Traveling Through the Alphabet part 2

Here's how this has gone recently -

just 30 days
Round 75 October 11, 2022 at post 2540 - Janis again again again

WOW - 75!!!!

in only 27 days
Round 76 November 7, 2022 at post 2569 - Mona's Alpine Countries and almost the same time periscope's gorgeous ceramic's

29 days
Round 77 Dec 6, 22 at post 2600 (Cyn going skiing)
passing Two and a half years

43 days - a record
Round 78 Jan 17, 2023 at post 2631 (Avirosemail visiting a Spanish museum)
Happy (belated) New Year

Month 32 exactly, after post 2645, we have moved to this thread.

WELCOME EVERYONE

and on we run.

just 16 days - It looks like Webmaster's sealing the original thread has given a little boost
Round 79 Feb 2, 2023 at post 2663 (Janis in Altamura, Italy)

47+2663 = 2710
in only 5 days you guys have taken us, as Wil said Around the World in Eighty Alphabets!
Round 80 Feb 7, 2023 at post equivalent number 2710 (Fred in Angermünde, Germany)

78+2663 = 2741
22 days
Round 81 March 1, 2023 at post equivalent number 2741 (Maria F in Agra, India)

53 days, a record by a mile (not in a good way)
Round 82 April 22, 2023 at post equivalent number 2755 (Cyn at the Alpenglo Lodge)

39 day, but no activity from May 2 to 30th
Round 83 at post equiv. number 2783 May 30, 2023 (Gail at Arlington National Cemetery, particularly poignant on US Memorial Day )

10 days only
Round 84 at post equiv. number 2820 June 5, 2023 (Cyn having another beer)

and round 85 not far away, and round 85 has indeed rolled up.
in only 5 days, mostly talking about beer
Round 85 at post equiv. number 2842 which is only 158 posts from 3,000. Reached on June 10, 2023 (Den on only his 6th post here discussing the Benedictine Abbey at Admont Austria)

Round 86 at post equiv number 2897 Reached on October 5, 2023 (Cyn talking about ATMs)
Pretty much a slow posting record, 117 days for that round.

Round 87 at post equiv number 2909 Reached on October 17, 2023 (Cyn on the Adriatic Sea), only 12 days! Much faster

Round 88 at post equiv number 2944 Reached on October 29, 2023 (Cyn in Ålesund, Norway), in 12 days again!

Round 89 at post equiv number 2974 Reached on December 19, 2023 (periscope taking us to Ahem?!?), in much more average speed, in 51 days...

Round 90!!!!! at post equiv number 3004 (and we zoomed past 3,000 in that round) Reached January 10, 2024 in a fast tempo, 22 days.. (Cyn on the Aurora Winter Train)

Round 91 at post EN 3034 Reached February 10 in 31 days. (a tie, Cyn in Arapahoe Basin and Nigel in the Aargau)

Round 92 at post EN 3063 Reached March 17th St Patrick's Day in 36 days. (MariaF in Abergavenny, Wales and avirosemail at the AFPU, the British Army Film and Photographic Unit in a virtually dead heat)

Round 93 at post EN 3092 Reached March 29 in only 13 days. (avirosemail with A is for the Battle of El Alamein)
...
for what it's worth

Nigel

Post number 2645 was from Priscilla, her post 5000 at the time I think, which I reproduce for context

Posted by Priscilla
California
01/29/23 01:51 AM
5005 posts

N is for The Norman Palace (Palazzo dei Normanni)

The Norman Palace, also know as the Royal Palace of Palermo, is a beautiful complex with a long history, and famous for its stunning Cappella Palatina (Palatine Chapel) covered in magnificent mosaics.

This was one of my favorite sites in Palermo.

so please pick up with letter "O" for oblique. That is different from "0" for nothing at all....

Nigel, this has been a fun thread, hoping to continue contributing if I don't miss my next letter contribution.

Then it would be O standing for Orange maramalade -- the bitter Seville kind.

Those oranges could grow in southern Spain and Portugal but they weren't very tasty as-is. The solution, of course, is to give them to Brits in a form that they get excited about, marmalade. When you amble about Sevilla you find not just walled orange mini-orchards that used to be the side yards/gardens of mosques, but also old shops that catered to visitors from the colder parts of Europe who developed a taste for bitter marmalade.

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/food-and-drink/the-last-bitter-word-about-the-origins-of-seville-oranges-1.3953631

https://www.missfoodwise.com/2018/03/bitter-seville-orange-marmalade-make.html/

OK, I'll play.

P is for Pico, an island in the Azores.

Pico is the second largest island (by area) in the Azores. It’s also the name of tallest mountain in all of Portugal (including mainland Portugal), a volcano of the same name located on the island. Sometimes referred to as Ilha Preta (“Black Island”) because of its predominant black rocks and soils, all of volcanic origin. First settled in the 15th century, Pico’s economy has been historically based largely on fishing, agriculture, commercial whaling (now replaced with whale watching), and wine production. They’re still making great wine, though not as much as they once did.

Photo: An old winery on Pico I shot on a 2021 visit

P
Parliament Square in London

The most popular tourist destination in London as it includes the Houses of Parliament with Elizabeth's Tower with the Big Ben bell inside, and nearby Westminster Abbey. Its also adjacent o Westminster Bridge.

Edit: beaten to the punch by 8 minutes because I had turn the kettle off.

Q is for Queralbs

A medieval stone village in the Catalan Pyrenees with an intact 9th century Romanesque Church. Just outside of Queralbs is a rack railway (there are several departure times every day) up to the Vall de Núria. The Vall de Núria is a sacred valley in the high Pyrenees, there is a holy sanctuary and old 1930s hotel at the top, plus a small lake and plenty of hiking trails for all aptitudes. Very picturesque and popular with local Catalan families, although hardly known to foreign tourists. Makes for a fun day trip from Barcelona!

R

Rennes, France. Pronounced: ren. I lived there for a semester, and I probably stayed living there permanently in another life as I really enjoyed it. It's the capital of Brittany, a historically Celtic region, and it's where many tourists likely get off the TGV to head to Le Mont St Michel. It's got a few great old-town streets with half-timber houses and it can be lively with college drinkers on weekend evenings. Eating a galette in this region is required. Maybe a local cidre. It is otherwise not high on the typical tourist's agenda except as a launching point to other parts of Brittany. It's a very livable city and I think it used to be the smallest city with a metro/subway system (Lausanne apparently holds this title now).

S is for Sacile, FVG , Italy

Home to the world famous Fazioli Pianoforti.

https://www.fazioli.com/en/

T

Thames River Path

https://ramblingman.org.uk/planningatrip/planning-a-thames-path-walk/

Have walked a lot of it but on each trip to London I amble some more.

Nigel, you're saucy.

U

Under the Wire, meaning just reaching a place before it’s too late, something I try to avoid but that my husband consistently tries to make. That’s resulted in a few conflicts - when to leave for the airport, when to get to the gate, when to get to a train station or bus or tram stop, when to leave for a museum or concert, etc., etc.

It’s thrilling (and apparently efficient) when one arrives just Under the Wire, but it’s nerve-wracking. I’m trying to ensure that we don’t go there very often, leaving things until the very last minute. Getting someplace with adequate time…is that then “Over the Wire?”

V

Very Exclusive Status - a place that Priscilla achieved with her final place name to the first Traveling Through the Alphabet thread. With her 5,000th post, a yellow star in a dark blue square now appears next to her name. Then again, even I have actually also reached that number 5,000 so perhaps it’s not such an exclusive status. Anyone who sticks around here long enough can get a star, of one color or another.

A Naugahyde Star, now that’s another story.

W is for Wellington New Zealand which is a lovely city in New Zealand. It has colourful wooden houses and a cable car and is sometimes called the San Francisco of the southern hemisphere.

Just don't get Wellington New Zealand confused with Wellington Australia. While Wellington Australia does have some lovely caves it also has a huge crystal meth problem and as a consequence lots of petty crime.

W for Warta, River, Poland
This river flows through Poznań and is a popular with nature lovers and sports enthusiasts. Poznan is known for it’s universities and it’s old town with Renaissance-style buildings. Poznań is situated between Berlin & Warsaw.

To get us by X...Route 8X in Banff, Alberta. If you don't have a car, this is the bus you want to hop on to get you from Banff to Lake Louise and back.

Y for Yokohama, Japan
It's the second largest city in Japan. Less than a half hour from Tokyo by train. Popular city among expats. It also has one of the largest Chinatowns (who knew). What piqued my interest- it's where Kirin Beer is produced. The only beer I like! Wonderful with Japanese Food. Another destination?

Z is for Zizkov telecommunications tower in Prague. It has excellent views over Prague and cool hammocks to lounge in at the top.

A for Altamura, Italy
Historical town in the heart of Puglia. Best known for its Cathedral and Museum of Archaeology. Altamura is known as the “city of bread.” It is known that the bread is so good that the local McDonalds was forced to close after two years! In addition, the infused walnut liqueur is famous there.

B

B is for Boyup Brook a small town in the SW of Western Australia. It apparently is well known for it's country and western music festival something we only found out when we got there.
But for my wife and I it wasn't the music it was the petrol.
We were travelling around WA by campervan. Our previous night was in Mt Barker. A massive storm cell had arrived in the SW so our plan was to just hit the road and get to the city of Bunbury.
My wife usually does the driving (nervous passenger) and I navigate.

Off we go in pouring rain and howling winds along predominantly uninhabited forested countryside. No internet no phone reception. After about 100 kms of driving my wife casually mentions the fuel gauge is sitting just above empty.
I casually reply that there are no towns for 80 kms.
As we pass a sign indicating Boyup Brook is 66 kms away, my wife informs me the petrol light has come on.
It was a fairly nervous 66 kms (buffeted by viscious crosswinds). We crawl into Boyup Brook on fumes, roll to a pump and fill up. Never has a place been such a joy to find. It is actually a cute little town and we had a great lunch. But for the 2 of us that petrol bowser was a highlight of our Western Australia travels.

Thanks to Janis for putting us over into Round 79

and thanks to all for following us to our new home.

Hand stitched Naugahyde star for Janis, and Nauga confetti and party poppers all over the room. Nice celebration party. Pull up a chair, and enjoy some things on sticks and some bubbly, both alcoholic and N/A.

Congrats to all...

onwards and upwards..

(by the way, I don't think I'll ever forget Boyup Brook ) wow.

C

The Chinese House at Sanssouci in Potsdam. Built for Frederick the Great as a tea house, the building is a testament to the popularity of Orientalism or Chinoiserie in the 1700s. The exterior is adorned with gilded statues of musicians with an array of instruments that sometimes seem almost Dr. Seuss-ian in their shapes and styles. The columns that support the roof are in the form of palm trees. Although often dismissed as a bit of Rococo-era "folly," the Chinese Tea House was actually designed by Frederick himself, working from similar designs at palaces around Europe including in France and Poland.

D is for Drancy internment camp outside Paris --

most people have some awareness of its use as a holding facility for Jews being sent on for extermination by Vichy and Nazi German authorities during the middle of WWII, but before it was holding Jews it was holding refugee opponents of the Franco-ist takeover of Spain.

Some photos here:

http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/gallery/dran.htm

"Over 6,000 Jewish children from France were imprisoned and transported to Nazi extermination camps to their deaths between July 17th and September 30, 1942."

There is a large thick book at the museum by the Seine where I could turn the pages and run my finger over the listings of deportees who had the same last name as me, and one (at least) of my uncles who survived.

