Return of a Goddess

T'he Louvre's Denon wing was not the same during the last year.  On top of the Daru stairs the Winged Victory Goddess of Samothrace was missing. She had been removed for a substantial renovation. The vigorous motion of her landing on the prow of a ship trapped in her garments and wings makes us forget that it is a Greek marble sculpture from the 2nd century BC. 

In the first moment she seems somehow smaller now because the bulky pedestal which she was placed on was removed.  Go and judge for yourself but we thought it is an improvement.

http://goddessnike.com/goddess_nike_gallery.php

Fireworks

Last Sunday during the World Cup final between Argentina and Germany there was a full moon quietly hanging in the sky despite the world wide excitement.  At 11 pm,  just when the overtime started, the opening fireworks for Bastille day started too. I tried to watch both! Outside from the balcony and inside on the TV.

Fireworks of joy after the crucial winning goal by the German player Mario Goetze!

The following evening we watched for 40 minutes the majestic fireworks at the Eiffel tower 

in the company of 400 000 happy spectators.

http://youtu.be/dRjHJCbKWQA

An Impressive Mosaic

Above the altar inside Sacre-Coeur in Paris, France's largest mosaic of 575 square yards is installed.
Next to the figure of Jesus Christ revealing his sacred heart stands Joan d'Arc and then priests offering a model of this basilica.  This is just a small section of the large mosaic.

I wonder if the mosaic artists were aware that at the time of the construction - 1875 to 1919 - painters living in Montmartre like Renoir, van Gogh, Picasso and Braque were busy finding new ways of expressing themselves like Impressionism, Expressionism and Cubism.

Wandering around the apse, there is the large bronze sculpture of St. Pierre and if one touches the right foot of this Saint and looks up, there is a grey bearded God looking at you.

This touching gesture is a highlight for many devout visitors.  That the saintly right foot has become a 'paw' I see as an expression of the many believers and their comfort in the Holy Trinity.

http://www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com/english/visit/article/panoramic-virtual-tour-of

Rosy times

We are coming to the end of a three months stay in Munich and therefore we visited once again the botanical garden. A favorite place for us. Remembering the spring flowering, we wanted to check out what there is in bloom now.   

The china Parrot of the Nymphenburg manufacture had not changed!

But dense green foliage is now dominant and the colors of summer plants are just on their way to bloom.

Then we came to the rose garden and found all shades of yellow, red and pink.  Full in bloom they spread their fragrance and draw human noses closer, competing dangerously with busy bees. 

(If YOU want to come closer to roses, click on:

http://rosomanes.blogspot.de 

No bees but then no fragrance either)

Ship Ahoy!

Just a half hour by City train from Munich and we were at the shore of Lake Starnberg waiting for a ship to take us on a lake cruise.  Only a wait of ten minutes and we could start our one hour trip.
http://www.panomatics.com/nextgen/muc/seenschifffahrt/starnbergersee/

The captain pointed out the castle where Princess Sissi - later Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary - was born Christmas 1837. Later he pointed out the wooden cross marking the place where Ludwig II of Bavaria drowned June 13, 1886.  This date still is commemorated by the Bavarians.

Granted, the blue and white Bavarian flag waving proudly from the stern is much prettier then the German black/red/gold but Bavaria is now part of the German Federal Republic.

Jewelry-Box-Diplomacy

The broken glass ceiling in form of a pin and owned by Mrs. Albright.  So appropriate for her to wear it.  She certainly broke through when she was the first women to become Secretary of State.

This evening, Madeleine Albright will speak at Wellesley College, her alma mater.  All tickets are sold and I could not go because of packing my suitcase.  Curious, we went nevertheless to see the exhibition of all her 200 pins in the Davis Museum http://www.wellesley.edu/davismuseum/whats-on/current/node/42147

What we thought?  As she is a Wellesley graduate it is fitting, but otherwise it is more an exhibition for the Smithsonian Institute.  Most interesting were the pins which had a photo of her wearing one as a diplomatic nudge.  Her book is probably more interesting but the bookstore at Wellesley was closed.

Hot Street Food

In France we are not surprised to see customers standing in line to buy fresh baguettes. But in NY it struck us as odd when we saw a never ending line of patient (how surprising!) New Yorkers waiting to pick up a meal of chicken and rice.

http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2012/10/best-halal-cart-53rd-street-6th-avenue-street-food.html

Amazed we watched the Halal Guys preparing and selling the 'platter' in a frantic but controlled way. 

Now, back in Boston we learned that there are two groups of people: those who have eaten 'the platter' and those who have not.  Regretful we have to admit to belong to the latter…….. 

When we saw the hot dog vendor pushing his cart to a better location it should have been a hint.

 The New York hot dog topped with mustard and sauerkraut is so yesterday.