Monthly Archives: June 2011

Habsburg Day

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Mark Rossiter

Today I went to two places: the summer palace of the Habsburg royal family, just outside the center of Vienna; and their winter palace, right in Vienna. These people had not just one palace but two! and every six months … Continue reading →

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Danube

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Mark Rossiter

Today I came down (for the first time in my life, so far as I remember) to the Danube, which is Europe’s longest river apart from the Volga in Russia, and historically was, along with the Rhine, the northern continental … Continue reading →

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Salzburg

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Mark Rossiter

Salzburg is another pretty town in the mountains – or at least there are mountains on one side of the city, as you can see from this view from the castle at the top of the town: The museum in … Continue reading →

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Innsbruck

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Mark Rossiter

Innsbruck is a small city in the mountains, built around the Inn river, which flows swiftly through the town. Although it’s beautiful, you wouldn’t want to fall in, or you would probably get swept away pretty quickly and drown… Innsbruck … Continue reading →

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Mitropa

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Mark Rossiter

is there such a thing as Central Europe? Once you leave France something definitely changes, but is that only because France has a unique sense of its own identity? Or is there a continuity among the lands to the East? … Continue reading →

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four countries in a day

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Mark Rossiter

I took the train from Paris Gare de l’Est to Zuerich and thence along the sleepy shores of the lake into a verdant Alpine valley, through the angles of which became visible an occasional rocky peak streaked with snow. I … Continue reading →

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One Nation under La Grande Arche

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Mark Rossiter

We went to another free concert, Sunday sunset by La Grande Arche de la Défense. People were sitting on the grass and the steps laughing and chatting and drinking beer. The support act was Keziah Jones, a Nigerian guy with … Continue reading →

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déjeuner sur l’herbe (minus naked woman)

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Mark Rossiter

Louisa and Robin and I went to a concert in the Parc Floral, next to Chateau de Vincennes on the edge of Paris They have trees that aren’t planted in straight lines – in fact they aren’t planted at all, … Continue reading →

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louvre

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Mark Rossiter

well this is what everybody comes to see: If that was Venus de Milo (and the Winged victory of Samothrace, if wildly impressive, was pretty much the same), I didn’t even try the Mona Lisa. Instead, I got easily more … Continue reading →

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north

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Mark Rossiter

a low European sunrise under a band of grey sky; greenery spontaneously growing; changing patterns in the clouds; open faces in the streets; still light at 9.30 p.m.: home! Of course the machines don’t work…

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