop with the treatment that I usually do with my regular photos.

Bee and I left work for the airport where we took a train to the Midi Station in Brussels and there caught the Eurostar to London. It was only my second trip on the train, and the first since the high speed rails had been opened in the UK.  It took us the better part of 20 minutes to go through Checkin, security and emigration – glad we were early.

We arrived in St Pancras and took the tube to Green Park where our hotel was.  Very nice location, but the hotel was a little dated for a Hilton.  We still had a nice room and it had all the amenities we would have expected.

As it was already late, we went to dinner in the neighbourhood and found a good Turkish restaurant.

The next day, the weather was not great so we decided to do museums.  We started with the Victoria and Albert Museum.  On the way there, we saw the Christmas Windows at Harrod’s which were quite nice.  V&A is a huge complex and it took us a while to get oriented.  We wanted to see the modern glass exhibit, but had to go through several others, very interesting sights just to get there.  We saw an exhibit of copies of famous statues and architectural pieces made in the 19th century.  Some of these were used to restore the original.  Also saw a great display of Chinese artefacts and clothing.

After a couple of hours we had enough so we went to China town for lunch.  Had one of the best Chinese food in a long time!

We bought tickets to the Opera – Mozart’s Magic Flute, tried to get reservations at Jamie Italian (they do not take reservations) and did our share of shopping at Kathmandu.  The opera was very nice, even though I was a little disappointed it was sung in English and not the original German.  However, now I understand the story a lot better and will enjoy it even more when I listen to it at home.  We tried Jamie Italian again – 45 minute wait at 9:40 PM so we went to another Italian Restaurant near Leicester Square

The weather on Sunday was great, so we went to Hampton Court.  An adventure to get there as the normal trains from Waterloo were cancelled due to maintenance work.  We took the Tube to Wimbledon then a replacement bus, which seemed to be taking forever.  I knew we were in trouble when the driver looked back and asked if anybody knew how to get to the station!  Fortunately, some one did and we got there in the end.  This is not the first time we had problems with drivers of replacement busses.

Hampton Court is really majestic and a great day trip from London. The main entrance at sunset!

When we paid our entrance fee, we were told that re-enactments would be going on throughout the day and the next one started in the main court at 11:00.  Since it was close to that time, we waited and sure enough a lady in period costume did show up and start telling us of her love story, not for the King but one of his aides.  However, the king was in love with her etc, etc, etc…

We followed along, and in the main dining room, we got the meet the king!

Of course, the story is full of intrigues and misunderstandings and political moves.

We stopped following it as the Royal Chapel was about to open.  In the chapel is a recreation of Henry’s own crown (the original was destroyed by Cromwell).  We had good audio guides so we continued the visit on our own.  We did the kitchen and we also did an exhibit on the life of Henry as a young man, up to his divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella who had reunited the crown of Spain and sponsored Columbus to look for an alternate way to India.  It was very well done as this also included the break-up of the Church of England when the English Cardinal who supported Henry could not convince the Pope to grant him a divorce.

We had lunch then spent some time in the gardens which are gorgeous as always in England

This swan came quite fast when he saw us – if he expected food, he was disappointed!

As I said, it was a beautiful day and the views of the palace were magnificent.  I was surprised to see palm tress in the garden! I wonder if they resist to the winter or have to be replaced every year? Continue reading “London 2013” →

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Garmisch and Munich

Posted on by pierreo

It has been a tradition for the last three years that Bee and I celebrate her birthday somewhere other than Brussels! This time, I did not tell her where, just that there was the castle of a princess, the nest of an eagle, a place where there is lots of beer and a place that should never be forgotten.

We flew to Munich and immediately drove south with the intention to visit Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein, two castles who belonged to Ludwig II (the mad) of Bavaria.  Hohenschwangau is not very famous and therefore not familiar to people.  However, that is where the visit starts and I had nothing to do while waiting in a long line of cars – so I took a picture of the castle behind the trees.

