Traveling around Tullamore

Tullamore, Ireland is an interesting place to visit for a couple days and especially to go out to the Belvedere estate where you can visit even with the kids. There are a number of activities there for the whole family so it looks like an enjoyable place to spend an afternoon if the weather is good. A lot of it is outside and the beautiful gardens and views are very nice. And of course you can visit the Tullamore Dew whiskey brewery in town which is very famous. It’s a very good whiskey.

Minnesota Viking T-shirts
Of course the Minnesota Vikings are extremely famous here. Actually I have no idea why they had these T-shirts in the shop but I let my Minnesota friends know they are famous.
Cathedral Traveling around Tullamore
Cathedral of Christ
Inside the cathedral Bill Smale
Inside the cathedral
Beautiful painting Bill Smale
A really beautiful wall painting
Bose speakers Bill Smale
Of course you need to have state of the Art Bose speakers. I don’t notice these in Italian churches but maybe they just have better acoustics?
Cathedral front Bill Smale
The front of the cathedral
Belvedere house Bill Smale
the Belvedere house and Gardens. What really cut my eye was that I used to live on an island called Belvedere
Beautiful lake Traveling around Tullamore
The beautiful lake by the estate
Good trout fishing Traveling around Tullamore
There must be good trout fishing here
The evil Earll
Evidently the earl, the father, was not a very nice guy and the son was nicer but through conflict they lost control of the estate
Aerial photo
You might think I flew up here to take the photo. I didn’t,. I took a photo of a photo
Beautiful lake
The beautiful lake
Beautiful fall colors
A nice fall walk around the area
Old structure
These thick brambles are hiding an old structure
Red color tree
This is the full version of this tree. I like the red color
Ice storage
I guess this is where ice was stored, way out detached from the main building
Visitor direction
He’s been directing visitors for a long time
Irish warrior
This is a depiction of an ancient Irish warrior
Bookmaking
Bookmaking is legal in Ireland and in England
Interesting House
An interesting house in town

England’s small towns

England’s small towns are really interesting to walk around and enjoy the old buildings and see how they have been repurposed for shops and for other purposes.

Ely

Ely is an important town for England. This is where Oliver Cromwell looped for 10 years when he became the Lord protector after executing King Charles the first. This was the first attempt to create a republic which ultimately failed when Charles II became king evidently because Oliver‘s son failed to effectively carry on his father‘s leadership abilities.

Cromwell’s home England’s small towns
Oliver Cromwell‘s home
Visitor center England’s small towns
This is a visitor center as well as the house itself
Jewish history England’s small towns
A little different history here. Actually during the 1500s England was not kind to the Jewish population.
Dining room Bill Smale
The dining room
Kitchen entrance Bill Smale
Entrance to the kitchen
Moss on the building Bill Smale
Moss growing on the side of the building
Boots pharmacy
Schizophrenic Shop. It’s an optician selling boots which have hearing problems. Just joking
St. Mary’s Church
Saint Mary’s Church where Cromwell attended
Old building
A cute old building

Winchester

Graffiti wall
This was a very complete graffiti wall
Winchester Cathedral
Inside Winchester Cathedral
Cathedral map
The map of the inside of the cathedral
Silver collection
There is an interesting collection of silver upstairs. This is from the 1700s
A view
A view from the silver collection area
Broken stained glass windows
During the Civil War these windows were destroyed. After things settled down they took the glass shards and created what you see now
First bishop
The first bishop is buried here
Original door
This is the original door from the 1100s
Clergy area
The place where the clergy sat during official ceremonies
Original altar
One of the original alters from the 1100s
Jane Austen‘s grave
Yes, Jane Austen was buried here
England Sushi
The spicy chicken above was a little bit sweet and not spicy. The salmon sushi was England style so the rice was very poorly made.
William Walker memorialization
William Walker spent weeks underneath the foundation during a flood and helped shore up the pilings so the cathedral would not collapse. He is memorialized here