E is for Ein Gedi, an historic and lush nature preserve in Israel near the Dead Sea.

Ein Gedi has been a refuge for people and animals since Biblical times. It features a waterfall, stream and cave that David hide from Saul in and showed mercy by not killing the king who wanted to kill him. It's an easy hike to follow the stream up to the waterfall, which is impressive in the midst of an area that is barren and dry. You will most likely see animals in the area as the stream, plants and trees give life to many types of insects and animals. More can be seen if you're adventurous: there's a different trail that goes to another waterfall and even beautiful lookouts over the Dead Sea.

Ein Gedi is easy to get to as you drive from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea. Don't miss it!

https://en.parks.org.il/reserve-park/en-gedi-nature-reserve/

F is for Fountains Abbey, where Friar Tuck made merry with Maid Marian before joining the band of Robin Hood.

It's near Aldfield in north Yorkshire and you can see where Robin and Marian and the Friar practiced hiding from the Sheriff.

With the messy divorce between Henry VIII and the Pope, the property switched hands a bunch of times and was altered a lot, so it might be that Friar Tuck really was from another abbey, depending on whether you like the Revised Standard Version or the New International translation. Unclear whether they ran into David or Saul as well.

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

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

G for Gallipoli, Italy
Located in SW corner of Puglia. It’s accessible via sea or 16th century bridge. Known as “beautiful city” in Greek. The main attraction is in the old quarter & sea. You can reach Gallipoli by train from Lecce, in about one hour. Another area on my radar!

H for, Hell, Michigan. Go to Hell.

Complete your destination to Hell with one of our hysterical souvenirs!

https://www.gotohellmi.com/

I

Isenfluh above the Lauterbrunnen Valley with a fabulous view of the peaks and a delightful terrace at the restaurant where one can have a perfect burger and a brew while peak gazing.

J is for the Jacarandá trees of Buenos Aires, where Spring really bursts in what for those of us in the USA is the opposite season. Get away from the November chills and the consumerism of the holiday season by basking in the violet shades of beautiful city foliage in the districts where tourists spend their time -- Recoleta, Palermo, and Belgrano.

https://buenosaires.gob.ar/noticias/el-jacaranda-simbolo-de-la-primavera-en-buenos-aires

Those trees have been popular here in California with city planners, too, but they look even sweeter when you're on the other side of the equator.

https://toptropicals.com/html/toptropicals/articles/trees/Jacaranda-mimosifolia.htm

“K” is the first letter for so many lovely places in Hawaii! Enjoy some sun & warm weather in that beautiful state!

L

Laws Railroad Museum and Historical Site.
Bishop, CA

https://lawsmuseum.org/

Discovered when visiting Bishop. Very well done and pleasant surprise. Knowledgeable volunteers.

M

Main St. Edmonds. One block south of RS HQ.

When I was there a couple weeks ago I saw an architect talking to Rick about the building expansion to be named the "Nigel Data Storage Annex". Looks like it is going to be quite expensive. I wonder, is Naugahyde negotiable like crypto currency. Nigel is going to get a whopper of a bill. :-)

N

N for Neuchâtel -- A beautiful and convenient town in the Romandy, or French-speaking cantons of Switzerland. Part of the "Three Lakes" region of Lacs Neuchâtel, Murten, and Beil, it is a great hub for exploring by boat or train. The Swiss keep almost all their excellent wines for national consumption, and this is the heart of a fantastic white wine production center.

If you can, try to time your visit to the first Sunday of the month, and head to Neuchâtel's Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, where you will find the Jaquet-Droz automatons. Designed and constructed in the 1770s, Jaquet-Droz's masterpieces are self-operating machines that have to be seen to be believed. Two full demonstrations of all three automata are given on this day only each month.

O for Otranto, Italy
This beautiful historic town is located alongside the Adriatic Sea and Salento. It’s a Puglian city with cobbled streets, & gorgeous vistas. It boasts a UNESCO old Town ‘centro storico’ and a medieval castle. It’s in the province of beautiful Lecce.

P is for Pau, France in the Pyrénées not far from the Spanish border.

It's remarkable that here in the USA the Wright Brothers are such important icons of American progress and derring-do, and everyone and his sister knows the tale of Kitty Hawk and the first flight, but a key part of their story is that the brothers couldn't get any American investors for several years after those first flights, so they instead got support from far-sighted French businesspeople in the city of Pau:

https://www.pau.aeroport.fr/airport/history

Note that this is just one, more recent, feather in the furry cap of Pau's distinctions.

It was their air shows in France that made the Wright Brothers international celebrities; it wasn't until they moved back to the US that they were invited by Pres. Taft to visit the Whitehouse.

Q for Quillan, France It's a coincidence that avirosemail in the the above post listed Pau, because Quillan is also close by the Spanish border and about a 45 minute drive south of Carcassonne. Until yesterday, I'd never heard of it and so I can't be as informative or interesting as the Pau post is, but some very good friends called us to get our input on a trip they're planning for September to Quillan where they've been invited to stay by some other friends. Now I can't wait for them to go on their trip so we can determine if we need to add this region to our every growing list.

R for Reimerswaal was during the Middle Ages the third largest city in the Dutch delta region but doesn’t exist any more. As it was once built on reclaimed land it was lost in the early 18th century during one of the many storm surges we have had in our history. Nowadays it’s one of the over two hundred so called drowned villages in this part of the Netherlands, only the foundations of the city walls and houses are left and some of it only visible during low tide. Not every village was lost as a result of a storm surge, some because of military inundation.

Nowadays is Reimerswaal the name of a municipality.

S for Scanno, Italy
One of the most beautiful villages in Italy. Also known for their traditional clothes. Considering it’s heart month, there is a myth that Lake Scanno has the shape of a heart. Located in Abruzzo, hidden in the Marsicane mountains. Just another off the beaten path to explore.

T is for Terme. Look at any map of central and southern Italy, like the town Janis mentions above and search for terme nearby and you’ll see many possibilities for thermal pools, baths, spas, etc.

U is for Uldingen-Mühlhofen on Bodensee/Lake Constance. I’ve mentioned nearby Unteruldingen before as that’s where the Stone Aged pile houses are recreated on the shore, visible when cruising on the lake. The town center, U-M, has one of the most varied schnitzel restaurants near the train station. Did I also mention, I’m sure I did, that my favorite town of Überlingen is just a few miles away?

V is for Viareggio, Italy
Located in Tuscany it is well known for its Carnevale. This year it is celebrating it’s 150th birthday this month. You can reach Viareggio by train directly from Florence, Pisa, Lucca, La Spezia, and CT. The city is known for it’s seaside on the Tyrrhenian, the Villa Paulina Civic Museum & Art-deco architecture, just to name a few.

W for Wadden Sea is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the European North Sea. It stretches from Den Helder in the northwest of the Netherlands, past the great river estuaries of Germany to it’s northern boundery at Skallingen in Denmark, along a total coastline of 500 km and a total area of about 10,000 km². It’s famous for it’s rich flora and fauna, especially birds and well known too for mudflat hiking. It’s also placed on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

X =”xtra”
For continuing Traveling Through The Alphabet part 2. Heartfelt thanks to Sir Nigel, Webmaster & Contributors!

Y

is for a Beyond Europe geographic site...Yalu River separating Manchuria and North Korea, we know what took place there 23 years ago.

Z

is for Berlin-Zehlendorf, reputedly the wealthiest suburb in Prussia along with Charlottenburg before both of these places joined Berlin in 1920 to make up Groß-Berlin. (Greater Berlin)).

In 1997 I had a chance to see a few minutes of Zehlendorf since I had to transfer there coming back from Potsdam-Babelsberg. When I got to Zehlendorf, my first time there, and having heard of this district, I walked around a couple of blocks to see the residential houses near the station.

A

is for Angermünde, Germany.

This small place is in Brandenburg, basically out in the backwater Urkermark region. The town was part of the Mark Brandenburg. I set foot here twice, never checked it out.

Going to Gdansk in 2003 from Berlin (Bahnhof Zoo) required then two train changes , one in Germany, ie Angermünde, and one in Poland before proceeding to Gdansk, making the entire ride 9 hours. I was there only at the train stop in Angermünde waiting for the next train.

In 2015 I was there again , this time doing a day trip from Berlin to Greifswald, I changed my mind en route and got off in Angermünde to ride back. I should have stayed at least one hour or so walking around and exploring this little town in this backwater Prussian area.

Around the World in Eighty Alphabets!

B for Braga, Portugal
Regarded as the religious center of Portugal. The first cathedral was constructed in 1089. Braga is the 3rd largest city in Portugal. It is home to a major university and has a young vibrant population. Braga is very easy to travel by rail from Porto. It can make a nice day trip. Would enjoy returning to Portugal for more exploration.

I can't believe you pushed to the next milestone, round 80, that's 80 times around the world in 80 alphabets as Wil has said.

Surely that is a milestone that has some deep significance.

New numbering of milestone posts is pretty simple - take the effective number of posts in the original thread and add the total number in this thread gives an equivalent number, in this case post 2710.

Thanks to all, even Andrew our Webmaster, for getting us over the hump so quickly.

And special thanks to Fred for Angermünde with special gold edged inscribed "80" Nauga stars

And special thanks to Wil for his inspired Around the World in Eighty Alphabets!

To quote another world traveler - "“To infinity, and beyond!”"

C is for Columbia Icefield , Jasper National Park , Alberta , Canada

The Columbia Icefield is one of the most stupendous sights of the world. A survival of an era when the vast ice cap crushed all life beneath its weight and relentlessly changed the entire history of the earth, this icefield is now the largest accessible glacial deposit on the continent south of the Arctic. In splendid disarray it strews itself over 110 square miles of mountain area and from its breast bounteous life pours forth to give being to streams which, choosing three separate pathways, nurture three great rivers, each flowing to a separate sea.

Although for more than a century explorers and alpinists have written of the Columbia Icefield in their journals, few of the thousands of tourists who visited the mountains had been able to see it until the motor road from Jasper had been built. Now anyone who wishes to do so may cover, in a few pleasant hours, the distance between Jasper and the Athabaska Glacier, in the heart of the Icefield which previously required a ten day trip in the saddle.

It is wild and gorgeous country through which this new motor road pours its length for seventy-five miles from Jasper. No highway on this continent offers scenery to surpass it. No highway anywhere ends in such an overwhelming burst of grandeur as does this.

[Canadian National Railways, Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies, 1939]

D - Dartmoor National Park

Dartmoor is famous for its wide open spaces, the tors, Dartmoor Prison, Bronze Age archaeology, ponies, Sherlock Holmes, myths and legends and for having the worlds largest land slug!
I haven't visited much of GB yet but its on my list. I'll go to Dartmoor for all of the reasons listed except the last!

E

Everest

“ People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things.“

Edmund Hillary

F for Faro, Portugal
A beautiful town in the Algarve. It’s the southernmost part of Portugal. It has colorful architecture, delicious cuisine, & beautiful beaches. You can reach Faro by a direct train from Lisbon. It’s about a 3 hour trip. Would enjoy returning to Portugal and heading south to the Algarve!

