River Cruise May 1/14

On May 1, we did a bus and walking tour of Strasbourg, France.  What a beautiful city, with lots of canals and rivers in and around it.  In fact, the downtown is actually an island. Unfortunately, today when I was doing pictures, I somehow lost all from that day to the recycle bin, and have spent hours going through trying to find them.  I did find some, so here goes.

 

This is the focal point of the city - glad I found this one.  It is the Cathedrale  Notre Dame de Strasbourg. Of course we were given a history of it, which I have mostly forgotten, but it was very impressive.

Another view of the cathedral, which was built from the 11th to the 14th century.

Inside view from the main entrance.

 There are a kazillion stained glass windows, but this is one of my favorites. Apparently all of the windows were removed and hidden during WW 2, found and stolen by the Germans, and have since been returned and re-installed with no damage.  Amazing!

There is a 14th century "astronomical" clock in the cathedral which is still accurate today.  Many parts have been added in subsequent centuries, but I think this was the original part.

 This is one of my favorite inside shots.  So intricately carved - imagine the work involved.  And there were all kinds of carvings throughout the cathedral.  No wonder it took a few centuries!

 


One of the beautiful towers.

 


Another of my favorite shots.

 

Many centuries ago, people were taxed according to how many windows they had in their house, and the fellow who built this house was proud of his wealth, and wanted people to know how rich he was, so put in a great many windows.

This is still known as a "covered" bridge, even though it has not been covered for many years.  It was part of the fortifications.

 


Just because.....

One of the many tour boats that were in the city.  We had to wait while they swung a bridge for this one.

 

A statue of Nuremburg and a double-decker carousel in Nuremburg Square.

When we returned to the hotel in Baden-Baden, we took a nice long walk by this stream which runs through the town.

A pair of ducks seemed to be following us, and since Mama went gracefully over this little dam, Papa had no choice but to follow - not quite so gracefully!

An unusual flower that I don't think I have seen before.