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EOS 60D+Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM
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My photo red means 'i love you' is being featured on the Yahoo! Answers front page to complement a question in the Best of Answers module.
Thanks, Dave!
Expedition 40/41 flight engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agencyn dressed in his Russian Sokol suit, ready for launch to the International Space Station, on 28 May 2014 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
Credit: ESA-S.Corvaja, 2014
Angler : Mr.FUKUI
ROD : PA90 jawbreaker
REEL : EXCELER 3000H / DAIWA
LINE : PE#1.5 + NYLON 30lb
Target : Japanese Seabass
コメント:台風後の激流の加古川でも抜群の安心感でした！
This isn't a mirrored image, which might be your first thought. Near the condo's pool is a beautifully landscaped entrance. These four palms tower over the walkway and I thought how they're so incredibly symmetrical. Just a beautiful design and pattern. The misty morning sky provided a perfect backdrop.
We were reviewing for our National Achievement Test (NAT) today and it was absolutely boring. The studying part, I mean. But in total, today was F U N.
Everything you wish comes true. If you are kind, if you have God in your heart and if you work hard you will receive everything you wanted and believed. I know it. It often happened with me. Want to share something - at the beginning of this year I made a list of 8 goals for year. Fankly speaking I didn't believe I achieve 50% of them, but at least it will motivate me more than not having a list at all, And...somehow, all the things listed there became real. They came to me themselves)) I attracted them)
One position from that list was unsolved untill today. It was a question and a goal was to give myself an answer for it and start proper actions. I was asking myself the same question everyday, several times a day, during 2 years... Everyday, everynight... And today, yes, today, less than 1 hour ago I feel that the answer came to me. I'm so happy! :) For a while I'll keep this answer a secret, I just really wanted to share this moment of relief, happiness, freedom and tears. Decision I made an hour ago is very important to me and I believe it is a right one.
And I want to encourage everyone who is reading this to think about your live. What are you living for? What are you doing on this Earth? Is it significant? Do you make a difference? What is the purpose of all the things you do in life?
P.S. These 2 videos helped me much to find the answers:
EOS 60D+Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM
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So why don’t blacks vote Republican? The answer is simple. Black people are not crazy. Being not crazy, they understand a simple truth about conservatives: They have never stood with, or up for, black people. Never.
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.......***** All images are copyrighted by their respective authors ......
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.....item 1)... OnlineAthens ... Athens Banner-Herald ... onlineathens.com ... Pitts: 'Our' blacks vs. 'their' blacks
By LEONARD PITTS
Published Monday, November 7, 2011
onlineathens.com/opinion/2011-11-07/pitts-our-blacks-vs-t...
Do you think it gives Clarence Thomas a warm, fuzzy feeling to know he is one of Ann Coulter’s blacks?
That is how Coulter put it on Fox “News” while defending Herman Cain against sexual harassment charges that threatened to engulf his campaign last week. “Liberals,” she said, detest black conservatives, but the truth is, “our blacks are so much better than their blacks.”
“Our” blacks? Really?
Social conservative pundits tend to be astonishingly obtuse when discussing race, (See Exhibit A, above) so it is good they rarely do so. Last week was an unfortunate exception, as one of “their” blacks struggled to frame a coherent response to allegations that he harassed female colleagues in the 1990s when he headed the National Restaurant Association. Though accusations of sexual impropriety have beset a bipartisan Who’s Who of black and white politicians, the right wing came out in force to argue that people are only questioning Cain because he is a black conservative.
This would be the same Cain who not so long ago said racism was no longer a significant obstacle for African-Americans. This would be the same right wing that is conspicuous by its silence, its hostility or its complicity when the injustice system imposes mass incarceration on young black men, when the number of hate groups in this country spikes to more than a thousand, when the black unemployment rate stands at twice the national average, when the president is called “uppity” and “boy.”
But they scream in pious racial indignation when Cain is asked questions he doesn’t want to answer.
A “high-tech lynching” said blogger Brent Bozell.
“Racially stereotypical,” sniffed Rush Limbaugh.
“I believe the answer is yes,” said Cain himself when asked on Fox if race was the cause of his woes, adding honestly, if hilariously, that he has no evidence whatsoever to back that up.
If you didn’t know better, you’d think Cain was some hybrid of Emmett Till and Kunta Kinte. Nobody knows de trouble he’s seen.
The candidate has spoken of how he left the Democratic “plantation,” the implication being that more blacks should vote Republican. It would seem on the surface to make sense. As a 2008 Gallup Poll proved — and simple observation reiterates — African-Americans tend to be as conservative as your average Republican on some key moral issues and are more religious than the average Republican, to boot.
So why don’t blacks vote Republican? The answer is simple. Black people are not crazy. Being not crazy, they understand a simple truth about conservatives: They have never stood with, or up for, black people. Never.
Forget modern controversies like mass incarceration. Social conservatives, then based largely in the Democratic Party of the early- to mid-20th century, opposed the Voting Rights Act. They opposed the Civil Rights Act. They opposed school integration. They opposed the Montgomery Bus Boycott. They opposed a law to crack down on lynching.
These are the people for whom African-Americans are now supposed to vote? To make the argument is to betray a stunning contempt for the intelligence — and memory — of black voters.
In talking about race, conservatives have all the moral authority of a pimp talking about women’s rights. Granted, “their” blacks might disagree.
• Leonard Pitts Jr., winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, is a columnist for the Miami Herald. His columns appear each Monday in the Banner-Herald. Send email to lpitts@miamiherald.com. Pitts chats with readers online from 1-2 p.m. Wednesdays at www.MiamiHerald.com.
Comments - Please Read Before Posting:
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Our commenting Web site is AthensTalks.com
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.....item 2).... Moment of Truth Project ... momentoftruthproject.org ...
The era of deficit denial is over
ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE MOMENT OF TRUTH REPORT
momentoftruthproject.org/node/295
December 1, 2011 marked one year since the release of The Moment of Truth report by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. The report declared that the era of deficit denial is over. In the year since the report was issued, fiscal responsibility and reform has become the dominant national issue and the debate has shifted from a question of if we should reduce long-term deficits to a matter of when and how we will do so.
While the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (Select Committee) failed to reach an agreement on $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction, the momentum behind enacting a bipartisan, comprehensive fiscal plan based on the framework put forward by the Fiscal Commission has continued to grow. In the wake of the Select Committee's failure, a growing number of lawmakers from across the political spectrum have voiced support for a bipartisan and comprehensive approach to solving our fiscal problems, with many of them specifically calling for reviving the Fiscal Commission's recommendations. These calls have been echoed by many editorial boards and columnists and organizations.
Former Fiscal Commission co-chairs and current Moment of Truth project (MOT) co-chairs Erskine Bowles and Sen. Alan Simpson remain active in the discussion on how to solve our nation's fiscal problems. They testified before the Select Committee on November 1 and have had several op-eds published in addition to speaking to audiences across the country. They continue to receive very positive reactions from audiences across the political spectrum (Sen. Simpson reports that he continues to get "more thumbs up than other digits"), providing further evidence of what the Commission wrote in The Moment of Truth preface:
"The American people are a long way ahead of the political system in recognizing that now is the time to act. We believe that far from penalizing leaders for making the tough choices, Americans will punish politicians for backing down -- and well they should."