Portsmouth

HMS warrior
The HMS warrior
My cousin passes by
As I was looking at the ship my cousin was on this Viking cruise ship passing by just as I was in Portsmouth. We later met up in London. I waved to her but she didn’t get my message
Perfect EV
This is the perfect EV
Quintessential fish and chips
Very quintessential British fish and chips
Map of the harbor
The map of the dockyard. You have to pay 51 pounds to see everything. I didn’t pay so I got to just walk around the pier since it was already a little late in the afternoon and there was not enough time to see everything
Nice photo
I just like this photo of the HMS warrior
Ship museum
One of the ships inside the boat museum which is included in the free pier walk around
Figurehead
The figurehead for the Benbow
Royalcrest
The Royalcrest with the national flag
Navy ship
A navy ship docked maybe for repairs
Tardis
This is a strange version of the tardis
HMS victory
Nelson’s ship. This is a very extensive museum inside and probably very interesting.
Henry the eighth
So Henry the eighth was walking on this pier
Spinnaker tower
The Spinnaker tower

walking in Spain

Pamplona (Iruña)

i’m sure you have heard about the “running of the bulls“ in Spain. That happens in Pamplona and the reason I wanted to visit. It’s on the way to Madrid from France by train so it’s very easy to access. It’s kind of an interesting city and I think you need two days to look around and see most of the sites. This is where Ernest Hemmingway came to see the running of the bulls and enjoy the Spanish environment with some connection to the Civil War.

Hemmingway poster  walking in Spain
Of course you need to have a poster of Hemmingway whether he visited the shop or not
Interesting building  walking in Spain
Just an interesting building
Beautiful view  walking in Spain
A beautiful view from on top of the hill
Colorful building  walking in Spain
I don’t know. This just struck me as interesting with the buildings and the angles and colors.
Interesting site Bill Smale
Another interesting site
Fueros de Navarre Bill Smale
Monument to the Fueros of Navarre

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fueros_of_Navarre

Inscription
Inscription on the monument
Cured pork Bill Smale
Cured pork, Iberian of course. You will find the shops in every city and you’ll find very different varieties of cured pork and other meat and sausage.
Merchant Street
Calle de los Mercederes
Old shops
A couple old shops with a pharmacy plastered with graffiti
Plaza Consistorial
Plaza Consistorial

San Sebastián

this town is really known for his food, comfort and beach front. This was not exactly the season for the ocean and I just stopped here on the way to Madrid having been here before and enjoying the beachfront area. I highly recommend this town and you should spend two or three days here or maybe more just to relax and to soak up the international cuisine and feeling of the area.

Maria Cristina bridge
Maria Cristina bridge
Tapas
Pickled onion peppers and olives with some anchovies and chorizo
Bridge entrance
The large monument entrance to the bridge
Toilet paper variety
Even a variety of toilet paper. As we say in Thailand “up to you”

Zaragoza

I did not find Zaragoza very interesting but then it was raining all the time, it was just a one day stop over and it was a long walk to get any food on a Sunday. But this large hotel was right at the station and not expensive. It had the longest corridor I have ever seen in a hotel. You could walk and walk and walk and never get to the other end, just like Hotel California.

Hotel corridor
Long corridor
The traveler
A print in the hotel was just kind of interesting. Actually it is me with my Borsalino, my coat and my suitcase.
Interesting site
The most interesting thing I saw in the city

Quaint little Porthleven

in the southwestern end of Cornwall you will find this little port and fishing village which is Quaint little Porthleven, a very nice place to spend the day, walk around, get some food, enjoy the seagulls flying overhead and slowing down. Spent some time to go out to the very point where the old church is which is now a memorial building. I went there when the tide was not high but by the time I left the tide was so low that all the boats in the port we’re just stranded.

Main road view Quaint little Porthleven
This is the view from the main road

PORTHLEVEN HISTORY

The word porth in the Cornish language means port and elvan is the Celtic Saint who came to these shores in the 5th century along with many others to preach the Christian faith.

