chateau

 Fontainebleau

and a long view

Fountainebleau is one of the largest French royal chateaux.  It was a favourite hunting lodge of the kings but was gradually transformed into a genuine palace and became a museum and a Unesco World Heritage Site 

yellow houses

the most visited museum in Austria is where the Mozart family lived from 1747 to 1773 

this was the home of the Liechtenstein family until 1935 when the Nazi's took it and then the Czechs and  Prince Aloys II left for Vaduz. They never got it back and are still in legal battles over it.

3 - D

Not really a castle, Schloss Drachenburg was built between 1882-84 (two years!) as a private villa.  It took almost two decades for the restoration when the state took over in 1989

their website generously offers a virtual tour

I once knew someone with this name.  Not surprisingly, she was always having to correct people - no, not Delia - and then having to spell it and it didn't help that she spelt it Daliah

I was never very good with a hula hoop, and that was only one hoop.  So watching these guys with multiple ones all over their body is quite mesmerising.  This is actually nothing like hula dancing.  An Anishnaabe folktale says that once there was boy who didn't like to hunt or fish and spent hours watching the animals in the wild and began copying their movements.  Eventually, he added hoops and created dances that he taught to others, with the hoops representing animals, symbols, and designs.

 

castles

a Monday map on Tuesday (because, yes, I forgot...)

semi finals

 thing one...

 

 

 

 

 France v Spain

thing two

 

 

 

 

Canada v Argentina

castles, palaces

 Hluboká Castle was extensively renovated in the style of Windsor Castle after a visit to Queen Victoria's coronation by the last owners, the Schwarzenbergs. It has 140 rooms and 11 towers. Like Windsor Castle, the grounds are free to visit and wander through.

And, speaking of Windsor Castle

It is the largest and oldest occupied working palace in Europe (since 1100). It has survived sieges of the 12th and 13th century, the Civil War in the 17th century, neglect during the 18th century, and a fire in the 20th century.

for Thursday Postcard Hunt

yesterday and today

 

Sunday Stamps II - 64

2010, Austria, Shanghai Expo
designer: Irmgard Paul

Empress Elisabeth, nicknamed 'Sisi', was born in Bavaria and married Franz Josef I at age 16. She was not well suited to court life and had an extremely interfering mother-in-law, which did not help. Her major political achievement was contributing to the Austo-Hungarian Dual Monarchy, and that was mostly because she retreated to Hungary for solace and an escape from Vienna. For the most part, she had no control in her life as Empress, but what she could control - and did so, obsessively - was her physical appearance and her beauty. She was a tall woman (5'8") and weighed around 110lbs. With the aid of exercises, fasting and corsets she emphasized her slender figure and 19" waist. Her chestnut hair fell to her knees when let loose and took 2-3 hours of care daily. This portrait, by Francis Xaver Winterhalter, was made in 1894 when Sisi was 27 years old and is said to have been Franz Josef's favourite.

for: women