Tag: Cathedral

Innsbruck 30 December 2024

31 December 2024 / admin

Golden Roof Innsbruck 30.12.24

A walking tour of Innsbruck this morning. As with the majority of our trip the sun is shining and therefore it is not as cold as we feared it might be. Indeed it is pleasant weather to be wandering around although equally glad to return to the warm if somewhat small hotel room at the end of the morning.

Innsbruck, essentially due to the Brenner pass immediately to the south, has always been the gateway between northern and southern Europe and was therefore a key point to control over long periods as it was possible to extract money from those passing with goods for trading in both directions.

Originally at the heart of Habsburg Empire the city then came under the Archdukes of Austria. A period as part of Bavaria followed until return to Austria in 1814. However being such an important trade route has led to the city always been prosperous even if owing allegiance to new rulers.

A key sight in the city and indeed its symbol is the “Golden Roof” which was completed to mark the wedding of the Emperor Maximilian I to Bianca Maria Stroza in 1500 with the balcony being used by the Emperor and his new wife to observe the festivals, tournaments and activities in the square below. The Emperor was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death in 1519. He was a particularly able warlord. This was a period when the ruler has sway over much of what is now Italy and Germany whilst marriages led to his grandson taking the thrones of Castile and Aragon – showing just how far the tentacles of the Hapsburg empire stretched.

Innsbruck Cathedral 30.12.24

We are also able to go inside the Cathedral which was constructed following some earthquakes between 1716 and 1724 when it was dedicated. In December 1944 Innsbruck suffered significant bomb damage which caused destruction of parts of the Cathedral and was restored by 1950 becoming a Cathedral in 1964. Further repair and reconstruction work was undertaken between 1991 and 1993 with a new dedication service in October 1993.

We decide that a trip up in the local ski lift holds little attraction following the heights achieved yesterday. Prior to arrival much has been made of the light show in the gardens but when we pass it on the walking tour we see that it appears mainly geared towards children and so decide against going out in the evening. During the day the snow is melting slightly but after dark it freezes and again and one of the party has a fall when they do visit the illuminations and that proves to us it is better to be safe than sorry – we thought that it might be slightly slippery and bound to be worse if it freezes slightly having thawed during the day. We did not want to come back from the holiday bruised and bandaged. I have no doubt that it is worth seeing – but we would prefer to avoid any accidents.

And for reference here is the brochure description:

We wake up with the wintry mountains looking on to festive Innsbruck. The gentle bustle of picture-perfect streets and the seasonal weather combine to charming effect on this enchanting day full of anticipation.

After breakfast, we enjoy a guided walking tour of beautiful Innsbruck, followed by a leisurely afternoon during which we can explore further.

With a remarkably picturesque medieval centre, the town is dotted with impressive buildings, including Herzog-Friedrich-Strasse. Here, a shimmering golden Habsburg roof, the ornate Hölbling house and the imposing 14th-century watchtower look out over buildings with arched arcaded frontages.

When it goes dark, LUMAGICA Innsbruck invites you to take a literally illuminating walk in the Hofgarten – for the fifth time in a row. Rainbow (colours), flowers and butterflies as well as abstract elements and interactive light installations line the approximately one kilometre long circular path.

Bari

18 April 2024 / admin

Palazzo Mincuzzi

Wednesday 17.4.23

Our excursion today works much the same as Monday – a swift coach ride – this time to our nearest station and then by train back towards Bari. Again we run roughly parallel with the coast heading in a north easterly direction this time – so the other way to the previous rail trip.

For those reading closely you may have noticed that there is no mention of Tuesday. That is the official free day on this trip and we repaired to the poolside post breakfast, until the weather started to break and there was indeed a bit of wind as well as no sunshine. We decide not to go out so spent most of the day in our room catching up on some reading.

The road to the old town of Bari from the station is the main shopping street and is bedecked by brand names. Along here is the magnificent Palazzo Mincuzzi which houses Benetton. It is a stylish traditional palazzo which stands out from the other architecture surrounding it.

Bari

We slowly wander around the old town with our guide. We wander along one side street where most of the residents appear to be making pasta in the shape of an ear – Orecchiette – which is peculiar to the local area – with colourful awnings and washing hung from the railings above.

Bari Cathedral

A little later we reach Bari Cathedral, again there is a vast decorated ceiling and wall paintings and also designs incorporated in the floor.

We are equipped with headsets but there is little to distinguish Bari from the towns we visited earlier in the week. It has for a long time been a major port and trading point dating back a very long time being under Greek influence, Roman, later Normandy and then Naples.

We had previously decided that we would eat out today rather than taking the packed lunch option and there were numerous restaurants around the end of the walk in the Piazza del Ferrarese – we inspect a couple and make a choice but it cannot be recommended. Whilst not overly busy when we arrived it felt as if the staff were newish, the season had perhaps only just commenced and the lack of experience was palpable – a bad choice this time around. It happens.

