VeitchMunich

Rome Part III-Vatican Museum

2012-01-08T05:59:00.000-08:00

The Pope's ancient globe-zodiac

Even the gift shops, and there were many, had painted ceilings

This large area of rooms as far as you could see was closed off-every square inch appears to be painted
with art

Inside the Vatican museum, so much art and sculpture it's nearly overwhelming. The crowds were thick with tour groups and at times it was almost impossible to move forward. Most was accessible to photographing without flash but the exception was the Sistine Chapel. Even though there were people ignoring the orders shouted every two minutes and cutting pictures, some even with their flashes on, I refrained. I'm sure you can find really great closeups on line. My overall take was it is much bigger than I thought and it truly is a masterpiece. One of many in this place.

Another gift shop

This looked to be gold leafed metal of some sort

View from inside the museum

The old armory of the Vatican. There were hundreds of these cabinets where the swords and armor were stored.

A huge collection of busts that stretched for over a hundred yards-both sides of the corridor -who were all these people?

Examples of women's headdress and hairdo's from that era

Thousands of fig leaves applied after the fact at some point

Outside in one of courtyards-that famous giant pine cone

Egyptian

There were two large halls with just animal sculpture-we were lucky we got in as it closed later due to the crowds

Gore as art

More gore as art

I like the picture of the cat going after the chickens

Yep, it's a rock lobster

Still in the Vatican-remnants of a very old fresco, from a
1100's chapel that was redone in the 1600's

This is also part of the very old chapel fresco-apparently the whole thing was adorned with these and only a few are all that remain.

It's a very large bathtub-all marble of course

A room that was closed to the public -not sure why

Bill Wilson's estate is paying for this restoration

A sarcophagus that took 47 horses to move and depicts an army tromping ????

These guys are holding up the above mentioned sarcophagus

Inside the Vatican Map Room

Looking up in the Map Room

Rome Part II

2012-01-01T06:46:00.000-08:00

More Forum

Looking up at the Church above the Capitol Courtyard designed by Michelangelo.
We found a Gospel group singing in here.

View from the Michelangelo Steps

Barberini "Bees"-his trademark-he was a past Pope(when this church was built perhaps..)

Hand of "Colossus"

Romulus-the original I believe-thousands of years old-by the way, the Rome Police wear Romulus arm patches.

Not sure what the frame of cherubs means

Roman road through the Forum

All the Palatine was stripped from the exterior for new palaces being built. What's left are the holes.

Strange stuff going on outside-people in gladiator costumes shaking down tourists

This shows how the Colosseum was laid out with trap doors and a large wooden deck covered with sand.

View from the Colosseum

Down below the stage-must have been a really scary place in its day

Ancient idol.

It's magic!

Selling postcards

Justice Building at the Forum

Rome Part I

2011-12-31T09:25:00.000-08:00

Rome on a sunny day in December. Warm, 60's. Way too much to see
but somehow we got most of it in. Vatican, Forum, Colosseum, Pantheon,
some interesting restaurants and lots of churches and little side streets. There
were quite a few folks out for the tour so at times it was Grand Central Station
at rush hour-especially the Vatican Museum. I read that it's free the last
Sunday of each month-I can't imagine what it must be like.
What I'm going to do with this posting is mix it up between the art, the streets,
the views and the churches. It's going to be mostly visual since I didn't
keep precise records of which of the 20 odd churches a particular photo
was taken. It's obviously a very photogenic place as you will see. Enjoy.

The Capitol-not too old-about 1910AD-but very grand.

The Forum

Saint Peter's off in the distance

Part of the Vatican-where the Pope can go for safety through an underground tunnel.
Formerly a mausoleum for the emperor Hadrian

Add to the scooter collection-an original Lambretta

Bridge over the Tiber-leading to the Vatican.

The chains that held St. Peter

Looks like old Roman road to me

Ringo caught in the act-photo hanging in Alfredo's

Home of Fettuccine Alfredo-nice place for lunch too.

From the top of the Spanish Steps.

What can I say...these things are really cool.

More Forum - end of part I-part II up next.

Odds and Ends Around Munich

2011-12-17T09:26:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the odd ball photos of things I've discovered
wandering around Munich. Above is the symbol of Bayern, a monk!
found inside the Rathaus in downtown Munich. The Rathaus is
the large central municipal building that looks like a Gothic Cathedral.
Somehow, thismonstrously huge building survived the bombing of World War II.

