Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is reminds you of nature’s beauty.





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!
Cee’s Fun Photo Challenge this week is photos of water in nature, and Jez has an ongoing challenge in Water Water Everywhere. My contribution is
WAT
ER
FA
L
L
S
and a rushing river.
The topic of Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is water. Also, Jez’s ongoing Water, Water Everywhere.
Travel Words’ 2020 Photo Challenge theme for September is “point of view” and for this final week, the subject is shoot from above.
Water sustains all species on Earth.
It belongs to all life forms.
It’s to be shared by all.
Water is our lifeblood on Earth.
A castle on a hill…sounds dreamy, doesn’t it? And to us modern tourists, seeing one castle after another on the Rhine River is a dream come true – we admire their beauty and their history. Castles were built not just as residences for royalty, but fortifications against invading enemies. Positioning them on hilltops above a river (which would have been the main form of transportation in medieval times) was meant to be imposing; they were symbols of power and strength; a hilltop position provided a view up and down the river, to spot adversaries from afar. (Although note that one of the castles in this gallery is actually right ON the river, not far above it.) Many castles were dark, damp places, fires burning for warmth in only a few rooms.
Thinking about these castles from that perspective takes some of the glamor away. Even so, they are worthy of admiration. One of them – Marksburg Castle (the white one with red trim – 2nd and 3rd photos) – we were able to tour, but I would have loved to explore some of the others. What is amazing is that these structures have been standing for centuries – they were built to last and of course many of them have undergone significant renovations.
Although Americans are amazed to see and visit these representations of centuries of European history (since we have nothing either as old or as symbolic of feudal society), I suppose people who are used to seeing them all the time don’t think about their history and probably take them for granted. Another perspective, I guess.
Posted for Becky’s July Square Perspectives photo challenge, day 24.
On our “Grand European Tour” river cruise last summer, we went through a total of 63 locks! I guess many of them were at night, but we also experienced going down and up in locks quite often in the daytime also. This was my perspective (taken from the balcony of our stateroom) of descending into a lock.
Sunshine’s Reflections is a photo challenge by Irene at Heaven’s Sunshine, a weeklong challenge with no prompt nor minimum or maximum limit on photographs. It is Week 5, but this is the first time I am posting photos for this challenge.
Clouds on a lake
Ducks on a pond
Swans on a river
Anything With Double Letters is the topic of Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge this week.
Schoenbrunn Palace Door, ViennaLittle bottles
Dessert
Daffodils
Balls
Mississippi River
Doodle of a woman reading a book