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!
CFFC: Bridges to…Adventures
melk
CFFC: Roofs of Europe
The roofs in Europe are varied and interesting. So for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week with the topic of roofs, here are some European roofs.
Mont St.-Michel, France
Abbey cloister and courtyard
Roofs with gulls
Roof with window
Amsterdam, Holland – These are my favorites due to their variety in architectural style.
2 views of the roofs of the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam’s largest art museum), including solar panels! The building was designed by Pierre Cuypers (who also designed other buildings in Amsterdam in the same style, including Centraal Station and Concertgebouw) and opened in 1885.
The rest of these Amsterdam roofs were photographed during a private boat tour, which included all the major canals and the harbor, so there were many types to see, both on shore and in the water!
Behind the boats in the foreground is the roof of the NEMO Science Museum, which is shaped like a ship!
Modern apartment buildings
This red roof really stands out!
Houseboat roofs:
OK, it’s a tour boat, not a house boat, but it has an interesting mascot – Brunhilde the elephant?
This houseboat rooftop has a nice deck (with furniture) for sunbathing on hot days!
Colorful flowers grace the roof of this houseboat.
I’m not sure if this is actually a house, but it’s unusual!
Gabled roofs
Nuremburg, Germany
Nuremburg Castle has existed since medieval times. Made of sandstone, it was a fortified group of buildings built on a ridge in the old center of town. The city expanded outward from there.
Views from the ramparts of the town below
Schärding, Austria
In the countryside outside the town is this house whose energy is supplied by the sun!
Melk Abbey, Austria
Views of the town of Melk from the abbey
To end on a contrast, here are two views of dwellings in a Maasai village in Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. The Maasai build their villages in a circle, surrounded by fences. They use the surrounding land for grazing and herding their animals, mostly cattle and goats.
Pull Up a Seat Challenge
I have not participated in XingfuMama’s Pull Up a Seat Photo Challenge in awhile. So here goes!
At holiday light show, Lightscape, Chicago Botanic Gardens
Glass sculptures made by schoolchildren, Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA
The following three are miniatures, from Whimsical Wonderland, an annual display/fair/competition of miniatures.
Choir seat, with unique carving (you’d pull the seat down to sit on it), Oude Kerk, Amsterdam
Balcony cafe, Melk, Austria
Melk Abbey and Town
July 5, 2019
Today we docked at Melk, a town on the Danube known for its abbey, which sits on a cliff overlooking the town. A bus drove us up the hill to tour the abbey.
The Benedictine abbey was founded in 1089. A monastic school was established in the 12th century and the library soon became renowned for its extensive collection of manuscripts.
The Baroque abbey seen today was built between 1702 and 1736. Particularly noteworthy are the frescoes painted by Austrian artist Johann Michael Rottmayr and the medieval manuscript collection which includes a famous collection of music manuscripts.
Frescoes in the library were painted by Paul Troger, distinguished by their pastel colors and dramatic sense of movement. We could not take photos inside the abbey but I took many of the exterior, with its views of the town and beautiful gardens.
The abbey managed to escape a series of threats, such as dissolution under Emperor Joseph II when many other abbeys were seized and dissolved between 1780 and 1790, because of its fame and academic stature; and during the Napoleonic Wars. When Austria was incorporated into Nazi Germany in 1938, the school and a large part of the abbey were taken over by the state.
The school was returned to the jurisdiction of the abbey after World War II and it continues in operation to this day, with an enrollment of 900 students of both genders.
Melk Abbey has been mentioned or featured in several works of literature and films.
Bad Ischl clock (c. 1810), made entirely from 10 kinds of wood, including pear, walnut, beech, linder, maple, ash, oak, Scotch pine, larch, and European spindle tree. After repairs in 1970, some metal parts were installed, such as the middle spring and middle bar.
Entryways (aka doorways)…
Looking down on the entrance to the abbey…
Views from the upper patio of the abbey
Scattered around the gardens were whimsical sculptures of animals.