Fishing boats  Quaint little Porthleven
They are quite a few fishing boats in the harbor
Main road Quaint little Porthleven
Looking back towards the main part of town
Harbour swimmers Bill Smale
These guys were not the only ones who decided to take a dip in the very rough and cold waters in the harbor
Old Cannon Bill Smale
An old Cannon pointed towards the other side of the port
Rough sea Bill Smale
The sea was pretty rough that day
The ship inN
the ship inn Click on that pub name on the left here and you will get their website. It’s a pretty interesting place.
Harper view Café Bill Smale
This was the Café restaurant I decided to have something to eat and I settled for what you will see below
Seafood chowder
This was the seafood chowder which was very nice but needed some salt at minimum. It was £9.
Cornwall butter
Even the butter is from Cornwall
Nice view
Looking back at the tone
Pastries
Pasties has a little different meaning in US English. Here in England it means pastries but in Cornwall they have this pie type pastry with something in it, closed up on one side. The flavors are very bland but it’s interesting food.
Old houses
These are some very old houses leading up to the church
Old school
As you could see in the photo below, this is the old school
Door badge
Above the front door
Cornish Gaelic
Some Cornish Gaelic
A good place to sit
A good place to sit and below you will see why
This is the chat bench
Cornish Gaelic
Some more Cornish Gaelic
Ice cream in the wind
The ice cream parlor was packed with customers so I had no choice but to sit outside. Quite a few people watched me as I ate my ice cream in the cold and windy salt sea air. Actually it was kind of fun and the ice cream was very delicious.
Old town houses
A very old row of townhouses
Bayview
These townhouses are on a street or walkway with the same name as the street I used to live on as a kid
Townhouses
Here’s a view of the townhouses and looking back from the harbor opening to the town
Old guys chatting
These old guys have been sitting here and chatting for many years
Fishing
I wonder if it’s good weather to go fishing
A place to stay
I did not rent this place but I saw this badge for one of these townhouses. It might be an interesting place to stay but it seems they rent out only by the week. Right now it’s not that expensive but the price of course increases as it gets close to tourist season

Cambridge and Oxford

From Tallinn, Estonia I decided to fly directly to England and the “cheapest“ airline was Ryan air which landed at an airport north of London. Cambridge is not too far from the airport and I wanted to stay away from London since I’ve been there twice, it’s very expensive and I wasn’t really interested in walking around right now in the city. The cheap airline started at US$27 and then when you pick the $27 flight schedule the price bumps up to $55. Then when you select the cheapest ticket which means you can carry on a 10 kg bag and something under the seat the price jumps up to $77. Then when you click to check out the price jumps up to $100. I have never seen that happen before and it’s something you need to be aware of because it’s not really a nice way to lure people into a flight. It’s called “bait and switch“ but when you switch three times that’s a little bit extreme.

so booking Cambridge for one night was a good decision since there was really not all that much I wanted to see. I rented a car at the airport and so I was free to do a much more vigorous schedule than having to wait on public transport.The Lithuanian lady who owned the guest house ( A & B guest house, about $80 a night) explained Oxford is the masculine city and Cambridge is the feminine city of the two. So it seems Oxford is a little bit more crowded and bustling and Cambridge is a little more calm and sedate. Anyway that’s what she told me. So I spent one day in each of the cities just looking around, noticing a lot more modern buildings than I was expecting but the last time I had been in England outside of London was in 1971, 55 years ago so …….

