Germany

CFFC: Metal: From Chicago to Europe

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Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge currently is about Earth elements and this week it is metal.

Decor at the Moorings
Artwork in a St. Charles park
Grate at the Chicago Art Institute
My son-in-law’s cymbals
This was taken in Chicago but I have no idea what it is! The abandoned water bottle adds a nice touch, though.
Gate, Schoenbrun Palace, Vienna
Fence, Vienna
Wine brewing tanks, Austria
Old engine? Regensberg, Germany, along the riverfront
Door lock, Marksburg Castle, Germany
Hanging pot, Marksburg Castle
Display at Overlord Museum, Omaha Beach, France
Beautiful window grate, near Musee d’Orsay, Paris
The iconic Eiffel Tower, Paris!

CFFC: Bridges to…Adventures

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It’s been awhile since I have participated in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, but I am back in time to contribute to this week’s bridges!

Point Defiance Park, Tacoma, WA
Budapest, Hungary (over the Danube River)
Looking down from the top of the Melk Abbey, Austria
Regensberg, Germany
Cologne, Germany with its famous cathedral spires in the distance. On this bridge, many lovers had put…
thousands of love locks!
One of many canal bridges, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Pegasus Bridge, Normandy, France

Bridge over the moat at Caen Castle, Normandy, France
Maisons-Alfort, suburb of Paris
Covered bridge in Madison County, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa

SquareOdds: Odd Faces

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I haven’t been on my blog much lately, so I’ve missed many days of Becky’s Square Odds this month, even though I love to participate! So, instead of just one oddity, here are several odd faces (including some faux faces)!

This carving is on the back of a chair at Oude Kerk (Old Church) in Amsterdam.
I found this guy looking around on Northwestern University campus, next to Lake Michigan.
How often do you see a dog with sunglasses, hanging out a car window?
A goat’s face on top of Little Goat restaurant in Chicago
At a sculpture park in Des Moines, Iowa
Two faces sculpted by the same artist


Not a real face, but this orchid sure looks like it is hamming it up for the camera!
Unusual “face” on a building in Germany
With a gaping mouth, this “face” is on a rock face (pun intended!) in Arches National Park
A stressed face on a hot day in Vienna

CFFC: Which Way Thru the Seasons

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Cee’s series featuring other challenges this week has the theme Which Way. This challenge includes streets, walkways, waterways – any “way” on which people travel.

Winter, spring, summer or fall – there’s always something interesting to experience on roads and sidewalks in every season.

Snowplow path
Downtown Mt. Prospect after dark in February
Springtime at Chicago Botanic Garden
What would spring be without those dotted masses of dandelions?!
Late summer stroll in a Tacoma park
Late June in a Wurzburg park (Germany)
Street musicians hope for tips from passersby in downtown Nuremberg
Red carpet in Cabourg, France
November on Clearwater Park walking/biking path (Mt. Prospect)
Shadowy street, October in Chicago

CMMC: Pick a Topic from a Photo

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Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge this week is to find a subject in a photo she posted. Here it is:

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What follows are photos from my archives that fit the topic.

Boots

Boots for sale, Austin, Texas

Fall foliage

This is the only tree on campus that has fully changed color in mid-October!

Purple

Our fitness director poses beneath an arch of purple balloons to kick off Walk for Alzheimer’s at the Moorings.
(October is Alzheimer’s Awareness month.)

Mother/Mom (who is wearing purple!)

My mother (age 93) with her son-in-law Jim in his prairie garden

Bicycle

Mother and son enjoying a beautiful afternoon bike ride (Regensburg, Germany)

Life in Colour: Blues

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Jude’s Travel Words blog’s topic for Life in Colour this month is the color blue. Jude challenges us to find “unusual” blues! OK, I’ll do my best…

Sky reflected in a car’s headlights
Glass art decoration at The Moorings
Selfie after modification by SnapSeed
Steps up to an Immersive Van Gogh presentation
Viola
Siberian bugloss
Dandelion after modification with SnapSeed
Aquarium at Brookfield Zoo
Chagall Windows at Chicago Art Institute

Several shades of blue in this shot of a church in Budapest
Blue door, blue bag in Budapest
Graffiti in Germany
Modern building in the outskirts of Amsterdam
Eiffel Tower at dusk

Life in Color: White & Silver

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Jude at Travel Words’ challenge Life in Color changes colors each month. For June, it is white and silver!

LARGE white & silver – snow scene & giant winery canisters

MEDIUM: white vs silver trees

MEDIUM SMALL: white angel on child’s grave & silver headlight

SMALL: February silver (ice circles) vs April white (snowdrop flowers)

BOTH in one photo!

L-APC: Spots and Dots

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Spots and Dots is the creative topic for Leya’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge.

flowers (2 orchids at Chicago Botanic Gardens, sunflower at Cantigny Park-Robert McCormick estate, Wheaton, Illinois)

animals (Tanzania)

  • genets, Ndutu Safari Lodge
  • hyena, Serengeti
  • cheetah mother & cub, Serengeti
  • leopard, Serengeti National Park
  • D’Arnaud’s barbet birds, Serengeti National Park
  • giraffes, Arusha National Park

art: sculpture (dalmations in Sao Paulo, Brazil; abstract sculpture in St. Charles, Illinois; giant pumpkin somewhere in Japan – this photo was a screenshot; Chinese lion at Cantigny Park, Wheaton, Illinois)

museum art (tapestry, light display)

Leda Catunda, Onca pintada No. 1, 1984, (at museum in Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Exhibit at Museu do Futuro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

public art

  • mural on a wall in a Sao Paulo neighborhood
  • in an alley painted with murals, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
  • Clock, city center Cologne, Germany

Lightscape light show installations for the holiday season, (Chicago Botanic Gardens, Dec. 2019 and Dec. 2020)

L-APC #146: The Beauty Is In the Details

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I think I am late for this one, but I’m participating anyway! Lens-Artists’ Photo Challenge #146 is to focus on the details.

In 2019, we took a Viking river cruise, which started in Amsterdam and took us down part of the Rhine River. Our first stop in Germany was in Cologne, with its fabulous cathedral. Its imposing towers can be seen rising above the rest of Cologne’s buildings, this photo taken from our cruise ship as we arrived in the morning.

Officially named the Cathedral Church of St. Peter, this Gothic architectural wonder took centuries to build. Construction began in 1268 but was halted around the middle of the 16th century. It was finally finished in 1880, remaining true to its medieval plan, and at 157 meters (515 ft) it is the third tallest church in the world. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

Its façade contains a dizzying number of carved details, none of which are the same. (And these are all on its exterior!)

I was surprised to see these dark stripes up close.
I was amazed to see the ladder going up this spire! I can’t imagine someone actually climbing up it!
There is a sheep in the middle of this flower-like design – I have never noticed it before!
With so many intricate details, it’s no wonder that it took many centuries to build!
I zeroed in on this skull, somewhere on the panel above.
A stained glass window, viewed from the outside.
Above each archway is something different.
Similar to one of the flower-like patterns above, but with no sheep in the center!

Historical details from Cologne Cathedral – Wikipedia.