As I poked my nose into various halls and side rooms, I came across
this truly bizarre stained glass window depicting George Washington
and Benjamin Franklin. In the middle are the words "Liberty."
It is worth noting that downstairs from this window ( and there was another
depicting Abraham Lincoln , Thomas Edison and Andrew Carnegie) is a small memorial to the 1000 Jews who were taken away to Dachau from Munich in one fell swoop in, I believe, 1943. It is the only public memorial to the Holocaust outside of the museums that I have found. Maybe the stained glass was put in after the War? Not sure.

Behind my house here is a very old cemetery called Nordfriedhof. It is a very large and very flower and candle covered place. Right now it is sporting a Christmas motif and looks very festive. In the center are some very ancient gravestones surrounded by what appears to be large patches of open grass. When you start walking the lawns however, you find hundreds if not thousands of small plaques in the ground with just a name and date of death. These are the Munich residents who died in the bombing during the War.

These really amazing flowerpots are part of the annual memorial to the war dead set across the lawns. There must have been at least 12 of these scattered about. The plaques are spaced about 12 inches apart across the whole lawn-maybe 5 acres or more.

Just really liked the juxtaposition and composition in this one. This is outside looking in to the cemetery.

Inside one of the fabulous art museums here.The Neue Pinakothek.

One of my favorite gargoyles. I think they also serve as drain pipes for the rain runoff.

A variation on the theme in Munchner Freiheit.

Lake Starnberg

More Lake Starnberg

Along the Isar

This strange lifesized cow found in the ViktraulienMarkt that has US dollars shellacked into it's legs.

Protesting the use of Circus animals

At the Stadt Museum-I think it's an old handpainted Circus poster

Right Place at the right time for this.

A rebuilt church to the south of Munich-nice light.

Fishing the Isar

Every army had to have a drum cannon-my guess is you could hear this thing 20 miles away

One market we visited was selling just household products including one stall devoted just to bras.

A Christmas Market and Gluwein stand under the crucifix inside SendlingerTor, part of the original medieval walls that surrounded the city.

Paris! (pt. 2)

2011-10-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

We've entered the Louvre-Venus De Milo attracts a crowd.

Okay-here's the mob scene around the Mona Lisa.

Despite the "No Flash" signs everywhere, everyone is shooting away in full flash-fortunately for Mona, they have her behind protective glass.


A sliver of Christ's cross. We tried to spot the crown of thorns at Notre Dame but the room was closed that day.

"The" throne for Napoleon. In his quarters. Not that big actually. And his bed was rather small as well.

"Mercury"

"Victory"

Michelangelo!

Paris! (pt. 1)

2011-10-16T11:21:00.000-07:00


Taken on the Eiffel Tower

Wondering who's idea it was to build the black monstrosity.

It looks great up close-they painted it just a couple years ago. The very best restaurant in Paris (I'm told) is the "Jules Verne" which is located inside the Eiffel Tower. A reservation takes three months in advance to get.
The view is to die for. We took the stairs for a modest 4.50 euro and not the elevator for around 20. Didn't need to get to the very tip top-and there is lots of historical stuff to see as you ascend.

Looking up into the thing-it really is a huge erector set. I was told it was supposed to have a skin or facade but everyone liked the bare metal. It's made from pig iron-one of the very last large constructions before the introduction of steel.

A slight variation on the theme-an exterior skeleton wrapping a large building-somehow got around the strict zoning, which was probably the most creative part of the whole thing.

They have this thing for trimming trees into boxes-saw it in other places in Paris. Not sure what it means or where it started or how they do it-but it looks really different.

A little street art.

#12- Chopin died here.


One of the great fountains.

On this site, Marie Antoinette was publicly beheaded. There is now a very large and very old obelisk on the site, with diagrams showing how it was removed from ancient Egypt and re-erected in the middle of Paris.

A lovely garden sculpture-there are actually many of these throughout the park just West of the Louvre.More of that crazy topiary.

Munich City Museum-Puppet Collection

2011-09-21T01:27:00.000-07:00

This may be one of the coolest museums in all of Germany. In addition to the usual history, models of early Munich, paintings and armor, they have collected an amazing display of circus and puppet artifacts. The rooms themselves are almost like a maze and at one point, as the sitting clown wakes up and starts rolling in laughter at you, you start to wonder if maybe you don't remember the way out. And at that point, three skeletons come to life and start dancing before your eyes. If that's not enough, a crazy talking head starts screaming at you and spitting large amounts of water out of it's mouth. This one is not to be missed. I took many pix and have selected some of my faves. Enjoy.

