Look Up, Look Down – Großes Walsertal

I haven’t taken part in Look Up, Look Down for a while, and today seemed as good a day as any to join in again.
This is an old photo, from when I still lived in Austria. It was taken from up in the mountains of the Großes Walsertal (a Tal is a valley, so technically the Großes Walsertal is somewhere at the bottom, but I couldn’t tell you the name of the mountain!). Is anyone else reminded of The Land Before Time when looking at this scenery?

This photo was taken at the end of May, and it was actually quite sunny down in the valley (although some stubborn bits of snow were still hanging on). It was freezing up in the mountains, though!

To take part in the Look Up, Look Down challenge and see all the other entires, check out Travel With Intent’s blog post.

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Look Up, Look Down – Signs

This morning, my train was full of people dressed as monsters and snake charmers and ladybirds, all drinking beer and wine at 7:30 a.m. I assume they were all on their way to Cologne for schmutziger Donnerstag (Wikipedia tells me it’s actually schmotziger Donnerstag, but in my region it’s schmutzig!), aka Fat Thursday – not to be confused with Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras). It’s the last Thursday before lent and part of the Fastnacht/Fasching/Carnival season. I’m not actually sure what schmutziger Donnerstag is for… apart from yet another excuse to wear costumes and get drunk. I would have tried to get some sneaky photos for you, but I fed to the quiet carriage with all the other commuters. The Fasching celebraters all had beer, wine and – most annoyingly – bells! Not what you want to put up with on the way to work. So instead, here’s my entry for the weekly Look Up – Look Down photo challenge with Travel With Intent.

When out and about, I often take photos of interesting signs and random features that I spot high up on the walls of buildings. All of the photos below were taken in Weil der Stadt.

The writing on the building says “Schwarzer Adler”, Black Eagle

Do you ever find yourself taking photos of random interesting signs? Which of the above is your favourite?

Look up, Look down: Madeira

I’m right in the middle of my Madeira posts, and I didn’t want to abandon the tales of my trip for look up, look down. Fortunately, I did manage to take some photos looking both up and down in Madeira, so I can take part in the challenge and still continue telling you about my holiday.

The first photo was taken from Eira do Serrado, a viewing point just beside our hotel. The town/village thing you can see surrounded by all the mountains is Curral Das Freiras, Valley of the Nuns.

Curral das Freiras viewed from Eira do Serrado

My second photo shows some of the fabulous flora that is abundant on the island. It was taken in the tropical garden in Monte… I just love the way the red looks against the blue of the sky!

And finally another photo of the chilli stand that I posted some pictures of yesterday. This shot was taken from the lower level of the market, looking up at the stand.

Have a photo that would be perfect for the theme Look Up, Look Down? Check out Travel With Intent’s blog post to join in and see all the other entries!

Look Up, Look Down: Christmas Pyramid

Apologies for the two photo posts in a row – there hasn’t been much time recently to write anything real!
For this week’s Look Up, Look Down, I decided to go with a photo that’s rather appropriate for the time of year. It was taken at the Christmas market in Ettlingen (which is called “Sternlesmarkt” – Star Market. How cute is that?) in 2010.

Have a photo that you think would be perfect for the Look Up, Look Down challenge? Check out Travel With Intent’s blog post to find out how to join in the fun!

Look Up, Look Down – The Vierordtbad Tower

For today’s look up, look down entry, I’m using an old photo that was taken right here in Karlsruhe. It shows the tower of the Vierordtbad swim baths at sunset.

The “tower” is actually a chimney, and all that remains of the former thermal power station, which provided heat for both the Vierordtbad and the neighbouring Tullabad. The rest was torn down in 1989 when the Gartenhalle was built – that green roof that you can see in front of the tower on this photo is the Gartenhalle, which is part of the congress centre. Here’s another photo of the chimney/tower taken on a different day and from a different perspective:

Got a photo that would be perfect for the theme? Check out Travel With Intent’s blog post to join the challenge and view everyone else’s entries.

