The Mdina gate photo is terrific. (I am a complete fool for lions...)
osso, Mdina is an Arab name, but not Arab in origin. It was the first capital of Malta. I think it also has something to do with the Knights of St John.
Like Osso, I love lions. The entrance gate to Mdina is irresitible--I would have to enter just to satisfy my curiosity. I also love the narrow, winding street. Bob was also admiring your photos and said that the winding street reminded him of Lisbon, except there would be flower boxes on all the houses.
The Knights of Malta are an interesting group. Another thread on the Knights would make for interesting reading, but I'm not the one to start. Here are some more links:
http://www.knightsofmalta.com/history/history.html
Paul Marcinkus God's Banker
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/issues/2003-02-13/news/nelson.html
General Catholic church information, espcially new, right-wing policies in Latin America.
http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=863
Lots of connections in Knights of Malta:
http://www.mosquitonet.com/~prewett/caqsmom25.2.html
Oh, I am definitely looking at the pictures, c.i.! Keep 'em coming! They're wonderful!
Diane, The "history" article is long, but very interesting. It provides some information I already had and new ones that expanded on what I learned during the past couple of months. It also corrected some of my misconceptions about the Order. Good article. I'll read the others at a later time. Thanks for sharing them.
Great doors, arches, and narrow(!) streets. I wonder what the inscription above the main gate says? Do you remember the gist of it, c.i.?
Believe me, I'll read those links from Diane!
I suppose Walter or I should start a separate thread. I am in a rest phase at the moment. But, over the weekend...
And thanks, Walter, for clueing me into the fact that there are levels (with different descriptive words) to describe such organizations.
The third segment of this journey:
Amsterdam: The city of canals
Our chunnel ride from London to Brussels was quite uneventful, but it was fun to ride in the first class coach to enjoy the extra comfort with food and drinks.
The train was delayed, and our arrival in Brussels made our connection train to Amsterdam tenuous - less than five minutes to spare. I read track 5 on the board, so I ran to the train and hopped on. dys and Diane didn't follow me! As the door closed, and the train started to move, I asked the conductor if this was the train to Amsterdam. He said, "no, we're headed to Koln" (Cologne). Ooops! Lucky for me, he was a manager on the system, and wrote something on my ticket, and told me to get off at the first stop, an hour away, and take the return train back to Brussels Midi?'s ticket office. After the one hour ride, and an almost an hours wait for the return to Brussels, I arrived back in Brussels at about 7:30PM. When I went to the ticket office, the agent put a stamp on my ticket for the next train to Amsterdam, and they didn't charge me anything for this extra round trip half way to Cologne. Dys and Diane missed this extra adventure by not sticking with me, but I arrived at my hotel in Amsterdam at 11PM; they at 5PM. I took a quick shower and jumped into bed. I was in dreamland in a couple of minutes after laying my head on the pillow.
My wife and I visited Amsterdam in 1984, so everything was "new" for me on this trip. The primary purpose for this trip was to visit the Van Gogh and Rembrandt Museums, so I felt three nights would be sufficient. My hotel was located only a couple of blocks from the main train station, and in the Red Light District. Dys and Diane stayed at the Eden Hotel by the Amstel canal.
My first destination in the morning was the Van Gogh Museum, and when I arrived, a long line was already waiting for the doors to open. I was within the first 25-30 patrons waiting to purchase tickets, but by the time the doors opened about thirty minutes later, the line was about a block long. The doors open at 10AM. The Van Gogh Museum houses the largest collection of works by Vincent Van Gogh with more than 200 paintings, including famous masterpieces we see on posters all over the world. It was a thrill to see the Potato Eaters again. My wife and I saw this painting when they had a special Van Gogh exhibit at the Los Angeles Museum of Art many years ago. I especially enjoy Van Gogh's self portraits which shows his real skill of using long strokes and use of color. The first floor of the museum shows how Van Gogh developed in his skills with his paintings in chronological order. Works from the collection of 19th century art are on display on the ground and third floors. The second floor shows a changing presentations of drawings and graphic art. I purchased a poster of his "tree blossoms" with "Van Gogh Museum" printed on the bottom. It's already framed and hanging in the hallway to our bedroom. My visit to the Van Gogh Museum satisfied 95 percent of my visit to Amsterdam.
Museum Het Rembrandt-Huis is a four story narrow house that Rembrandt purchased in 1639 when he was at the height of his fame. The museum owns an almost complete collection of his world-famous etchings which is displayed on a rotation basis. There are some oil paintings, about a dozen or so by Rembrandt, but none that I recognized. Not that I'm that familiar with Rembrandt's paintings, since I was never that big a fan. The museum allows photographs without flash, so I did take some pictures.
One other treat that dys, Diane and I enjoyed was our visit to the Keukenhof Garden in Lisse, about a thirty minute drive out of Amsterdam. We did our tour through Lindbergh Excursions. Talk about a profusion of colors and beauty, this is the place to spend a nice afternoon. We were given over three hours to roam the garden to enjoy the vivid colors of the tulips and other flowers. Picture taking is a must at this venue.
On May 6, Friday, Walter drove from Lippstadt to Amsterdam to provide us with transportation to his home town, and with several stops along the way for rest and lunch. But this segment is for another day.
Thank you, Trainhopper, I enjoyed that...
c.i.,
I read all your photos....... and your written histories too........
All too very interesting.
Thanks for the ones with people. And is that the back of your head in the "poster" pic?
That "head" belongs to one of the fellows in our tour group. Glad you're finding this forum interesting.
Tak, I really don't think we could possibly keep up with you! You really are amazing.
Dys and I got to see a demonstration of the etching process at the Renbrandt House. I hadn't realized how complicated the process is or how thick the "ink' is. Do you know if he had any helpers? What a long and involved process--and he was painting as well.
cicerone imposter wrote:husker, Send me your email address by PM ofcoarse, and I'll be happy to send it full size. I believe I lost your email address when a virus attacked my computer last year.
I do not have pm access to reply. sorry
This is a special painting by Rembrandt. Try to figure out the "mystery."
Four pictures from Keukenhof Garden/Park.
a.