G

Giger Bar in Chur, Switzerland -- Have you ever seen one of the Alien movies? That very distinct look of the aliens and their ships/world was created by H.R. Giger who dubbed the designs "biomechanics." It became hugely famous and influential, going on to inspire artists of album covers, video games, posters, and of course, more movies. Giger enjoyed enough popularity and recognition that he decided he wanted to create a Times Square bar in New York City based on the Aliens biomechanical designs. Costs were astronomical and he never got backers. So... improbably, Giger took his concept to his home town of Chur, Switzerland. There he built a pretty true version of his original vision -- and science fiction fans will instantly recognize the distinct biomechanical design of the chairs, light fixtures, door handles, and more. I can't use the word improbable enough -- the bar is literally tucked into an office park retail strip between a paint store and a gym. But it is a worthy pilgrimage site for true sci-fi aficionados.

G #2 Giger Bar and Museum is on the street leading to the castle in charming Gruyères. Sounds like a nicer location than Chur and definitely worth a look if you are in Gruyère. https://hrgiger.com/barmuseum.htm

H is for the High Street in town.

I find it an interesting perspective that Rick Steves likes to look for local dining that is near but not right on the High Street, on the theory that this means that the establishment will have more local regular customers and lower rent to keep up, and therefore be a better value and experience, than going to a flashy joint on the High Street, especially one that has slick menus in many languages.

The term itself strikes me as a bit twee, but I have heard it used as part of ordinary conversation many times, so maybe I'm just being oversensitive. I was looking (stretching) to find a way to compliment a B&B during chitchat with a staff person in the dining room, and I said that I really liked the bed linens. She grinned and nodded her approval and said, "Well it is a High Street brand."

I

is for Inowroclaw, Poland.

In 2005 the train stopped here en route to Torun. We had left in the morning in July 2005 from Bahnhof Zoo Berlin , then had to change trains in Poznan, maybe one hour, which was nice and relaxing, had time for a leisurely cup of coffee in Poznan Glowny, then on to the destination Torun, the terminus of the train was Olsztyn, which was communicated to us by the Polish girls sitting in our amidst. Fantastic...if I only had known that !

In modern European history Inowroclaw was occupied by the Poles , Prussians, the French, then was part of Germany until WW1 , suffered at the hands of the Germans and Soviets in WW2. Interesting and revealing to see the architecture of the train station.

J for Jura, France
Considered “an undiscovered region” it’s known for its lakes and mountains. In addition it’s known for its outstanding Comté cheese & wines. Jura is squeezed between Burgundy, Alsace & Swiss border. It’s a great place for horseback riding, mountain biking in the spring & summer, or cross-country skiing in winter.
Edited to add: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjwmr6B55v9AhU0PUQIHaf3AsoQFnoECA8QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.castellocheese.com%2Fen-us%2Fcheese-types%2Fsemi-hard-cheese%2Fcomte-cheese%2F&usg=AOvVaw0QH7o-bqa_wHlX-tjlsda2 Yum!

J #2 is for the Isle of Jura, Scotland- an undiscovered island a very short car ferry ride off the far better known Isle of Islay, with a wonderful distillery, which has a very different style of whisky from that on it's neighbouring Islay.
Lots of wonderful walking. A very quiet laid back kind of island

And a high speed passenger ferry back to the village of Tayvallich on the mainland (for the Scottish Beavers Centre)

K

K is for Konstanz -- A hugely pleasant base for exploring Bodensee, and the Thurgau canton of Switzerland along the Rhine River. Convenient ferries abound, and the blue waters of Bodensee can look almost Caribbean at times. Take a boat across the lake to the outstanding Zeppelin Museum, or travel the other way to Stein am Rhein. Abundant trains are available too for faster daytripping. But the most surprising thing about Konstanz was its international flair. Terrific ethnic restaurants could easily be found, as well as traditional German, and mixologists had opened upscale cocktail bars with far-ranging influences. Finally, it is a great place to poke into Switzerland without paying Swiss prices!

L for Path of the Lemons along the Amalfi Coast. I know very little about it except it looks like another nice short hike among some lemon groves between Minori and Maiori that we'll do in April while we're visiting.

M is for Montserrat near Barcelona. We went there today and the highlight was the rack railway ride from Monistrol de Montserrat up the mountain. A glorious sunny day allowed us to walk to the Hermitage of St Miguel and enjoy spectacular views.

N is for Nikos Kazantzakis' Tomb. The author of "Zorba the Greek" and "The Last Temptation of Christ" is buried on the highest point of Heraklion's Venetian Walls.
Edited to add: My wife and I pilgrimaged to the site in 2018. The movie, Zorba the Greek, came out in 1965. I first visited Greece in 1967 and I fell in love with Greece then.

O is for Orbetello, Italy
A town in the province of Grosseto. A unique area that has a beautiful Lagoon Nature Reserve where rare birds migrate & nest. One of its well known symbols of the lagoon is the spectacular Spanish windmill on this Tuscan coast. In addition to the Spanish influence, it was the Etruscans who first settled in Orbetello. The local cuisine is known for its fish accompanied by their excellent white & red wines. What piqued my interest was their summer events: Orbetello Piano Festival and Festival of the cruise, featuring art & music by international artists. Another off-the-beaten-path to explore! Edited to add: 2 hours by train from Rome.

P is for Piona

Not many people ride the Lake Como ferry to its near-northernmost point, and the little dock marked "Piona." But those that do are rewarded with a stunning bit of medieval history. The Cistercian Abbey of St. Mary of Piona (Piona Abbey to most of us) is an absolute treasure. Quiet and green, with the lake and the mountains, the Abbey is instantly transporting. But the highlight is surely the cloister, which still retains a series of secular and semi-secular frescoes from the early 1200s. Here you can see medieval denizens harvesting wheat and making barrels, along with images of saints and angels. Still a working abbey, the store provides unique and outstanding offerings made on-site. This is truly an off-the-beaten-path gem on Lake Como.

Q

Quincy 10 states in the US have a Quincy.

California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Washington.

Quincy Massachusetts is famous for being the birthplace of 2 US Presidents; John Adams and John Quincy Adams as well as Declaration of Independence signer John Hancock.

The 6th Senatorial Debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas occurred in Quincy, Illinois in 1858.

Quincy, California is known for it’s Fall colors as well hosting the quirky Groundhog Fever Festival every February.

EDIT: as I forgot Washington. Thanks Janis

@Claudia- #10 Quincy, WA. Quincy is the gateway to the Wenatchee Valley, Leavenworth and the Okanogan Valley if you are traveling from the South or East. Tourism is a major part of our economy. The Gorge Amphitheater, which draws an estimated 3,000 to 20,000 people per concert, is located 10 miles southwest of Quincy. :)

R is for Rotterdam, which would be considered The Netherlands second city. Because it was heavily bombed during WW2, it is a city of new and innovative architecture. I loved the Cube houses, the Erasmus single stay Bridge, the Blackberry building complete with stylus. In 2004, I remember taking a water taxi from the inner harbour to the Hotel New York, which was the departure point for many immigrants to the U.S. prior to WW2. Rotterdam was voted the 2015 European City of the Year.

S

is for the state of Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt), Germany.

This was one of the five Bundesländer of the former East Germany to be in the reunified Germany.

I have visited only one place in this state, not any of the backwater villages or towns , (not yet) but its capital, Magdeburg. In July of 2009 I spent a week-end in Magdeburg an der Elbe, an eye-opener exploring the Zentrum, seeing the soldiers' monument, the famous cathedral .

Bottom line, the city is well worth seeing culturally and historically given its horrific history in the Thirty Years War.

T is for Tartu, Estonia. Tartu is a university town 100-ish miles southeast of Tallinn. It’s a really pleasant place with a river running through the middle and lots of student energy. Don’t miss the new, fantastic Estonian National Museum. It’s huge!

There is so much more to Estonia than Tallinn! (Another T destination)

U is for Usedom Island, Germany. It's a long narrow barrier island and is a vacation spot for Germans on the Ostsee (Baltic Sea). Peenemünde is at the North end of the island, which was area used by Nazi Germany to test rockets. The South end of the island in in Poland. When I visited the island in 2006, I was amazed at how warm the water was. Because Ostsee is a shallow sea, it heats up faster in the summer than the Mediterranean. In fact, it was warmer than the Med when I stayed. It is also much less saline than the oceans, because of the many rivers flowing into it.

Edited to add: We went there for a wedding at the pier at Heringsdorf. The bride and in-laws were from East Germany and we stayed in Koserow. They showed us the bunk housing used there for summer camp. They said it still smelled like mildew.

V is for Valladolid, Spain. A very enjoyable university city -- quite walkable and accessible. The Museo Nacional de Escultura is in Valladolid -- basically the Spanish National Museum of Sculpture. It struck us as quite impressive that it is here instead of Madrid or Barcelona. The collection spans Middle Ages to 1800s, with a really terrific medieval section. It also contains the Belén Napolitano, or Neapolitan Nativity Scene, containing over 600 figures. It is one of the most amazing nativity scene you will ever see!

https://www.info.valladolid.es/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/belen_general.png

W.
W is for Walpole. Walpole is a little community in SW Western Australia. A little community but a land of giants. It is famous for it's giant Red Tingle trees. These shallow rooted eucalypt grow to heights beyond 70 metres. There is a fabulous sky walk among these giants.
In among these giants lives a small community of the World's happiest animal, the ever smiling Quokka. Many think Quokka's are only found on Rottnest Island but there are small communities on the mainland.
Another giant of Walpole is the Right Wave. This giant bit of surf is legendary among big wave surfers. It is located about 1.6 kms from Walpole.

X is for Xinara, Tinos, Greece. Xinara sits high on the mountainside, one of the highest towns on Tinos. This tiny town is the seat of island's Catholic Diocese and the Our Lady of the Rosary church. The former Bishop's residence is now a villa rental. Former Covents and Monasteries lie in nearby towns.

Tinos is famous for it's food culture, cheese, wine, marble, the crawling pilgrimage to the Virgin Mary, and dovecotes. We visited Tinos in 2018, but only passed by Xinara. We loved Tinos, but we didn't have time to explore much of the eastern part of the island. The 2nd week in May is the Tinos Food Paths festival: https://insightsgreece.com/best-places-to-eat-and-drink-in-tinos/

Y for the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Probably most famous for the resort area of Cancun, but as with our one other trip to Mexico so far, our best days were renting a car and driving inland. The Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza are spectacular. It's a goal to get back one day and tour some of the other ruins in the region including Tulum, Coba, Uxmal, Ek Balam and Muyil.

Z is for Zeno -- as in a pair of St. Zenos with fantastic pieces of art history. San Zeno Maggiore in Verona has a pair of bronze doors that are considered masterpieces of the Middle Ages. Most dating puts their creation sometime before 1117, when an earthquake required some repairs and replacements, which perhaps took as long as the 1180s. There are 48 panels in all, and the details are wonderful, often relying on abstraction that looks almost modern in design and conception.

Then there's the Chapel of Saint Zeno in Rome (Cappella di San Zenone), which is even older, dating from the 800s. This time the medium isn't bronze, but mosaic. In fact, they are some of the finest Byzantine mosaics in Rome, and perhaps all of Italy, and are an excellent example of what was happening during the so-called Carolingian Renaissance. Anyone who wants to have their concept of the "Dark Ages" challenged should visit the shimmering ceiling and breathtaking angels of San Zenone!

A is for Agra, India. I spent 6 weeks in India this Autumn and one of the stops was Agra and it's iconic Taj Mahal. I was on a tour, so not in control of the length of time in the city, but it would be worth more than an overnight. It is small and manageable (for Indian cities), and only a short train ride from New Delhi. The Taj Mahal doesn't disappoint with its majestic white marble domes, but the gardens and external buildings are also of interest. There are nearby gardens and viewpoints to see the building from across the river or through a screen of trees. The Agra (red) Fort is also extensive and interesting.