# # #
Click here to read the official statement from former Fiscal Commission members Erskine Bowles, former Sen. Alan Simpson, Alice Rivlin, Dave Cote, Andy Stern, Ann Fudge, former Sen. Judd Gregg and former Rep. John Spratt.
Click here to see where we would we be if the Fiscal Commission's recommendations had been adopted one year ago.
MOT Highlights
... New York Times: Thomas Friedman: Go Big, Mr. Obama
... Des Moines Register: Editorial: It's Time to Dust Off the Bowles-Simpson Plan
...Fiscal Times: Super Flaw: If Only Obama Had Held Up Bowles-Simpson
...USA Today: Obama Missed the Boat to Cut the Debt
Testimony Before the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction
Click here for written testimony.
Click here for video and full transcript.
Bowles, Simpson Speak at the 2011 WSJ CEO Council
Click here for video.
Bowles, Simpson Interview with MSNBC's Chuck Todd
Click here for video.
Recent Op-Eds by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson
Washington Post: The Super Committee's Make or Break Question -- Nov 16, 2011
CNN Opinion: All It Takes to Solve U.S. Debt Problem is Willpower -- Nov 15, 2011
Washington Post: Our Advice to the Super Committee: Go Big, Be Bold, Be Smart -- Oct 2, 2011
Click here to see complete list of MOT publications, event recaps and other highlights.
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I'm bored and I found questions so yay, going to answer them! :D
1. Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora?
None.
2. Is your room messy or clean?
I wish it was clean.
3. What color are your eyes?
Blue, with speckles like the bottom of a pool.
4. Do you like your name? why?
It's fine...because well, it's fine.
5. What is your relationship status?
Nothing, I removed it from my facebook because I got random people adding me. When I did it showed the default message and it said "Johanna is in a relationship with No one". Like if "no one" was a person. It was years ago I removed it but I still think that's really funny xD
6. Describe your personality in 3 words or less
Calm, happy and organized.
7. What color hair do you have?
Dyed rat.
8. What kind of car do you drive? color?
I walk.
9. Where do you shop?
Where the things I need are of course! :D
10. How would you describe your style?
Dresses and skirts. Just probably very girly.
11. Favorite social media account
None.
12. What size bed do you have?
Too small!
13. Any siblings?
Yes, three of them. Two sisters and one brother.
14. If you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why?
It would be somewhere where I feel at home. Doesn't really matter where, as long as I'm happy :)
15. Favorite snapchat filter?
I don't have snapchat.
16. Favorite makeup brand(s)
I don't have makeup either. Or rather I never really got into it and I don't really think I look any good in it either n__n'
Saves money! ~
17. How many times a week do you shower?
3-4
18. Favorite tv show?
Like a sciencey show.
19. Shoe size?
38
20. How tall are you?
163.2 cm
21. Sandals or sneakers?
Sneakers
22. Do you go to the gym?
Haven't in over three years now.
23. Describe your dream date
Well..with someone I want to go on a date with. That's litterally the only criteria. The rest doesn't matter that much.
24. How much money do you have in your wallet at the moment?
None, I don't have a wallet. I has all them cards in a card holder thing.
25. What color socks are you wearing?
I'm not wearing any socks. I'm wearing black tights.
26. How many pillows do you sleep with?
Three but I want more! :D
27. Do you have a job? what do you do?
Nope.
28. How many friends do you have?
I have a lot of friends ^w^
29. Whats the worst thing you have ever done?
Me and a friend wanted to play alone, so we did everything we could to avoid another girl who were following us and wanted to play with us. In the end she got really mad, confronted us and started to cry. I felt so bad for what I had done :'(
(it was like third grade but I still remember it so well, I still feel terrible about it even if I made up with the girl and now I'm definitely closer to her than that other girl I played with)
30. Whats your favorite candle scent?
Minecraft xD
(it's like candy orange scent, I just used to lit them when I was playing Minecraft so now I think Minecraft every time I have one out)
31. 3 favorite boy names
Hmm, Nemo, Milo and then I got nothing..there are probably tons of nice names that I don't remember right now.
32. 3 favorite girl names
There are just too many, how come there's so many nice female names!
33. Favorite actor?
Who's that guy who plays god..Morgan Freeman!
34. Favorite actress?
I have no idea.
35. Who is your celebrity crush?
I've never had a celebrity crush.
36. Favorite movie?
Beauty and the Beast, or Shawshank redemption (oh hey, Freeman is in that one too!)
37. Do you read a lot? whats your favorite book?
No but my favorite book is a book from my childhood that always makes me cry. It's called "Spotty" by Margret Rey.
38. Money or brains?
Brains of course! What kind of question is that!
39. Do you have a nickname? what is it?
My best friend calls me "Bjurra" because of my last name and I had a friend who called me "Aki/Akii" instead of Akara. Other than that I just go by Johanna irl or Akara online.
40. How many times have you been to the hospital?
Not that many times I don't think.
41. Top 10 favorite songs
Oh god no. I'm not making a list of that.
42. Do you take any medications daily?
Nope.
43. What is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc)
What...normal I guess?
44. What is your biggest fear?
Losing people I love.
45. How many kids do you want?
As many as my partner wants. But I would like at least one or two someday ~
46. Whats your go to hair style?
High ponytail. Most of the time.
47. What type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc)
It's a student appartment, shared with two other people. I have a 14 square meter room to myself and I share kitchen and bathroom. For being a student place it's not too shabby.
48. Who is your role model?
Eh, no one really.
49. What was the last compliment you received?
That I did good probably :)
50. What was the last text you sent?
I won't write it here because it was my little sister's number that I sent to my grandma because she wanted to congratulate my little sister on her birthday.
51. How old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real?
I never believed in santa to begin with. The question was just who were pretending to be santa every year, my parents were sneaky.
52. What is your dream car?
I don't have a dream car.
53. Opinion on smoking?
Just don't do it. Simple as that.
54. Do you go to college?
I did.
55. What is your dream job?
At the moment it's just to do something n__n'
56. Would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs?
I don't really care, but I guess I'm more used to rural areas.
57. Do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels?
No I don't.
58. Do you have freckles?
Yes, I get them on my arms during summer.
59. Do you smile for pictures?
Yes, most of the time.
60. How many pictures do you have on your phone?
Not many, mostly pictures of northern light.
61. Have you ever peed in the woods?
Haha yes. Yes, I have xD
62. Do you still watch cartoons?
Yes.
63. Do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonalds?
I have never eaten at Wendy's so I cannot answer this.
64. Favorite dipping sauce?
Depends on what my choices are.
65. What do you wear to bed?
Nothing. Why would I wear something to bed, it just gets in your way.
66. Have you ever won a spelling bee?
We don't have that in Sweden. It's a pretty weird thing.