We were only 300-400 m away from the parking lot, but the road was completely blocked and we moved a few meters every several minutes.  Bee went ahead to see what was going on; when she came back 15 minutes later, I had moved two car lengths and she explained that the parking lot being full, one car could get in every time another one got out! She also mentioned that the line to buy tickets has several 100 people in it.

So we decided that visiting Neuschwanstein was not that important.  We stopped and took a few pictures, because that one is recognised all over the world!

It was the inspiration for Disney’s original Castle at Disney World and was the Sleeping Beauty’s castle in the movie.  It was also featured in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, another Disney movie, but not animated this time.

The castle was actually never finished and Ludwig II never lived there.  Only 1 or 2 rooms were decorated, including one with a fake grotto as an homage to Richard Wagner, who was a close friend (very close friend?) of Ludwig.

The location for the castle is great – At the edge of the mountains and on the side of a large plain.

So, we decided to move on ahead and go to Garmisch Partenkirche, where we would be spending the first night.  This is one of the first winter resorts in Germany and it hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 1936, the same year the summer games were in Berlin.  In summer, like right now when we were there, it is a sleepy little town, with typical Bavarian architecture such as this Bier Garten with very nice frescoes.

The local church has the onion dome that is also typical of this region.

We were early for dinner so we kept walking around town and heard music in the distance.  We were intrigued and saw that there was a trio of young musicians setting up.  Two violins and a clarinet.  They were  very good and played classical music adapted for their instruments.  The movie below is taken with my still camera and reduced so that it can fit into my blog, but the music quality is not bad. Continue reading “Garmisch and Munich” →

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Portugal – Part 2

Posted on by pierreo

After Coimbra, we spent a few more days in the area and went to the Natural Park da Serra da Estrela which includes the highest mountains in Portugal.  We stopped at the highest peak where there is a weather station and what looks like army radar installations.  The weather was good, but cold and very windy – you can still see that there is a lot of snow left on the ground and this was at the end of May.

We did some walking in the park too but no great pictures.   We stopped for lunch in Manteigas, right at the center of the Parque Natural da Serra da Estrela where we saw an old car rally but no pictures of that either.  I was not in the right mood for photos that day!

We then had to head towards Lisbon, but first we made a stop on the way in an old Roman town called Conimbriga which has some of the best preserved Roman ruins in the Iberian Peninsula.  We were very pleasantly surprised.

There is a house with exquisite floor mosaics (above) and an incredible atrium with really nice fountains (below)

We discovered that by putting a 1 euro coin in a slot, we could get the fountains to actually work.  You can see the water spays (white arcs) against the red bricks, if you look carefully.  The sound was actually better than the sight!  I wonder if they still use the original plumbing?

Continue reading “Portugal – Part 2” →

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Portugal – Part 1

Posted on by pierreo

In May, Bee and I spent two weeks traveling around Portugal. I had only spent a few days in Lisbon and therefore most of it was a new discovery for me as well.

We started in Porto. A beautiful ancient city on the Douro River. Walking around town, we ended up near our first church, not a major attraction as it is not even listed in our guide-book, called the Church of the Clergy (Igreja dos Clerigos) but decided to go in and marvelled at the intricate decorations inside – baroque at its finest (for some people I guess!)

What is more remarkable, and listed in the good book, is the Torre dos Clerigos, the church’s bell tower. The view from the top is reported to be quite nice, but 225 steps on a small spiral staircase and the line to buy tickets dampened our enthusiasm…

Much more impressive is the fortress-like Igreja da Misericordia. There is a small park in front of the church from which there is a spectacular view of the Douro River and the other bank, full of storage and ageaing warehouses for the Port.

This was taken inside Igreja de Sao Francisco, one of the best and most elaborately decorated churches in Porto. It is next to the Palacio da Bolsa (the local Chamber of Commerce) and attests to the wealth of the merchants, at one time, in this city. We visited the Bolsa as well. Continue reading “Portugal – Part 1” →

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Florence at New Year

Posted on by pierreo

Ok, so I am a little behind.  I have been busier than usual since this trip in Florence at the end of 2012, but I am still within almost 1/2 year…

Bee and I decided to spend a few days in Florence and then a few in Chianti right around New Year.  I had just removed my cast and so needed the exercise.

