Daily briefing pared down to a single dot

Maybe it's a start in geography, and who knows where that may take the occupant of the erstwhile most powerful job in the world.

Looking down. The sidewalks of Prague.

It’s another interlude that I can show you while I don’t have much time to prepare much else.
From the moment I arrived in Prague I noticed the exquisite cobble stone sidewalks. Miles and miles of them. Consistently beautiful, not just in spots, but just about everywhere. The cobble stone streets, of larger stone and not so much design, are also there. But I have not seen sidewalks to delight in the same way anywhere else.

So take a look and I hope you like them.

Prague - I'm taking deep breaths to be able to take it in

As I go through my photos from today I have my feet in a trashcan of water - so they can revive. I don’t know how much I walk every day right now - but I would say many miles is not an exaggeration.
Birgit said, if you lose more weight you will be a scare crow. So I eat everything I can stuff down, but I'm not here for that. Good stuff is mostly what’s available here, and along with the excessive walking that seems to be keeping the population trim and healthy looking. Handsome, too. I'm looking at beautiful people in trim bodies wherever I look.
Slovenia, where FLOTUS I think originated - is just next door.

I’ll post a few just to show you what I saw. As I go and hit one I like I mark it…. there is no energy with my feet in water and my body exhausted to make a theme of it,
and here they are

An interlude. Let me show you a PATERNOSTER

Paternosters are elevators that work like this, and are very rare in the world at this time.

If you don’t want to see the (short) link, just realize they are elevators on a slow roll up and around on the top and bottom that don’t have doors - you just step on and off at your pleasure and risk.

Here are my photos of our riding the one in the video yesterday. We had so much fun - and laughed a lot. It’s a bit tricky to get on and off, but we saw people casually doing so from having had practice and they were carrying files and office stuff. So this thing is in use.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/paternoster











Birgit already surmised why it is called “Our Father” and I thought her idea was possibly spot on. She thought the visual of the cabins turning an oval at slow and even speed resembled the praying of rosary beads.

This googled info seems to agree with her, and again, she makes me wondrous about her wit and intellect.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/paternoster

Court House - lunch location - I was clueless what to expect - later thought of Atticus Finch

My cousins thought that a lunch at the “Mensa” as they called it - located in the court house - would be a good thing on our last day in Vienna.
I figured if they thought so, it would work for me.


Here they are, as we enter the building to go have lunch.



We arrived there, were frisked just like they do us in my court house, and then we walked through to enter the vestibule.



Are you picking up your lower jaw by your hands? I did.





This one I put in to show there seems to be business conducted here, I'm told it is the High Court, and yes, it's for real.



A nice view as we walked down



And here I wanted you to see it one more time.




Here I want to briefly come back to that we ate lunch. Outside on a balcony, this was some of our view, and the food, including asparagus soup (in season now) and two more courses was 14 bucks.

Climb the Stephans Dom tower with me - a Cathedral in the heart of Vienna

I’m told the Stephan’s Dom is always under renovation and repair. You see the scaffolding. The steps to climb up are "only" 343. I figured I could do this. Was going with a younger male cousin, who was ready to drag me up them or calm me “down” them if necessary.
It was an adventure, I loved it. Going up was a bit cumbersome, but the descent a piece of cake.

Most of the climb is pretty dark, and you have to watch your step.



Every now and then there is a window and you can appreciate your ascent as it’s happening







In the room at the top is the plaque to praise your effort



The vistas, especially on our warm and perfect blue sky day are simply spectacular.





I was told that in the distance to the right of the black boxy building is "Das Riesenrad", it's the Giant Wheel, a famous landmork in the amusement park called "The Prater". It played a role in the film: "The Third Man".



After getting home I zoomed in on my photo and my wonderful Sony A7 had captured it just fine.



There was traffic of upcoming folk so I only have these to show you that I really did go back down. Hope you also enjoyed the adventure.

Falling in love - as a grownup - with a city I knew as a child

Oh My God
Vienna is a city of my childhood. I lived here with my grandparents for a year from age 10 to 11. And there is a memory of beauty and grandeur, but now, half a century later, I realize it’s a city so wondrously beautiful that all I can keep doing is clap my lower chip back up to meet the upper. Sometimes it takes my hand to do it.

These are a few images from today. I have so many - from so many days - in so many places. As I have already said I’m re-connecting with family in Serbia, Germany and Austria. Traveling by plane, train, bus and automobile. The cost of transportation is so low I grip my forehead, and the reliability and ease of it all makes me want to spell “infra structure” for the orange baboon. For instance, my brother, who has 3 children, a job of substance and goes all over Germany has no car.
He has a (company paid) card that costs 4000 Euros. He can go with it on any plane, train, streetcar, city bus, rent cars on street corners, reductions to entry fees of many kinds, and feels like he is ready to roll at any time. He also has a bike, and a bike with motor. It’s a completely different way of considering transportation.

I digress, apologies.

The photos are random. Just a taste.

this is the falling in love with Vienna shot


random gorgeousness shot


photo of the Lipizzaner horses, hard to get, am proud of it


a random photo going down a major street, I got carried away enjoying how reflections in windows allowed me to take in so much more


and a basic fountain sculpture offered around many corners in many ways. I kept saying: will this just keep on ?


Lastly a photo I hope makes you smile as well. Happy monks as tourists in Vienna


I’m thinking that maybe over the next weeks after I get back I post some photos per week - since I have so many, and was lucky to take this trip. I hope I won’t make you tired of them.

Thanks for looking.

Saying hello from Tuebingen - who knew how gorgeous a city it is!

I heard my Dad talk about it in my childhood. Don't know if I've been there before.
But I surely was there today with my camera.

I see you started a contest, I'm happy all the time in surroundings so beautiful that it gives me a catch in my heart. I will see if I can find something I saw today that made me smile extra!
An example of the the beauty of Tuebingen, the full standing person is my niece, and the folks whose heads you see at the end of the leading up divider are my other niece, my brother and my nephew.





I put in another I liked while trying to find an entry to the contest, thanks for your comments and recommendations,

Getting back to Berlin today - some shots from on the way

This is where we stayed, on a boat B&B. It was simply wonderful.


A picture of how much Spring has sprung in Serbia, and of my traveling companion and I. Some of you will know who’s who.


This one when we’re on the way, just because I like it, and it shows the tell “tail” logo of Austrian Airlines


Almost back

A beautiful Orthodox church on the way to Belgrade. Only 2 photos today