67. What are your hobbies?
Oh gosh, so many hobbies! BJDs, drawing, playing video games, sewing and so much more! I would probably consider organizing and planning to be a hobby of mine too |D
68. Can you draw?
Sometimes, when I actually put some effort into it.
69. Do you play an instrument?
No, but I sort of wished that I knew how to play the piano.
70. What was the last concert you saw?
Far too long ago.
71. Tea or coffee?
I like both.
72. Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts?
I haven't heard of Dunkin Donuts.
73. Do you want to get married?
If I find someone I want to marry. I'm not opposed to it, netiher is it something I "have to do". If it happens, it happens, but I'll not be the one to propose, that's for sure.
74. What is your crush’s first and last initial?
Haha this sounds just like some of the questions you got about ten years ago!
75. Are you going to change your last name when you get married?
Probably, I honestly don't care so much for my current last name. Having another one might be fun.
76. What color looks best on you?
Plum colored things looks really good on me for some reason.
77. Do you miss anyone right now?
I miss a lot of people.
78. Do you sleep with your door open or closed?
Closed, I live with two other people remember? My door is always shut...but it's never locked unless I leave home :)
79. Do you believe in ghosts?
I want to believe because I'd love to be a ghost but I honestly don't know if I believe in them or not.
80. What is your biggest pet peeve?
People entering my room and not shutting the door after themselves.
81. Last person you called?
I never call anyone, everyone calls me.
82. Favorite ice cream flavor?
Chocolate and maybe mint, but mostly chocolate. Oooh and strawberry cheesecake! -nom nom- I like ice cream, but funnily enough I eat more ice cream during winter than during summer xD
83. Regular oreos or golden oreos?
We only have regular oreos here as far as I know...?
84. Chocolate or rainbow sprinkles?
Not too big on sprinkles. I can do without.
85. What shirt are you wearing?
I'm not wearing a shirt. I'm currently wearing a dress.
86. What is your phone background?
It's just the default brown theme. I haven't gotten around to changing it.
87. Are you outgoing or shy?
I'm definitely more outgoing but I have my shy moments too.
88. Do you like it when people play with your hair?
It's nice.
89. Do you like your neighbors?
They're fine but the neighbor upstairs have a son who screams and bangs on the walls. I'm used to it but it's too bad when he wakes me up during the morning on weekends.
90. Do you wash your face? at night? in the morning?
In the shower.
91. Have you ever been high?
No.
92. Have you ever been drunk?
Yes.
93. Last thing you ate?
Tortellini
94. Favorite lyrics right now
I don't know.
95. Summer or winter?
Summer, but summer isn't that nice here.
96. Day or night?
Depends on the situation, but probably night because it's dark.
97. Dark, milk, or white chocolate?
Dark probably. I hate white chocolate ;___; Just too sweet for me.
98. Favorite month?
I like May. June is nice too.
99. What is your zodiac sign
I'm a capricorn :)
100. Who was the last person you cried in front of?
Like everyone on my mother's side of the family at my great grandmother's funeral.
Woah, that took quite some time! :O
365 Project - Image 21/365
A little sheep came wandering into the garden today, which Cinko decided to go and befriend, it was looking a little worried at first (maybe Cinko's 3 eyes were the reason for that) but eventually got used to him petting it.
Cinko is now continually asking me, "Can I keep it?" and I'm not sure what to answer....
From the Uglydoll blog at adventuresinuglyworld.blogspot.com/
TO REPORT AN EMERGENCY
1 Lift Cover
2 Push Button
3 Answer Operator
YOU MUST ANSWER TO GET HELP
Unfortunately, if you don't read English, you may be screwed.
Call box located on 7th Ave, upper 30s.
Explore #356, September 24, 2008
Live @ The Harley Sheffield.
Been listening to the Answering Machine for a while now. love the album.
"Answered Prayer"
Judy Royal Glenn Photography
Meet Barley! He is part of an answer to prayer a few weeks ago.
We travelled three days of eight plus hour trips to make it to Texas a few weeks ago. I wanted to photograph the blue bonnets while we where there. When I found a small patch on the side of the road, I told my husband I wanted to stop. He always is very tolerating of my craziness to suddenly stop so I can photograph something, but when I asked, he did not want to. We continued on our trip.
He started feeling bad and asking the Lord to show him some flowers so I could photograph them. He found a patch on the side of the road, and we pulled over.
A while later, a truck pulled up and the driver started talking to my husband. I stopped photographing the flowers to see what he was saying.
He said he had a whole field of blue bonnets on his property and ask if we were interested in photographing it. I could not believe what he was asking me. It was like I was in Heaven.
The field was beautiful! I photographed their sweet son named Noah, Kimber, their three week old, and Barley, their lab met which met us when we arrived. It was like a dream come true! Not only did I get to photograph their beautiful field of blue bonnets, but I got the icing on the cake times three!
Location: Luling, Texas
To purchase wildlife and nature fine art prints, please visit my website: www.judyroyalglennphotography.com
The question that everyone has ever asked themselves is this.Which strokes the inner zeal and wakes up the potent desire to reach the higher levels #MotivationalQuestion #ZealPuller @WomenOneOnline.
www.womenone.online/singlepost.php?page/Women/post/Answer...
Bain News Service,, publisher.
[Poster: Victor] All Star Trio and orchestra, Mazie and Answer, two jolly foxtrots
[between ca. 1915 and ca. 1920]
1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
Notes:
Title from data provided by the Bain News Service on the negative.
Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).
Format: Glass negatives.
Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication. For more information, see George Grantham Bain Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/274_bain.html
Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Part Of: Bain News Service photograph collection (DLC) 2005682517
General information about the George Grantham Bain Collection is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain
Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.32188
Call Number: LC-B2- 5428-4
Angler:Mr.FUKUI
ROD:PLAISIR ANSWER PA90 jaw breaker
REEL:EXCELER3000H / DAIWA
LINE:PE2号+NYLON30lb
Target:Japanese Seabass
Here is a compilation of the answers for the lovefilm.com quiz...
So far i have approximately 95 of the 100 to be found.
2007-06-10: Updated with more answers
NASA astronaut Nicole Mann answers a question during a press conference ahead of the Boeing Orbital Flight Test mission, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Mann, NASA astronaut Michale Fincke, and Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson are assigned to fly Boeing’s Crew Flight TestThe uncrewed Orbital Flight Test will be Starliner’s maiden mission to the International Space Station for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission, currently targeted for a 6:36 a.m. EST launch on Dec. 20, will serve as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Strasbourg (/ˈstræzbɜrɡ/, French pronunciation: [stʁaz.buʁ, stʁas.buʁ]; German: Straßburg, [ˈʃtʁaːsbʊɐ̯k]) is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in north eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace were historically Alemannic-speaking, hence the city's Germanic name.[5] In 2006, the city proper had 272,975 inhabitants and its urban community 467,375 inhabitants. With 759,868 inhabitants in 2010, Strasbourg's metropolitan area (only the part of the metropolitan area on French territory) is the ninth largest in France. The transnational Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau had a population of 884,988 inhabitants in 2008.[6]
Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions, such as the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights, its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and its European Audiovisual Observatory) and the Eurocorps, as well as the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman of the European Union. The city is also the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine and the International Institute of Human Rights.[7]
Strasbourg's historic city centre, the Grande Île (Grand Island), was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honour was placed on an entire city centre. Strasbourg is immersed in the Franco-German culture and although violently disputed throughout history, has been a bridge of unity between France and Germany for centuries, especially through the University of Strasbourg, currently the second largest in France, and the coexistence of Catholic and Protestant culture. The largest Islamic place of worship in France, the Strasbourg Grand Mosque, was inaugurated by French Interior Minister Manuel Valls on 27 September 2012.[8]
Economically, Strasbourg is an important centre of manufacturing and engineering, as well as a hub of road, rail, and river transportation. The port of Strasbourg is the second largest on the Rhine after Duisburg, Germany.