It's always cool when you spot something and find it has it's own postcard in the gift shop.

These guys are carved from wood dating to the 1400's.


These puppets were designed by Picasso.

The Picasso sketches.

The English Garden Series

2011-09-03T02:21:00.000-07:00

#2 in the English Garden Series

Schloss Nymphenburg

	Koi Pond #4 English Garden Bridge to Somewhere (South of Munich) English Garden #3
#1 English Garden

Schloss Nymphenburg

2011-08-20T02:57:00.000-07:00

Located a short bike ride outside of Munich is the Schloss
Nymphenburg, untouched by the bombings of WWII, birthplace
of King Ludwig II, the oldest sections date to 1675.

The chandeliers were all wrapped in plastic the day we visited. Major renovations underway.

One of the highlights is the Royal Carriage museum-some of the strangest looking stuff I've ever seen.

Some of Ludwig's bizarre sleighs.

Carriage detail

Ludwig's favorite horse-stuffed.

King Ludwig himself. Lived large, died young.Left behind three massive palaces he had built, only one of which was ever finished. Nearly bankrupted the country and died under mysterious circumstances.

They went in big for seashell art and there is one chapel on the grounds of the Palace that is completely done up in this short lived fad.

A small hunting lodge....

Detail from the hunting lodge kitchen

Detail from the Chinese Pagoda on the grounds- a small building done completely in Delf tiles and lacquered walls,ceilings and furniture. It's called the "Lackkabinett."

Some of those Delf tiles.

For more info, check out www.schloesser.bayerne.de

A Trip South to Wallgau

2011-06-28T03:36:00.000-07:00

Just a short train ride south from Munich

This is a "Plague Chapel" Hundreds of these tiny churches litter the landscape, built during the Black Plague years to keep crowds small and to slow the spread of the disease.

Zoe standing on the remnants of an actual Roman road-most likely was used to haul salt back to Rome from Munich, Salzburg etc.

Typical village home in this area

The Haghia Sophia

2011-05-22T09:51:00.000-07:00


Inside the Haghia Sophia

The German tourist. Standing where Sultans stood.

Stuff from ancient times is piled up everywhere. Not sure what these are but they are very old and have been dug on the site of the Palace

More inside the Haghia Sophia

Here's the link from wikipedia-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haghia_Sophia

Istanbul Street Scenes

2011-05-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

The Grand Bazaar

See wikipedia-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Bazaar,_Istanbul for lots about this amazing place.

We bought this rug! It's a wool tribal rug hand sewn in the mountains of Turkey.It even flies!

Street Scene. Those are fish.

Across the Bosphorus River in Beyoglu.

Second largest city on the planet-this is taken in Beyoglu

Street scene

Behind the big tourist hotels in the old city

Outside one of Istanbul's oldest mosques, the "New Mosque.". These are feet washing stations.

Inside one of Istanbul's oldest Mosques, the "New Mosque.".

Istanbul Part #1-The Art

2011-04-22T11:28:00.000-07:00

These large tiled bricks are from the Ishtar Gate to Babylon. As you notice almost immediately upon arrival in the city, you are totally surrounded with very old stuff. It's everywhere. And it dates back to the stone age.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul It turns out Istanbul was perfectly suited for settlement being near a large sea and at the mouth of a large river which flows out of the Black Sea to the north. Bear with me on my historical facts as I'm not sure I have it all perfect but you will get the idea. .At present, it is the second largest city proper in the world, behind Shanghai.

One of the most amazing stone carvings I saw-especially considering it was done in the late 4th Century BC! It adorns a massive sarcophagus that sits next to Alexander the Great's massive sarcophagus, both were found in the same chamber in Lebanon during the Ottoman Empire. and a special small rail line had to be built to remove them to Istanbul's Archaeological Museum.

Here's Alexander's-behind guarded glass-it is called one of the masterpieces of antiquity. It's about the size of a garden shed and surely weighs many tons.

This statue (named Bes) greets you as you enter the museum-it's about 20 feet tall.

Sumerian-very old

Very large tile work inside the Hagia Sophia-more about that place in the next post.

A huge Egyptian Obelisk hauled to Istanbul possibly as some sort of war booty. Sits today in a park.

Under renovations, also in the same park.

