Visit to Strasbourg, France

I was thinking if Strasbourg once belong to Germany. The name doesn't sound like French but German instead. I need to research about this in the future. It's been almost year now since we visited this city. It is located near the border of German and is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France. It is also the official seat of the European Parliament.

We only had some hours sightseeing in this city which is not enough to see everything there. At least we were able to see some of its sights. Among the few of its interesting sights include;

-Its sandstone Gothic Cathedral with its astronomical clock.
-The Château de Pourtalès
-The Barrage Vauban
-Place du Marché aux Cochons de Lait.
-Place Kléber
-Parks like the Parc de l'Orangerie
-Museums like The Musée des Beaux-Arts, The Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame

Etymology of Strasbourg:

The city's Gallicized name is of Germanic origin and means "Town (at the crossing) of roads". The modern Stras- is cognate to the German Straße / Strasse which itself is derived from Latin strata ("street"), while -bourg (French for "village") is cognate to the German -burg ("fortress, town, citadel") and English borough. So the whole name would be roughly translated into English as "Fortress on the Street."
wikipedia.org

the famous Gothic Cathedral in Strasbourg.

the Christmas market in front of the Cathedral square. You can also see the interesting and historical houses in this city.

These images were taken during our visit last December 6, 2010.

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Open Air Museum in Neusath-Perschen, Germany

The Open Air Museum, known in German as Oberpfälzer Freilandmuseum Neusath-Perschen in Upper Palatinate, Bavaria is a museum that offers an insight into a country and farming life of earlier days in Germany.

Visiting this museum requires around 2-3 hours walk depending on how you do your sightseeing. Just like me who loves to take a lot of pictures, it surely took me around three hours. You can find 50 re-erected buildings in the compound. There you can find how people lived, worked and built according to their region and social standing. During your tour, you will be passing “Stiftland Village” through “Waldler Village” to “Millvalley” and on to “Jura Village”,
– from the “four-side-farm” (yard in square-form) via the herdsmen’s cottage to the squire’s estate, from the chapel to the inn.

It was so far a very interesting sightseeing we had in this museum. Here are images I took during our visit last May 2009.

The group of the buildings in the “Naabvalley Village” representing Central Upper Palatinate, where agricultural handcrafts and farm trading are demonstrated, completes the walk
around. Here is also located a Raiffeisenware-house and a blacksmith forge.

in one of the houses at the Open Air Museum in Neusath-Perschen.

I guess this is a sort of a horse-carriage during those times.

The houses were originally occupied by farmers, smallholders, peasants, day labourers, weavers, herdsmen, millers, huntsmen and nobles. The buildings, which could no longer
be kept on their original sites, have been erected in the museum as cultural and historic evidence.

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My Europe Travel 2011

I am very happy and contented with the travels and trips I experienced this year. I was able to visit again a lot of interesting cities and countries in Europe. It was so far, the most-travelled year I have. Before year 2011 ends, I want to make a roll-call of the wonderful places I visited in Europe this year.

Monte Carlo, Monaco

I thought it was only a dream. That dream of visiting one of the world's famous cities finally came true. When you talk about Monte Carlo, you will also mean its widely known casino and its prominence.

the world's famous Monte Carlo casino in Monaco. Taken during our trip last April 2011.

I also had the chance to see some of the famous sites in Monaco. Among the few are the St. Nicholas Cathedral, Monaco Ville and the Prince Palace (not enough time to go inside), the Oceanographic Museum and Aquarium (from outside), La Condamine, the Formula 1 Grand Prix and a lot more.

The nearest airport is the Nice Côte-d'Azur International which is around 40 kilometers away from the city-centre in neighboring France. There are always cheap flights to Nice depending on the time of your visit and how early you book it.

Côte d'Azur, France

This is so far one of the beautiful coastlines I visited in Europe. Côte d'Azur, commonly known in English as the French Riviera is truly a fantastic place for me. Among the places we passed-by and visited here last spring were Nice, Cannes, Antibes and the nearby city Menton. I love especially Nice, the capital of the Alpes-Maritimes département. The French Riviera coastline is 560 miles long and consists of both sand and shingle beaches.

I still wish to go back to Côte d'Azur someday.

the Promenade in Nice, France from our trip last spring 2011.

