Showing posts with label Cutting Room Floor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cutting Room Floor. Show all posts

18 April 2011

CRF: Lithuania

"CRF" is not a crime show you've never heard of, it stands for "Cutting Room Floor." Below are some of our favorite pics that never made the blog. We figured we'd reminisce a little while we're home for a visit. (Back in Europe April 26th). Lithuania felt more exotic before we got there than it did in-country. Somehow, we were expecting the Baltic states to feel like outposts of civilization, on the edge of a frozen sea, far away from anything that was familiar. When we got to Vilnius, though, we found a mostly green, orderly place with friendly people and pretty old buildings. We contemplated doing a mailboxes post, which this picture would have been a part of, but never finished it. One day in Vilnius we came across a huge gathering of people listening to a bishop or cardinal give a blessing. This picture was taken from beneath an archway, atop which the man was standing. We later saw the event featured on the news - thousands of people packed the street in front of us here, all looking up above our heads. We never got a glimpse of the actual speaker, even though we were so close. Vilnius is a pretty city, with a compact and interesting old town. There are a number of low-key beauties amongst the buildings, and the crowds were thin enough that we never thought of it as too touristy. A wall of art pieces that we passed many times but didn't really notice until we saw it lit up at night. The Curonian Spit is one of the most fascinating and unique places that we've visited on the trip - made more so because it was the offseason and the whole strip of land had quieted almost to silence. Even the water in the lagoon was still and glassy. A riverbank art installation. We couldn't tell if this was a theater group or an advertisement, but it was interesting. Driving through the flat plains of the south country, we stopped at this little family graveyard. It was old and contained only a dozen or so graves, most with a similar tilt. We almost did a whole post about the place, but there wasn't much to say. We took a trip to Seda one rainy afternoon. It's a tiny town where some of Rebecca's ancestors lived before the war. Once primarily Jewish, the town is now a muddy huddle of small buildings, vegetable gardens and outhouses. We stopped into the library, looking for someone who could point the way to the old synagogue, which was located on the map but which we couldn't find. An ancient man was enlisted by the librarian to take us there. He moved extremely slowly and spoke no English. This is a picture of the synagogue. The whole story will be recounted another time, it's too long to fit here.

28 February 2011

CRF: Poland

"CRF" is not a crime show you've never heard of, it stands for "Cutting Room Floor." Below are some of our favorite pics that never made the blog. We figured we'd reminisce a little while we're driving from Moldova to Italy (which should take about five days).
Rebecca: The market in Wroclaw was the biggest I'd ever seen, until Riga. It was like a tiered wedding cakes of goods - some goods better than others. As is often the case with countries whose currency is inflated, I just didn't have any bills small enough in my pocket to get the bag of pumpkin seeds I wanted.
The buildings seemed different, to us, after more south-western Europe. We were entranced by the balconies and offset windows.
A flower vendor in an underground passage in Wroclaw.
Merlin: Poland has some beautiful natural scenery, and we caught it just before the snow. Their autumn was cool and bright, at least while we were there.
Rebecca: Poland's trees were immediately different - taller, thinner and with these really beautiful cluster on one branch or two or all of them. They reminded me enormous geraniums. Merlin told me that they are actually a sign that the tree is diseased - tree tumors. I'm not sure why disease seemed to overwhelm the entirety of Poland's tree population, but I can't say it wasn't very pretty.
Merlin: Beautiful, surprising Krakow. It was always a city that I thought sounded menacing - in fact, it's just the opposite. This is the central rynok at dusk.
This was at the cloth market in Kazimierz.
Rebecca: Sometimes it was difficult to tell who was the vendor, who was their friend just there keeping them company and who was a customer, sitting for a rest.
We found Poland's markets interesting because they seemed - to us, at the time - to be so grungy and ramshackle.

See all Poland posts...