Well you've done it again.

81 rounds now, at post 2741. Thanks to Maria F for putting us over with Agra India.

And thanks to leonard for an "X" this month.

Sorry after 81 rounds I have run out of things to say!

Suitable Nauga star to Maria F

B

is for Bruyères, France.

This historical WW2 site is located in Lorraine in the Vosges not too far from Epinal, getting out there would require being motorised. This town was liberated by the famous unit of the Japanese-Americans. The plaque attests to that momentous historical occasion, if one is looking for a WW2 site in Lorraine.

C
Chico, California

Its Bidwell Park was used in the 1938 film classic,
The Adventures of Robin Hood. Starring Errol Flynn, Bidwell Park was the location for Sherwood Forest.

A few other productions shot in Chico: Gone With The Wind, Another Thin Man, Red Badge of Courage and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.

Hooray for Hollywood.

D

is for Düren, Germany.

This town is necessary logistically if you want to see a WW2 site where the US Troops were caught up in a series of bloody
engagements taking place after the liberation of France and prior to the Bulge (the Ardennes Offensive).

This in-between event was the Hurtgen Forest (Hürtgenwald) and the town of Vossenack, where the US and German military cemeteries are located.

To access Vossenack you have to change trains in Düren. I've only passed through Düren on the train, never, as yet, got out to Vossenack.

E is for Eguisheim, France. Eguisheim is in the wine area of Alsace. In May of 2009, we bicycled here from Colmar to view the town and vineyards. We arrived the week before the Stork Festival, so the town was all prettied-up with lots of geraniums in planter boxes. As were the storks, with nests on the central castle. In the RS guide book, he calls Eguisheim "nearly too cute". We didn't stay long, as tour busses were starting to off load. After seeing the nests here, once we started looking up in Colmar we found plenty more, particularly on the Dominican Church.
Edited to add: This is bringing back other memories. I'd known the Alsace has a history of been fought over between France and Germany. The French want the border to be the Rhine River and the Germans believe the border to be the Vosges Mountains. We visited a friend's friend, a 30 year old woman at the time. Her Grandmother, Mother, and she were all born in the same house. She and her grandmother were born in France and her mother was born in Germany.

F is for Florence.

My first trip to Florence was in 1983 as a twenty something with a bus trip group of 13 of us. I was so annoyed at the whole group that day, that I spent the day exploring Florence on my own. At one point I thought I was being followed, so went into a museum to loose my admirer.

On this trip, I hated Italy. Since then took my husband to Florence in 2011, 2013 and again in 2018 during our apartment finding trip before we moved to Italy. And twice more during our two years living in Italy. Florence is one of those places where you can’t visit too many times, but for me is perfect in small doses!

G for Gothenburg.

Göteborg, known as Gothenburg in English, is the 2nd largest city in Sweden and found on the west coast. It often gets overlooked but really deserves a few days if you are in the area.

H is for Hundred Acre Wood (100 Aker Wood), England

The Hundred Acre Wood is in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, England and is the actual location of the Winnie the Pooh stories by A. A. Milne. The Forest borders Milne's country home where his son, Christopher Robin, lived as a young child. https://ashdownforest.org/explore/winnie-the-pooh/ There are themed trails in the Forest. We visited in 2017 with a 3 year old and our favorite trail was to the Pooh Sticks Bridge.

Hartfield is the nearby town, with the establishment of Pooh Corner having all things Pooh. https://www.poohcorner.co.uk/

In 2015, the children's book “Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear” was published: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finding_Winnie The book details the true story of a Canadian bear's venture during World War I. And how the bear, named Winnie (short for Winnipeg), ended up in the London Zoo and was visited by Christopher Robin in her cage. There are a statue and plaques at the Zoo dedicated to Winnie. This was happening while the Teddy Bear became the rage, based on President Theodore Roosevelt's refusal to shoot a black bear in 1902.

H

is for the Havel River in Brandenburg.

When you are in Potsdam, a river cruise on the Havel, which flows through scenic Potsdam can be arranged in the Tourist Office located on the top floor of Potsdam Hbf., one of the delightful activities available in one of my favourite small towns in Germany. The Tourist Office itself is a wealth of information , lots of brochures , etc.

I

is for Isar River in München.

You can see this from Munich's famous Deutsches Museum. Some years ago I decided to get to the Museum by doing the long walk from the Marienkirche , the Museum I had not seen since 1971.

TWO fat LADIES 88

(or perhaps a pair of large boned folks identifying as non-male binaries if you prefer)

we've hit and surpassed 88 on the new version of the Alphabet

so, in bingoese "Nearly There" which sounds nice and travelly

Nigel, or are those two decapitated snowmen (snow persons?) ? Nearly at 100, or what target?

Anyway, as many on this Forum have indicated, it can be as much about the journey as the destination.

they are just Bingo calls, Cyn

is it not that in Colorado?

Nigel, it’s been years - no, decades, since I’ve been at any Bingo game. There was once a hall at the Bear Valley Shopping Center, a mall that was torn down about the time bell-bottoms went out of fashion. Nothing since, so I’m not current on Bingo lingo.

Looking it up on the Interweb just now, I’m told that in the UK, every one of the 90 possible Bingo numbers has a nickname. So 89 is “Nearly there.” Other numbers seem to have a Cockney rhyming slang connection. Lots of the nicknames would likely be completely lost on Americans because of British-specific references. I had no idea. I guess that must enliven a game, so instead of just hearing “B12,” “N42” and the like, players get relief from just hearing letters and numbers.

J

Just about there. In travel parlance, especially when it’s taken quite some time to get to a destination, hearing or saying “Just about there,” is encouraging. It’s a place that’s close to every place. I’m not certain whether it suggests being any closer than “Nearly There,” though.

How’s that?

Kitchener Ontario

Kitchener was formally named Berlin but was renamed in 1916. It has the biggest Oktoberfest outside of Germany. I went to university in the region and spent many nights celeberating at various locations in town. The region has a high population of people with Germany heritage. It is close to St. Jacobs where you find many small shops and bakeries. The region has a strong Mennonite community.

The region is about 1 hour and a half from Toronto or Niagara Falls.

L

Lyme Regis England

Referred to as the “Pearl of Dorset,” it is known for being part of England’s Jurassic Coast.

Spend a few days there in an AirBnB. Lovely stroll down the hill into town. Lengthy Strand.

Shopped at the Pug and Puffin pet store. Devoured fudge from Roly’s. Fish and chips from Herbies.

Watched cricket. Enjoyed afternoon tea and scones at the Black Dog.

Went to mass at St Michaels across from the Nags Head Pub. The latter became my local during my stay.

I drove there as I was also interested in seeing where some of Broadchurch had been filmed. That was in West Bay.

M is for Malpensa Airport, Milan Italy. Malpensa is the largest airport for Northern Italy and second largest for Italy behind FCO.
An interesting tidbit is that is was established in 1909 for testing Italian designed and built aircraft prototypes. It only switched to civil aviation in 1948.

N is for Nocino

A very special tradition in Italy, connected to St. John's night, is the preparation of the nocino liquor from unripe walnuts, a custom whose origins are lost in time.

The nocino, which was an ancient Druid tradition, became therefore a Christian custom, maintaining however a number of "superstitions" associated to the liquor. The walnuts must be in odd numbers, and must be picked by hand by an expert woman, climbing a walnut tree barefoot, on the night between the 23rd and 24th June. Then the walnuts were left on the grass to become impregnated with the special dew of the magical night.

Nothing made of metal must ever touch the walnuts or the liquor, so the walnuts were picked, and then cut into four with a wooden or ceramic knife. The glass jar where the walnuts are placed to brew in the sun must be closed with a lid made with cork. When the liquor is to be filtered, a wooden sieve with a cloth is used.

Until very recent times, on June 24 in villages all over Italy huge bonfires were made, and everyone would gather around them. The purpose was to keep away the witches, that on this night came out of the trees and wanted to steal the walnuts, of which they were very fond. Therefore these bonfires were made near a walnut tree, and the villagers danced around all night. [italyheritage.com]

O

is for the Orne River in Normandy. In exploring Caen, you can see where this river flows through. The operations theater for D-Day had the river as its eastern boundary.

P is for Peenemünde Historical Technical Museum in Germany

From 1936 to 1945, the research stations in Peenemünde (Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Island of Usedom) formed the largest armaments centre in Europe. Over an area of 25km², up to 12,000 people worked simultaneously on guided weapons, most famously the world’s first cruise missiles and the first ever functioning large-scale rockets. Both were designed as a weapon of terror against the civil population, made mostly by forced labourers and from 1944 they began to be used in the Second World War as “Vergeltungswaffen” (V-weapons).

The Peenemünde Historical Technical Museum reconstructs the history of the creation and use of these weapons. The exhibitions document who worked in Peenemünde, how the people lived and why the enormously elaborate weaponry projects were carried out.

Queen Street in Toronto was a fav place to go when we lived nearby. Go west for shopping and fun (Queen St West); go east for businesses and shopping and the Old City Hall (Queen St East); and, best of all, go a block or two north up Spadina Avenue into Chinatown and have Dim Sum.... oh yum! Probably the places we used to frequent are long gone, but oh the memories....!!!

R is for Rügen Island Germany

Rügen is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The island is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Germany.

The first bathing facility on Rügen opened in 1794 and to this day you will find the typical architecture (Bäderarchitektur) in several seaside resorts. Till today it has lost none of its charm.
During WWII Prora was constructed as a mass tourist resort but it was never finished. The 4,5 km long building complex still exists today and can be partially visited. A creepy megalomaniac relic from the Nazi era.

Several seaside resorts are accessible via an historic narrow gauge railway employing steam locomotives, called the "Rasender Roland". Tourist destinations, other than seaside resorts, include Jasmund national park with interesting chalk cliff formations, the wood-covered Granitz hills with their hunting lodge and the classicist buildings of Putbus.

The island offers a huge variety of different beach and shore areas. Rügen is often visited by windsurfers and kitesurfers.

S is for Stralsund Germany

The Hanseatic City of Stralsund is located at the southern coast of the Strelasund, a sound of the Baltic Sea separating the island of Rügen from the Pomeranian mainland. City rights were granted in 1234, making it the oldest city in Pomerania.

During the Nazi period Stralsund's military installations expanded, and a naval training base opened on the nearby island of Dänholm. In WWII the city was subjected to repeated Allied bombing. The 354th Rifle Division of the Red Army occupied Stralsund.

During the period of the German Democratic Republic, Stralsund saw the construction of numerous Plattenbau prefabricated apartment blocks. Its economic life centered on the now state-owned shipyard, which largely focussed on building ships for the Soviet Union.

After German reunification in 1990, the city's historic old town was thoroughly restored, and Communist-era apartment blocks were renovated and upgraded. In 2002 the old town of Stralsund was listed as UNESCO World Heritage site because of its outstanding Brick Gothic buildings and importance during the Hanseatic League and Swedish rule.