Etymology and Names
The city's Gallicized name (Lower Alsatian: Strossburi, [ˈʃd̥rɔːsb̥uri]; German: Straßburg, [ˈʃtʁaːsbʊɐ̯k]) is of Germanic origin and means "Town (at the crossing) of roads". The modern Stras- is cognate to the German Straße and English street, all of which are derived from Latin strata ("paved road"), while -bourg is cognate to the German Burg and English borough, all of which are derived from Proto-Germanic *burgz ("hill fort, fortress").
Geography
Strasbourg seen from Spot Satellite
Strasbourg is situated on the eastern border of France with Germany. This border is formed by the River Rhine, which also forms the eastern border of the modern city, facing across the river to the German town Kehl. The historic core of Strasbourg however lies on the Grande Île in the River Ill, which here flows parallel to, and roughly 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from, the Rhine. The natural courses of the two rivers eventually join some distance downstream of Strasbourg, although several artificial waterways now connect them within the city.
The city lies in the Upper Rhine Plain, at between 132 metres (433 ft) and 151 metres (495 ft) above sea level, with the upland areas of the Vosges Mountains some 20 km (12 mi) to the west and the Black Forest 25 km (16 mi) to the east. This section of the Rhine valley is a major axis of north-south travel, with river traffic on the Rhine itself, and major roads and railways paralleling it on both banks.
The city is some 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Paris. The mouth of the Rhine lies approximately 450 kilometres (280 mi) to the north, or 650 kilometres (400 mi) as the river flows, whilst the head of navigation in Basel is some 100 kilometres (62 mi) to the south, or 150 kilometres (93 mi) by river.
Climate
In spite of its position far inland, Strasbourg's climate is classified as Oceanic (Köppen climate classification Cfb), with warm, relatively sunny summers and cold, overcast winters. Precipitation is elevated from mid-spring to the end of summer, but remains largely constant throughout the year, totaling 631.4 mm (24.9 in) annually. On average, snow falls 30 days per year.
The highest temperature ever recorded was 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) in August 2003, during the 2003 European heat wave. The lowest temperature ever recorded was −23.4 °C (−10.1 °F) in December 1938.
Strasbourg's location in the Rhine valley, sheltered from the dominant winds by the Vosges and Black Forest mountains, results in poor natural ventilation, making Strasbourg one of the most atmospherically polluted cities of France.[10][11] Nonetheless, the progressive disappearance of heavy industry on both banks of the Rhine, as well as effective measures of traffic regulation in and around the city have reduced air pollution.
Prehistory
The first traces of human occupation in the environs of Strasbourg go back many thousands of years.[16] Neolithic, bronze age and iron age artifacts have been uncovered by archeological excavations. It was permanently settled by proto-Celts around 1300 BC. Towards the end of the third century BC, it developed into a Celtic township with a market called "Argentorate". Drainage works converted the stilthouses to houses built on dry land.[17]
From Romans
The Romans under Nero Claudius Drusus established a military outpost belonging to the Germania Superior Roman province at Strasbourg's current location, and named it Argentoratum. (Hence the town is commonly called Argentina in medieval Latin.[18]) The name "Argentoratum" was first mentioned in 12 BC and the city celebrated its 2,000th birthday in 1988. "Argentorate" as the toponym of the Gaulish settlement preceded it before being Latinized, but it is not known by how long. The Roman camp was destroyed by fire and rebuilt six times between the first and the fifth centuries AD: in 70, 97, 235, 355, in the last quarter of the fourth century, and in the early years of the fifth century. It was under Trajan and after the fire of 97 that Argentoratum received its most extended and fortified shape. From the year 90 on, the Legio VIII Augusta was permanently stationed in the Roman camp of Argentoratum. It then included a cavalry section and covered an area of approximately 20 hectares. Other Roman legions temporarily stationed in Argentoratum were the Legio XIV Gemina and the Legio XXI Rapax, the latter during the reign of Nero.
The centre of Argentoratum proper was situated on the Grande Île (Cardo: current Rue du Dôme, Decumanus: current Rue des Hallebardes). The outline of the Roman "castrum" is visible in the street pattern in the Grande Ile. Many Roman artifacts have also been found along the current Route des Romains, the road that led to Argentoratum, in the suburb of Kœnigshoffen. This was where the largest burial places were situated, as well as the densest concentration of civilian dwelling places and commerces next to the camp. Among the most outstanding finds in Kœnigshoffen were (found in 1911–12) the fragments of a grand Mithraeum that had been shattered by early Christians in the fourth century. From the fourth century, Strasbourg was the seat of the Bishopric of Strasbourg (made an Archbishopric in 1988). Archaeological excavations below the current Église Saint-Étienne in 1948 and 1956 unearthed the apse of a church dating back to the late fourth or early fifth century, considered to be the oldest church in Alsace. It is supposed that this was the first seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Strasbourg.
The Alemanni fought the Battle of Argentoratum against Rome in 357. They were defeated by Julian, later Emperor of Rome, and their King Chonodomarius was taken prisoner. On 2 January 366, the Alemanni crossed the frozen Rhine in large numbers to invade the Roman Empire. Early in the fifth century, the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine, conquered, and then settled what is today Alsace and a large part of Switzerland.
In the fifth century Strasbourg was occupied successively by Alemanni, Huns, and Franks. In the ninth century it was commonly known as Strazburg in the local language, as documented in 842 by the Oaths of Strasbourg. This trilingual text contains, alongside texts in Latin and Old High German (teudisca lingua), the oldest written variety of Gallo-Romance (lingua romana) clearly distinct from Latin, the ancestor of Old French. The town was also called Stratisburgum or Strateburgus in Latin, from which later came Strossburi in Alsatian and Straßburg in Standard German, and then Strasbourg in French. The Oaths of Strasbourg is considered as marking the birth of the two countries of France and Germany with the division of the Carolingian Empire.[19]
A major commercial centre, the town came under the control of the Holy Roman Empire in 923, through the homage paid by the Duke of Lorraine to German King Henry I. The early history of Strasbourg consists of a long conflict between its bishop and its citizens. The citizens emerged victorious after the Battle of Oberhausbergen in 1262, when King Philip of Swabia granted the city the status of an Imperial Free City.
