The Loire Valley and especially Blois
Today we visited a large number of wooden churches in the Maramures region in the north of Romania, most of which were built in the 16th century entirely of wood, including the roof. They are often hidden among trees up above the village and surrounded by graves of various shapes and sizes. Inside are wall …
Continue reading “Postcard #14 – Wooden Churches, Maramures, Romania”
We are now in the very north of Romania, nearly at the Ukranian border. The scenery has changed. You can see the small plots of land separated by rows of fir trees. The roads are often very bad and today we covered only 180 kilometres in 5 hours, including a good 60 kilometres of roadworks. …
We have seen a lot of people in the fields making haystacks these last couple of days. This old lady seemed to be doing just as well as the younger ones! Nous avons vu beaucoup de personnes dans les champs en train de faire des meules de foin depuis deux ou trois jours. Cette vieille …
Continue reading “Postcard #12 – Haystacking – Mise en meule”
We see so many interesting things in a day that it’s difficult to choose a single photo, but this was one that kept coming back – hand-made haystacks, wells with pointed roofs and wooden houses. We are now in Bucovina, in the north of Romania, known for its painted monasteries that we will start visiting …
Continue reading “Postcard #10 – Haystacks in Romania – Bottes de foin en Roumanie”
Transylvania in Romania is known for its fortified churches. That of Biertan was buillt in the 12th century in the form of a hall-church in the late Gothic style. Between 1572 and 1857, it was the seat of Saxon episcopacy. The fortifications consist of 3 rows of exterior fortifications, 7 towers and 2 bastions. It …
Continue reading “Postcard #9 – Biertan Fortified Church – L'église fortifiée de Biertan”
We often see the name Sighisoara in Blois, as it is one of its sister cities in the European Twin Towns system. This is the baroque-style Shoemakers’ Tower on the northeastern part of the citadel, first mentioned in 1512, rebuilt in 1650 and modified in 1681. Today it houses the local radio station. Nous voyons …
We have quite accidentally found ourselves in the Valley of the Beautiful Women just outside the town of Eger in Hungary. The two dozen or so cellars carved into rock have made it a popular wine-tasting area and attracted over two hundred wine-sellers. The most well-known wine and the ruby-red Bull’s Blood or a number of rather sour whites: leányka, …
Continue reading “Postcard #6 – Valley of the Beautiful Women – La Vallée des Dames”
We cycled up to this hilltop church in Slovenia, overlooking Maribor, . Built in the 16th century, it was abandoned between 1784 and 1855. It was restored in 1860. Nous avons grimpé en vélo jusqu’à cette église qui surplombe Maribor en Slovénie. Construite au 16ème siècle, elle fut abandonnée entre 1784 et 1855 avant d’être restaurée …
When we were riding along the Drava River in Maribor today, we saw this old raft. Just after it, we saw a new one, then we saw the sign explaining the tradition of timber rafting that dates back to at least 1280. The Drava was once the main transport link between Austria, Croatia and Serbia. …
This Žametovka” or “Modra Kavčina” vine is is said to be the oldest vine in the world, planted 400 years ago just before the Ottoman invasion. It has survived war and fire and bombing by the Allied forced in World War II. With a yearly harvest of 35 to 55 kg of grapes, it fills about …