lookwhatisaw's PhotoBlog

Just a scene

2013-06-14T02:29:06Z

...or is it candy?

2013-06-08T13:15:53Z

Not even architects and nobility in the Age of Absolutism were too big for themselves to use "faux" in their designs. Not a stick of marble in the church except for the altar itself. It is all paint.

Two shades of red - the power of color

2013-06-07T01:36:34Z

Powerful colors attract my like a bee to a flower. I can't get enough of them.

Sunny Durlach

2013-06-05T18:54:27Z

The village was sunny today and there was just no way I could stay in what with the abnormally long winter we seemed to have this year. Whew!

Palace botanical gardens

2013-06-04T13:07:36Z

These botanical gardens are technically part of the palace's great park, but are separated from the palace itself by a nice, large brick wall. It has always been open to the people, so it was not a private pleasure the monarchs kept to themselves. I have chosen five external shots of the buildings themselves. I have not yet been into the actual greenhouses. I posted other shots of the gardens last fall. You can see them here: Previous Botanical Garden shots

Through the side gate to the Palace

2013-06-04T00:22:23Z

One of the remaining grand-ducal gates to the Schloss (palace) in the center of town here in Karlsruhe. This leads to what is today considered the back of the palace. I have taken a number of photos of the front of the palace in the past which faces the center of Karlsruhe, but not of the great park behind the palace. This gate leads to the botanical gardens which I will post later. The grand duke and family left the palace in 1918 during the revolutions that occurred throughout Germany following WWI. The palace was badly damaged during the Second World War and rebuilt and made into a state museum. **The Grand Duke moved into a little beach shack and took up surfing. The Grand Duchess adds to the family income by baking Black-Forest cakes for the tourists. They're cool. (If you believe that, I can sell you the Eiffel Tower for a song. Just ask.)

Choo-choo!!

2013-06-01T13:09:32Z

An old steam-engine pulled into Stuttgart the other day - right out of the past. What beauties these are. Too bad we can't keep the same style on the outside and modernize the engines on the insides so that they are less polluting but more attractive than many of the boring ones we hae today. It was so difficult to get a good shot of the entire engine due to the amount of people crowding the platform and the support posts of the building.

Popped into Frankfurt today

2013-05-31T01:33:22Z

Today was a pubic holiday here, so in my typical fashion, I decided at the last minute what I wanted to do on my day off (I just make it up as it goes along - it's how I relax from scheduled appointments all week). I looked at all the towns and cities around Karlsruhe, checked where it might not be raining (per usual, days off are accompanied by rain in the forecast), and decided to go to Frankfurt, an hour by train. Fortunately, once again, the forecasters were WRONG, and this proved to be a perfect day. The clouds were majestic (one of the benefits of living in southern Germany), the skies gloriously blue, the green of the parks and colors of the buildings seemed so pronounced. Here are my five favorite photos of the day.

It was an exquisite day in old Durlach

2013-05-17T01:58:43Z

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! Since I know you love flowers, here are some from Germany just for you:

2013-05-12T22:07:30Z