Around 1200, Gottfried von Straßburg wrote the Middle High German courtly romance Tristan, which is regarded, alongside Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival and the Nibelungenlied, as one of great narrative masterpieces of the German Middle Ages.
A revolution in 1332 resulted in a broad-based city government with participation of the guilds, and Strasbourg declared itself a free republic. The deadly bubonic plague of 1348 was followed on 14 February 1349 by one of the first and worst pogroms in pre-modern history: over a thousand Jews were publicly burnt to death, with the remainder of the Jewish population being expelled from the city.[20] Until the end of the 18th century, Jews were forbidden to remain in town after 10 pm. The time to leave the city was signalled by a municipal herald blowing the Grüselhorn (see below, Museums, Musée historique);.[21] A special tax, the Pflastergeld (pavement money), was furthermore to be paid for any horse that a Jew would ride or bring into the city while allowed to.[22]
Construction on Strasbourg Cathedral began in the twelfth century, and it was completed in 1439 (though, of the towers, only the north tower was built), becoming the World's Tallest Building, surpassing the Great Pyramid of Giza. A few years later, Johannes Gutenberg created the first European moveable type printing press in Strasbourg.
In July 1518, an incident known as the Dancing Plague of 1518 struck residents of Strasbourg. Around 400 people were afflicted with dancing mania and danced constantly for weeks, most of them eventually dying from heart attack, stroke or exhaustion.
In the 1520s during the Protestant Reformation, the city, under the political guidance of Jacob Sturm von Sturmeck and the spiritual guidance of Martin Bucer embraced the religious teachings of Martin Luther. Their adherents established a Gymnasium, headed by Johannes Sturm, made into a University in the following century. The city first followed the Tetrapolitan Confession, and then the Augsburg Confession. Protestant iconoclasm caused much destruction to churches and cloisters, notwithstanding that Luther himself opposed such a practice. Strasbourg was a centre of humanist scholarship and early book-printing in the Holy Roman Empire, and its intellectual and political influence contributed much to the establishment of Protestantism as an accepted denomination in the southwest of Germany. (John Calvin spent several years as a political refugee in the city). The Strasbourg Councillor Sturm and guildmaster Matthias represented the city at the Imperial Diet of Speyer (1529), where their protest led to the schism of the Catholic Church and the evolution of Protestantism. Together with four other free cities, Strasbourg presented the confessio tetrapolitana as its Protestant book of faith at the Imperial Diet of Augsburg in 1530, where the slightly different Augsburg Confession was also handed over to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
After the reform of the Imperial constitution in the early sixteenth century and the establishment of Imperial Circles, Strasbourg was part of the Upper Rhenish Circle, a corporation of Imperial estates in the southwest of Holy Roman Empire, mainly responsible for maintaining troops, supervising coining, and ensuring public security.
After the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1440, the first printing offices outside the inventor's hometown Mainz were established around 1460 in Strasbourg by pioneers Johannes Mentelin and Heinrich Eggestein. Subsequently, the first modern newspaper was published in Strasbourg in 1605, when Johann Carolus received the permission by the City of Strasbourg to print and distribute a weekly journal written in German by reporters from several central European cities.
From Thirty Years' War to First World War
The Free City of Strasbourg remained neutral during the Thirty Years' War 1618-1648, and retained its status as a Free Imperial City. However, the city was later annexed by Louis XIV of France to extend the borders of his kingdom.
Louis' advisors believed that, as long as Strasbourg remained independent, it would endanger the King's newly annexed territories in Alsace, and, that to defend these large rural lands effectively, a garrison had to be placed in towns such as Strasbourg.[23] Indeed, the bridge over the Rhine at Strasbourg had been used repeatedly by Imperial (Holy Roman Empire) forces,[24] and three times during the Franco-Dutch War Strasbourg had served as a gateway for Imperial invasions into Alsace.[25] In September 1681 Louis' forces, though lacking a clear casus belli, surrounded the city with overwhelming force. After some negotiation, Louis marched into the city unopposed on 30 September 1681 and proclaimed its annexation.[26]
This annexation was one of the direct causes of the brief and bloody War of the Reunions whose outcome left the French in possession. The French annexation was recognized by the Treaty of Ryswick (1697). The official policy of religious intolerance which drove most Protestants from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 was not applied in Strasbourg and in Alsace, because both had a special status as a province à l'instar de l'étranger effectif (a kind of foreign province of the king of France). Strasbourg Cathedral, however, was taken from the Lutherans to be returned to the Catholics as the French authorities tried to promote Catholicism wherever they could (some other historic churches remained in Protestant hands). Its language also remained overwhelmingly German: the German Lutheran university persisted until the French Revolution. Famous students included Goethe and Herder.
The Duke of Lorraine and Imperial troops crossing the Rhine at Strasbourg during the War of the Austrian Succession, 1744
During a dinner in Strasbourg organized by Mayor Frédéric de Dietrich on 25 April 1792, Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle composed "La Marseillaise". The same year François Christophe Kellermann, a child of Strasbourg was appointed the head of the Mosel Army. He led his company to victory at the battle of Valmy and saved the young French republic. He was later appointed Duke of Valmy by Napoléon in 1808.
During this period Jean-Baptiste Kléber, also born in Strasbourg, led the French army to win several decisive victories. A statue of Kléber now stands in the centre of the city, at Place Kléber, and he is still one of the most famous French officers. He was later appointed Marshal of France by Napoléon.
Strasbourg's status as a free city was revoked by the French Revolution. Enragés, most notoriously Eulogius Schneider, ruled the city with an increasingly iron hand. During this time, many churches and monasteries were either destroyed or severely damaged. The cathedral lost hundreds of its statues (later replaced by copies in the 19th century) and in April 1794, there was talk of tearing its spire down, on the grounds that it was against the principle of equality. The tower was saved, however, when in May of the same year citizens of Strasbourg crowned it with a giant tin Phrygian cap. This artifact was later kept in the historical collections of the city until it was destroyed by the Germans in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian war.[27]
In 1805, 1806 and 1809, Napoléon Bonaparte and his first wife, Joséphine stayed in Strasbourg.[28] In 1810, his second wife Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma spent her first night on French soil in the palace. Another royal guest was King Charles X of France in 1828.[29] In 1836, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte unsuccessfully tried to lead his first Bonapartist coup in Strasbourg.
