Arriving in charming Stuttgart, Germany - in the center of town, a lovely statue of Friedrich von Schiller, the poet of freedom - a long admired poet, and philospher by our mother's german family.
Fountains, monuments and open spaces in center of Stuttgart.
Old parks, complete with construction to keep the city growing.
Weather was lovely, lots of locals enjoying a Friday afternoon.
Love statues, but forget who this guy was.
Enjoying the town square.
My sister Lisa and myself enjoying a nice pint of Hofbrau and a sandwich in the square.
And off quickly.. we head to the Czech Republic, to a charming border city and vacation town of Karlovy-Vary, known for it's natural hot springs.
An old stately public building, now converted to a museum.
Lovely, elegant buildings at the entry of town.
Very lush, green village.
Czech, a new destination for filming movies used this building, we were told, in the last James Bond film, Casino Royale.
More rennovated, beautiful buildings and hotels.
Enterting the city center, built along both sides of the river. I love the floating liquor ads, hovering over the water.
With only 10 years since the end of communism, religious symbols seem prominent.
With the tempatures dipping, it was a chilly, fall visit.
More preserved, gorgeous, old buildings.
Tho' our guide noted the other building as featured in Casino Royale, THIS building looked more familiar to me.. (have to rent that movie again.)
Into Karlovy-Vary we go! .. a town well known also for it's fine crystal and garnet stones.
Narrow alley way, leads to the tram up into the hills, for beautiful views, good nibbles and cocktails at the top!
Becher Bitter... everyone!
Town specialty included the delicate, decorative, wrought-iron balconies.
More beautiful local sites.
Beautiful statue at the base of the windy roads.
closer view..
Some old, original wooden buildings.
Beautiful church, with concert performing later.
This red building was the oldest building in city center.
Old colonnade, on the right, with old, various hot spring fountains along the columns, inside.
Lisa wanted to explore the natural hot springs.. long story..at least the view was nice!
More delicate, old covered walkways leading to the town park.
An old hot spring fountain, underneath the columns.
Lis and I enjoying lunch and cocktails in Bohemia!
Bought my requisite hot springs porcelain mug, designed to drink the super-hot natural spring water - which tastes like super-hot rusty water. The minerals are suposed to help with stomach ailments.
Soaking in the town's charm...
Paris - here we come!
can't relax for long!!!
Only 3 hour train trip from Stuttgart.. 1st class, baby!
Bonjour Paris!
Beautiful Paris.
Gorgeous buildings..
Paris welcomes us with lunch and cocktails!
Grand Opera building.
Rear view of the Opera House
City shot
Crossing the River Seine
Notre Dame in the far distance.. over River Seine.
Ferris wheel near the Louvre, erected as part of the milenium festivities, in 2000.
The obélisque de la Concorde, in Place de la Concord in front of the grand Champs d'Elysee.
Lovely french flag fying high..
Very busy Champs d'Elysee.
Shopping along Champs d'Elysee.
Hurray.. the 2007 World Rugby Championships are hosted by France!
Getting closer to the Arc de Triomphe.
There she is.. Napoleon's beautiful Arc de Triomphe ..
ah.. love in paris.
Charming stop along our city tour.. near an artist enclave with studios and museums.
And what a treat.. a French treasure..
Where Les Miserables was begun.. right here!
Ultimately a hospital for wounded soldiers, Napoleon's tomb is inside.
There she is.. Eiffel Tower in beautiful Paris.
And from another angle..
And the small duplicated Statue of Liberty in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
A quick glimpse at world famous Roland Garros, home of the French Open! (tennis)
Bienvenue!! The Tower includes messages now..
Rugby rules.. Scotland vs. Romania... scores posted a la Tour Eiffel
Charming, world famous Cafe de Flore..
Joan of Arc
Notre Dame lit up at night...
Enjoying world famous Moulin-Rouge.. complete with bottle of French Champagne & dancing girls.
And then into the amazing.. Palace of Versailles.. one of the first large canvas you see when entering one of the main rooms.
beautiful scene covering the full ceiling ..
The chapel in the palace, 2 floors, only royalty on this 2nd floor, all others on the ground level.
King Louis XIV - The Sun King
The hunting room..
More King Louis XIV - The Sun King
The Hall of Mirrors.. mirrors were very expensive in the day.. so this was a very impressive display.
A very fitting place, then for the signing of the Treaty at Versailles - which was signed in this hallway, ending WWI.
Every window had a beautiful view of the gardens.
The King's Royal bed - Benjamin Franklin was received from this bed.
The Sun God overseeing his estate..
Last look at the Hall of Mirrors..
Gardens of Versailles.
And the Queen's chamber - the bed of Marie-Antoinette.
Marie-Antoinette sits serenly on the mantel - the small door in the back of the room is the door she escapes out of when the french people revolt and attack the palace.
Ladies of the Palace.
More gardens.
Marie-Antoinette and her 3 children.
Inside the front courtyard of the palace - there was extensive renovation going on.
Back of the palace by the gardens.
Side view of the gardens.
Crisp, clear, beautiful day in Versaille.
More back views of the palace.
Main back view of the gardens that stretch forever.
Wonderful statue rising from the water in the back gardens.
Marie-Antoinette's private residence on the palace grounds.
Marie-Antoinette's summer house also on the grounds..
From another angle..
And back to the big city.. the world famous Pere Lachaise cemetery, the home of Jim Morrison and many others.. but it closes at 4pm on the dot. No excuses.. :(
..only able to get a quick glimpse!! :(
So into town I go, to stoll the left bank!
Charming French side streets on the left bank,
I love Camile Claudel and Rodin. She was a great artist and muse to Rodin, she ended up spending 30 yrs in a mental asylum and died there.
