Baton Rouge Balloon Festival

Up at 6:30 a.m to watch the ballons try to hit the pole with a bean bag. If they put a ring on the pole, they win $1,000... no one made it today.

They were Beautiful....

The night before, they blew up the ballons for an "Evening Burn" They looked like Christmas ornaments--Glowing in the night.

last day off in Germany

Annie and Tailyr on the Train to Cologne

or Koln.

The Dome.
Scarry Gargoiles.

It's Quite LARGE...

Some of the Great ART inside.

This is one of the spinets on top of the dome.. to show the scale..

WOW.

gnomes

Did you know that Garden Gnomes, or Gartenzwergs were German??

But I think they are Cute.

More Sights in Dusseldorf

We heard a band playing so we went to check it out and found this "club," having a drink.

The clock by the Rhine.

We think it is a statue about the plague, but our German wasn't that proficient!!

Rick, clowning around.

Tragedy.....

Comedy....

One of the many old churches.

The Tower, from the old castle. Now a nautical museum.

Like a german fairy tale.

A Day Sightseeing in Dusseldorf/ Kaiserwerth

Now, I feel like I'm in Germany.
Such a Cute town.

The Castle Ruins from the Rhine River Cruise.

A Romeneque Church from the 12th Century.

St. Suitbertus Church.

He's the Patron Saint of Angina, and his "remains" are in the golden casket.

Kaiserwerth Castle.

Built in the 9th Century.

The TV tower

This is a monument, raised by "East Germany" to show their technology to the west.

The TV Tower.

You see it from every vantage point.
From the Boat Tour.

This is the "Rathaus" or City hall in front of the Tower.

We're going up.

Our Tickets were for later that night. This is the view of the "Rathaus" from the top.

Frederick the Great's "Sans Souci" (without worries)

A Couple of weeks ago, I went to Postsdam, and saw yet another 18th Century Palace.--I think I am a little Baroqued out!! I've seen 4 palaces this summer.."Domanbachi" in Istanbul. "Schloss Charlotenberg" "Sans Souci" and the "Neues Palace" (which is also here in this park) in Germany.

This is the small palace Frederick the Great had built for himself- his wife lived somewhere else.
I love the carvings on the outside.

This is it from the Gardens, the terraces are actually grape vines and Fig plants. They have glass enclosures for the winter.
The Windmill they had built. This is the only "Reconstruction" here after World War II. A german gunner thought it would be a good place to shoot at the planes.. and the alies, bombed it. Luckily the palaces survived.

This is the "Tea House" The people living in the 18th century were fascinated by the "Orient" and "Orientalism" was popular in everything. Clothing, Decor, etc. and TEA was an important import. This Charming little house on the grounds is surrounded by gold statuary like this one.

This is part of another structure on the grounds, it is a very old palace and church Wilhelm Fredrick the IV built to look Italian.

This is the "Neues Place" it is obviously bigger and older that "San Souci"

I love this lamppost-- they are all carved and ornate.


I wish I could have taken pictures inside. They have a room enirely decorated in Sea Shells and things, Marvelous. The building itself is sadly in disrepair. They are working on it but struggle to keep it up.