During the Franco-Prussian War and the Siege of Strasbourg, the city was heavily bombarded by the Prussian army. The bombardment of the city was meant to break the morale of the people of Strasbourg.[30] On 24 and 26 August 1870, the Museum of Fine Arts was destroyed by fire, as was the Municipal Library housed in the Gothic former Dominican church, with its unique collection of medieval manuscripts (most famously the Hortus deliciarum), rare Renaissance books, archeological finds and historical artifacts. The gothic cathedral was damaged as well as the medieval church of Temple Neuf, the theatre, the city hall, the court of justice and many houses. At the end of the siege 10,000 inhabitants were left without shelter; over 600 died, including 261 civilians, and 3200 were injured, including 1,100 civilians.[31]
In 1871, after the end of the war, the city was annexed to the newly established German Empire as part of the Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen under the terms of the Treaty of Frankfurt. As part of Imperial Germany, Strasbourg was rebuilt and developed on a grand and representative scale, such as the Neue Stadt, or "new city" around the present Place de la République. Historian Rodolphe Reuss and Art historian Wilhelm von Bode were in charge of rebuilding the municipal archives, libraries and museums. The University, founded in 1567 and suppressed during the French Revolution as a stronghold of German sentiment,[citation needed] was reopened in 1872 under the name Kaiser-Wilhelms-Universität.
Strasbourg in the 1890s.
A belt of massive fortifications was established around the city, most of which still stands today, renamed after French generals and generally classified as Monuments historiques; most notably Fort Roon (now Fort Desaix) and Fort Podbielski (now Fort Ducrot) in Mundolsheim, Fort von Moltke (now Fort Rapp) in Reichstett, Fort Bismarck (now Fort Kléber) in Wolfisheim, Fort Kronprinz (now Fort Foch) in Niederhausbergen, Fort Kronprinz von Sachsen (now Fort Joffre) in Holtzheim and Fort Großherzog von Baden (now Fort Frère) in Oberhausbergen.[32]
Those forts subsequently served the French army (Fort Podbielski/Ducrot for instance was integrated into the Maginot Line[33]), and were used as POW-camps in 1918 and 1945.
Two garrison churches were also erected for the members of the Imperial German army, the Lutheran Église Saint-Paul and the Roman Catholic Église Saint-Maurice.
1918 to the present
A lost, then restored, symbol of modernity in Strasbourg : a room in the Aubette building designed by Theo van Doesburg, Hans Arp and Sophie Taeuber-Arp.
Following the defeat of the German empire in World War I and the abdication of the German Emperor, some revolutionary insurgents declared Alsace-Lorraine as an independent Republic, without preliminary referendum or vote. On 11 November 1918 (Armistice Day), communist insurgents proclaimed a "soviet government" in Strasbourg, following the example of Kurt Eisner in Munich as well as other German towns. French troops commanded by French general Henri Gouraud entered triumphantly in the city on 22 November. A major street of the city now bears the name of that date (Rue du 22 Novembre) which celebrates the entry of the French in the city.[34][35][36] Viewing the massive cheering crowd gathered under the balcony of Strasbourg's town hall, French President Raymond Poincaré stated that "the plebiscite is done".[37]
In 1919, following the Treaty of Versailles, the city was annexed by France in accordance with U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points" without a referendum. The date of the assignment was retroactively established on Armistice Day. It is doubtful whether a referendum in Strasbourg would have ended in France's favour since the political parties striving for an autonomous Alsace or a connection to France accounted only for a small proportion of votes in the last Reichstag as well as in the local elections.[38] The Alsatian autonomists who were pro French had won many votes in the more rural parts of the region and other towns since the annexation of the region by Germany in 1871. The movement started with the first election for the Reichstag; those elected were called "les députés protestataires", and until the fall of Bismarck in 1890, they were the only deputies elected by the Alsatians to the German parliament demanding the return of those territories to France.[39] At the last Reichstag election in Strasbourg and its periphery, the clear winners were the Social Democrats; the city was the administrative capital of the region, was inhabited by many Germans appointed by the central government in Berlin and its flourishing economy attracted many Germans. This could explain the difference between the rural vote and the one in Strasbourg. After the war, many Germans left Strasbourg and went back to Germany; some of them were denounced by the locals or expelled by the newly appointed authorities. The Saverne Affair was vivid in the memory among the Alsatians.
In 1920, Strasbourg became the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine, previously located in Mannheim, one of the oldest European institutions. It moved into the former Imperial Palace.
When the Maginot Line was built, the Sous-secteur fortifié de Strasbourg (fortified sub-sector of Strasbourg) was laid out on the city's territory as a part of the Secteur fortifié du Bas-Rhin, one of the sections of the Line. Blockhouses and casemates were built along the Grand Canal d'Alsace and the Rhine in the Robertsau forest and the port.[40]
Between the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and the Anglo-French declaration of War against the German Reich on 3 September 1939, the entire city (a total of 120,000 people) was evacuated, like other border towns as well. Until the arrival of the Wehrmacht troops mid-June 1940, the city was, for ten months, completely empty, with the exception of the garrisoned soldiers. The Jews of Strasbourg had been evacuated to Périgueux and Limoges, the University had been evacuated to Clermont-Ferrand.
After the ceasefire following the Fall of France in June 1940, Alsace was annexed to Germany and a rigorous policy of Germanisation was imposed upon it by the Gauleiter Robert Heinrich Wagner. When, in July 1940, the first evacuees were allowed to return, only residents of Alsatian origin were admitted. The last Jews were deported on 15 July 1940 and the main synagogue, a huge Romanesque revival building that had been a major architectural landmark with its 54-metre-high dome since its completion in 1897, was set ablaze, then razed.[41]
In September 1940 the first Alsatian resistance movement led by Marcel Weinum called La main noire (The black hand) was created. It was composed by a group of 25 young men aged from 14 to 18 years old who led several attacks against the German occupation. The actions culminated with the attack of the Gauleiter Robert Wagner, the highest commander of Alsace directly under the order of Hitler. In March 1942, Marcel Weinum was prosecuted by the Gestapo and sentenced to be beheaded at the age of 18 in April 1942 in Stuttgart, Germany. His last words will be: "If I have to die, I shall die but with a pure heart". From 1943 the city was bombarded by Allied aircraft. While the First World War had not notably damaged the city, Anglo-American bombing caused extensive destruction in raids of which at least one was allegedly carried out by mistake.[42] In August 1944, several buildings in the Old Town were damaged by bombs, particularly the Palais Rohan, the Old Customs House (Ancienne Douane) and the Cathedral.[43] On 23 November 1944, the city was officially liberated by the 2nd French Armoured Division under General Leclerc. He achieved the oath that he made with his soldiers, after the decisive Capture of Kufra. With the Oath of Kuffra, they swore to keep up the fight until the French flag flew over the Cathedral of Strasbourg.
Many people from Strasbourg were incorporated in the German Army against their will, and were sent to the eastern front, those young men and women were called Malgré-nous. Many tried to escape from the incorporation, join the French Resistance, or desert the Wehrmacht but many couldn't because they were running the risk of having their families sent to work or concentration camps by the Germans. Many of these men, especially those who did not answer the call immediately, were pressured to "volunteer" for service with the SS, often by direct threats on their families. This threat obliged the majority of them to remain in the German army. After the war, the few that survived were often accused of being traitors or collaborationists, because this tough situation was not known in the rest of France, and they had to face the incomprehension of many. In July 1944, 1500 malgré-nous were released from Soviet captivity and sent to Algiers, where they joined the Free French Forces. Nowadays history recognizes the suffering of those people, and museums, public discussions and memorials have been built to commemorate this terrible period of history of this part of Eastern France (Alsace and Moselle). Liberation of Strasbourg took place on 23 November 1944.
