A Virtual Tour through Kraków’s Old Town
It was Palm Sunday when I visited Kraków, an important day for Catholics in Poland, and the weather was fine to boot, so the town was rather crowded, not only with - mostly Polish - tourists, but with...
View ArticleHappy Easter
I wish everyone a Happy Easter holiday. Stay safe and healthy. Easter market in the Old Town Square in Prague I'm remiss on posting new content, but due to Corona, I had to cancel my planned tour to...
View ArticleJewish Kraków: A Virtual Tour through the Kazimierz and Podgórze Quarters
Kazimierz is a very different part of the historical Kraków. Less frequented by tourists, but popular with young people. Some houses have already been renovated and look as pretty as in the Old Town,...
View ArticleA Bronze Age Cemetery – The Clava Cairns near Inverness
I visted the site in early summer 2013, a year before Claire Beauchamp-Randall stepped through a cleft stone into pre-Culloden Scotland, and brought a trail of visitors to the hence quite place. Back...
View ArticleThe Brochs of Gurness and Midhowe on Orkney – Their Function in Iron Age Society
Brochs are quite frequent in northern Scotland; the remains of some 500 can be found on Orkney, Shetland, the western isles, and Caithness on the Scottish mainland down to the Great Glen. Further...
View ArticleBig Ol’ Stones – Neolithic Burials in Northern Germany
I got some more old stones for you. There are several sites in northern Germany where you may come across curious settings of rather large boulders. Their presence has been blamed on giants or the...
View ArticleSilver Mines and Hussite Wars – A Walk through the Historical Kutná Hora,...
I seldom participate in guided tours when traveling since I prefer more freedom, but sometimes it's the better option than spending too much time trying to get to a place by public transport. The...
View ArticlePretty Houses in Cheb / Eger
I included an overnight stop in Cheb (also known by its German name Eger) on my way to Prague, for one because the town is the site of a 12th century palatine castle – which will get its own post –...
View ArticleDeath by Porridge – The Daneil Cave in the Harz: Legends and Geology
There are several large and a number of smaller caves in the Harz mountain range, from the dripstone caves in the karst area to those in the Buntsandstein layer in the northern Harz. One of the latter...
View ArticleRevisiting the Harz – A Little Autumn Tour
I had planned a spring journey to Lithuania and Latvia that fell victim to Corona, though I hope I can do it some other time. But with traveling within Germany being rather safe now, I decided to...
View ArticleImpressions from Rugia – The Pier of Sellin
Just some pretty photos today. One of the iconic motives on Rugia – besides the Königsstuhl and Kap Arkona – is the Pier of Sellin. The pier of Sellin I went there on a late afternoon and thus got...
View ArticleStapelburg Castle – A Little Known Ruin in the Harz
I came across that one a few years ago during one of the Harz tours I did with my father. The ruins of the Stapelburg – only the ringwall, bits of the curtain wall and part of the palas, the great...
View ArticleIt is November Again
Which means I spend the time writing as much as possible during the National Novel Writing Month I reached the required 50.000 words on Tuesday, but I'll continue to concentrate on writing until the...
View ArticleA Holy Rock – The Klusfelsen in Goslar
The Klusfelsen rock formation is a little known landmark in Goslar, usually relegated to the footnotes in travel guide books. After some initial signposts, I had to ask the locals for directions to...
View ArticleA Piece of Norway in the Harz – the Stave Church at Hahnenklee
It's not exactly a sight you'll expect when driving or hiking in the Harz area, but there it is. The Stave Church at Hahnenklee This Scandinavian looking stave church is located in the outskirts of...
View ArticleA Treasure in the Evening Twilight – The Romanesque Church in Gehrden / Brakel
This one was a chance find. My father and I returned from a longer tour, hit a diversion route which confused the GPS until I got out the good old road map and brought us back on track. We drove...
View ArticleAnother Little-Know Romanesque Church – St.Mary in Wilhelmshausen / Fulda Valley
St.Mary's Church in Wilhelmshausen, a village in the Fulda river vallley not far from Kassel, was not exactly a chance find since had I learned about its existence when I researched the history of...
View ArticleSummer Greens and Blues – The Bruchteiche Lakes near Bad Sooden-Allendorf
We all need a bit of summer greens and blue sky after the browns and dull yellows of winter (at least there were a few days of pretty white snow as well this year), don't we? So here's a picture post...
View ArticleSites of the Weimar Classicism – Introduction
When I traveled to Erfurt in 2017, I not only collected some more castles, but I also made a sort of pilgrimage. England got Shakespeare and Stratford-upon-Avon; Germany got Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
View ArticleSites of the Weimar Classicism – The Park at the Ilm
My hotel in Weimar was close to one of the entrances to the Park at the Ilm, so I decided for an afternoon walk upon my arrival. First, I went straight to Goethe's garden house in order not to miss...
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