Telephone booth Cambridge and Oxford
What would England be without the iconic telephone booth
Estonia Cambridge and Oxford
Actually this is what I left in Estonia the morning I left. It was -9°C and snowing
Poke bowl shop Cambridge and Oxford
The Hawaiians are taking over the world with all their poke bowl shops. Actually what they sell is not Hawaiian poke, it is this shopkeepers idea of poke which turns out to be anything on top of a bowl of rice instead of the Hawaiian style of some raw fish with a little bit extra on rice.
Our lady church Bill Smale
Our lady church
Approach to the altar Bill Smale
Like most cathedrals it’s a beautiful approach to the altar
Organ practice
Someone was practicing on the organ
Christmas scene Bill Smale
They still had the cresh scene on display. It was pretty intricate
Church front Bill Smale
The front of the church
Scott polar Institute Bill Smale
The polar research Institute named for the famous explorer Scott
Tennis Court, Road
This is probably a very appropriate name for this road. I bet there’s a tennis court somewhere around here
Shop area
This is a very quintessential England shop area
Street view
If you down the street
Judge business school
I just really like the name of the school and the building itself
Nice building
And I like this building also
Corpus Christi College Chapel
Corpus Christi College Chapel. And you know the English translation means the body of Christ
Saint Catherine’s College
Saint Catherine’s College
Quintessential shops
This is also quintessential but I love the names of the shops kind of like something out of a Harry Potter novel. I wonder, is Samuel smiling?
Saint Catherine’s
Saint Catherine’s College from another point of view
Good fish and chips
My first fish and chips since getting off the airplane. The fish was good, the fries were filling and nice, and I hate peas but that seems to be something that is served for so many meals in England which is maybe the reason I have not been here so often.
Evening view
An evening view of the city
Building colors
Nice colors
Mistaken photo
We have a saying in Japan, “even monkeys can fall from tree trees“. In this instance it just means that even a practiced Photographer can sometimes make a mistake and take a photo of his hand

Oxford

Canals
This is the nice college city with the little canals going through it. But it was much too cold of course to be on a paddle boat
Nice building
This is a nice building which obviously has been remodeled since many of the windows have been blocked up but still nice architecture
Boat rental
The larger canal where you can rent all sorts of boats and floating devices
Nice building and hotel
I think this is a hotel and a restaurant but I didn’t go inside. I just like the building and since it’s on the river it might be a nice place to stay
Street view
A view down the street
University of Oxford
Tom tower, christ Church University of Oxford. Only certain people can get in like student students, professors and administration
Saint Martin’s Church Tower
Saint Martin’s Church Tower
Upton country Park guest house
This was my hotel outside Oxford in the countryside, The Upton country park guest house, golf course and resort. Needless to say it was too cold and rainy to play golf.

st. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is the cathedral to visit in Dublin. You need several days anyway to explore the city but here you will see why you need to visit this cathedral.

The cathedral from the side. st. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin
Celtic Cross st. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin
A typical Celtic cross
Sharpie correction st. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin
When you want to make a correction even though it’s not authorized a sharpie is the way to do it
Garbage can Bill Smale
A very nice garbage can
Looking at the history st. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin
Going back more than 1000 years is always interesting
Storytelling windows Bill Smale
Beautiful stained glass windows telling a story
St. Patrick’s well Bill Smale
Going back 1500 years at a well that may have been used by Saint Patrick
St. Patrick’s well
This is the stone over the well which the church is built on top of
Saint Patrick’s history
The history of Saint Patrick
Memorial plaque
There are many memorial plaques in the cathedral which is typical of churches on the island
Jonathan Swift’s memorial
Jonathan Swift was very important writer and religious figure in Ireland and he served the cathedral as well as the general public
Things
Some of Jonathan‘s things
Death mask for swift
This is the death mask of Jonathan Swift who you know as the author of Gulliver‘s travels
Swift things of interest
Some interesting things about swift
Honoring swift in Latin
An important person
So now you see how prominent he was as a “deacon“ in this cathedral
Wake up the parishioners
This seems to be a very aggressive Irish thing
Cathedral view
A view of the cathedral on the inside
Queen Anne’s patent
Patent approved by Queen Anne
George the fourth memorial
George the fourth of William the fourth memorial
Memorializing deaths in Burma
The following are memorials to the people who died in the Burmese war
Old entranceway door
The old entranceway door with an interesting twist

THE PHRASE TO

‘chance your arm’ is often used when describing someone taking a risk.

Yet many people do not know the role this medieval door played in its origin.

In 1492 two feuding families, the Butlers of Ormonde and the Fitzgeralds of Kildare, were engaged in battle. Sensing an impending defeat, the Butlers fled the battlefield and took sanctuary in the Cathedral’s Chapter House.