In 1947, a fire broke out in the Musée des Beaux-Arts and devastated a significant part of the collections. This fire was an indirect consequence of the bombing raids of 1944: because of the destruction inflicted on the Palais Rohan, humidity had infiltrated the building, and moisture had to be fought. This was done with welding torches, and a bad handling of these caused the fire.[44]
In the 1950s and 1960s the city was enlarged by new residential areas meant to solve both the problem of housing shortage due to war damage and that of the strong growth of population due to the baby boom and immigration from North Africa: Cité Rotterdam in the North-East, Quartier de l'Esplanade in the South-East, Hautepierre in the North-West. Between 1995 and 2010, a new district has been built in the same vein, the Quartier des Poteries, south of Hautepierre.
In 1958, a violent hailstorm destroyed most of the historical greenhouses of the Botanical Garden and many of the stained glass windows of St. Paul's Church.
In 1949, the city was chosen to be the seat of the Council of Europe with its European Court of Human Rights and European Pharmacopoeia. Since 1952, the European Parliament has met in Strasbourg, which was formally designated its official 'seat' at the Edinburgh meeting of the European Council of EU heads of state and government in December 1992. (This position was reconfirmed and given treaty status in the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam). However, only the (four-day) plenary sessions of the Parliament are held in Strasbourg each month, with all other business being conducted in Brussels and Luxembourg. Those sessions take place in the Immeuble Louise Weiss, inaugurated in 1999, which houses the largest parliamentary assembly room in Europe and of any democratic institution in the world. Before that, the EP sessions had to take place in the main Council of Europe building, the Palace of Europe, whose unusual inner architecture had become a familiar sight to European TV audiences.[45] In 1992, Strasbourg became the seat of the Franco-German TV channel and movie-production society Arte.
In 2000, a terrorist plot to blow up the cathedral was prevented thanks to the cooperation between French and German police that led to the arrest in late 2000 of a Frankfurt-based group of terrorists.
On 6 July 2001, during an open-air concert in the Parc de Pourtalès, a single falling Platanus tree killed thirteen people and injured 97. On 27 March 2007, the city was found guilty of neglect over the accident and fined €150,000.[46]
In 2006, after a long and careful restoration, the inner decoration of the Aubette, made in the 1920s by Hans Arp, Theo van Doesburg, and Sophie Taeuber-Arp and destroyed in the 1930s, was made accessible to the public again. The work of the three artists had been called "the Sistine Chapel of abstract art".
Architecture
Strasbourg, Cathedral of Our Lady
The city is chiefly known for its sandstone Gothic Cathedral with its famous astronomical clock, and for its medieval cityscape of Rhineland black and white timber-framed buildings, particularly in the Petite France district or Gerberviertel ("tanners' district") alongside the Ill and in the streets and squares surrounding the cathedral, where the renowned Maison Kammerzell stands out.
Notable medieval streets include Rue Mercière, Rue des Dentelles, Rue du Bain aux Plantes, Rue des Juifs, Rue des Frères, Rue des Tonneliers, Rue du Maroquin, Rue des Charpentiers, Rue des Serruriers, Grand' Rue, Quai des Bateliers, Quai Saint-Nicolas and Quai Saint-Thomas. Notable medieval squares include Place de la Cathédrale, Place du Marché Gayot, Place Saint-Étienne, Place du Marché aux Cochons de Lait and Place Benjamin Zix.
Maison des tanneurs.
In addition to the cathedral, Strasbourg houses several other medieval churches that have survived the many wars and destructions that have plagued the city: the Romanesque Église Saint-Étienne, partly destroyed in 1944 by Allied bombing raids, the part Romanesque, part Gothic, very large Église Saint-Thomas with its Silbermann organ on which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Albert Schweitzer played,[49] the Gothic Église protestante Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune with its crypt dating back to the seventh century and its cloister partly from the eleventh century, the Gothic Église Saint-Guillaume with its fine early-Renaissance stained glass and furniture, the Gothic Église Saint-Jean, the part Gothic, part Art Nouveau Église Sainte-Madeleine, etc. The Neo-Gothic church Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux Catholique (there is also an adjacent church Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux Protestant) serves as a shrine for several 15th-century wood worked and painted altars coming from other, now destroyed churches and installed there for public display. Among the numerous secular medieval buildings, the monumental Ancienne Douane (old custom-house) stands out.
The German Renaissance has bequeathed the city some noteworthy buildings (especially the current Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie, former town hall, on Place Gutenberg), as did the French Baroque and Classicism with several hôtels particuliers (i.e. palaces), among which the Palais Rohan (1742, now housing three museums) is the most spectacular. Other buildings of its kind are the "Hôtel de Hanau" (1736, now the city hall), the Hôtel de Klinglin (1736, now residence of the préfet), the Hôtel des Deux-Ponts (1755, now residence of the military governor), the Hôtel d'Andlau-Klinglin (1725, now seat of the administration of the Port autonome de Strasbourg) etc. The largest baroque building of Strasbourg though is the 150 m (490 ft) long 1720s main building of the Hôpital civil. As for French Neo-classicism, it is the Opera House on Place Broglie that most prestigiously represents this style.
Strasbourg also offers high-class eclecticist buildings in its very extended German district, the Neustadt, being the main memory of Wilhelmian architecture since most of the major cities in Germany proper suffered intensive damage during World War II. Streets, boulevards and avenues are homogeneous, surprisingly high (up to seven stories) and broad examples of German urban lay-out and of this architectural style that summons and mixes up five centuries of European architecture as well as Neo-Egyptian, Neo-Greek and Neo-Babylonian styles. The former imperial palace Palais du Rhin, the most political and thus heavily criticized of all German Strasbourg buildings epitomizes the grand scale and stylistic sturdiness of this period. But the two most handsome and ornate buildings of these times are the École internationale des Pontonniers (the former Höhere Mädchenschule, girls college) with its towers, turrets and multiple round and square angles[50] and the École des Arts décoratifs with its lavishly ornate façade of painted bricks, woodwork and majolica.[51]
Notable streets of the German district include: Avenue de la Forêt Noire, Avenue des Vosges, Avenue d'Alsace, Avenue de la Marseillaise, Avenue de la Liberté, Boulevard de la Victoire, Rue Sellénick, Rue du Général de Castelnau, Rue du Maréchal Foch, and Rue du Maréchal Joffre. Notable squares of the German district include: Place de la République, Place de l'Université, Place Brant, and Place Arnold
As for modern and contemporary architecture, Strasbourg possesses some fine Art Nouveau buildings (such as the huge Palais des Fêtes and houses and villas like Villa Schutzenberger and Hôtel Brion), good examples of post-World War II functional architecture (the Cité Rotterdam, for which Le Corbusier did not succeed in the architectural contest) and, in the very extended Quartier Européen, some spectacular administrative buildings of sometimes utterly large size, among which the European Court of Human Rights building by Richard Rogers is arguably the finest. Other noticeable contemporary buildings are the new Music school Cité de la Musique et de la Danse, the Musée d'Art moderne et contemporain and the Hôtel du Département facing it, as well as, in the outskirts, the tramway-station Hoenheim-Nord designed by Zaha Hadid.
