Zürich in Festive Mode

 Sechselaüten is Nigh

This coming weekend is Sechselaüten, the end of winter festival. Two enormous parades, one for children on Sunday and one for adults on Monday, with medieval guild costumes, hundreds of horses and carriages, tens of thousands of flowers, and music will fill the city center for two days. So guild flags are up and a clean city is getting cleaner. 

Oma’s Garden

 In Bloom

I was here yesterday. A neglected and unlived-in garden, but still blooming bravely. The collection of rhododendrons are just starting to put out flowers.

Bleeding Heart

Tulip

The kitchen patio

Evergreen Candy Tuft

Laurustinus

Primula

Vinca minor

Japanese Skimmia

Neighbor: Brahms House

Oregon Grape

Siberian Bugloss

Hellebore/ Lenten Rose

A peek at the neighbor’s garden

Exchorda Racemosa

Snowy Mespilus

All about to be sold, and maybe torn out. 

Balkans 4

 Ethno Village

After leaving Novi Sad, and crossing the border, we came to an “ethno village,” where we spent the night. It had some transplanted old buildings from farms and churches and villages. The trees were in bloom. Black swans were on the ponds. And it had some handsome goats. 

This is a bathroom. Lovely stone work. 

This fellow was testing for a Darwin Award. He was immediately thereafter bitten. 

View from my hotel room. 

My balcony. I would have happily stayed a few days to sketch and paint….

To be continued…..

Easter Blooms

 Christ is Risen

My next amaryllis is re-blooming, just in time for Orthodox Easter today (by Julian calendar). 

Blessed Sunday.

Balkans III

 Novi Sad Fortress

This place was one of the bulwarks against invaders into the rest of Europe. The Serbs have fought long and hard for their own survival, and in doing so, to keep others from encroaching westward. They were not always successful, being under Ottoman rule for a period of time, but they are back to their Orthodox heritage. 

The clock tower with the minute and hour hands reversed, so ships on the river could see the time.

Part of the defensive structures.

Always locks on the railings

Old trees along the fortress.

The “Monica Bridge” - one of numerous infrastructure things that President Clinton had blown up to distract from his escapades. 

More of the fortress

The whole underground is tunneled with defenses, and these chimneys let out the fumes from the gunpowder during shooting down below. (The interior was being worked on, so we couldn’t go in this time.)

To be continued…