@Nigel, Queen Street West still has that vibe, and Chinatown is as bustling as ever. Still great Dim Sum around.
And as we have arrived at 'T'....T is for Toronto, Ontario, Canada Despite its size Canada only has 3 truly major cities with Toronto being one of them. It is the capital of Ontario, but not the capital of Canada. For a short time, when still called York, it was the capital of Upper Canada (pre-Confederation), however, its vulnerable location made it less than ideal as a country's capital in the long run.
It is, however, ideally placed for a vacation stop. It is a primary airport hub, but also accessible from the US by car or boat. You can hit the beach on Toronto Island for the afternoon, and attend the theatre or opera by night. The city still holds neighbourhoods like 'Little Italy', or 'Little Portugal' where habits, decor and language from the 'old country' is still evident. It is well connected to many other tourist cities, from Niagra Falls, to Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City. The last 3 are well connected to Toronto by train, but also by a major highway. A scenic secondary highway also connects and all take you through some of Canada's oldest settled landscape.
Consider it for a winter break, as the lakeshore location moderates the snow and coldest weather. The major downtown is linked by the PATH, 30 kms of (mostly) underground walkways, and has good subway and light rail connections to the airport, train station and further communities.

U - Uhudler, a regional wine speciality from Southern Burgenland, Austria

Uhudler is one of the most distinctive wines produced in Austria. It originates from the area around Heiligenbrunn in southern Burgenland. Uhudler wines are usually made red or as a kind of rosé from the Noah, Isabella, Concord, Clinton and Delaware grape varieties. These grapes were imported from the United States to Europe after wine louse had destroyed much of the European vines in the 1860s.
That area of Austria, close to the Hungarian border, does rather not see any overseas-visitors and it does not look like Austria.
https://traveltoaustria.info/heiligenbrunn-the-cradle-of-the-uhudler-wine/
That said it’s worth a visit for its vine culture and it’s not too far away from some of the best thermal spas (e.g. Bad Loipersdorf, Bad Blumau) in Austria.

Another vote for Stralsund, it was controlled by the Swedes for part of its history when the Baltic became the "Swedish lake" If you're interested in German naval history, the famous Marine-Museum is located in Stralsund.

Some years back I got on the train in Berlin Hbf , the terminus of which was Stralsund. That was not my destination for this day trip. It was a week day in the summer. The coach was packed, almost standing room, could not help but notice why this regional train was so full packed with younger passengers, all English speaking, all 20 somethings.

When the train got to Oranienburg, that became obvious. About 85% got off, obviously they were going to see the Camp , (the KZ) , I was going to Neustrelitz to see the Prussian Schloss connected with the monarchial dynasty, the Hohenzollerns, when this town was known as Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

V

is for Vauchamps, France,

Located east of Paris near Chateau-Thierry on the Marne and Montmirail.

Thanks to a French local, an older woman, (quite helpful), who had her daughter translate her information on the significance of this place regarding Napoleon to me in English, Vauchamps is part of "La Route des Quatre Victoires", (road of the 4 victories ) where in Feb 1814 Napoleon was on a roll beating the invading Allies in 4 different towns within a 2 week period.

Vauchamps was one of these sites, the main memorial to Napoleon is outside of Montmirail. Of course, the woman had told me not miss that either. I didn't. Signs on that indicate "La Route des Quatre Victoires." This was part of the 1984 trip.

W

Watermeads Nature Reserve

https://wandlevalleypark.co.uk/locations/merton/watermeads-2/

A lovely spot and pleasant day out from London.

Y is for Ystad, Sweden. (Skipping X, yes I know.)

A small charming town in southern Sweden with a well preserved historical town centre. Popular summer destination for Swedes but not that famous outside the Nordic countries, unless you are fan of Nordic noir. Worth a stay in my opinion, but can also be done as a day trip from Copenhagen.

A bit outside Ystad the you'll find the stone ship Ale stenar (Ale's stones), that is impressive and worth a visit in my opinion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ale%27s_Stones

Well how about a new twist in this Alphabet game? In a separate thread a few days ago, Nigel himself mentioned this Alphabet thread (nearing its second birthday-wow!), and said he didn’t think there had really been posts about specific places to stay. So here’s a Challenge to everyone to post about lodging you may have stayed at, or where you might want want to spend the night. I’ll start, but at the end, with a …

Z

Z Hotels. I’ve not stayed at one, but there are several locations within the London area, as well as in Bath, Liverpool, and Glasgow. If we hadn’t discovered a fabulous B&B with a self-catering apartment in London last year, and reserved it again for this spring, a Z Hotel room might just suit. Nice to have options!

A

Alpenglo Lodge, Winter Park, Colorado. Located right on Highway 40, “main street,” this is a more affordable place to stay, in an increasingly expensive ski resort town. It’s been almost 20 years since we stayed there, and the hot tub was in a small structure out back, but it was clean and relaxing, after a long, cold day on the slopes. If you’re not staying in a Vrbo, Airbnb, or other short-term rental in the Winter Park area like more and more people seem to be doing, the Alpenglo is right in the middle of town, close to dining and a shuttle bus stop to the resort.

B

Best Western. OK, so the original Best Westerns were motels in the western USA, complete with a logo of the words “Best Western,” surrounded by rope, like a cowboy’s lariat. I was surprised to discover that the corporation now has hotels throughout Europe and globally, so the “western” part doesn’t have much meaning now, but I’m sure they would argue that the “best” part hasn’t changed. Haven’t stayed at one in years, on either side of the Atlantic, but I’ve stayed in my share in past decades.

Note: the Alpenglo Lodge, mentioned just above, is now a Best Western property. Gee, the corporation does have quite a reach!

C

Clarion Hotel. It’s been over 30 years since I’ve stayed at one, but Clarions are part of an enormous chain, owned by Choice Hotels corporation. Choice runs several brands, but Clarion is positioned as its premier line of hotels..

D

Denit Hotel, in Barcelona. We stayed here the last time, and its downtown location, and surprisingly good breakfast, made it an excellent stay. The price was good, too. Highly recommended!

Best Western. OK, so the original Best Westerns were motels in the western USA, complete with a logo of the words Best Western, surrounded by rope, like a cowboy’s lariat. I was surprised to discover that the corporation now has hotels throughout Europe, so the “western” part has a different meaning now, but I’m sure they would argue that the “best” part hasn’t changed. Haven’t stayed at one in years, on either side of the Atlantic, but I’ve stayed in my share in past decades.

Best Western in the UK has a different history to those in the USA. It is a grouping of always independent hotels who came together as a kind of a co-operative to aid in marketing. All their hotels are quite different to each other, but are not at all motel style- usually 3 star or above. Some very nice and unusual properties.
They are affiliated to the US chain but not exactly part of that- this Wikipedia page explains it better.

Round 82 begins, although having taken a record 53 days to run through the alphabet, one wondered.

We are now just 38 days from our 3 year anniversary.

Thanks to all who helped this round, especially Cyn who put us over. Good suggestion of actual places stayed. Thanks for that.

Double portion of Nauga stars.

If we stop updating this what will be the fate of the leftover Nauga Stars? Will all those rare Naugas have died in vain?

Onwards and upwards (hopefully not like Elon Musk's pet rockets)

((I do understand with the all topics filling 5 pages a day or more how quickly things drop off the front page at the moment))

I'll play along -- E is for the Eurostars Hotel in Mexico City -- a business-y place in the Zona Rosa that has good deals on the off-business nights for travelers. Once when I was there only one other room besides mine was taken on the floor I was on,
so checkout time was very flexible :-)

It's very close to several popular nightclubs so can be noisy late.

https://www.eurostarshotels.co.uk/eurostars-zona-rosa-suites.html?

Even the website description promotes it as a little bit of Europe transplanted into the hustle and bustle of the DF.

F is for FEVE the little known narrow gauge railway line from Ferrol to San Sebastián in Northern Spain and with a couple of spur lines inland. We spent three happy days on the FEVE a couple of weeks ago, trundling along looking at cows and trees and ocean glimpses. Had a bit of an adventure when our FEVE train got cancelled mid trip due to forest fires in Asturias. The train follows the same route as the Transcantabrian luxury train but is much, much cheaper.

As we've somehow started this thread at 'D' - go backwards to A for Auchterarder- a village south of Perth (Scotland)- which is the home of the famous Gleneagles hotel, and also claims to have the longest main street in Scotland, at over a mile long.

B for the Bruichladdich Whisky Distillery at Port Charlotte on the Isle of Islay, Scotland

if you go back 10 posts you'll see the beginning of this round. It did start with A - Alpenglo Lodge, posted by Cyn

More contributions welcome of course!!

C is for Cle Elum Lake (as on another thread we've been talking English Lakes this morning). Washington State, USA.

It's name is a corruption from Cle Alum (or clealum) which means 'Swift Water' in the native language of the Kittitas band of the Yakima tribe of native Americans- they spell the name as Tie-el-Lum.

The nearby city of Cle Elum, population 2,000, (also originally Cle Alum according to the USPS or Clelaum on other maps) was established as a Ralroad Depot on the Northern Pacific Railroad (now BNSF), later a major lumber and coal mining town.

The Cle Elum river flows from the lake (now also Reservoir) into the Yakima River, which is itself a tributary of the mighty Columbia River. It is one of three large lakes in the area- the others being Kachess and Keechelus ('more fish' and 'few fish' respectively in the Native American language).

The link to the English thread is that I always use Bassenthwaite Lake, England to remember if it is Cle Elum Lake, or Lake Cle Elum, as I got into a huge row on Wikipedia as to which way round CE lake is named, now finally resolved.

We're back on track now to move forward to F

I think you will find that F has already been done with Feve

After F should have been G.

But thank you for the extra contributions.

Another place to stay while traveling:

G

Great Titchfield Street. Actually, it’s 122 Great Titchfield Street, but would this go under the O’s, as in “One-Twenty-Two?” Anyway, we’re at the G’s, and this is the place that initiated the idea of listing lodging spots in this thread, when Nigel responded to a different thread that was discussing it. This is our new favorite place to stay in London.

We’d had a favorite B&B in Marylebone, in northwestern Central London, but they didn’t reopen after the Pandemic. But for last year, we found 122 Great Titchfield Street (notice how many B&B’s are named simply by the address, unless they’re given some cutesy name like “The Nest”), and it’s in Fitzrovia, northern Central London, an easy walking distance to the British Museum, Oxford Street, Soho, the BBC, Regent’s Park, and Tube stations for a short ride to everywhere else. And in an expensive city like London, the more affordable price is one of its best features.

It’s not enormous, with two smaller rooms and one larger self-catering apartment. The apartment has a well-equipped kitchen, and an unusual bathroom, designed as a “wet room,” where the shower head hangs from its ceiling and gets the floor wet when in use. It’s an efficient use of space, but needs a bit of squeegeeing afterwards, to be able to use the toilet or get to the sink. Not a big deal, but it does take a bit of getting used to.

Mike, the owner, is very accommodating, We’re staying there again, on our next trip.

H

Holiday Inn. The original (fictional) place was from the movie of the same name, with music by Irving Berlin. It was only open on holidays, and somebody named Bing Crosby was part of the entertainment. Some Astaire guy, too.

But a chain of hotels was formed, using the name, but open year ‘round. All Holiday Inns off a main road could be immediately identified by a big, green sign with an arrow going around the perimeter, pointing to a big star. The signs have been retired, but it’s another American success story, with locations worldwide. There’s even a Holiday Inn just up the street from 122 Great Titchfield Street, mentioned just above. It’s got a covered driveway at the entrance, so you could arrive dry, even in pouring rain.

