Wallpaper

Do you have a widescreen monitor? Here are some 1600 x 900 lowres wallpapers you can save and use. You should be able to click on the image for a larger size, then right click and save the image in your pictures file. Open it using Windows then right click and set as wall paper.

Bingen, Germany

Bacharach, Germany

The view from Burg Klopp, Bingen, Germany

Nancy, France

Squares 2

Some more squares I put together.

Squares

Squares is one of my favorite ways to crop a photo. Since it is much more prevalent in Europe, I like to do it on my European photos. Hope you like and thanks for looking.

Going to the Dogs

You will see lots of people walking their dogs everywhere you go. Most places allow dogs as long as they're on a leash and you clean up after them. When taking pics of the dogs, 80% of the time the owners get a kick out of it and occasionally I'll get a puzzled look. Only once did I get a semi-negative reaction. It happens quick and hopefully I have my camera set right. I'm really happy with the results.

I added some more to my Facebook photo album "Critters". You can see those here: iconOklahoma on Facebook

Bacharach

A couple of panoramas from the town of Bacharach.

Bingen

Went to a town called Bingen on the Rhein. Climbed to the top of a castle and walked around a bit.

Burg Eltz

This is a nice little castle near the Mosel river. We have been there once before in the fall, this time it was open. We toured the inside and it was an enjoyable day.

Bicycles

Yeah, strange start to my Europe trip, but here's some bicycles. I put some others on my facebook page.IconOklahoma Facebook

The Board Meeting

I don't do much street photography, even though I find it fascinating. I'm too afraid someone will object and it might get ugly. I do it discretely at times though.

But that's not what this post is about. Regardless of how you feel about homeless people (empathy or apathy), I found this website and the stories interesting : http://www.susanmullally.com/photos/wik_photos/index.html

It makes you think about the possessive society we live in, and what really does matter.

Feuerwache

This was in Primanses, Germany. I had an hour to kill waiting for the train and I spotted a little grocery store about a quarter miles away. Needed some gummies. I had to pass right by this awesome building. I'll give you one guess as to what it is.

The firetrucks were all behind the building in the garage. The cool thing about German fire engines? They're all Mercedes.

Coming home

I get a little bummed when it's time to leave. I've checked my flight, checked the train schedule, and got my bags packed. Tomorrow I'll be Oklahoma bound.

Strasbourg

As stated, I probably like France more than I like Germany. Strasbourg France is a city with the best of both worlds. The old half timber houses that are prevalent in Germany line up with the more modern architechure of France. In the photo below you can see the half timber houses and if you look in the distance, the entryway to the old hospital zone can be seen.
Strasbourg today was crazy busy for a Sunday. This is my second visit to the city and I love it. It was very difficult finding a parking place, and we ended up parking near the Police station. Pretty good chance nothing was going to happen to the car there. The reason the place is crazy busy is because the Christmas market opened today, and it was the main reason we were going. This town is amazing, nearly every building has some sort of Christmas decoration. When you walk through the small squares, decor hang suspended from above. Windows are wrapped like presents, lights are every where. So are the people.
The focal point to the town is the gothic Cathedral of Our Lady. In the above picture you can see how the one spier towers above the city. Below is a partial side view, complete with gargoyles and flying buttresses. The first stone for this cathedral was laid in 1015, so we are looking at something nearly a thousand years old. Think about it...
The pink sandstone is unique, and it makes the cathedral a little hard to photgraph. Not to mention the thousands of people milling around.

The interior isn't that elaborate, compared to other gothic churches, in fact it is a bit of a let down.
I would love to spend more time in this city,as there is so much more to see, perhaps on my next trip.

Trier Bedlam

Cold and rainy today, had to punch a few people in the face because they don't know how to walk and hold an umbrella. I coulda lost an eye. Trier is the oldest city in Germany. The Porta Nigra was one of four gates to the city and the only one still standing. This was built by the Romans and does not have any mortar. Think about it.... incredible. They were also having the world's busiest Christmas market going on and it was packed like a 500 pound person in spandex. Add the umbrellas and you have bedlam.
Speaking of bedlam.... I did get to see it, it played on Armed Forces Network. If only the QB and RB weren't hurt and the best WR in the country didn't get hosed by the NCAA, and the refs didn't screw up, then oSu still would have gotten beat by OU's second team. BOOMER SOONER!!

Verdun France

Friday we stayed at home and rested, so here is the recap for yesterday.
As much as I like Germany, I really love France. I am so glad my daughter lives just an hour's drive from the border. The things about France that I really like are: The French language flows when spoken, German is so abrupt. Germany is more conforming, whereas France more aloof. France has more curves, Germany is more square. German girls are pretty, French women are beautiful. My wife is very French. That should keep me out of trouble.
Another thing I really love about France is the architecture and monuments. Thanksgiving day we went to Verdun, which has been the sight for many a battle since the middle ages. Outside of the city, there are many monuments and cemetaries. One place is the Montfaucon American Monument which was the sight of a 47 day fight during WW1. The ruins of the church are all that is left of the entire village.
The monument itself is 20 feet tall and can be seen from miles away. There are steps inside the monument when it is open and you can walk to the observation tower. It was closed when we went.

From there we went to the 130 acre Meuse-Argonne American Cemetary that has over 14,000 war dead buried or entombed. One cannot help but pause in quiet recollection when seeing the perfectly lined rows crosses and Star of Davids. That is where I took yesterdays photo.
Driving to the Meuse-Argonne we ended up driving by a little battlefield monument. It is a sixteen feet tall grim reaper holding a staff with the French words "They shall not pass." I had to look it up to understand the significance of the words. They were spoken by French General Robert Nivelle when addressing the troops during the Battle of Verdun, one of the deadliest and most devastating battles in war history.

The city of Verdun lies twenty miles west of the cemetery. The city doesn't have a lot to offer as far as tourist attractions go, it does have the Porte Chaussee which is the gateway to the city built in 1380.

There are little monuments and statuary all over the city, and high atop one of the hills over looking the city is the renaissance Cathedrale Notre-Dame du Verdun. The city has that grit and polish look to it, where one building is old and run down and the one next to it is well kept. The Cathedral is the same way, the inside is slick and polished while the outside is old and gritty. These cathedrals are open all of the time, and still hold mass on a regular basis. On Sundays a mix of tourists and church goers often collide. This is one of the back doors to the church, typical of the style of these old cathedrals. The church was consecrated in 1147.

The trip home was a bit flustering, we could not get on the autostrasse because of what we figured was an accident. We had to drive twenty miles to the town of Ettine, and go back south to the highway. So it took nearly three hours to get back.

Thankful

I have plenty of things to be thankful for. But right now, I want to say thank you to this American soldier, known but to God. Thank you to the thousands of young soldiers who fought in the battle fields far from home, never to return. Without your sacrifice, we would not enjoy the freedoms we have.