Plitvička Lakes

Just one of many waterfalls in this beautiful national park in northern Croatia : Plitvička, HZ

We're off on a road trip again. This time, we're going to Croatia to visit Plitvice Lakes. Maya was there in the late 1980s and always talks about how beautiful it is. And she was right! Just a couple of photos from one of the most beautiful natural wonders I've ever seen. To see more photos from this beauty, click here.

The colors were so amazing. Bright greens, deep turquoise blues. : Plitvička Lake, HZ

The water was so clear. Just one example here. : Plitvička, HZ

Photo copyright: Janet M Kincaid, 5/2012

Travels with Charlie: Pit Stop

Charlie at the La Broye rest stop in Switzerland

Back on April 21, Seattle-based friend, Sheryl R., landed in Zurich, Switzerland, for the start of a nearly three-week stay in Europe. We told her, if she could get a flight to Basel or Zurich, we'd pick her up. She managed that and we followed through. Doing so required a road trip from Geneva to Zurich. It was Charlie's first time traveling more than 30 minutes from home in a car since his road trip from the puppy mill in Italy to the animal rescue in Switzerland. Here he is at the rest stop at La Broye, near Estayver-le-Lac, Switzerland.

Chillin' in the grass, dachshund-style!

Photo copyright: Janet M Kincaid, 4/11

Rouge

The Moulin Rouge : Pigalle, Paris, FR

After visiting the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, we walked down to the Moulin Rouge (French for red windmill) to snap a few pictures of this Paris icon. To see a few more photos--some taken in August last year and the rest taken last week--go here.

Photo copyright: Janet M Kincaid, 1/10

Sacré-Cœur

Basilique du Sacré-Cœur : Montmarte, Paris, FR

This is the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur (The Basilica of the Sacred Heart) in Montmartre, Paris. It was our first stop on the day my sister and I arrived in the City of Lights. The basilica is built in the Romanesque-Byzantine style and features a number of beautiful mosaics in the interior. For a mere 5 euros, you can climb 300 narrow, claustrophobic stairs to the top of the large dome and enjoy panoramic views of Paris. This beautiful church features two bronze statues at the front of the building. This one is of Joan d'Arc.

To see more photos, go here and see additional pictures I took this week as well as photos I took in August when Maya and I met up with fellow photobloggers Peter and Virginia (who lives in Birmingham, Alabama, but has an ongoing love affair with Paris) and climbed to the top of this Paris beauty.

Photo copyright: Janet M Kincaid, 1/10

Caption This...

"This is hardly what I had in mind when I asked for a more modern pulpit."

I think Petrea, over at Pasadena Daily Photo, uses photos like this for her Zen Monday feature. I'm posting this a little late, but thought I'd throw out a similar challenge to my readers. So, how would you caption this photo?

Updated: 1 February 2010. The winner of the captioning contest is an old friend from high school, Laura Sumison. See her caption above. The runner-up was my friend, Hilary Muzingo, who posted her contribution on Facebook.  Her caption was "I've heard of 'Stairway to Heaven', but this??"

Thanks to everyone who participated! Be sure to visit this week's captioning event here.

Photo copyright: Janet M Kincaid, 1/10

La Choucroute

La Choucroute before... : Bergheim, FR

In addition to visiting Basel, we also spent a day out in the French countryside in the Alsace-Lorraine. We went with our friends, Scott and Diana, to a fabulous restaurant in the tiny town of Bergheim called the Winstub du Sommelier. They serve extraordinary food, including the Alsatian culinary wonder known as La Choucroute. It consists of fresh sauerkraut, potatoes, sausages, bacon, and ham and it is yummy! It's especially good on a cold day. Here are two shots taken before and after!

La Choucroute after... : Bergheim, FR

Photo copyright: Janet M Kincaid, 1/10

Basilisk

Basilisk Column : Altstadt Basel, CH

The mascot of Basel is a basilisk and you find them all over the city. This little guy was in the Altstadt. To see more photos of Baselstadt, visit my Picasa Web Album. There are photos from this past weekend, as well as one's taken over a few trips last year.

Photo copyright: Janet M Kincaid, 1/10

Baseler Rathaus doch wieder...

Basler Rathaus Tower : Basel, CH

This weekend, my sister and I went to Basel to visit my friends, Scott and Diana. I know I've posted photos of this building before, but it is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful municipal buildings in Europe. Here, once again, is the Baseler Rathaus. To see more photos from this weekend, go here.

Dating back to the 16th century, these frescoes are among the finest features of this beautiful building : Basel, CH

Photo copyright: Janet M Kincaid, 1/10

Gasthof Falken

Gasthof Falken : Aarberg, CH

Half way between Kallnach and Lyss is the town of Aarberg. It's a quaint little place. Last fall, I featured photos of it here. My sister and I drove through again after leaving Kallnach and heading to Lyss. This is the Gasthof Falken. To see more photos of Aarberg, go here.

Photo copyright: Janet M Kincaid, 1/10

Ancestral

Willy and Werner Marti : Kallnach, CH

Yesterday afternoon, my sister and I travelled through the villages of Kallnach and Lyss, Switzerland, on the way to Basel. In the 1850s, our ancestors, the Bangerters and the Martis, emigrated from these little towns not far from Neuchatel and just inside German-speaking Switzerland to the United States. Their final destination: Utah.

The Martis in our family departed from Kallnach, but the family name is still quite prominent there. The top picture is of Willy and Werner Marti, two brothers who own a Holzbau (wood working) shop. They told me that most their (and probably our) ancestors had been Landwirtsmaenner (farmers). Unfortunately, the town hall was closed for lunch and we couldn't stick around to pick up additional information the Marti brothers told us about, but I'll go back in a few weeks and see what more I can learn.

Burial place of another Martha Bangerter : Lyss, CH
(Click on image to enlarge)

Lyss was a much larger town, but their city hall was closed, too, so we went to the Friedhof (cemetery) to see if we could find any Bangerters. We found several headstones with the name Bangerter. The one that stood out the most to us was the one for Martha Bangerter. The irony of that find is, our grandfather, Eldon Bangerter, married a woman named Martha June Harvey. Like Kallnach, I'll go back to Lyss and see if I can find out more about my ancestors.

Click on the links here to see more pictures of Kallnach and gravestones in Lyss.

Photo copyright: Janet M Kincaid, 1/10