Internet sites and blogs I like to browse...

I LOVE the internet; I have no time for people, except people in charge of children, who bemoan the downsides of the internet and electronic media in general. 

Electronic media like wheelbarrows, bikes and duct tape can add TREMENDOUSLY to the ease of living life.  Full Stop.  Electronic media only takes over your life if you chose to let it. Not my problem, and indeed not yours either.  If you are one of the members of humanity who is so ´inflicted´; it is  your choice.  So now that you have all heard my take on the internet and humanity´s experience with same....

..The following are my favorite internet sites - at this moment in time at least.

Built Dublin  http://builtdublin.com/http://builtdublin.com/ was created, clearly with love, by Lisa Cassidy a student of architecture.  The site presents delightful architectural nooks and crannies around Dublin.  One look in here and you are hooked!

This next site is all about love & peace and get on your bike.
http://www.eurovelo.org/http://www.eurovelo.org/  
The site links to 15 cycle trails developed, or are being developed all over Europe, linking the whole continent.  So you have the Iron Curtain Trail Route 13 for example, which is a bike path running by the border of former communist countries.  

My two favorites bike paths are No. 15, and No. 6.  The Rhine Route No. 15,  follows the Rhine from its start in the Alps to Holland where it flows into the sea. I also like No. 6.  The Atlantic - Black Sea Route.  Self explanatory.

And why do I love these bike paths, I hear you all ask!!!  
Well, No. 15 passes right by my home, and the No. 6 route I cycle when going to work - how cool is that!  Every time I am on these cycle paths, I think that I could just keep on cycling and end up in a great travel adventure.  This year for the first time I am meeting cyclists traveling the whole trails.  Great folks for an interesting chat. 

Ted Talks - Be entertained and learn: https://www.ted.com/talks/browse
Every day an interesting 18 minute talk, the range of topics is very diverse.  The only thing that the talks have in common is that they are all interesting.  No more to say on that, just check it out.  

Purr n Fur:  http://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/
Warm, fuzzy and fun pictures of cats, and their humans too sometimes.  

Seventeenth Century Lady
As with Built Dublin https://www.facebook.com/SeventeenthCenturyLady was developed with love, and in joy.  It is a beautiful place to learn about life and times in the 16th Century.  So, if you absolutely immediately need to brush up on say your Rococo -  this is the GO TO website for you!

Frugal is a lifetime choice I embrace with relish; it gives me the freedom to make choices as to how to allocate my time and $$.   I refer to many sites for tips on how to ´do´ life cheap:  http://www.everydaycheapskate.com/ is my ´flavor of the month´frugal website at the moment.  

Sports wise as far as I am concerned, nothing but nothing beats a good game of hurling or camogie.  But,  I do enjoy watching any sport played at its best,  a pursuit where excellence and integrity win out over winning.   This You Tube links to moments in sport where integrity was the order of the day.  Enjoy.... but I warn you, there are some links for which you will need a double dose of Kleenix on hand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tAjxs__nkk


CELT: http://www.ucc.ie/celt/about.html

Celt blows my mind.  It is a project where they are putting on the internet all early Irish writing, literature and history.   All of it.  I repeat, all of it.  And not just for access for academics; moi found with ease information on several documents written or copied by Irish monks on the Island of Reichenau near where I live here in Germany.  

All this ´electronifications´of  old Irish texts is happening down in University College Cork U.C.C.

Lest you think I exaggerate, read CELT`s mission statement as found on their website.

Mission Statement

To bring the wealth of Irish literary and historical culture (in Irish, Latin, Anglo-Norman French, and English) to the Internet in a rigorously scholarly and user-friendly project for the widest possible range of readers and researchers. CELT (the Corpus of Electronic Texts) caters for academic scholars, teachers, students, and the general public, all over the world. Texts are accompanied by introductions, background information, graphics, translations where possible, and scholarly bibliographies. CELT is integrated into the teaching and research community of UCC, and far beyond. It draws on the resources of that community and contributes to its work. UCC has charitable status, i.e. donations which help CELT continue its work can be made tax-effectively from Ireland and the USA (see Donations webpage).

The languages used in Ireland in the historic past were many. Languages known to us through extant texts include Irish of all periods, English, Hiberno-Norman French, some Old Norse (including some runic inscriptions) and Latin. Other languages were used by clerics, political leaders, scholars, merchants, diplomats, or emigrants (Spanish, Italian, modern French, Provençal, Dutch, Danish).