Trying to enjoy the Louvre at night, lit up, but camera didn't like it too much. :(
The sparkly Louvre at night...
And lastly.. just weeks after the 10th anniversary of my dear Diana's death - I found the tunnel..
There are messages written on all surfaces of the tunnel.
This has become a make-shift memorial, above the tunnel, the flame statue was already there. Flowers, pics and mesage are left here. Sadly, again, my camera no-likey the dark. :(
But then the camera can be moody! Memories of my Princess Diana.
..the sparkly Eiffel Tower at night.. Bon noit, au revoir Paris!
Back to good ole Stuttgart.. old friend...
camera is very tired..
..and now off to dinner..
after one more twinkly picture..
Lisa's fellow american coworker, a charming dinner escort, and menu translator!!
my german boss Mr. Weber.. must be his cousins or a plan for retirement!
he loves this.. really.. :)
Lisa's sassy Citroen - which got us arond Stuttgart quite well!!
Lisa's luxurious digs.. out in the Stuttgart suburbs.
But we're not done yet... Now its time for Salzburg, Austria! What a beautiful, cozy country.. :)
What a welcome!! .. raindrops on roses.... whiskers on kittens.. it's the back of the movie Von Trapp house!
Too bad now it belongs to Harvard University.. and is private property.
So picturesque...
Hellbrunn Palace - we didn't go inside, but looked very cute.. it is famous for its watergames in the grounds.
Was very cute, nice gifts!
Colorful, artsy, with big balls.
This castle was built in a month or so? ..on a bet. Can't remember exactly, but it was built in a real short time.
Gotta love this castle. You'll have to pardon the bizillion pictures of it to ultimately follow...
Heading to downtown Salzburg, water fountains straight from the ground.
Austria is a land of lakes, there is lots of water.. Salzburg was founded on salt, quite precious and valuable back then.
Salzburg is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This is the house he was born in.
He is quite a superstar in town..
Right in there! Very bright and cheery..
Charming city streets of Salzburg... quite busy..
Seems like everywhere cute tents of crafts, food, beer and festivals!
How gorgeous are these.
Nice mix of locals, with not TOO many tourists..
Stiegel break!!
Stiegel Goldbräu is brewed strictly to Austria's 1516 purity laws.
Ah, and there she is again... <swak!>
Festung Hohensalzburg (literally "High Salzburg Fortress" in German)
Ok.. time for a boat cruise up the river!
Getting our boat groove on...
Original sections of the old walled city..
One last boat shot before we go ashore..
My castle in the background..
Quick spin up to the top of the Salzburg modern museum.. for great views of the city.
and more..
My castle over my shoulder..
Pretty as a picture..
Beautiful fortress/facade built into the face of the moutain behind it..
Facade is built into that back moutain..
Salzburg at night...
Great ad - Stiegl, the local Austrian beer - and Hell means "light"... guess the devil likes the dark stuff.. ;-)
A final glass of wine, in twinkly Salzburg at night, before ending the night..
And one last visit to the Von Trapp movie house...
Julie Andrew's mountain - in the opening scene - quite a ways from downtown Salzburg...
There she is, looking quite lovely.
And low and behold!!! ..I am sixteen going on seventeen, innocent as a rose..... It's the actual pavilion from the movie for the 2 songs, "..sixteen" and "something good".
And to prove it..a plaque when it was donated to the city.. ..tho oddly the locals in Salzburg don't know or like the movie..
Ready for rehearsal!
And as Maria was getting off the bus, "...I have confidence in sunshine.." .. this is the scene of the path in the movie..
and while en route to more beautiful sites... a stop at a gorgeous lake village..
The land of lakes..
and voila.. it's the church!! The church used for the movie wedding scene - for Maria and Captain Von Trapp..
happend right here.. such tremendous interior..
more gorgeous details..
And outside.. the darling town, so cute, bright and colorful!
how cute.. and lots of sound of music souvenirs!!
And back to town.. to see the actual park where in the movie, Maria and the children sang and danced....this is the actual fountain they all circled around!
So doe la fa me do rey... so do la tee do rey do!!! These are the steps they sang & danced up and down...
ooh..and my beautiful castle never too far!
More nice foutains..
beautiful Austrian gardens...
And yep, you're right!! Tea with jam and bread.. the actual stage in the movie with the final family performance, before they escape into the mountains..
Actual pavilion background is made out of stone and is very old.. created originally for horse shows.
There is really a cemetery near the music pavilion, and these locked-up graves nooks were the inspiration for the movie set, and for the escape scene done back in hollywood. The real escape was not near as dramatic, the family left for vacation and never returned.
And the last jewel... it's the REAL abbey!! The actual abbey where the real Maria Von Trapp was studying to be a nun. Also the same abbey in the movie where the children come to talk to Maria/Julie Andrews after she leaves the family suddenly.
And inside the Abbey fence, where - in the movie, the sisters remove the Nazis' car parts that keep the cars from running and following the Von Trapp family.
Inside the real Maria Von Trapp's abbey...
And well, she was so beautiful to look at, it had to create equally gorgeous views.. up inside the castle on the hill.
village of Salzburg..
inside the castle walls... castle is HUGE.
lovely artifacts... Salzburg was founded by Archbishops.
Local festival, with loads of costumes everywhere.. we almost felt left out without one..
so adorable..
and our final meal in Austria.. in another charming outside cafe..
funkadelic coloring.. from my waaaay tired camera.. :)
And last stop.. MUNICH FOR OCTOBERFEST!! Enjoying the festival with Lisa's coworkers who took the train down to join us.
Cheers!! Good times...
Festival tents for Octoberfest!! Very hot, stuffy and smokey inside... much nicer outside!
And finally.. last shot as we finish our beer, hit the train back to Stuttgart, and for me, back to the States. A great trip - can't wait for the next trip..
