Bautzen

Bautzen is a delighful village - this is what's left of a monastery - cemetries in Germany are very well kept with flowers & shrubs. 

One of the characters we met on our travels.

Such wonderful streets of cobblestones, old stone walls & old, old houses.

This tower is leaning - it's not too far from the Stadtmuseum where the original 1776 Quilt is housed.  Went through the museum in the hope of seeing the original quilt - the gentleman on the front counter didn't understand what I was on about - so I paid my money & went to look.  A couple of interesting textile pieces but no quilt.  On getting back to Dresden, got on the Internet to see what I could find out.  Friends of Pam Holland had been to the museum 2 weeks before us, they got to see the quilt before it was shipped off to an exhibition - we were not so lucky.  At least I was in the right place.

Dresden & surrounds

First night in Dresden - dinner in a Bier Garten on the banks of the Elbe watching three balloons inflate & rise off in to the sky. They put on the show just for us - of course.

Meissen - beautiful castle & village - food, beer & porcelain pretty good too.  The icecream was great!

Moritzburg - castle in the middle of a lake - can't you imagine the carriages making their way up this road.  What an entrance!

We are over road-works on the Autobahn - on one of our road trips, the traffic hold up & detour added an hour to the trip - traffic just doesn't move.

Farewell Prague & Czech Republic - till next time

Our hotel in Prague - it was absolutely delightful - found on the Internet & it lived up to its blurb. We were all so thrilled with our stay here.

Our host, Miroslav, hugging Norwegian friends.  The restaurant in the Hotel (Miroslav is the chef) is ranked second in all Czech Republic - so we dined well.

On the way to Dresden by a scenic route - wonder if this is someone's home - no signs to tell us what it was.

Some of the forest we drove through.

Beyond Prague

Visited Terezin - a 19th Century fortress that was used in WW2 to imprison Jews while they awaited transportation to concentration camps. So many died here - not necessarily through execution but through starvation & ill health.

There were three executions.

Our view from the restaurant in Petrovice - these stalls are eveywhere close to the German border & all seem to be manned by Asians - where else in the world can you get hub-caps & gnomes in the same place - OK - Bunnings!

This girl & a couple others were the parking attendants in Hluboka. They kept an eye on the main street & made sure you parked safely & took your parking money. They rode their bicycles up & down the street. We thought it was quite novel & much better than having to put your money into a machine. 

The Royal Castle at Hluboka - we did a tour with a guide - an 'English-speaking' guide.  It was her first tour & she did OK - our best 'misspeak' for the tour was that she told us this particular four-poster bed was much bigger than it looked - an 'optical inclusion'.  Loved it.

View from the long walk & steep hill up to the castle.  Why did all these kings & royal personages have to build on high hills?????

A sculpture in the town of Hluboka - it was outside a butchers so we think it was advertising white & black sausage!  Art is everywhere!

Prague

The Royal Palace in Prague - saw the changing of the guard- not quite as impressive as Buck House but then only the Poms can do pomp & circumstance well.

Where's Wally?

Obviously in Prague drinking with the boys!

The clock that everyone watches - it's an astronimical clock & very hard to actually read the time.  Our guide had the answer - look at the one at the very top! (Sorry that didn't get in to the picture)

The Jewish quarter - only 6000 Jews remain in Prague.

A poster wrapped around a pole advertising an avant guarde art exhibition. Mel, Felicity & Trish - there's an idea!

A novel way to use post-it notes - the back drop for this window display.

Wenceslaus Square - did do some shopping there!

Farewell to Brugge

View across the roofs (or is it rooves) of Brugge - from the top floor of our apartment.

The stairs leading up to the top floor - narrow & steep.

We went to the biggest Flea Market we had ever seen.  It was near a kilometer in length & so many stalls & not a repeat in sight (not that we saw anyway).  Did buy a couple of postcards, a couple of cards that show children how to sew & a couple of the shutter latches - not sure what we are going to do with them.  HofM thought of putting shutters on one window just to be able to use them - still in discussion about that one!

Went to the Menin Gate in Ieper to hear the Last Post played.  It has been played every night since 1928 at 8.00pm & more & more people are gathering there to hear it.  A very moving ceremony.  Wreaths were also laid by family members.

So many bicycles & such colourful saddle bags.

Last meal of mussels & beer in Brugge - all gone!

Google were using a bike with cameras atop a pole to do the streets of Brugge.  Will have to keep an eye for that.

Farewell to La Tour - the end of a wonderful week in Brugge.

Beer that must be taste-tested!

HofM rose to the challenge of one of Belgium's chief taste testers.  His regret was that he did not get to sample all 750.