Berlin, Germany

Germany's capital is truly one of the best and most interesting cities to visit in Europe. Since I had already visited London and Paris, I can say that Berlin is comparable to these world cities. Among the few sights I experienced in Berlin are the Brandenburger Tor, Siegessäule (Berlin's Victory Column), Berliner Fernsehturm (TV Tower), the Gendarmenmarkt with the German and French Cathedrals, the Reichstag or Parliament building, Potsdamer Platz, Kurfürstendamm, Rotes Rathaus (City Hall) and many more.

Berlin has two operational airports, the Tegel International Airport and the Schönefeld airport. The latter is the base for most low-cost airlines. Another airport, the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport is expected to open on June 2012, the third airport in this city.

the most famous landmark not only in Berlin but in whole of Germany as well, the Brandenburg Gate. I was there last winter of February 2011. No more snow that time but it was very very cold.

Budapest, Hungary

It was so far one of the most enjoyable trip I had in Europe. My summer trip to Hungary with a friend named Jean was truly awesome. We did not only see some of the sights in Budapest but also visited other places in Hungary. Among the few are Szentendre, Gyor, Visegrad, Esztergom, Herend, Lake Balaton and Siofok.

One of the best experience I had was the cruise from Esztergom to Visegrad.

the Hungarian Parliament in Budapest on the bank of Danube River. This is one of the European cities I visited last August 2011.

My Europe travel experience for 2011 will be continued soon! I am thankful for this very wonderful and blissful year despite of some trials in my life. I am also hoping for more travels in 2012. In God's will!

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Velburg's 600th Foundation Anniversary

It was an awesome festival we witnessed last 2010 in Velburg. That time the town had its 600th foundation anniversary. The festival was not so big but they had group of participants which were very interesting especially on how they performed street dancing. I am happy to witnessed that event which I believed would only happen once in a lifetime.

This town is located in Neumarkt district in Bavaria, Germany. Here are some images I took last June 2010.

some of the participants of the festival parade.

the beautiful Town Hall of Velburg with its clock.

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Stopping-by in Salzburg Designer Outlet

It was a cold July morning when we stopped at Salzburg Designer Outlet. You might be thinking we went shopping there. Not really! After a long three hours drive from Bavaria, Germany to Salzburg, Austria, we really need to stop. Perfect timing that we saw a Mc Donald restaurant adjacent to this outlet. You know where to go first when nature is calling you. That was my first destination inside Mc Donald. If we had more time to go inside this Designer Outlet, for sure I will also have an empty shopping cart. I also know for sure, this outlet don't also have medical carts. Probably in our next trip to Salzburg, we can stop-by there again.

After taking our breakfast and personal needs in Mcdo, we drove to the city center of Salzburg for some hours sightseeing. And yes, we did saw and experienced a lot. It was so far a nice trip with friends.

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The Town Hall of Győr, Hungary

It was a very memorable trip we had in Hungary last summer of this year. We did not only visited a lot of places but we did also experience a lot of things which are always worth remembering. Probably, that is one treasure that we can keep after seeing or visiting a certain place, the fun, experiences and most of all the memories.

Győr, called in German as Raab is located halfway between Budapest and Vienna. This is where our hotel is located during our five days trip to Hungary. Gyor is also one of the old towns in this country.

I have below a photograph of the Town Hall of Győr.

The Városháza or Town Hall at night. One of the images I took as we had a night stroll in Gyor last August 2011.

The Town Hall called as Városháza in Hungarian, has a Neo-Baroque architecture. It boasts a 190 ft or 58 meter- high tower. It has a U-shaped form and was built in 1896-98. Concerts and other programs are often performed in its magnificent festival hall.

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Thanksgiving is Almost Coming

The celebration of the Thanksgiving for the Americans is almost coming. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Some American friends told me that there will be a lot of sales and promotions in almost all of the stores especially in the U.S. I heard from a friend that computers, Televisions, External hard disk drives and other electronics and gadgets will be also on sale. In fact a lot of products and goods will be on sale especially during Black Friday shopping. I want to ask if they are selling this so-called Maxtor. I just need one for hubby's pc.

The Thanksgiving is the equivalent to the Erntedankfest or Harvest festival in Germany. It is usually celebrated every month of October. Other countries in the world are also celebrating its own harvest festival depending on the time where they are having their main harvest.