As was this "Bronze Serpent."


Bronze Serpent

More Hagia Sophia

These next photos were all taken inside the Harem at the Sultan's Palace. It was home to his concubines for centuries and while it may look great, was actually a prison for thousands of woman. It has over three hundred tiled ornate rooms, only a few were open to the public, and there are some horrific stories associated with their treatment I won't go into here.

The Harem Courtyard-smallest in the Palace

I believe this and the next one are taken in one of the Sultan's suite inside the Harem.

Whole rooms are tiled, including the ceilings. All of it simply amazing artwork.

Tile ran outside too.

Harem gathering area

Add caption

Looking at some of the three hundred rooms from the outside.

Back to the Museum

This is Sumerian or Hittite

Ditto

Veitch Gigging Munich

2011-04-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

Rocking the coffeehouse. Barenstra. Munich.

Singing in English. And Johnny Cash is very big here. Neil Young too. They really liked Last Farmer in Vermont.

Spring Munich!

2011-04-10T12:19:00.000-07:00

Oops-one red one in the row

All of these were taken at the Munich Botanical Garden near ShlossNymphenberg. April 10th, 2011. Amazing amount of blooming going on here. Inside, we found the Orchids..

This one had a familiar name..


Yes, famous in Scotland for developing hybrid orchids, this one bears the family name.

They love have these large statues adorning their buildings over here. These are just a few from the streets of Munich.


Sometimes they don't have arms.

The rent a bikes have appeared on the streets-another sign of Spring.

You call in a credit card and away you go.

My postcard shot

Postcard two

Saint Peter's Kirche Munich

2011-03-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

Photos taken from atop of the spire platform at Saint Peters in Central Munich.It was a very long climb-at least 15 flights-on narrow and old oak stairs-past ancient beams and dust-old bells and lots of graffiti, some hundreds of years old. Timing was very good as it looked like vast crowds trying to make their way up as we were heading down. Very cramped on top however and not the clearest of days but some good shots none the less. All for 1.50 Euro.

Here's the link to wikipedia's Saint Peter's Kirche site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Church,_M%C3%BCnchen

A demonstration was happening below

Nice view of the Glockenspiel

Warm enough to be eating outdoors


Not a model-the real thing


Bird's eye view of the ViktualienMarkt-the year around farmer's market. Here's the link- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktualienmarkt


Not the bones of Saint Munditia

A mere "side chapel"

Here's the wikipedia link to Saint Munditia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munditia Looks like I will have to make a return trip to see this as I missed it on this one. Looks amazing. Having the bones of saints and martyrs in glass cases on the alters of churches is not uncommon in Europe and the first time I noticed it was in Austria. I have not,however, seen anything quite as elaborate as Saint Munditia's.

A side alter

The main alter


Frescos are painted throughout.

Large very old oil paintings are everywhere too.

As you enter the Church

Andy Warhol's Art Car

2011-03-01T06:58:00.000-08:00

A recent trip to the BMW Museum featured the added bonus of seeing some of their "art cars" in the prime spot atop the huge dome room. A circular ramp similar to the Guggenheim walks you past numerous orbs with backlit information about the artists, the cars, the project, etc. Most interesting to me was the Warhol but the Jeff Koons mobile was a close second. Standing around the whole exhibit were strange manikins dressed is outlandish designer outfits-some made from auto parts and fabrics. There was also a huge video projection circling the room with short clips of the artists and cars-needless to say they were not showing Warhol's "Blue Movie." Here's the wikipedia link for more info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cars_%28painting%29

The info-orbs

Rampness

They gave some of the artists "used" cars after they were done with the racing-Andy Warhol's was pretty beat-some cracks in the fenders here and there and the tires were mostly bald.

You can see his finger smears in the paint. Signature is on the back bumper.See below.


Here are a bunch more from the exhibit. I believe this is Caldor's and here's a link to the Wikipedia site-		http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Art_Car

Lichtenstein's Art Car

Nothing of Warhol is wasted

Model of the Warhol mobile. Maybe he did it after the fact? Wikipedia says he went straight to the canvas-er-car and hand painted it himself without doing a model first. Hmm.

Warhol Bumper

If Picasso had lived, I'm sure he would have done one of these. Dali too.

This is the Koons car I liked, apparently had just returned from a world tour.

More Koons. He had new tires on his car.