The Fitzgeralds followed in pursuit, but instead of fighting proposed a truce. Calling to the Burlers through the Chapter House door, Gerald Fitzgerald, head of the family; guaranteed them safe passage from Dublin. However, the Burlers refused this offer, believing it to be a trap.

To prove his sincerity, Gerald Fitzgerald ordered a hole be cut in the door. He thrust his arm through it, offering it in peace. Convinced, the Butlers shook his hand. Today, the story lives on in the famous expression, “to chance your arm”.

Riga Excursions

Riga is the only city I visited in Latvia but it’s a very interesting city and you should spend two or three days here walking around and seeing the interesting sites. One thing about the three countries in this area, the people are very welcoming, friendly and willing to help out with whatever you need so feel free to talk with people.

Cathedral Riga Excursions
This is the inside courtyard of the Riga Cathedral
Clock face Riga Excursions
A lot of the cathedral was destroyed but some pieces like this clock face were saved
Horseback hero Riga Excursions
Hero Rose need to be on horseback
Recovered Stone face Riga Excursions
Some very old stone carving which was recovered in the courtyard
Cannons Bill Smale
These are just Canon exhibits which I found a little strange to have a cathedral
Blackface Bill Smale
This was a tribute place to buy the “blackface” which were the merchant associated people with their own large house which is shown later
Pipe organ Bill Smale
An extremely ordinate pipe organ
Altar
The altar
Pizza Bill Smale
The reheated pizza here was extremely good. I never had much reheated pizza because of the dimension flavor flavors but this was very well regarded so I went to this restaurant and it was very tasty
Stained glass window
A beautiful stained glass window
Saint Peter’s
Saint Peter’s Church with its very impressive spire
Belgian beer
I guess there’s not much more you can say about Belgian beer
Bar
A pretty active bar across from the hotel
Park buildings
Beautiful buildings by the park
Cathedral
The regard cathedral
Cathedral side gate
Old gate at the side of the cathedral
Small plaza
It was too snowy and cold to sit down in a small plaza
Medieval pub
An ancient style (dark ages) pub which I did not go into since it was too early in the day
Amber is the thing in Riga
In Riga the thing is Amber. Kind of like in Toledo where the thing is swords and knives.
Blackface house
This is the Blackface house
Blackface house
The house was destroyed during the second world war and recently rebuilt according to its original design. This building was the merchants Association, Blackface House. They were the powerful merchants of this area of the world
Building for sale
Jump jumping around a little this is just an interesting building which was for rent or for sale. I can’t imagine who would build this and then try to sell it
Place to visit
This house is a welcoming place for foreign diplomats including the emperor Japan
Glassware
Some of the beautiful glassware saved
Wagner played here
He played in the backface house. Riga had a very strong trading relationship with Bremen Germany and they had an affiliated house in Bremen
Basement
This is part of the basement which was not destroyed
Built in 1860
A photo of the house in 1860. The members of the association were extremely powerful politicians and economic forces in this area of the world
A gift
A recent gift to the house
backface emblem
An emblem on the cannon
Ceremony room
Beautiful area for ceremonies
Beautiful ceiling
Beautifully decorated ceiling
Local market
This is the main market nearby for local people
Cured meats
All different kinds of cured meats
Turkish delight
Turkish delights and other sweets
Place to eat
On the second floor of the market you order your food from stalls and eat here
Latvian pancakes
Latvianpancakes
A mixture of food foods
Hawaiian poke and Chinese stuff
Japanese foods
These are supposed to be Japanese style foods
Local building
A nice local building
Ancient tram
An ancient tram system still working
Corner building
An interesting corner building
Russian church
The Russian Orthodox Church
Russian church
Inside the Russian church there is no place to sit
Outside of the Russian church
The Russian church from the outside

Walking around Vilnius

Vilnius is a great walking city and there is a lot to see here so planet at least two or three days, three nights, so you have time to relax and see what’s going on. I was lucky to be there during the new year even though it was snowy and cold. The people in Lithuania are extremely friendly and love talking with other people so you will most likely never have a problem there that can’t be taken care of easily. Taxi transportation is not expensive and the buses are tap to pay so it’s easy to get around.