Abbey mascot? I found this friendly Manx cat just chillin’ in the front courtyard of the abbey. She didn’t appear at all fazed by the crowds of tourists. I speculated that her home was one of the houses that are located on the hill just below the abbey.
By the time I saw this cat, I had determined to walk back to the ship – it was all downhill and I could use the exercise. Dale didn’t want to walk, however, so I left him to take the bus back.
I was looking forward to taking a lot of photos of the town, which I did, but in the end, I got lost and ended up having to ask for directions and backtrack to get back to the ship.
On my way downhill, meanwhile, I saw restaurants and small patios wedged between houses on the hillside.
As I descended, I passed through the main commercial area, lined with restaurants and tourist shops. And one shop that sold lederhosen!
And there were a few interesting doors, to satisfy Norm’s Thursday Doors aficionados…
Flower-decorated balconies…
Sculptures and installations…
The Tower of Babel at the Sommerspiele Melk, made of approximately 30,000 Bioblo building blocks.
Close-up of Bioblo blocks (including Bioblo doors! 😉 )
Finally, I reached the bar/restaurant/souvenir shop where we had gathered to get on the bus at the beginning of the tour. (When I saw it, I remembered it…”Oh, yeah!!”)
From behind this building, it was a short hike along the river dock back to the ship! What a relief!
Hunt for Joy Challenge: Up On the Roof
Cee’s weekly challenge On the Hunt for Joy, is in week 5. This week the topic is Count Chimneys, which includes photos of chimneys, weather vanes, spires and satellite dishes. How is this topic about hunting for joy? She explains: Tip from Ingrid Fetell Lee: Count Chimneys: As you’re walking around, keep a tally of chimneys, spires, or weathervanes. Looking up at the rooftops lifts your gaze, which opens up your posture and allows more light into the eyes, two things that can help to improve your mood.
I admit, some of these photos did not involve looking up, but rather looking down, but even so, they are of chimneys, weather vanes, and spires (no satellite dishes!).
Weekly Prompt: Clock the Time
The Weekly Prompts from GC and Me theme is Clock the Time. These photos of clocks are all from our 2019 summer trip to Europe. Most of these clocks are on tall towers. Interestingly, they all use Roman numerals (except the one on a sign), which until recent times was actually quite common.
On the Rhine River in Germany
The clock is only one of many interesting details on this church steeple!
Miltenberg, Germany
Regensburg, Germany – not Roman numerals exactly, but sort of…
Schärding, Austria – clock on a sign!
Melk, Austria – Melk Abbey
Cruising the Danube in Austria – another intricate church steeple!
October Square: Garden Lines
For Becky’s October Square: Square & Lines monthlong challenge, here are my square photos of lines, taken in gardens.
This is one of the weird little animals scattered around the gardens of Melk Abbey in Melk, Austria.
I love the shadow lines crossing this clematis in a neighbor’s garden in Des Plaines.
CFFC: Gardens
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge has the theme of nature; this week the topic is gardens.
Partial view of my garden in late July – there may be a butterfly in there somewhere…
In my neighborhood, kind of hidden, is this lovely pond and landscaped garden.
In front of the main building at Chicago Botanic Gardens, which is not far from…
…Ravinia, a famous and lovely summer outdoor concert venue north of Chicago.
Herb garden on Viking Gefjon (European river cruise ship) – the chefs do use the herbs grown here in preparing the delicious meals on board!
In Cologne, Germany – the sculpture has a story about it, but I can’t remember it…something about elves maybe?
Behind the luxurious 17th century Bishop’s residence in Bamberg, Germany, is this rose garden.
Here is the garden of someone who enjoys flowers but has no green space. Surround oneself with flower pots while enjoying a warm day on the patio. There’s plenty of room for neighbors and friends! (Melk, Austria)
Finally, the sumptuous and vast gardens of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria (this is only a small fraction of those gardens).
Wanderlust & Wonderment 