The Comeau series

2011-02-25T08:47:00.000-08:00

#15 Comeau Series-Zoe on the Trail

Comeau Series #12 Sawkill Overflow

#13 "Long Falls"

#9 Comeau Series "Which Path Will You Take?"

Comeau Looking West across the Great Lawn #1 Comeau Series

Here' is my first "oil" painting-actually acrylic-on canvas. It's a bit of an interpretation of the view from the "Supervisor's Cottage" on the Comeau property in Woodstock, NY. The Comeau and I have a long history going back over a decade. This is a beautiful 76 acre park in the center of town with huge vistas, trails, wildflowers, and yes, a few soccer fields. And this is the Town property former Supervisor Jeremy Wilber proposed be developed for a huge Town Highway Garage-right next to the soccer fields in fact. That didn't happen, due to a large outpouring of support to keep it unchanged and forever a park. It is now, after a very long legal battle, two referendums, and some pretty inept politicians, under conservation easement. Whew.

I always intended to take up painting and finally have the time-I used to sit and watch my father(Bob) paint with oils, usually in the evening after dinner and his several glasses of scotch. Sometimes I would play the piano for him on our old out of tune upright. Other times he would be listening to "Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass" believe it or not. He was a natural artist who drew as a kid in Scotland and who won the New York City Art Award around 1930 which earned him a full scholarship to Columbia University. He was courted by Walt Disney to come to California and work in the fledgling animation art division(wish I had that letter). If he hadn't met my mother in Vermont right before his scheduled trip, history may have been much different for us Veitch's.

I remember the first time seeing him set up to paint-it was on Swan's Island, Maine. We had rented a summer place overlooking the bay and a lighthouse-I was 8 years old. It was 1963-a full solar eclipse happened while we were there-total picturesque Down East beauty everywhere. That first painting of Swan's Island hung in his bedroom for years and while looking somewhat like a Grandma Moses version of Maine, it was, after all, the first and worth keeping. I wonder which one of the siblings has it today?

Longyear meadow looking North

#2 in my Comeau Series. Hanging over my very much in tune Yamaha electric piano here in Munich. I remember Saturday afternoons when we would stop in to "Firestone" where Jim Capron had a large selection of oil paint, hard canvas and brushes, in addition to all the various house paints and brushes, auto supplies, tires and other odds and ends. There was also the only local record store in the same space with the latest Top 40 Billboard listings posted each week right over the 45 RPM bin. I bought my very first single with my own money on one of those Saturdays-it was "Don't Worry Baby" by Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys backed with "I Get Around." I think it may have been number one that week which is why I went for it. It was one of those life changing moments and still one of my all time favorite Brian Wilson tunes. I don't think I was ever able to get Dad to spring for rock and roll records. He was really tight in a Scottish kind of way . But I know he really dug the Beatles and the fact that they were from England and had conquered America. I remember him sitting with us watching the Ed Sullivan show appearances. He gave them the thumbs up.

Sturm Over Woodstock

#3 in the Comeau Series. This one tries to capture the "Bishop's Nose" on Overlook Mountain as well as the general feel of the town most of the time-anxious. Overlook is probably one of the most painted features of the Catskills of all time. I was told that Bradley Meadows, now a paved parking lot for a few stores and a bank, was once considered the best spot in the Catskills from which to paint "Overlook" and painters made special trips to Woodstock just to work from this vantage point. Maybe so then, but today, Overlook from Bradley Meadows has been obscured by overgrown trees to the north, an ugly 60's shopping center in the foreground and the exhaust fumes you would have to breathe in to sit for any length of time and paint. I worked from the Comeau view of Overlook for this, still a nice view from the upper meadow.

All the paintings are on fairly large wood frame canvases -60x60 cm or 60x80cm- I mix the colors here using dry pigments-I have the good fortune of being very close to a large art university and there are great stores that sell this amazing stuff fairly cheap-I haven't found any that sell 45 rpm singles however.


Sunrise on the Sawkill

.#4 in my Comeau Series. I watched a very cool show on Charles Rosen's work this morning on Channel 23 in Woodstock ( via the computer of course) It helped me to finish this one. Thanks Charles!

"Clouded Moon Over Comeau"

#5 in my Comeau Series. Thanks again to the spirit of Charles Rosen. For those looking for secret messages in these paintings, note the Mt. Laurel in the lower right corner.

#6 in my Comeau Series. Found a photo I liked in the Draft Citizen's Stewardship Plan. Many thanks to whomever took it. I'm liking this style that is developing. And the water is fun too.