Central Plaza Walking around Vilnius
This is the central area near the palace and the main cathedral where people gather even in the cold winter
Cats Walking around Vilnius
In the early morning it was not only humans walking around.
Small station Walking around Vilnius
This is one of the small stations on the way out of the city
Piano in the station Walking around Vilnius
Just like in France they have decided to put a piano for people to play music and I was surprised how professional many of the people who played it were
Excellent restaurant Bill Smale
This was a really excellent restaurant
Good food Bill Smale
The pork was extremely well done and tender, juicy and the pickled cabbage was very nice
Monaco Embassy Bill Smale
Even Monaco has an embassy here
Cathedral
The main cathedral
Christmas tree
The Christmas tree in the plaza was a major attraction
Merry-go-round
The Murray go round in daytime
Cathedral service
A service was going on in the cathedral
Remembrance candle
When it’s available I find a candle in every church I go into and remembrance of my family
Mongolian hero
This hero looks ominously like a Mongolian with his outfit
Peruvian Japanese restaurant
So a Japanese descendent from Peru set up this restaurant?
Cold weather
It was very cold and snowy
Atlas
I think this is Atlas
Cathedral view
A view from the top of the cathedral
Part of the castle
I didn’t visit this part of the castle but there were a number of people up there.
Cathedral view
Another view from the top of the cathedral
Plaza nighttime
Night time on the plaza
Tower in front of cathedral
The tower in front of the cathedral
Cat café
These are popular in Japan but this is the first one I’ve seen outside of Japan, a cat café
Cat café
When I first walked by there was one cat walking on the table
Beautiful view
The view from my hotel window was actually very beautiful
First class snack
Senior citizens get a significant discount on trains so I took advantage of first class and I got a free cup of coffee and a brownie, very tasty

Hopping through Germany

this is just a gallery of some of the recent trip through Germany, first to see the rod Stewart concert and then to go on to Poland

Köln (Cologne)

Favorite cheese
One of my favorite cheeses
Flix trains Hopping through Germany
Flix operates buses throughout Europe but also private trains. They supplement the other train systems.
Easy sign Hopping through Germany
This is a pretty easy to understand sign

Berlin

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Hopping through Germany
The Kaiser Wilhelm memorial was not rebuilt after World War II for obvious reasons
Memorial inside Bill Smale
Inside the memorial
Christmas market Hopping through Germany
The local Christmas
City Palace Bill Smale
Berlin city Palace
  Restaurant Bill Smale
This was the restaurant I went to and never got my order
Subway Bill Smale
Beautiful subway

Frankfurt Oder

Vietnamese Japanese restaurant
Ryo is a Japanese name but this restaurant is obviously managed by Vietnamese
Cute dog
A cute little dog
Gelato
Gelato is a must
Dead McDonald’s
This Frankfurt is on the border with Poland. Obviously it’s not getting that much traffic. McDonald’s has died
Graffiti
Beautiful graffiti artwork
Coffee shop
Try to figure this out
Balcony
In Poland this is a way to make a balcony?
No past
But there is a present and a future
Make a Polish word
Add ” SKA” and make a Polish word
Make a Polish word
Or you can add “SKI”
Old SL
They have the old train, SL, on display
Nice building
A cool looking building
Courtyard graffiti
Interesting graffiti inside a courtyard
A lot of mayonnaise
This Turkish restaurant uses a lot of mayonnaise

Dusseldorf

Restaurant and pub
Make sure to visit this restaurant and pub. The food and beer is delicious. They serve only their own beer.
Good food
Really nice food
Graffiti
Nice graffiti Ishii but now it’s 2026
Still in existence
This department store still exists
The Grinch controls
The Grinch is in control of the shop
Hero on horse
Of course you need to have a hero on horseback as a statue
Christmas market
The very busy Christmas season market
New bag
My back told me I need a bag with wheels and to get rid of the very heavy backpack
Chocolate gift
Of course in the hotel there is a chocolate gift

j

Vilnius museums

KGB detention center

Lithuania is a great place to visit. The main city which is Vilnius as a lot of very interesting things to see including museums. But you will find also that it is not a very expensive city and the people are extremely nice and interested in speaking with everybody which makes it extremely adventurous. I started off going to the KGB detention center which is partly recreated but a lot of it is still intact.

