A Very Busy Week...

Our friend Chris has been with us this last week and we've been doing lots of exploring and sight seeing. Chris has a good sense of direction and so with a map she's been out and about exploring Alessandria. We went to Genoa on Monday and had a great day exploring this very ancient city. Chris and I took many pictures and below I show you my best....

Scenes from the train...always lots to see... and miss....

Happy friends in Genoa

The cemetery in Genoa is FANTASTIC and this gentle angelman was keeping an eye on us to make sure that we were not having too much fun...

A friendly face....

that only has eyes for YOU...

She was playing "Canta No Llores"....

He offered Chris a deal that she could refuse....

Alas, our time has flown by. Tomorrow, Thursday, we all head out to Milan where Chris will catch a flight back to Seattle and Kim and I will head to Vienna. We'll be in Vienna and Hungary until April 20th when we fly back to Milan and connect (at the airport) with our friend John. Then Kim, John and I fly to Rome for three days and then back to Alessandria...All of this travel is adding up to fitting in our last travels....we have 2 months left.....

Palm Sunday in Alessandria....

(Don't forget to double click to have a better view).

Landstuhl Cemetery

Nanstein Castle...

"The landmark of the the Sickingenstadt Landstuhl is the Nanstein Castle. It was erected in 1150 by Empereor Friedrich Barbarossa above a 15 meter high sandstone ledge. It is the place where Franz von Sickingen, one of the last knights, died in 1523. The Castle contains building material from five centuries. In the summer it serves as the stage for performances of the Landstuhl Castle Plays."

A sighting of a castle ghost!

And someone running to escape from the very cold, damp, dark dungeon...

More of Landstuhl....

Landstuhl is "at the crossroads of ancient transport routes in the middle of an endearing landscape. The history of Landstuhl is a microcosm of the history of Europe and traces are still visible everywhere from Roman burial sites" to the town you'll see below.

Lynn and Susan live in an ideal location; right in town where everything is very walkable.

View from Kirchberg hill.

View from Nanstein Castle.

Not quite Roman but looks old....

"Bismarckturm" built in 1900 on Kirchberg hill.

"Capel of the Cross but is popularly known as the "old Chapel". It is the Gothic choir of the old medieval parish church of St. Andreas. The nave was torn down at the beginning of the 19th century" and this is what remains.

Singing from his heart...

These are "filigree ornamental frescoes"...

And, of course, there was a cemetery next to the chapel...

Most people in this cemetery died between 1942-1944...

Pretty window decorations....

Someone has been hard at work....

I am sure there's a story to this but alas, I don't know it.

Great looking buildings; such a different kind of architecture than what we've been used to seeing in Italy....

Happy travelers...

Happy friends...(that's Susan).

A WWI monument; we never saw any WWII monuments....

A sweet local...

Remember those shutters earlier on in the blog....

Susan took us on a very nice walk....

Someone who is as interested in garden art as we are!

Landstuhl Base Tour...

It's a very common thing to hear the very large planes overhead; in fact, as I write this, I hear a plane either coming into or leaving the base...When coming in, they are often carrying wounded soldiers. When leaving, perhaps they are headed to the US or "down range" aka to Iraq or Afghanistan. This plane is coming in for a landing....

Pretty self explanatory...

Lynn gave us a tour all over the base and we stopped by the USO--an amazing and critical service. We toured the hospital and for me, it was a teary experience. In the US, the war seems so distant and "theoretical". Here we see all the service men and women of all ages wearing their fatigues and it's a sight to behold. Very touching and thought provoking.

Please be grateful for what you have each day....

Thank you.