The Sawkill at Comeau #6 Comeau Series

Number 7 in the Comeau Series-"Sawkill Spring"

I'm working from photos I have stored here on my computer. It also helps to have walked the Comeau a zillion times to remember some of the little things. The photo I had for this was actually taken in late winter-no leaves or forsythia.


Sawkill at Comeau Winter Scene-#8 Comeau Series.

This one is near the eastern most edge of the Comeau after you make the decent down the path behind the Shakespeare stage. You have to look back over your shoulder and through the trees to see it.

Comeau Series #10 "Western Edge"

Winter sunset looking West through the pine forest-Lang's Field is beyond the trees.To the right is where the Jeremy Wilber proposed Highway Garage would have gone.

#14 "Last Light" Comeau Great Lawn.

Longyear Meadow #11 in the series

With the Comeau Series now complete ( for the moment) it's on to a new group and maybe style using the English Garden here in Munich as the subject. Also, it's worth noting that there are more wonderful spots on the Comeau that are not included here and could be revisited in the future. Also of note, as I got closer to the end, the canvases became smaller and smaller, #15 being the smallest of the lot. It's still very cool to see them all together in one room-hopefully soon in Woodstock.

Nymphenburg Palace

2011-02-07T03:29:00.000-08:00

This is taken at the hunting lodge at Nymphenburg. Looks like it was quite a hunt. Arrived on a very warm day in February-hitting close to 60 degrees-lots and lots of people out walking-the whole Palace was mostly shut but it was still very impressive.

Here's the center of the Palace-keep in mind the whole thing is close to 700 meters long total-it's almost more than the mind and eye can absorb. While we couldn't get in, and hope to get back in the Spring when it's all opened up, here's a link from wikipedia and a link to interior shots:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymphenburg_Palace

http://www.nymphenburg.com/us/nymphenburg/schloss-nymphenburg.html

There is also a lot of amazing ceramic art that happens here-the same family has been working their craft here since the 1700's-of course it was all closed on a Sunday-but I did see this:

About 4 feet tall-great colors.


This was part of a bridge in the huge park.

The moles or voles have completely wreaked havoc on the well kept grounds. Similar to the English Garden, these nocturnal critters leave a trail of dirt piles across even Nymphenburg Palace lawns! I expected to run into the Bill Murray character from Caddyshack.

Saw what looked a lot like Canadian Geese-they couldn't have made it this far could they?

The Hunting Lodge. See Wikipedia for an interior shot of this place-the "Hall of Mirrors."

Sun shine and 60's-February 5th!

Supposed to stay this way all week. I'm sitting out on the deck with Zoe as I write this.

The North Wing.

This canal runs for miles in a perfectly straight line.


The South Wing.


Stopped at a small beergarden in Elizabeth Platz for Currywurst on the way back-sold out-have to get there early for the Currywurst.

There were actually two of these beauties parked at the beer garden-both had the center shifter and the banana seats. Very close to the one I had as a kid.

A large monolithic stone in the center of Elizabeth Platz. Very old with two worn carvings-Bavarian Flag on one side and what looks like a bishop here.

Will try and find out what it means....

Hillary Comes to Town

2011-02-06T11:25:00.000-08:00

As we're sitting in a very nice Italian restaurant having a late breakfast, Polizei on foot and in many vans start arriving in the Platz in front of us. It appears to be related to the Hillary/World Minister's annual World Security meeting being held here in Munich but it's not clear yet how the show of force relates. Polizei are outfitted in riot gear.

It's a very warm and sunny day and spirits are pretty relaxed, given all the hardware in view. Even the apparent undercover guy is looking laid back.

Jimi is watching the whole scene from a store window. Anything "New York," "Woodstock," or "Levi's" commands a premium price in the clothing stores here.Levi jeans run over $100 a pair. Hillary gets the full treatment and it must be costing a fortune.

The demonstration arrives-there are Polizei blocking off streets, in full riot gear and trying to look nonchalant in plainclothes. Quite a scene. The Egypt situation is featured prominently.

Calls for greater security are made. Apparently not much trust in NATO or the US from this crowd.

The Polizei march along with the protesters here-there are hundreds if not thousands of them. It's all very orderly-also very loud with protesters in huge loudspeaker trucks.

These speakers are bone rattling.


Pulled by a tractor. Rattling my fillings.


This is one of my favorite street shots ever. Got lucky.