Zelinsky photo Vilnius museums
Zelenskyy biography Vilnius museums
Detention center description Vilnius museums
Waiting Cell Bill Smale
Inspection Cell Bill Smale
Spy camera Bill Smale
A spy camera
Painting over walls Bill Smale
In one of the cells there is an explanation that they have been painted up to 18 times over former paint because the inmates draw messages on the walls so they just repaint the wall. This is a portion of a wall which was painted over many times
Interesting attitude
This guy was imprisoned here and probably killed but I thought this photo of him was an interesting attitude
Visitors looking around
The whole way along the cells with visitors looking around
View outside
The view outside
Guard room
The wardens area and relaxation room for the guards

Samuel Bak Museum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Bak

Samuel Bak museum

samuel’s father created some art before he was killed.

Synagogue
One of the synagogues
Synagogue
Another synagogue
The Jewish quarter
Drawings of the Jewish Quarter in Vilnius
Early artwork
One of Samuel’s early artwork

one museum mentioned the way the NAZIs took care of the Jews in the Balkin states, they didn’t move them to any concentration camp, they just took them out into the woods dug a big hole, killed them and pushed the bodies into the hole.

Palace Museum

Sigismund the Old and Central Europe

In its conflicts with Lithuania, Muscovy often received support from the Habsburgs, so Sigismund the Old endeavoured to reach an accommodation with the Holy Roman Empire. Sigismund the Old, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania; his brother Wladyslaw Jagiellon, King of Bohemia and Hungary; and the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I met in Vienna at the First Congress of Vienna in 1515. They decided to arrange marriages between the children of Wladyslaw and the grandchildren of Maximilian I. This would allow the Habsburgs to accede to the thrones of Hungary and Bohemia after the deaths of Wladyslaw and his son Louis (1516-1526). This concession helped Sigismund the Old end Habsburg support of Muscovy. Emperor Maximilian I returned the favour by facilitating the betrothal of Sigismund the Old to Bona Sforza. Sigismund the Old tried to present Lithuania to Europe as a bastion of Catholicism. He asked the Pope to canonise his deceased brother Casimir. In this way, he hoped to preclude any alliances between Muscovy and Europe’s Catholic lands – primarily those of the Habsburgs and the Teutonic Order. In forming dynastic unions with the most powerful royal families of Europe, and with the support of Poland and Lithuania, the Jagiellonian dynasty nurtured a grandiose plan of creating a huge union of states under their rule in Central and Southeastern Europe. The Jagiellonians came closest to this goal in 1471-1526, when four states were under their rule: Lithuania, Poland, Bohemia and Hungary. Later the Jagiellons’ influence in the region waned. The last Jagiellonian king of Hungary and Bohemia, Louis II, the grandson of Casimir Jagiellon and son of Wladyslaw Jagiellon, died in the Battle of Mohács against the Turks in 1526. His sudden death critically changed the situation in Central Europe. A large part of Hungary ended up under Ottoman control. Since the fallen young king did not leave an heir, in accord with the agreement reached in I515 at the First Congress of Vienna, the Hungarian and Bohemian thrones went to the Habsburg dynasty.

Old foundation
The old foundation of the palace which was destroyed. The palace and museum which is here now is something that was rebuilt recently as a museum
Map of the new palace
The evident buildings are what is there now and the faint images are what used to be part of the old palace
Old things
Some old things found in the foundation
Original palace
A map of the original palace
Swirls
Interesting artwork which reminded me of the swirls prevalent in Japanese and very old Celtic artwork
Old footwear
Two smashing footwear seemed to be almost always the prevalent fashion
Something old for fun
Something for fun on one of the old furnaces
Italian throne
An old throne procured from Italy
German armor
I recognized this immediately as German. I think it’s because of the black color