Striezelmarkt

The Striezelmarkt in Dresden opens today at 4 p.m. It has been held since 1434. 

The name comes from the Dresdner Stollen, the traditional Christmas kake. And there are a lot of other Christmas markets waiting... I'm really looking forward to them. I'm not going today... but it won't be long :-)))

I took the photos a few days ago. On the one hand I visited the art exhibition and on the other hand the open studio day of the Dresden artists and I took a few photos.

View from the Striezelmarkt to the castle, on the right is the Culture Palace, inaugurated in 1969, which is home to the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra.

The castle also houses the copper engraving cabinet. There I discovered this engraving that was made after Raphael's 1483-1520 "Sistine Madonna" in 1809, which can be seen in the Dresden Zwinger.

But my walk through the city takes me further to the Elbe and across the Brühlische Terrasse, where the Albertinum and the art academy are located.

We look at the end of the princely procession - 102 meters long, consisting of 23,000 tiles made of Meissen porcelain - which ends with Prince George, who later became king. King George only reigned for two years, his son Friedrich August III followed him to the throne in 1904. In contrast to his father, he was very popular... he abdicated in 1918. He was the last king of Saxony.

I'm sewing my binding - it's almost eight meters to sew - and two needles have already broken. Dear sewing community, what kind of sewing needle do you use?

Otherwise there are nice walks... the snow has disappeared... I'll show you Christmas sewing in the next post.

Happy end of November to all of you. On Sunday :-) we traditionally hang up the Advent star on the 1st of Advent. Wonderful.

Hug from Viola

Holiday photos - summer 2024 - IV.

Nymans Garden in West Sussex was created by three generations of the Messel family from the late 19th century. The German-style half-timbered house was replaced in 1915 by Leonard Messel with a stone manor house in the late Gothic Tudor style and the garden was expanded. From 1930 onwards the garden reached its peak and was regularly opened to the public. In 1947 a fire destroyed parts of the house. In 1953 the garden and 111 hectares of woodland were bequeathed to the National Trust. 

We have pure sunshine - and I go summer skirt and spaghetti strap shirt. The garden is great. We are thrilled. 

And we love the National Trust staff, who are always available to provide expert information and are full of friendliness. 

We visited seven gardens on this holiday and were completely thrilled with every garden. It was always a pleasure to explore a garden and a relaxation at the same time.

Our second was Sheffield Garden in East Sussex. Sheffield Park has a special cricketing heritage with its beautiful lily ponds and a variety of waterfowl, woodland walks and small clearings. Lord Sheffield organized and financed cricket tours to Australia in 1891-92. This trophy is still being played for in Australia today. I was happy to be able to visit the cricket field in the park.

It's so nice - isn't it :-) but that should be it for now with the review of the summer vacation... as we approach the beautiful Christmas month with its amenities. It's wonderful to enjoy this time.

Yesterday I was offered mulled wine and this morning there were the first snowflakes... and the Christmas crafts are underway.

Hug from Viola 

 Holiday photos - summer 2024 - III.

Straight from the cliffs in Dover we drove to Canterbury. We were driving our own car and this is significant in that the steering wheel is on the wrong side for the UK (the left side) and that is completely unsuitable for left-hand driving. However, it is manageable with a passenger, i.e. the passenger - i.e. me - has to look to the right to see whether the road is clear :-))

Canterbury is located on the River Stour in the county of Kent in southeast England. In the Middle Ages it was a place of pilgrimage. The cathedral (built in 597 AD) is the center of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion and its stonework and stained glass windows incorporate Gothic and Romanesque elements. 

Its old city walls surround the medieval center with cobbled streets and half-timbered houses.

We spent two nights in Canterbury, the weather was pleasant and we strolled through the streets and alleys and of course visited the Cathedral - incredible in its furnishings and as a structure - and the Roman Museum. The onward journey took us once again along the city wall - which, as we learned, was built by the Romans.

Our next destination is the county of Sussex and we visit the well-preserved castle ruins of Bodiam Castle in wonderful sunshine.

From the towers you have a wonderful view of the complex, the nearby wine fields and farms.

We were given a fitting farewell to the moated castle... and were really looking forward to our first English garden - we chose Nymans Garden from the variety of gardens in England.

This outlook should suffice for now. I'll tell you about it in the next post. 

In my own garden, the work was done before the onset of frost, the last flowers were picked and the bird house was put up. I'm prepared... it's not far until December, the sweet, delicious month of Christmas. 

A hug for you.