Here's one more from the Demo. Below is a link to the HuffingtonPost Hillary in Munich article (in English) and the local paper. You might be able to translate the German through Google but the pictures in the paper tell the story. It's quite a scene: Major streets closed off, Trams diverted ( a possible first), lots of black Mercedes S Class with tinted windows cruising around, full riot gear in full display all over the city. Meanwhile, the streets of Munich are totally packed with shoppers and strollers having a great time with the warm weather, sun and very unwinterlike conditions. Global warming has been good so far to Munich. It was more crowded here on the streets this weekend than during the Christmas rush.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/05/clinton-egypt-transition_n_819105.html
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/muenchen/politik/muenchner-sicherheitskonferenz-tabuzone-promenadenplatz-1.1055477

Stacked up in Odeonplatz.

This is usually an empty square next to the Residenz -except for the tourists and flower sellers. It was here that Hitler was arrested in 1936 for attempting a coup.

Across from the earlier mentioned Michael Jackson memorial, this is the epicenter of the International Security Summit. I had hoped to run into Hillary the same way I did on the streets of Woodstock, but it was not to be.

Fenced off-or is it fenced in?

People with clearance.

Gruess Gott From Munich

2011-02-04T02:40:00.000-08:00

In the center of PromenadePlatz , a long narrow park near the city center, a huge Michael Jackson Memorial has been in place since before I arrived in November. Over Christmas, there were live Christmas trees and numerous ornaments at the site, even wrapped presents, in addition to the mass of tributes, letters, candles, flowers(!). Not sure why this site was picked for the display-I'm pretty sure it was Berlin where he hung his child Blankethead(?) out the Hotel window upside down by his ankles. There is a very expensive Hotel on this small Park called the Bayerischer Hof where possibly he stayed when he was in town to play the Olympia Stadium?

I love the juxtaposition here. First time I've ever seen the two together like this. That said, I did watch "This Is It" and while I was never a big fan, I must say the guy was a genius at what he did. Not the most together personal life, and that whole unreal thing with the doctors which ultimately did him in, but his dancing and singing were without parallel in the known universe. He obviously still has a very loyal following here in Munich.

It is truly remarkable that, in a city that is incredibly clean and without the usual clutter, junk, trash and overflowing trash cans you see in most American cities, this memorial has been allowed to stand for months in a public park. It is, of course, kept very tidy. By the way, I didn't see any pictures of Bubbles, Lisa Marie Presley, or the other members of the Jackson 5.

The Trams are a great feature here-very quiet and they cover a fairly large area of the city. They have a very cool ticket system for all the mass transit that is based on the honor system. You buy a daily, weekly or monthly pass and carry it with you. There is no turnstile or ticket taker. You can hop on any Tram, Subway or Bus with your ticket without showing it to anyone. The MVG (Die Muenchner Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH) has plain clothes ticket checkers who ride the transit and will once in a great while turn up and ask for your ticket. If you are not carrying a valid one, they write you up on the spot and you get a fine of 40 Euros. A monthly pass costs about 50 Euros. In three months, I've been asked twice to show my ticket, and I've been riding the transit system a lot.

It wouldn't be Europe without these and even in Winter, you see quite a few. The bicycle riders don't let the snow stop them either. And the parks are always full of walkers and bikers no matter what the weather, especially on weekends.

This was taken just a few weekends ago at a large beer garden in the park. There is nothing that compares to Currywurst and beer outdoors on a warm day in January.


Another landmark that survived the war. 60% of Munich was destroyed by Allied bombing.

The River Isar.

Back to the open air green market in the center of the City-"Viktualienmarkt." The fruit and veggies appear to be coming from Spain and Africa . This stall even offered "wild" lettuce from Italy that unfortunatley was sold out by the time we got there. There are numerous stands that sell wine and cheese, stands that only sell bread, stands that sell fish etc.

Taken from a cafe that overlooks the market. It's about five times larger than you can see here. It's open every day except Sunday all year around. I didn't see any protests being waged by local shop owners.

Apologies to my vegan friends but I couldn't resist. There is a row of meat shops that border the market, all competing for business and the best Weiswurst.