Look Up, Look Down: Dublin Garden of Remembrance

Since it was Remembrance Day this week, I thought it would be appropriate to use some pictures of Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance for my entry to the Look Up, Look Down challenge. The two photos below were both taken looking down on the garden, one from near the entrance and one from the steps at the far end.

The Garden of Remembrance is dedicated to the memory of “all those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish freedom”. The main feature of the park is a pool of water in the shape of the cross. On the bottom of the pool, there are pictures of shields and weapons – in Celtic custom, after a battle it was custom to break up weapons and throw them in the river to signify the end of hostilities.

Think you have a photo that would be perfect for the Look Up, Look Down theme?
Check out Travel With Intent’s blog post to join in and see what everyone else has come up with this week.

Look Up, Look Down: The Katzenturm

Today’s look up, look down photo was taken in Feldkirch in Austria and shows the Katzenturm. Those of you who speak any German whatsoever may realise that this literally translates as “Cats’ Tower”. Sadly, there were never any actual felines in the tower… the “Katzen” were probably a type of canon. The bell tower of the Katzenturm contains the largest bell in Vorarlberg, and sixth largest in Austria.

Got a photo that you think would be perfect for the Look Up, Look Down theme? Check out Travel With Intent’s blog post to link up!

Look Up, Look Down – Karlsruhe

Today’s look up, look down entry was inspired by Alex at Ifs, Ands & Butts who recently posted some gorgeous autumn photos taken from the top of Karlsruhe’s castle… which reminded me that I’ve been up there as well. The following photos were taken in June 2010, when I decided to be a tourist in my own (adopted) town because I had a friend visiting.

Those who still live in Karlsruhe or have been to visit recently will notice that the area in front of the castle on the above photo looks quite different now…
Also, you can almost see where I live in that shot. Not that I’m telling you where I live though 😉
Here’s one taken from further round the tower, looking down on the castle itself:

And here’s the Schlosspark from above. It’s practically empty because it was a week day morning, so everyone was at work, school or university (or in the case of some students quite possibly sleeping!)

To see how other people have interpreted the theme and join in yourself, check out Travel With Intent’s blog post.

To see the same views in autumn, check out Alex’s blog post. Her photos are also much better than mine! (These ones were taken with my old digital camera which was quite frankly crap!)

Look Up, Look Down: Edinburgh

I wasn’t sure what to post for this week’s Look Up, Look Down, so I started randomly going through the photos on my computer and came across this one from January 2011, when Jan an I spent New Year in Edinburgh. It was taken from Holyrood Park, looking down on the city. At the back of the photo you can see Edinburgh Castle.

Here’s another photo, taken from the same park/hill. This time, you can see Holyrood Palace.

To see other interpretations of the challenge and join in yourself, check out Travel With Intent’s blog post. Coincidentially, she has also used views of Edinburgh this week – I swear I didn’t know that last night when I uploaded the photos ready to write this post today!

Want even more Edinburgh? Take a look at this post that I wrote earlier this year.

Look Up, Look Down – Deutsches Eck

Today is a holiday here, for German Reunification Day, and what better day to honour that than by using some very German photos for today’s Look Up, Lood Down entry. The following photos were taken in Koblenz at the Deutsches Eck (German corner). Both photos have featured on the blog before, in my post about our trip to Koblenz, but I’m sure I’ll be forgiven for reusing them 😉

Photo one was taken from the top of the Kaiser Wilhelm monument, looking down on the Deutsches Eck… the point where the Rhein and Mosel rivers meet.

Deutsches Eck, viewed from the Kaiser Wilhelm monument

And photo two is the opposite view… a picture taken looking up at the Kaiser Wilhelm monument from the Deutsches Eck:

Kaiser Wilhelm I

Do you have a photo that would be just perfect for the theme of look up, look down? Check out Travel With Intent’s blog post to see other people’s interpretations and join in with the challenge!