WordPress seem to go to a lot of trouble to convince users that ‘Freshly Pressed’ is fair, impartial and based on critical selection.
Consider this then from a blog page I chanced upon…
It has been interesting to look back over 2012 to see which posts were the most popular. Bagni di Lucca and Beyond has been Freshly Pressed twice this year, which has been great fun. Thank you WordPress for choosing.
It is a nice blog but it isn’t brilliant (sorry).
I say no more…
Posted in Africa, Arts and Crafts, Athens, Austria, back packing, backpacking, Beaches, Bratislava, Budapest, Cantabria, Cathedrals, Childhood, Croatia, Cyclades, Czech Republic, dubrovnik, El Cid, Estonia, Europe, Food, France, Galicia, Germany, Grand Canyon, Greek islands, Greek Taverna, History, Hotels, Hungary, Iceland, island hopping, Italy, Krakow, Latvia, Literature, Malta, Marrakech, Morocco, Natural Environment, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Prague, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sorrento, Spain, Suez Canal, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Travel, Turkey, Uncategorized, United Kingdom, USA, Vikings, Wales, World Heritage
Tagged blogging, Culture, Favouritism, Freshly Pressed, Life
Schauinslandbahn, Black Forest, Germany
After negotiating the snow and drove down the difficult road to the village of Horben and then decided to go back up again but by a different form of transport because from here it was possible to reach the summit on the Schauinslandbahn, which at just over three and half kilometres is the longest cable car ride in Germany. The return ticket cost €11.50 but it was well worth it because as we climbed through an avenue of snow covered conifers there were great views to the north-west all along the Rhine valley and into neighbouring France.
Posted in Germany, History, Natural Environment, Switzerland, World Heritage
Tagged Black Forest, Life, Photography, postaday, Schauinslandbahn, Travel
Posted in Cathedrals, Europe, France, Germany, History, Hotels, Natural Environment, Switzerland, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Baden-Baden, Black Forest, Fasnacht, Freiburg im Breisgau, Gegenbach, Germany, Offenburg, Schiltach, Triberg
We stopped the car in Vaduz and walked aimlessly along the main road, looked at a church and tried to convince ourselves it was interesting, and then the new Parliament building that was being constructed and then we left. We crossed back into Switzerland and progressed towards Austria, which we entered through a busy border control crossing but were not asked to produce our passports this time.
Posted in Austria, Europe, Germany, History, Natural Environment, Switzerland, Travel
Tagged Austria, Friedrichshafen, Germany, Lake Constance, Liechtenstein, Vaduz
There was a fine start for our final day and we took an early breakfast at a table with a grandstand view of the valley and the river with the mountains as a dramatic operatic backdrop. The breakfast was as enjoyable as the previous night’s evening meal and it would have been nice to stay a while longer and enjoy this magnificent view but the car was due back in Friedrichshafen by ten-thirty and we wanted to make the most of the drive. First of all before setting back to Germany we planned to drive to the very top of the mountain above our hotel to the winter sports resort of Malbun.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Switzerland and see what the army does with those wee red knives” Billy Connolly
After we left the hill top tavern in Tregen we continued along the scenic route and through the Ruppen Pass with yet more impressive views and then we picked up a main road that took us south through the low lying plains of the Appenzell region. This wasn’t quite so scenic but as we drove the Alps got closer and their high peaks began to loom overhead rising in dramatic style from the meadows and arable farmlands of this relatively flat part of Switzerland.
Posted in Austria, Europe, Germany, History, Hotels, Natural Environment, Switzerland, Travel
Tagged Buchs, Charlemagne, Cuckoo Clock, Liechtenstein, Muesli, Prince of Liechtenstein, Swiss Army Knife, Switzerland, The Alps, Toblerone, Tregen, Vaduz
“Switzerland is a small, steep country, much more up and down than sideways, and is all stuck over with large brown hotels built on the cuckoo clock style of architecture.” Ernest Hemingway
After a second generous Teutonic breakfast we booked out of the hotel and took a taxi to a car rental office a couple of kilometres out of town. Our plan was to take the ferry across to Romanshorn again and then drive through Switzerland to Liechtenstein. At this stage we didn’t have a road map because I tend to consider these to be an unnecessary expense and I was fairly confident that the place would be signposted and not too difficult to find, as it is, after all, an independent European sovereign state.
Posted in Europe, Germany, History, Hotels, Natural Environment, Switzerland, Travel
Tagged Foreign Currency, Friedrichshafen, Germany, Lake Constance, Le Corbusier, Romanshorn, St Gallen, Switzerland, Tregen
“The Swiss have an interesting army. Five hundred years without a war. Pretty impressive. Also pretty lucky for them. Ever see that little Swiss Army knife they have to fight with? Not much of a weapon there. Corkscrews. Bottle openers. ‘Come on, buddy, let’s go. You get past me, the guy in back of me, he’s got a spoon. Back off. I’ve got the toe clippers right here.’” Jerry Seinfeld
Switzerland is an fascinating country, which due to its geographical location, the ethnic composition of its population, part German, part French and part Italian, and its relatively small territory, has had to obtain neutral status in order to maintain internal cohesion.
Posted in Austria, Germany, History, Hotels, Natural Environment, Switzerland, Travel
Tagged Bodensee, Friedrichshafen, Germany, Lake Constance, Romanshorn, Switzerland
At the ferry booking office a helpful and patient lady assisted us with our enquiries on how to make the trip across to Switzerland. She advised us not to book today in advance in case the weather took a turn for the worse and was bad tomorrow and we worried that she knew something that we didn’t, but we took her advice and noted the times of the crossings for later in the day because we had a mind to make a foot crossing later if we ran out of things to do in Friedrichshafen, the prospect of which seemed most likely.
Posted in Cathedrals, Europe, Germany, History, Switzerland, Travel
Tagged Bodensee, Friedrichshafen, Lake Constance, Romanshorn
“My philological studies have satisfied me that a gifted person ought to learn English (barring spelling and pronouncing) in thirty hours, French in thirty days, and German in thirty years.” Mark Twain, ‘A Tramp Abroad –That Awful German Language’
There was a long sweeping and exceedingly sociable waterfront where we walked for a while and before very long selected a table at a bar with an expansive view of the water and in the full glare of the midday sun. A glance at the menu confirmed my excellent judgement in earlier purchasing a German phrase book at the airport because the menu interpretation looked especially tricky with very few words that meant anything to me.
Posted in Beaches, Europe, Germany, History, Hotels, Natural Environment, Switzerland, Travel
Tagged Bodensee, Friedrichshafen, German Language, Germany, Lake Constance, Victor Comic