Just got a note from Google saying I have used up my 1GB of free space. I will be back soon with more after I purchase additional space-20GB for $5.00. Not a bad deal-

Olympiapark

2011-01-23T13:16:00.000-08:00


The first view off the subway of the 1972 Olympiapark- a very new BMW building is to the left

The 1972 Olympics happened here and it was a very eventful moment in Olympic history. The buildings for the most part are still standing and are being used today for many purposes-concerts-swimming-winter events etc. Here's the wikipedia link to the 1972 Munich Olympics- I was 17 at the time and can still remember some of it..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Summer_Olympics

Crazy reflection pic-you can see the BMW towers and BMW Museum.

View from the near top of Olympiaberg-more about that shortly. Note the Alps beyond the Munich skyline.

Birdseye view of even more Community Gardens. I have run into acres and acres of these scattered all throughout Munich. I'm looking forward to Spring and Summer to see what they are growing on these plots.

39 years old and they appear to be having some issues with the roofs. There was quite a bit of construction work happening here.

The Olympic Pool full of swimmers on a cold winter's day.

The sign says that "OlympiaBerg' was created out of the rubble from the WW2 bombed out buildings in Munich that were cleared and piled at this spot. It's the highest viewpoint in the city. It's also a little weird walking up it after knowing what it actually is.

More view from the top.

And more view

Oxford, UK

2011-01-15T12:04:00.000-08:00

Oxford, standing in front of the "Radcliffe Camera," the historic and not very old (only 1800's) science building. Part of many colleges that make up Oxford. I'm not sure yet which one Bill Clinton attended but will hopefully find out before I finish this post.


To the right of the "Camera." Expecting Monty Python of Spamelot to come clopping out at any moment.

The very large Hotel Randolph owned and run by the Scottish MacDonalds family in the center of town- very plush.

Inside one of the lounges of the Hotel is this painting, done hundreds of years ago and looking very similar to one my father (from Scotland) painted of a Vermont trout stream. Scots love their trout.

Yes, this is an actual street sign in Oxford and no, I'm not sure what it means, but hey, it's England.

Never far from being reminded of home.

We had lunch in a small pub near Woodstock Road that was once the weekly meeting place for C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. They would sit in front of the fire on Tuesdays and talk for hours, eating lunch and drinking beer, whiskey and tea. They both signed several letters to the owner thanking him for his indulgence (holding a tab?) and they hang over the fireplace in the small room in which they met. I believe it was called the "Rabbit Hole."

Outside of a section of the Great Cathedral of Oxford, which was closed for the Holidays like most of the rest of the city (I like the vines). We joined groups of wandering tourists looking for something to see besides pubs and clothing stores. The Center of the city is essentially one huge shopping center with no traffic, all pedestrian, and huge throngs of shoppers everywhere-it was "Boxing Day" which is the traditional sales day of the year in England.
A mob scene.


An ancient house on one of the back streets.

One of many Radcliffe Camera wrought iron doors-I like the gold leaf.

Inside the Oxford Botanical Garden

Boats parked under the bridge outside the Botanical Garden on the River "Isis" which is actually the Thames but is only called the "Isis" when it runs through Oxford. Many very large and old trees, huge terrariums and greenhouses with desert climates and tropical climates. Plants collected from all over the world-many orchids. One of the only places open during this weekend.

This fountain was frozen- a very rare occurrence here. Global Warming?

Greenhouses of the Botanical Gardens

A typical 250 year old with a typical 42 year old.

Close up of "cut" ties in Oxford's oldest Pub, The Bear Tavern.

IN SEARCH OF BILL CLINTON'S TIE

Oxford's oldest Pub, "The Bear Tavern" has a tradition dating back centuries involving college students drinking themselves under the table literally and passing out-at which point the barkeep comes over and cuts off the end of their tie and keeps it behind the bar until they wake up the next morning and realize they've had their tie cut. They are then supposed to come back to the bar and "sign" the end whereby it is put in a nifty glass case (with their name attached). I, of course, went looking for Bill Clinton's.

Is it here?


Or here??

Here?

Needless to say, there were so many cut ties in this place, thousands, I could not find Bill's. I said to the barkeep-"I'm here looking for Bill Clinton's tie." His answer was "Good luck, mate."

Here's the wikipedia link to Oxford. Invaded by the Normans in 1066, about the time Malmesbury was getting sacked. Lots of history here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford


A spire in the "City of Spires."

I liked the carved heads on this building-too many to fit in one frame.

Finally, Bill Clinton attended University College at Oxford and also played rugby there. He did not get his degree in Oxford however. If anyone does happen to find his tie at the Bear Tavern, please let me know. Maybe it's now in the Clinton Library? Good luck, mate.