Back in the 1970’s, select Holiday Inns introduced the Holidome. All under one roof, surrounded by the front doors of the rooms, was an enclosed courtyard playground with miniature golf on Astroturf, and varieties of pool - indoor for swimming, and tables for shooting. Thermal spa pools, too. Those are now gone (like the green signs), but we once stayed at one in Nebraska - a hotel with an amusement park, as opposed to Disney amusement parks that started having affiliated lodging.

I’m dreaming, of a …

I is for Inn Harking back to the Romans, inns were establishments that provided lodging with food and drink as well as care and stabling for your horse..often in rural locations. As roads and wealth improved, and the use of stage coaches as well as private coaches increased, posting, or coaching, inns appeared. They had offered quick meals for stage coach passengers while the coach horses were traded out for fresh teams. Private coaches could also switch horse teams to allow for quicker travel. The heyday of coaching inns were the regency period until the advent of train travel.
These days, the word "Inn" is often attached to a lower budget hotel, with minimal ammenities, to differentiate itself from a "motel".

J

Jurys Inn, once with locations throughout Ireland and the UK. It seems that William Jury started in the 1880’s what became a sizeable lodging success story. I haven’t stayed at any, but it was clear that there were several in Dublin a few years ago, and another in Cork. It appears these aren’t all “budget” Inns. But the Jurys in Cork doesn’t seem to be horribly expensive… or maybe make that wasn’t.

Apparently last year, all Jurys Inns were renamed Leonardo Hotels, after being acquired by an Israeli billionaire. But the Website for the Cork location mentions both names, and even includes a picture of its exterior with a prominent “Jurys” affixed to the side of the building, which is somewhat confusing. Perhaps their transition is taking some extra time, while clients and staff get used to the new identity. And hotel versus inn? Maybe a name change instantly transforms the status of a place, or maybe there’s no immediate categorization of lodging, based on the name. Hostels are clearly very different from hotels or inns, but I’m not so sure that an inn or a hotel are automatically more or less budget than the other.

K is for Kimpton. Lovely, city center hotels in most major cities. I like their ability to take on an old hotel with some history and make it elegant or fresh.

L Leonardo is evidently the new brand for Jurys Inn, see above.

M Motel One is my favorite, modern German hotel. Fresh, city specific decor, good prices and city center locations have made this a popular choice for European travelers. I’m glad to see them expanding into other countries.

N

No-Tell Motel. Not exactly a family place, and not somewhere to spend a lot of time. Probably not a place that will be mentioned in much detail in many Trip Reports on this Forum.

It’s a place for a quickie stay, and and where the customers don’t want anyone to know they’ve been there, or so I’ve heard. Most rooms are probably doubles, but there may be some triples?!?

O

Oltrarno Apartment. Every time I’ve stayed in Florence, I’ve reserved an apartment in the Oltrarno neighborhood, on the west side of the Tiber river, across from the main city. It hasn’t always been the same apartment, but the locations have all been outstanding- a short walk across a bridge to many popular tourist sights and museums, and the Oltrarno itself has wondrous places - Boboli Gardens, Brancaci Chapel, and really my favorite restaurants and gelaterias in Florence. Watch your step on sidewalks in more residential areas, though. People walk their dogs, but don’t always clean up after them.

P

Peri’s Hotel, in Athens, Greece. We arrived at night, and Peri’s is located conveniently close to the airport, so we didn’t have too far to go to get to our room for the night. We hadn’t had dinner yet, and although the small hotel didn’t have a restaurant, there was one just down the street, which would be closing soon. The hotel desk had a menu for our perusal, and called a to-go order for us, which was deli to our room shortly thereafter. It had been a long travel day, and getting dinner delivered to us made things much, much easier.

The owner drove us to Piraeus Harbor the next morning, so we could catch our ferry for Hydra Island. Rough seas prevented ferries from sailing that morning (we waited for the second and third scheduled ferries, which didn’t depart either) and we wound up sharing a taxi with another couple. But that wasn’t Peri’s fault. They’re not adjacent to the Acropolis, so maybe not the first choice for many visitors, and we didn’t stay there upon our next time in Athens, but their customer service couldn’t have been better. For the right customers who need the right location at the right time (and the right price - very affordable), Peri’s makes a great Athens stop.

Q

Quality Inn, a chain brand that’s part of the Choice Hotels, mentioned above. It seems to me that I’ve stayed at one or more Quality Inns, but it would’ve been nearly 40 years ago. Apparently the Quality Courts United, an informal group of Florida motels in 1939, formally became the first hotel chain in the U.S.A. in 1941.

Quality isn’t everything, though, as the Quality Inns are not as high-end as the Clarion Hotels in the corporate family.

R

Rabbit Ears Motel, Steamboat Springs, Colorado. This is an iconic place in northwestern Colorado. Nicknamed Ski Town, USA, Steamboat Springs is just down US Highway 40 from the Steamboat ski resort, and has been the home for more U.S. olympic athletes (mostly Winter Games) than anywhere else. Farther up Hwy. 40 is Rabbit Ears Pass, a steep mountain pass overseen by a rock formation that features two slender rock towers that resemble a rabbit’s ears from a distance.

The motel features a sign out front with a big rabbit head, with very long ears and googly eyes. It’s lit up in neon at night. The eyes used to have a switch that made it look like the they were looking left, then right, then left, then right … they had to stop the eyes’ automation because it was distracting drivers, leading to accidents.

We’ve stayed at the Rabbit Ears many times. As the ski resort has expanded and gotten more and more development over the years (this was its 60th anniversary), condos and hotels closer to the lifts have become more and more numerous. The once very inexpensive motel’s prices have risen over time, but it remains a definite alternative to the glitzy places up on the hill, 3 miles up the road.

S

Star Motel, Rapid City, South Dakota. Place close to Mount Rushmore in the 1960’s, pretty inexpensive, with a pool for the kids? The Star Motel was the place. On the sign on a pole out front, there was even a big star! Clever marketing idea, huh?

I hadn’t been near there in decades, so I looked it up just now to see if it’s still around. Well, apparently at other spots in Rapid City, there’s a Gold Star Motel, and also a Stardust Motel - no relation. But where the Star Motel once stood is now the Star Village Apartment community. An aerial image on my Maps app shows there’s still a kiddie pool, and the bigger pool, too. Many of the original buildings may still be standing, perhaps virtually unchanged. So some things apparently never change much, but I’ll bet the black and white TV’s are all gone.

TA TripAdvisor, one of the first online places to look for hotel reviews. I contributed a lot of reviews about 20 years ago but not anymore.

U Is for University stays. During summer months universities may rent out dorm rooms to travelers. My daughter and I stayed in one in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. A private room, but budget with bunkbeds, and I think the bathroom was down the hall. A check online at one consolidator website for Oxford, UK is definitely not budget but when else can you say you went to Oxford College?

3 Years

Exactly 3 years ago, 2,781 posts ago, and 80 percent of the 83rd run through the alphabet we started this little game and educational experience.

3 years!!!

I think it is apparent that this experiment - long lived as it has been - has been abandoned.

So unless other contributions are made it will time out and join all the other threads which have been closed due to inactivity.

If contributors would like to send farewell greetings they would be welcome.

Or, of course, posts to the game. I would rather let it quietly go on - I don't want to artificially drum up support. People are getting on with their lives now.

V
(Congratulations Nigel!) continuing the lodging theme to the end of this round?…Vis for Victoria Hotel in Nüremberg. I love staying in hotels with history and this 120 year old, we’ll positioned hotel for exploring the city fits the bill. In looking at the pictures online now I don’t see much of its former glory remaining in its modernized spaces—a pity I think.

W
Best Western Hotel isn’t often one you equate with charming or historic in the US but in many European countries they can be a unique surprise. Take the Best Western Hotel Schlossmühle in Quedlinburg with its views of the castle, bricked cellar spaces and beams you can bump your head on in the attic rooms, my kind of hotel.

X
Hotel XENIA, a boutique hotel in Kensington. Why didn’t I know about this charming Marriott hotel? I don’t recall seeing it mentioned on the forum but if I could afford it, I’d definitely love to stay in a hotel like this in London. Although I would probably pass on a room that describes itself as Petit for almost $500 per night.

Y
Hotel Yountville Resort and Spa in Napa Valley CA is a relaxing getaway hotel for wine tasting and exploring the valley’s many wineries. Even though it costs a bit more than the above Xenia hotel in Kensington, at 500 sq ft the rooms won’t be called Petit.

Z
Hotel Zephyr is right along Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. Although it gets very good reviews on Booking, I think I’d prefer staying in quieter neighborhoods when visiting SF. But for people with limited time and the proximity to the Bay it sounds like a hotel to consider.

Arlington Cemetery. Numerous notable grave sites but the most impressive is of.course the Tomb on the Unknown Soldiers..just to watch the changing of the guard is not to be missed. One time we were there in August and it was in the high 90's with similar humidity. The young soldier marching back.and forth had sweat dripping down his chin and he never flinched.. Such dedication to his job.

B for Bollicine Wine Bar and Cucina. We stumbled on this place in Sorrento by accident in Sorrento in April. It was a Saturday night and everywhere was full until we found this half empty place and wondered what was wrong with it when every other place was full. It turns out nothing was wrong and it may be the highlight restaurant of our trip. It was full by the time we left and was full again the next time we came. It's the type of place that the RS Guidebooks love to recommend; small, family owned, off the beaten path. The owner's Dad is his landlord and owns the restaurant next door.

C for Capri. I'm just stealing takes from my Trip Report now. If you're based in Sorrento and only have one day and need to decide on the Amalfi Coast or Capri, my vote is Capri. It's easier to get to and it gives you a full day to explore while half your day on the Amalfi Coast will be travel. The views in Capri are spectacular. We were much more impressed with Capri.

Chenonceau! Visited this wonderful chateau on a recent "Paris and Heart of France" tour (April 21 - 30). Beautiful flower arrangements in every room from the gardens outside.

Duwamps

A version of an early name given to what became Seattle

https://ba-kground.com/was-seattle-named-duwamps/

E for Ercolano, better known to us by it's Latin name Herculaneum, but if you're travelling there by train, prepare to disembark at the Italian named station-Ercolano.

Did I already mention Eurico Hotel in Toledo?

https://hoteleurico.com

It's an RS recommendation, not least because it is close to the action without being right in the action -- it is action-adjacent.
Good combination of old cozy restos and modern conveniences, and a good reason for you to look into the real history of the pre-Islamic city.

Wow… it’s already 1:23 in the morning in Ireland (same time zone as Nigel) and so it’s May 31. But it’s not even 6:30 in the evening back at home in Colorful Colorado . So whether I missed the official anniversary celebrations, Happy Number 3, and cheers to Nigel for a stellar concept … stellar as in Naugahyde, natch.

F

Five-star hotel. These are top-of-the-line, with a price to match. Sadly, out of my price range. But then, so many lesser places have provided memorable, and often wonderful stays. Maybe sometime …

G

Glenomra Hotel, in Ennis, County Clare, Ireland. I’m here right now, after a fantastic nighttime pub crawl during the Feadh Nua Trad Music festival. It was incredible, and I’m still awake with excitement. It’s after 1:30 in the morning, and tomorrow’s another day … wait, later today is another day. You absolutely MUST come to this festival (it goes on until next Monday, June 5), and the Glenomra B&B is the place to stay. Mary will take good care of you - just be sure to hit the doorbell button on the right of the front door if it’s closed, so she knows you’ve arrived.

Time to get to sleep. Good night, more music in the morning.