Sa Dec and Cai Be

5 January 2015 / admin

Day 16 Wednesday 31 December 2014

We have been away from home over two weeks – this is probably the longest holiday ever, but as I no longer go to work it is perhaps more appropriate to say that this is the way we live now!

Sa Dec has a large retail market which we walk through. The photos cannot really do it justice as it would be boring if I posted a picture or each vegetable stall or each fish stall which replicate along the length of the market. However merely one example of each hardly gives a fair representation either. Also dashing around but not recorded are people delivering meals (usually some soup) plus the inevitable scooters weaving in and around the market. https://flic.kr/s/aHsk7iyAjJ for the photographs.

At the far end of the retail market is a wholesale market and of course supplies come here in bulk before being broken down. I suppose that Covent Garden was once like this. I believe now that there is little direct trading at Nine Elms or at the other large markets in London, all of which have declined as the supermarkets have gained dominance.

Marguerite Duras lived part of her early life in Sa Dec and her most famous book concerned a relationship with a wealthy chinese man she met on the way to Saigon. We had been shown the film the previous evening, but frankly I saw no merit in the story and gave up about halfway through! The wife persisted to the end but no good came of it. A few years ago it was realised that the house of the chinese man’s father remained in Sa Dec and it has been restored and can now be visited by passing travellers such as ourselves. An interesting foot note but little substantial meaning.

We rejoin the local junk used for the journey from our cruiser to the town to travel a little further to see a church of a local important religion – Cao Daisim (or Dao Daisim). Whilst relatively recent, being less than a hundred years old the religion beings together the teachings associated with Ying and Yang from China, the later developments of Confucius, Buddhism and Christianity, noting the significant overlaps and common teachings across these separate religions. The religion has its home north of Saigon (see Sunday 4 January) and has a large number of adherents across the southern areas of Vietnam. It was originally supported by the government and was not permitted after 1975 but has in more recent years become far more substantial.

In the afternoon we visit Cai Be. The catherdral of St Joseph marks the continuing strength of the Catholic religion in the region and the area outside has various additional statues and has bought neighbouring land to permit expansion. This has been achieved by money sent from church members now living abroad who are able to send money back to the church to provide the additional memorials.

It is noticeable this afternoon that a number of the group is smaller than usual with others choosing (as we did earlier on ) to stay aboard the mother ship. Before we left home one of my wife’s main concerns was the transfers to and from our cruise vessel to land as this nearly always requires the use of a smaller motor vessel, capable of seating about 30 and for which we are required to wear life jackets (so we won’t drown – merely die of the pollution in the river) but each transit is between two vessels both bobbing around. Pleasingly all of the transitions are made without a problem – except to my head. Once again it is proven that I am significantly oversized as I clobber my head (despite the regular warnings given by all of the crew providing assistance) on the roof beam of the junk. This time quite hard. I cannot say I wasn’t warned. They are of course built for people who generally are probably six or more inches shorter than I am. This size problem will arise again.

Wandering in the group along Cai Be street enabled at last the picture of a small outlet selling wooden furniture. Compared with some of the other larger scale enterprises we have seen this is modest and I am only glad that we do not have time to stop and buy (also I am not so sure how comfortable the chairs would be). A separate album for Cai Be: https://flic.kr/s/aHsk7iyxU3

At the end of our walk is a factory producing variously popcorn, rice wine and fine rice paper. The production processes are explained to us. The rice wine here is not so near fire water compared with the Laos sample but on the whole I think I prefer a small cup of sake. We wander around the processes and Jackie observes that the girls pressing the toffee are doing so with bare hands whilst the sweet popcorn is being packed by girls sitting on the tables. I am sure they all wash regularly.

Jackie is particularly taken by the production of rice paper, wanting some authentic paper for a dinner party when we return but oddly it does not seem to be on sale here! There is a shop but nothing catches our fancy.

After dinner it is time for “Mekong Prestige has got Talent” where normally the crew entertain the passengers. But we have a surprise. Among the Japanese contingent there is a trained dancer who has offered to perform and we have already see her twice during the day practicing. She performs well and it is extremely brave of her to do so.

The crew have various party pieces – “YMCA” from one section, a great singing voice from the ship’s purser and the chief engineer is also a master magician with pieces of rope joining and splitting magically. We are promised a disco and entertainment until the new year but all this fresh air and travelling means we go to bed.

In our cabin we note we are tied up alongside a form of pier and that on the quayside there are numerous containers. If this is a passenger terminal then it is being seriously under-invested and gives a little weight to the comment made by the tour guide (Matthias who did a grand job over the entire week with three distinct groups speaking English, German and Japanese) that the facilities along the river are being stretched by the 16 cruise vessels now being operated along the Mekong. When we went to the Nile some 20 years ago the numbers operating were much higher and there were facilities everywhere to tie up rather than using transfers.