So now dear readers, there you have some choices for browsing on your computer for those summer days where the days are not ideal for going out to live the world!

So, last Sunday I went for a cycle....

I set off on my bike towards Walhausen, and caught the little boat that took us from this side of the lake to Überlingen on the other side.

I cycled up towards Kloster Birnau - that pink building you see below. And popped in.....

  

Surprise!

Aha, I bet you did not expect that in our little neck of the woods!

Kloster Birnau is a Cistercian Monaster built in 1759, in the baroque style with a rococo interior.  My pictures cannot do it justice, so link here to see more pictures of Kloster Birnau, and more such beautiful churches in the region: https://www.google.de/search?q=pictures+of+birnau+monastery&rlz=1C1MDNE_deDE482DE482&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=cImwU6SNCunX7AaOnYC4BA&ved=0CCEQsAQ&biw=911&bih=429

And if you are not sure of what the difference between baroque and rococo is, then check out this delightful website: https://www.facebook.com/SeventeenthCenturyLady

After the Kloster, it was time for lunch.  Which was enjoyed with this view sitting under a shady tree...

Then a gentle cycle past this little tower, or baby towerlet at least!

ambling on down ...

passing along by these houses until...

I came to a house with what appears to be funny chimneys... but it is not a house with funny chimneys.

What you see are some of the storks that nest every year at Salam.  This year alone there are 28 pairs that have produced chicks.  - And yes folks the sky IS this blue!

This is a source of great pride to locals scientists and others who put a lot of work into making the storks welcome after their numbers declined over the last decades.  In 1978 there were only 15 breeding pairs in the whole region of Baden-Würrtemberg alone, so 28 breeding pairs in one location is a tremendous success.

The storks winter in Spain, Portugal and North Africa; it is a joy to see them flying in every spring.  And that is not to be taken for granted; one bad winter or a late cold spell can be devastating to the numbers of young storks that survive.

What is particularly amazing about these 28 breeding pairs is that....

...it is all happening above a pub!   How´s that for cool!

 So on past one of the many little crosses you see in the country side here, and the picture on the right is the nice view I saw after getting myself lost in the hills....

If you look closely below, very closely, you will see a stork flying over a plowed field looking for food.

The donkeys were not too bothered with the stork, nor was the cock below who was more preoccupied chasing after all his hens.  That was indeed a busy scene as I past by. 

More to my liking than the noisy cock was this bucolic scene of a cob and pen and their SEVEN cygnets. 

Yep. Seven cygnets.  On a cycle full of wonders, this was extra special.  Unusually I could get quite close to the swan family with nary a hiss to be heard.  In fact I felt the parent swans were very proud that their brood were being admired.  And rightly so!

Past by the very house that I am sure Snow White and the seven dwarfs lived in....

Before stopping off to visit Peter and Lucia.

Peter and Lucia are an excellent couple, a well traveled pair who do good along the way, particular in Hungary, where they connect with fellow teachers whose circumstances are not as good as in Germany.

We met Peter and Lucia, when Romeo H. went to buy their car.  He did not.  But we keep calling back to see them in their beautiful home not just because they have a pool for a nice Abkühlung (or a cool down to you non-German speakers) but also because:  
a) They are so nice.
b) They think we are nice (excellent taste they have too).
c) They always have great stories to tell.
d) and fun little cars to drive in. 
e) and most importantly.....

Peter sings, and plays,the best version of ´I´ll tell my Ma...´ I ever heard this side of the Bodensee. 

 No lie.

It was especially nice to see Peter and Lucia this Sunday, as they had a ´surprise´for me -  your man in the hat!  The very one I thought I had left at home in the garden when I set off for my cycle earlier in the morning...

Well after tea and chat at Peter and Lucia´s, back down to the harbor to pick up the boat from Überlingen back to ´my´side of the lake.   The sun was still shining strong at 7:00 in the evening...

And if you look closely, you might see the Alps.

Then again you might not!


After reaching the harbor at Walhausen, cycled the back way to Dettingen, where this gorgeous field of corn was ripe for cutting....

And back to base where I saw a very familiar site in the summer evening sky in these parts...

Being only an hour from Zurich Airport, we often see the trails left by airplanes flying overhead.


 And then people ask me if I miss New York!

(Oh alright there are some things I miss from NYC, but you sure as heck don´t get all of this in New York when you go out for the day on your bike!)