Herculaneum, smaller and perhaps less known than Pompeii, but equally evocative. Such a sad ending to so many lives. How strange to walk among their homes, markets, and other structures.

2797 posts and start round 83. I honestly thought it was say goodbye, say goodnight Gracie time.

Thanks to all. Those who threw in several, and those who contributed fewer, all very welcome.

and Gail who earns this round's nauga star at post 2787... with Arlington National Cemetery, particularly poignant on US Memorial Day

I

is for the Inn River separating Austria and Germany.

If you've ever crossed between these two countries, you went across the Inn, set as the Austro-German border purposely by Bismarck as part of the unification of Germany in 1871.

J is for Jasper Park Lodge, Jasper National Park

"Jasper Park Lodge is a 442-room hotel situated on 700 acre site along Lac Beauvert in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. The hotel was established in 1921 by Canadian National Railway and is one of Canada's grand railway hotels."

K is for the (Best Western Plus) King's Inn & Suites in Kingman AZ.

Our go-to stop enroute between Tucson and the Pacific Northwest. On Route 66 where we have run into Harley bikers from Switzerland and couples from Australia and Italy, among others.

"Start your morning with a free hot breakfast buffet that includes: Belgian waffles, biscuits & gravy, hash browns, scrambled eggs, sausage and complemented with: yogurt, granola and fresh fruits for the health conscious guests."

L is for Lodge. A lodge can mean different things to different people, but to me a lodge is a rustic edifice built in the woods or on a lake for summer (or winter) getaways. Think of the lodges of the Adirondack, Yellowstone, or Rocky Mountains. Today is Ottawa's first heat advisory for the season (92F). Thinking of a forest lodge on a lake drops that temperature by 20 degrees (in my mind).

M is for le Chateau Montebello, a Fairmont resort on the Ottawa River. Holding the Guiness World Record as the largest log cabin it has been housing guests for over 90 years. Originally, the hotel was one of several large hotels or resorts built by the Canadian Pacific Railroad to allow well healed train guests strategic land stops across the 3000+miles of track between Quebec City and Vancouver. Many of these are now part of the Canadian Fairmont offerings.

N is for Noto, a beautiful baroque town in Sicily. Especially impressive are the baroque balconies. Noto also has wonderful churches.

O is for Oaxaca

The most beautiful I've ever met: kind and friendly. Best food outside of France. Best street art. And the best mescal!

-- Mike Beebe

P is for Pistoia, Italy

Lucca Della Robbia's earliest surviving freestanding sculpture is the white tin-glazed terracotta Visitation in the church of San Giovanni Fuoricivitas of Pistoia, dating to 1445.

https://reconstructingrenaissance.home.blog/2018/12/18/luca-della-robbia-the-visitation-1440/

Q
Is for QR (quick response) codes used domestically and internationally for travel now for tickets, menus, detailed hotel information and services. Scan the code everywhere.

R is for Randazzo, Sicily, the town nearest to Mt. Etna. Sometimes known as 'the black town', because volcanic lava stone was used as a building material to construct roads and to highlight buildings, including houses. Randazzo can be reached from Catania on the small train Ferrovia Circumetnea, a fun ride.

S

is for Savignyplatz in Berlin-Charlottenburg, itself originally a suburb of Berlin.

A nice upper middle class area to stay in if that's your goal Since 2009 I always stay there, As to cuisine, it is quite international, European and Asian...Greek, Italian, French. German, Vietnamese, Persian, various types of Chinese cuisine, etc. Three S-Bahn lines stop at its station, one to Potsdam, as well as buses going west, eg, out to Grunewald, etc.

T

Timeshare Trade. Thirty years ago, this was an appealing idea … pay for 2 weeks out of the year, one during the week of Fourth of July, and the other around Thanksgiving, and other Timeshare owners are covering the expenses of the condo for the rest of the year.

We had a Timeshare place (shared with friends) in the Colorado Mountains - Ski Country, USA - and stayed there for our appointed weeks many times. But we also did a timeshare trade twice - swapping our Colorado week for a week in Austria (Ski Country, Europe), and in southern Spain. The Spain stay was at an enclosed resort, with only Brits except for us, and a thumping disco went on until late at night. It was so loud that it was impossible to get to sleep until it stopped. That didn’t bother others, because I think they never left the property the entire week, getting up at 10:00 or 11:00 and siting by the pool until it was time to Disco again. We did daily daytrips, driving long distances to places in southern Spain that Rick Steves and other guidebooks recommended.

We sold our share many years ago, and got our own place. There’s no one now to split the maintenance cost, and no way to still trade our “week” for a week somewhere else. So the trade wasn’t a perfect situation, but it did provide options.

Ullapool, on Scotland's northwest coast. The ferry to/from Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis lands here. On a sunny day you can enjoy a walk and stop for a delicious seafood meal at The Seafood Shack (I recommend the scallops!).

V is for Vimy Ridge If I was to visit a war memorial site related to Canadian involvement in either World War, it would be to Vimy Ridge, France. In April, 1917 the Canadians and UK troops fought a 4 day battle against the German 6th Army. It was one of Canada's earliest WW1 successes and a pivital battle. As a school age child learning about our Canadian war time history, this was the battle that left a lasting impression. Following peace, France gave the ground of the Vimy Ridge Memorial, and a surrounding 100 hectares to Canada for use in perpetuity as a battle ground park and memorial. Though most of the park grounds are still off limits for safety reasons, there is a section of trenches and tunnels open for visitors.

Maria, me too. It's on my priority list and I'm trying to figure out the most convenient way to visit. Just this afternoon we were looking at potential dates in the next couple of years to take a river cruise that ends up in Basel. From there we'll likely make our way to Paris in a roundabout way and wondering if Vimy makes a good sidetrip.

*Pierre Berton wrote an excellent book on Vimy.

Allan, it might make sense from Brussels, though a long day trip or overnight from Paris may be feasible. But if you go there, then it may behoove you to go to Ypres, Belgium (Flanders Fields). Both are near Lille France and Ypres has several Canadian memorials.

W.
W is for Walwa one of the bigger settlements (pop 170) along the Murray River Road.
It is located about 10 kms from Pine Mountain which is generally thought to be Australia's largest monolith at approximately 1.5 times the size of Uluru/Ayers Rock.
The road to Walwa from Tintaldra along the famous Murray River offers some spectacular views in all directions. Views across to Kosciuszko N.P often with snow capped peaks and views of the peaks of Burrowa/Pine Mountain N.P.
This part of Australia was immortalised by our great poet/writer Banjo Patterson.
Walwa general store (like Tintaldra general store) offers a bit of local museum collection.
From here the gorgeous Murray River Road continues it's long journey through to the man made Lake Hume and eventually into the twin cities of Albury (NSW) and Wodonga (Vic).

XX is for Dos Equis, a beer owned by Heineken.

Sure, it had been produced all over Mexico, but it's all owned by the company headquartered in Amsterdam...

Before Covid this was true:

"Dos Equis, Tecate, and Sol are all produced by Heineken-owned Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery, based in Monterrey, Mexico. The brewery was founded in 1890 and currently operates in several locations throughout Mexico: Monterrey, Guadalajara, Toluca, Tecate, Orizaba, and Meoqui."

But nowadays the kegs of Dos Equis for US distribution are actually made there in the Netherlands:

https://beveragebeaver.com/this-is-where-dos-equis-is-brewed-mexico-the-netherlands/#:~:text=It%20was%20not%20entirely%20surprising,Holland%2C%20under%20license%20by%20Heineken.

from the above link:

"To be specific, brewing was at Zoeterwoude, a municipality in the province of South Holland."

So this could be a Z entry too :-)

Y is for Ypres Belgium . An add on battlefield memorial site for Canadians and others whose countries fought in the numerous battles of Ypres in World War 1. One such battle, the 3rd Ypres battle in Fall 1917, was also called the Battle of Passchendaele. Others will recognize the area as Flanders' Fields, immortalized in poem by Lt-Cnl Dr. John McCrae.

As per Avirosemail's suggestion, Z for Zoeterwoude, Netherlands, home of Heineken Brewery. As a child I realized the whole world was a lie when it was pointed out to me that coyotes run faster than roadrunners, and now my world is tumbling down again as I find out some of the beers I've been sampling around the world so I can drink like a local are Dutch. Moretti in Italy, Tecate in Mexico...I wonder if the Australians know that Fosters is owned by Molson in Canada?

A

Another Round … regarding beer, and in this Alphabet Travel. As mentioned by Allan, Australia’s Foster’s is brewed in the USA (in Texas), but Canada’s Molson is brewed in the U.S. as well (in addition to in Canada). Then there’s Coors, which merged with Molson several years ago, adding to the international conglomeration of beers situation. The Coors brewery complex in Golden, Colorado, a few short miles west of Wheat Ridge down 32nd Avenue, remains the largest single brewery on Earth. Today, June 5, is the 96th anniversary of the death (murder?) of company founder Adolph Coors, but that’s another story.

Back to travel and beers of mingled geographic history, we just returned from London last night, after almost a month in Ireland. Nearly every pub and bar in Ireland has taps for Guinness and for Coors Light - two brews that couldn’t possibly be more visually different. Guinness is part of the corporation that includes Heineken and Budweiser, and started out in Dublin. It also now owns and makes Murphy’s, a rival stout begun in Cork. Murphy’s is still brewed in Cork, at the Heineken brewery (which you will pass on the way to the Butter Museum, if you’re walking from the east). But so is Coors - rival to Bud in America, and a different corporation. What if Ford made Chevy, or Fiat made Jeep, or BMW made Mini … wait, ignore that last part.

So in Ireland, rival beers from ostensibly different makers are brewed by the same place. A waitress in a restaurant in Galway had said she was surprised there was any Coors other than the Light that she’d only heard of. A barman in Glenbeigh asked about why Coors Light has now changed to just “Coors,” and pointed to the tap handle, which had no “Light” wording. I’d seen many other taps that had all said Coors Light. I half-joked that the change must’ve happened because “Coors” and “Light” were redundant. But I see now that whomever is making Coors for the European market doesn’t need to make the distinction needed in North America, because that Coors in Ireland is the only Coors. Taking the “Light” off the package cleans it up. It also saves room for a small mountain image (the Rocky Mountains symbolized for a British Isle) on the can, which is gray when room temperature but turns blue when cold, and he showed me the new can. Have a cold one, but it may have done less traveling than you’d expect.

To keep up with the current theme, B for Bottega della Birra in Sorrento. I like to track down local craft beers wherever I am and discovered this little gem of a pub in Sorrento. It features craft beers from across Europe and I found an outstanding Italian stout from Radiocraft Brewery called Papercut. It's got a cinnamon hint to it; almost not memorable though as I was lightheaded after one beer and discovered its alcohol content was 10.5%.

Not only an astonishing number of beer choices at this pub, but they had a bruschetta made with a pistachio pesto that was almost as outstanding as my 10.5% cinnamon beer.

I like this theme!! So:

C is for Carlsberg, in Denmark, where yet another complicated beer conglomerate that encompasses other brews all around the world is headquartered.

One of its facilities in Northampton had a fatal ammonia leak in 2016 that was recently settled for close to $2M --
https://press.hse.gov.uk/2022/06/28/carlsberg-fined-3m-following-2016-ammonia-gas-leak/#:~:text=Carlsberg%20has%20been%20fined%20£,put%20proper%20controls%20in%20place.