27 February 2011

CRF: Luxembourg

"CRF" is not a crime show you've never heard of, it stands for "Cutting Room Floor." Below are some of our favorite pics that never made the blog. We figured we'd reminisce a little while we're driving from Moldova to Italy (which should take about five days).
Luxemboug City is surprisingly beautiful - it's one of those places that should be better known. The cliffs surrounding the old town are incredible.
We spent a little while in the Moselle valley, one of the tiniest wine regions in Europe. The weather felt more like August than October, but harvest was in full swing.
Another shot of the Moselle valley, and the rolling, vine-covered hills. We camped down near the river below at a marina/campground.
This was the outdoor kitchen and bathroom at another campsite in the Mullerthal region. It was chilly there, and we became celebrities among the other campers because we were brave enough to sleep in a tent. The campground provided sliced bread every morning, and I remember the line of old men at the office waiting to pick up their loaves.
This is also in the Mullerthal region. Although the grass was still green, we were beginning to see frost in the mornings and the wildflowers were dying. Here, along a riverbank, a few blossoms survived. The houses in the background are actually across the water, in Germany.
This picture was taken on a sunny afternoon down in "the Grund" section of Luxembourg City.
We attended two festivals in Luxembourg - the huge, overwhelming Nutfest and the smaller, more intimate apple fest, pictured above.
Luxembourg is obsessed with cleanliness. There were plastic gloves provided at gas stations, so that you didn't have to touch the pumps. These dog-related bags were all over, even in tiny hamlets and on the outskirts of towns.
We stayed at a pretty hotel in Vianden, and never ate at the celebrated restaurant attached. The walls were crowded with awards and pictures - the kitchen had a long and illustrious history, but the dining room was always empty.

See all Luxembourg posts...

26 December 2010

CRF: Germany

"CRF" is not a crime show you've never heard of, it stands for "Cutting Room Floor." Below are some of our favorite pics that never made the blog. We figured we'd reminisce a little while we're back home. We return to Europe on New Year's Eve.
This was at the botanic garden in Bamberg. There wasn't much in bloom, but this little girl was still game to explore it all. Her father kindly (or unkindly) lent her his umbrella as she wandered through the plant maze.
Tour groups made their way through the narrow streets of Bamberg with their own umbrellas.We like to call sights like this "Day Drinking." This particular occurrence was in Berlin. You may think the reader's companion is merely sunning herself or taking a nap, but we know better. Merlin posted a great gallery of pictures of Mühlhausen doors during our time in the small town. Being as this building had a gate instead of an intricate doorframe, it didn't make the cut. This building just seemed so quintessentially German. It felt like a time warp just looking at it, especially with the old fashioned street lamp in front and the name "Adolf" plastered on.
Through this archway was Mühlhausen's main square, which was really just a large empty space. I imagine it's filled with a Christmas market right now.
With the way Germans drive (crazy fast) we were surprised not to see more of these roadside memorials. This one was in Bamberg and honored a man who looked about our age.
This is in Nowhere Specific-Everywhere, Germany. Potato au gratin, schnitzel, wursts. Germany was amazing, but we don't miss the food.Germany was the first country that we really got to explore small towns in the countryside, as it was our first full country with our car. When we'd see amazingly small tractors like this right on a paved street in suburbia, we would look at each other and feel like all the work it took to get Nilla over to Europe was well worth it.

24 December 2010

CRF: Belgium

"CRF" is not a crime show you've never heard of, it stands for "Cutting Room Floor." Below are some of our favorite pics that never made the blog. We figured we'd reminisce a little while we're back home. We return to Europe on New Year's Eve. It's so easy to walk around Ghent, snapping photos and then discover that you've damn near filled your camera card in a single day. Just look at the place. Photos like these helped us decide to skip Bruges. Our hard drives wouldn't have been able to take it. Ghent's centre is actually the largest carfree area in Belgium, adding to its charm. It's so much nicer taking photos when you're not waiting for a bus to move out of the darn way.
This was at the flea market in Brussels. Nothing like seeing someone wear a hat fashioned from the comics page.
This was on our epic bike trip to Castle Horst. The road ran right through family farms. We pulled aside to let at least one tractor pass us, at least two very serious looking bicyclists, and a few men with dogs. As the weather began to get cold and the days began to get dark recently, we've found ourselves remembering this bike ride more and more.
Down by the fish market in Mechelen, there were a row of bars and taverns. We felt really proud of ourselves for snapping this picture of our bartender without her noticing. (This was before we became a bit more unabashed about taking portraits).
An electric lawnmower!
And then there was beer. So. Much. Beer. Just recently, we went to a Belgian bar in Riga, Latvia and were so glad to be tasting the good stuff again. On the other side of the room, a woman, who had clearly been tasting to vigorously, had to be lifted up from her chair and carried out of the establishment by her friends. Oh, Belgian beer and its average alcohol content of 8% abv.

CRF: Holland

"CRF" is not a crime show you've never heard of, it stands for "Cutting Room Floor." Below are some of our favorite pics that never made the blog. We figured we'd reminisce a little while we're back home. We return to Europe on New Year's Eve.

See all Holland posts...