Place Kléber
The city has many bridges, including the medieval and four-towered Ponts Couverts that, despite their name, are no longer covered. Next to the Ponts Couverts is the Barrage Vauban, a part of Vauban's 17th-century fortifications, that does include a covered bridge. Other bridges are the ornate 19th-century Pont de la Fonderie (1893, stone) and Pont d'Auvergne (1892, iron), as well as architect Marc Mimram's futuristic Passerelle over the Rhine, opened in 2004.
The largest square at the centre of the city of Strasbourg is the Place Kléber. Located in the heart of the city's commercial area, it was named after general Jean-Baptiste Kléber, born in Strasbourg in 1753 and assassinated in 1800 in Cairo. In the square is a statue of Kléber, under which is a vault containing his remains. On the north side of the square is the Aubette (Orderly Room), built by Jacques François Blondel, architect of the king, in 1765–1772.
Parks
The Pavillon Joséphine (rear side) in the Parc de l'Orangerie
The Château de Pourtalès (front side) in the park of the same name
Strasbourg features a number of prominent parks, of which several are of cultural and historical interest: the Parc de l'Orangerie, laid out as a French garden by André le Nôtre and remodeled as an English garden on behalf of Joséphine de Beauharnais, now displaying noteworthy French gardens, a neo-classical castle and a small zoo; the Parc de la Citadelle, built around impressive remains of the 17th-century fortress erected close to the Rhine by Vauban;[52] the Parc de Pourtalès, laid out in English style around a baroque castle (heavily restored in the 19th century) that now houses a small three-star hotel,[53] and featuring an open-air museum of international contemporary sculpture.[54] The Jardin botanique de l'Université de Strasbourg (botanical garden) was created under the German administration next to the Observatory of Strasbourg, built in 1881, and still owns some greenhouses of those times. The Parc des Contades, although the oldest park of the city, was completely remodeled after World War II. The futuristic Parc des Poteries is an example of European park-conception in the late 1990s. The Jardin des deux Rives, spread over Strasbourg and Kehl on both sides of the Rhine opened in 2004 and is the most extended (60-hectare) park of the agglomeration. The most recent park is Parc du Heyritz (8,7 ha), opened in 2014 along a canal facing the hôpital civil.
We were waiting for an answer , a Simple one , Can We Touch the Sky , can I eat those sugary cotton Sky , no one answered us ,,, so we always try to find out the answers by our selves , we Climbed these woody fence day after day , we broke some of the woods , but we still try , then we Found the answer , just the people who pass a way could know the answer , and we will never reach the sky , It's just a amazing un-limited range with stars all over around to count till we sleep ...
I will never wait , we Will never Wait
And if it all is black and white
Then tell me what is wrong and right
I don't suppose that anybody knows
And maybe when we reach the end
We'll ask imaginary friends
By no response..
Dedicated to my Lovely Brother who I used to Climb these woody Fence with him , to Touch the Sky ...
Class A4 4468, Mallard - one of 35 A4 class engines. She broke the steam engine speed record on 3 July, 1938.
A very low flight of Pelicans over the water - Snapped @ Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary - Andhra Pradesh, India.
"It turns out that Paul Ehrlich answered this very question in a 1988 guide to the birds of Stanford University, of all places: “Skimming permits the birds to take advantage of an aerodynamic phenomenon known as ‘ground effect.’” When a bird, or an airplane, flies less than a wingpsan’s distance from the ground, flight is much more efficient due to slight changes in airflow patterns around the wing. Land is usually too cluttered with grass and trees and whatnot to permit such flight, but calm Bay waters are perfect for it."
SOURCE : baynature.org/articles/why-do-pelicans-fly-so-low/
Pulicat lake bird sanctuary is a saline backwater lake lying along the T.N.-A.P coast; part extending to Chengalpattu district of T.N. It has an area of 481 sq.KM and it is the 2nd largest brackish water lagoon in India after Chilka lake in Orissa. The area on the TN side is 153.67 sq.km.
The Pulicat sanctuary is drained by Arni river while the Buckingham canal brings in the city’s drainage water. At the southern end is an opening on to Bay of Bengal through a shallow mouth of 200 m in width. The rest of the lake is closed by a sand bar running parallel to the Bay of Bengal in the form of the Sriharikota island.
The sanctuary has an area of 321 Sq. KM with 108 sq.KM of National Park area.
It lies within 11o 30’ N to 11o 42’ N and 76o 30’ E to 76o 45’ E.
Rainfall ranges from 800 - 2000mm. Temperature varies from 14o C to 33o C.
Altitude ranges from 100’ MSL to 1200’ MSL.
The wetlands eco system are considered as among the richest areas of bio diversity. Pulicat, by virtue of the mixing of fresh water with sea water is found to be an ideal habitat for diverse life-forms. 160 species of fish, 25 species of polychaete worms, 12 species of prawn, 19 species of mollusk and 100 speceis of birds are well documented apart from a number of other aquatic flora and fauna.
Among the most spectacular is the flamingo-a tall gaunt, white-coloured bird with a touch of pink on the wings, pink beak and legs, seen feeding in shallow water. The squat, large-billed grey pelican with gular pouch and a number of ducks are commonly seen. Flocks of sea gulls and terns circling in the sky or bobbing up and down on the water are an added attraction at pulicat. Besides, there are a number of waterside birds and waders such as curlews, stilts, plovers, sand pipers, lapwings, redshank. Egrets, herons, kites etc. are some other birds found here. The lake is also home to crabs, clams, mussels, oysters, snails, fish worms, insects, spiders, sponges, anemone, prawns, plankton and so on including rare endemic species like gilled leech, an unidentified bloodred fish, etc., Rapid siltation has caused loss of bio diversity. It is seen that mangrove opllen is found on Sriharikota Island indicating their existence some years back. Loss of mangroves may be one of the resons hastening siltation, reducing biodiversity and hence depriving fisherfolk of their livelihood.
Source : www.forests.tn.nic.in/wildbiodiversity/bs_plbs.html
Yes, it was the Yellow-orange Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria var. formosa)... the GUESS WHAT from two days before .....
A slightly poisonous Fungus or mushroom (or would you all call it toadstool then?) ... so not to use for pizza ... lol .... nor for mushroom dinners ....
Besides you want some physical problems ....or visions or deliriums ... it was used as halluzinogen in former times....
But beautiful it is ... one of the most beautiful mushrooms i know, seems to have jumped directly out of the fairy-tale universes .....
Sorry, the photographic quality is not the best. I have some wonderful pictures, taken with my macro lens, but somehow i cant upload them to flickr , as i am not at home and surfing only on a stick .....
So this image taken by the i-phone must do it for now ....
Wish you all great and tasty lunch - and dinner - meals ..... maybe mushrooms,, too , but not from this species ..... LOL