It is always nice to be thankful for all the blessings and good things we received. I hope that we will also not forget the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

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Autumn in Hohenfels, Germany

I am quite very sleepy now. Before I sight-off tonight, let me share to you first this very beautiful view of Hohenfels, a town in Upper Palatinate, Bavaria. What a lovely autumn sunny day we had today!

Have a wonderful week to all!

You can see in the background the St. Ulrich Church in Hohenfels, Bavaria. This is just a little town but it is peaceful and beautiful.

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Overnight in Hilton Zurich

What can you say about autumn season? Typical weather in our place is cold, very cold and sometimes freezing cold. Any complain about that. It is also getting dark at around 5:00pm. We have to accept this fact especially if we are living in a land where this weather is typical. No matter what we are still here to savour and enjoy life!

That is one of the reason why I am sharing a bit about our trip to Zurich, Switzerland last year. It was almost a year now since we had a trip to this city. It was a great one because for less money we stayed in one of the good hotels there. I cannot complain because that trip cost only around 159.00 Euros including a room in Hilton Zurich, bus trip (back and forth from Regensburg, Germany) and sightseeing in Strasbourg and Zurich as well. Breakfast in Hilton hotel was also included.

We were able to visit two cities in two European countries, that was amazing.

our room in Hilton Zurich. not really that big but enough for an overnight sleep. somebody's smiling out there! lol!

the entrance to the hotel..This was taken during our trip last December 2010.

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8 Years Anniversary in Europe

This year marks my 8 years of living as a Pinay expat in Europe. I can't imagine that time is really passing-by very quickly. Last month was also the celebration of our 8th years wedding anniversary. So far life has been good to us. I can't thank enough for having a simple but good life in Europe. Sometimes there are trials coming our way but we always find solutions to it.

I did not ask anything for our 8th wedding anniversary. I have everything what I need in life. I know some of you are giving gift baskets for your anniversary. Why not besides it is also a wonderful present. Probably in our 10th anniversary, I will already demand something from hubby. Just kidding folks. Have a lovely Monday!


For those couples who are celebrating their wedding anniversaries around the globe this month, have a blessed and wonderful one! Here are some tulips fro you.

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Europe Travel in San Remo, Italy

Almost seven months had past since I stepped on this city. It is located on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria in north-western Italy. San Remo is indeed a famous tourist destination in Italian Riviera considering its location and for hosting numerous cultural events.

Our sightseeing in this city is not too long. I guess around three hours only. One thing I cannot forgot here was our lunch in one of the local Italian restaurants. I love the seafoods that I ordered in that restaurant. I am trying to find if I took some photos from the foods that I ordered. All the drinks were also included plus two bottles of wine. If you want you can drink all the 2 bottles but I know for sure if you are not a hard drinker, you will surely get tipsy like what happened to my friend. If I am not mistaken we paid 15.00 Euros each. It was worth the price because the foods were very delicious. I can't remember the name of that restaurant.

Our tour guide showed us some of the main sights in San Remo including the Villa Nobel. It is the house of Alfred Nobel where he lived the last year of his life. The building can be visited with a guided tour but since we don't have much time to go there, we just passed-by along the house.

After our short sightseeing in San Remo, we proceeded to Menton and spent the rest of the afternoon there. More updates to come soon!

the shopping center in San Remo during our visit last April 2011.

You can always see clothesline on the windows..This is how they are drying their clothes. Why not, in fact it is one way of taking care of Mother Nature instead of using a dryer.

a bakery and cafeteria in San Remo, a lovely place along the Mediterranean coast.

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Visit To Warwick Castle in England

It was exactly three years ago when I had the chance to visit Warwick Castle in Warwickshire, England. This is a medieval castle located on a bend on the River Avon. This is where I spent the All Saints Day last Nov. 1, 2008. Thanks to my friend Loloy from UK for touring me here.

The castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to the Anglo-Saxon burh of Warwick. It was used as a fortification until the early 17th century, when Sir Fulke Greville converted it to a country house. It was owned by the Greville family, who became earls of Warwick in 1759, until 1978.

a black and white photo I took when we visited it last Nov. 1, 2008.

while on our way to the main entrance of the castle..you can see a lot of pumpkins laying everywhere inside the castle compound.

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