An absolute “must” if you go to Florence is the “Firenze Card”.  You can get one for one or several days and it gives access to many musea, free use of public transport, but best of all, you can cut the lines at most musea and churches as if you had pre-booked your ticket.  A huge time saver.  While visiting the Uffizi Gallery one early morning, we discovered, through a window, this great view of the Ponte Vecchio – difficult to get this vantage point anywhere else.

One evening, I took a night shot from the other side.  Without a tripod, I had to place my camera on the edge of the other bridge and use my remote control to trigger the shot – 2 second exposure!

Still in the Uffizzi Gallery, we found a terrace, with a coffee shop where we had more unusual views of Florence.  The Duomo is so crowded in the middle of other buildings that it is not easy to get an overall view of it.

The Palazzo Vecchio is a different story.  It was so close that even with my wide angle lens, I was not able to get a good shot.  This is none photos stitched together.  The tower looks even thinner and flimsier in this shot, but I really like the whole ensemble.

Continue reading “Florence at New Year” →

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Ardennes, then and now

Posted on by pierreo

During a recent trip to Arimont, Bee and I decided to stop at a recent addition to the local scene.

We discovered the Baugnez 44 Historical Center.  Here is the link: http://www.baugnez44.be/

It is a very well put together story of World War II with an emphasis on what happened in the area during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944.

The museum itself is situated only 100 m away from the American Memorial in Baugnez, on the road between Malmedy and Waimes.

I did not have a camera, and the weather was not great, so I have had to borrow other people’s photos, for once…

 Photo borrowed from Wikipedia

This is the site where 80 American Prisoners of War were massacred by their German captors during the earlier phases of the campaign.  This event was recreated in the movie “Battle of the Bulge” from 1965.  This was not the only such war crime perpetrated by the German troops, but it caused the largest loss of American POWs lives in one incident.

Several soldiers survived the massacre by “Playing Dead” and their interviews can be heard in the museum.  The memorial itself is, as always, sober and peaceful.

Following the massacre, there was a trial in Dachau in 1946.  Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia on the subject:

In what came to be called the “Malmedy massacre trial“, which concerned all of the war crimes attributed to Kampfgruppe Peiper for the battle of the Bulge, the highest-ranking defendant was General Sepp Dietrich, commander of the 6th SS Panzer Army, to which Peiper’s unit belonged. Joachim Peiper and his principal subordinates were defendants. The Tribunal tried more than 70 persons and pronounced 43 death sentences (none of which were carried out) and 22 life sentences. Eight other men were sentenced to shorter prison sentences.

 

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Saint Petersburg – Russia

Posted on by pierreo

In August Bee and I spent a long week-end in Saint Petersburg, Russia. This is a place I had heard a lot about and it was several years that I wanted to come here. I just needed a good excuse.

On the first day we had organised a walking tour of the city, very useful to get orientation and see where the major attractions are.

We started along one of the many canals, the canal which formed the original city limits called Fontanka as it originally fed fountains in the Summer Gardens. Along the way, we ran into the current main building of the Saint Petersburg University.

Impressive building – it used to be one of the many palaces belonging to people who gravitated around the Tsar and his family.

Further along, we noticed this Church with sky blue dome and golden stars

There are churches and canals everywhere. This place is called “three bridges”.

This is Nikolsky Cathedral, actually built for Peter’s wife Empress Catherine I – the bell tower is well removed from the main building as is typical in Russia.

Here is the church itself, with typical pastel colors and gold domes

This is the Mariinsky Theatre, probably the best known cultural venue in Saint Petersburg where the Kirov ballet used to perform in Soviet times – now it has reverted to its original name and is known as the Mariinsky Ballet Company, still one of the best in the world.

Continue reading “Saint Petersburg – Russia” →

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