Carlsberg (along with Heineken) does indeed own the largest brewery in the UK, Scottish & Newcastle,
and a bunch of others worldwide, including Greece, Cyprus, and for many years, Malawi.

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

D I'd for De Koninck ...a beer, a beer glass and a brewery. The brewery of this name is located in Antwerp, Belgium and started brewing in 1833. The flagship beer is an amber beer and should be served in its required cup shaped glass. The brewery does brew other beers, all using traditional brewing methods including open fermentation and aging in oak casks.
It is a popular tourist destination with tours and tastings.
(I could find no other locations for the company, or any other company brewing this beer😉)

Sorry to be so long with this credit but my wife had a fall and we have been dealing with the German hospitals - great experience but shoots much Forum work.

So in all that, like Marley's ghost r-i-s-i-n-g from the grave this thread has, to my great astonishment, taken off again like a bunny being chased by a ferret up a drainpipe.

Thanks to all.

Special credit and another - quite rare - nauga star for Cyn for buying us all another beer. Thanks. Mine's a half of bitter, 0.0 please.

With the benefit of hindsight I can also see into the future and I know that round 84 which we are in the middle of, is going quite well.....

this page left blank until I get back from Würzberg this afternoon

… they have the Würzburg Hofbräu brewery there. But as we’re at E,

*(edited) that’s

E

Estrella Damm, cervesa de Barcelona. Our trip one October included a couple of notable restaurants, and Estrella Damm was promoted as the highly regarded, ideal beer for the Catalan food. Several years later, in London in March 2020 (a week before the horrible Pandemic was declared), we discovered a Spanish restaurant close to our B&B. They had Estrella Damm! But they were down to a very few bottles, as the Spanish couple who owned and ran the restaurant had decided to move back to Spain, and this was their final week in London. That was lucky for us to have found their small place before things changed so much for everyone. I hope they’re doing well, wherever they are. Estrella Damm may still be a factor in that, on some level.

G

Guinness, an iconic stout from Ireland. The Widget in the cans of Guinness is a brilliant invention for releasing nitrogen into the beer, and achieving the kind of double-pour experience at home that you’d get at a pub. At the higher altitudes of Colorado, the pressure differential between the contents of the can and the atmospheric pressure in the room can cause an immediate overflow, so pouring quickly into a glass is a useful skill.

Several years ago, a talented local group that performed Irish traditional music mostly for their own enjoyment was having a St. Patrick’s Day gathering, and cans of Guinness were available. Almost no one sought out a glass, and were drinking straight from the can. I asked for, and obtained a glass, and mentioned how that was the way Guinness meant their beer to be enjoyed, but one guy with just the can said “this is Okay.” O.K.

Last month, entering “downtown” Macroom, Ireland from the northwest, there’s a building on the right with a big, dark gray wall. The only thing on the side of the wall, up high, besides a window, is a life-sized painting of a white cat, with a dark shadow. It looks like the cat has jumped from the window, and is partway on its long descent. The effect is very lifelike, but I wondered whether it was distracting enough that it had caused any traffic conflicts on the narrow street into town. It turns out that the cat image had been part of a Guinness mural, but pressure from some in the community caused all of it but the cat and its shadow to get painted over. Apparently there was concern that the mural would corrupt younger residents. It’s not as if there aren’t many other places to see Guinness promoted and displayed.

Ironically, a town nearby had a mural of the Murphy’s Stout logo, being painted by a child on a dangling scaffold. Maybe the child painter wasn’t being corrupted, seeing what he was painting, or maybe he was already corrupted. He wasn’t having a pint, though, just a paint.

H is for Hasseröde Bier brewed in the Harz area. We stayed in Hasseröde, Germany for 2 weeks a few years and never visited the large, commercial brauerei on the edge of town. The bier was very popular in the region. The corporate offices are in nearby, beautiful Wernigerode.

We lost F along the way. Top many cerveza?

Cyn did E but didn’t make it bold but it’s there.

F

Fosters. It’s Australian for “beer,” Mate!

Sorry about skipping this “F” earlier. Is jet lag an excuse? Still less than 2 days back in the Mountain Time Zone, back from the British Isles, and Guinness has such a prominence over there that it’s hard to miss. As penance for skipping a letter, here’s a second

F

Face Down Brown, by Telluride Brewing Co., In Telluride Colorado. One of Colorado’s many (and outstanding) craft microbreweries, Telluride’s label for this fabulous brown ale features a skier who’s done a “face plant” into the snow. The only part of the skier that’s visible above the snow are the legs and ski boots, with skis still attached. So the skier’s face (plus neck, shoulders, and torso) is down in the Colorado powder snow. That’s as embarrassing as missing a letter in this thread. Guess that means I’m buying the next round … next ski season. But you’ll have to beat me down to the New Sheridan bar.

Note to Mona and Nigel, if I may be so bold :-)

various posters/players have used various methods to make their entries, but from the start over 3 years ago, I’ve attempted to follow the example that Nigel set with his beginning entry, A and Albania. Those used no bold markings. I didn’t originally separate the initial E from the initial wording of my recent posting, but I’ve revised that with a subsequent edit to that entry (see above). But I’ll advocate maintaining the original format of no bold font, and now making certain to preface the entry with a (regular font) isolated capitol letter to start the posting. Having said all that …

Hi Cyn.
Pretty much no one in Australia drinks Fosters these days.
Cheers.

I

IPA, that is, India Pale Ale. Back when ships were the primary means of getting from Britain to India, and sailors were issued their regular ration of beer, that beer needed to withstand the length of the journey without spoiling. By adding extra hops to what would have otherwise been regular Pale Ale, a hoppier, more bitter beverage was created, which also had a longer storage life, and was suitably called india Pale Ale. In the past 25 or so years, IPA seems to have become the darling of the U.S. microbrewing industry, with some varieties just puckeringly bitter. Hops for hops’ sake, making brews that were virtually undrinkable, but unquestionably the hoppiest IPA around, seemed to be their goal. Ska from Colorado and Stone from California are very hoppy, but seldom too hoppy. Others are simply extreme.

Besides classic beers in Britain, I believe that some British IPA’s have become popular, in the land where IPA began. I haven’t actually had an IPA across the pond, but there could be one in my future. Maybe one in India, too … maybe.

J is for Jennings Brewery in Cockermouth, England.

The Company was founded in 1828 in the little village of Lorton, at the foot of the Whinlatter Pass where the pure Lakeland water could be used but moved to the Castle Brewery in Cockermouth in 1874. The original Lorton premises is now the village Hall.
They used water from their own well.
In 2005 they were taken over by Wolverhampton and Dudley (renamed Marstons in 2007) which merged with Carlsberg UK in 2020.
Sadly but inevitably the Cockermouth brewery closed in October 2022 when production of the Jennings range was moved to Burton on Trent.
They had a tied estate of over 100 pubs, all without exception being characterful establishments, many having overnight accommodation.
Many of their beers have local names like
La'al Cockle Warmer, Crag Rat (slang for Rock Climbers), Tom Fool (named for Thomas Skelton, the fool or jester, of Muncaster Castle, said to have inspired Shakespeare's fool in King Lear), Sneck Lifter (a Sneck is northern dialect for a door latch, a sneck lifter is a man's last sixpence to buy a pint where he hopes to make friends who will buy him more rounds), Cocker Hoop (has two meanings, the Brewery is on the banks of the River Cocker, but also refers to an old way of making beer), and Yan T'yan Tethera (Cumbrian dialect for shepherds counting sheep- one, two, three- the dialect counting method of course goes on into the hundreds and is still used by some).
A great brewery, great beers, and until closure did really interesting Brewery Tours.
Last I heard the Cockermouth site is for sale, for anyone who has ever dreamed of owning a brewery. Warning the place has flooded badly several times.

EDIT- UPDATE 3 JULY 2023- a new Brewery has just opened in Cockermouth at the Bitter End public House- drinkers will be able to view the brewing process behind a glass wall.

K is for Kirkstone Gold-
One of the brews of the Tirril Brewery- a craft brewery now at Long Marton in Cumbria, England.
But it was originally the village brewery in the little village of Tirril between Penrith and Pooley Bridge, Ullswater.
That was John Siddle's Brewery going way back into the early 19th century.
It was bought in 1899 by another local brewery in Penrith and the Tirril site closed (the building still stands and is known as the Malt House). After many mergers that Brewery became owned by Whitbread and was closed in 1978.
The village pub was the Queen's Head Inn. After many mergers that became a Matthew Brown's house (another great Northern Brewery) but was sold in 1994 and became a free house.
The new owner established a tiny craft brewery in the pub in 1999, exactly a century on from Siddle's closure. A planning condition was that 90% of production had to be drunk in the Queen's Head.
However this all came crashing down in 2001 when Foot and Mouth Disease devastated the county, so the planning permission had to be breached. This created new markets and new demand, so production moved to the nearby historic Brougham Hall estate in 2003 (interestingly in the Hall's own original 1823 Brewhouse).
As demand grew further production was moved to a converted old barn in 2007 at Long Marton.
The Brewing kit from Tirril was sold in 2003 to another new start up craft Brewery- the Loweswater Brewery.

L is for the Loweswater Brewery (a continuation from K above)-
Established in 2003 in the Kirkstile Inn in the tiny village of Loweswater, Cumbria, opposite the village Church (or Kirk in Scottish useage).
This is another great Lakeland pub, ancient and full of charm.
By 2009 demand had outgrown space at Loweswater and the brewery moved to custom built premises at Hawkshead in the heart of the Lake District- their range includes a Stout, an American pale ale and Esthwaite Bitter- named after the lake which the Brewery is now beside- one of the lesser known lakes- between Hawkshead and Beatrix Potter's Hill Top. But their best known brew is still Loweswater Gold (a CAMRA Champion Golden Ale of Britain)- after their original home. Grassmoor Dark Ale is named after one of the mountains close to Loweswater.

M

Murphy’s Irish Stout, from Cork, Ireland. In a land where it seems that Guinness reigns supreme, there are still devotees in the southern part of Ireland for Murphy’s, which is now brewed by the same company. Murphy’s has a more roasted flavor than Guinness, so a stronger taste.

From an informal sampling last month, it appears there are two different designs of Murphy’s glasses served by pubs. One is a traditional pint. glass, wider at the rim and narrower at the base, with straight sides. Below the Murphy’s logo is imprinted the signature of Joseph J. Murphy. The other style has a base and a very short stem, and the glass is shaped kind-of like a very long tulip. It seems that the farther north you go in Ireland, the less frequently Murphy’s is found.

N for Newcastle Brown Ale. I 'discovered' it at a hotel/pub just outside of Arundel last September and it's now my favourite English Beer. Though to be fair; as hard as I've tried, I haven't sampled all of the English beers yet, give me time.

O for Orinico Peanut Butter Stout at Drygate Brewery in Glasgow. It's a craft brewery next door and partially owned by the large Tenement Brewery. I stumbled across it at a grocery store on Mull and thanks to my love of Stout and Peanut Butter it was a match made in heaven. Drygate has a small pub at it's brewery which was a 5 minute walk from the cathedral. Warning though, at this time last year it was still cash only. I've been searching for an equal caliber peanut butter stout at home, and while there are a couple craft breweries making it, nothing matches it yet.

P Panaché

R Radler

S Shandy

Three names for essentially the same beer-based beverage, a refreshing and delightful cocktail of lager and limonade (or 7Up or Sprite in a pinch). Fill 2/3 to 3/4 of a glass with beer, and top it up with limonade. The ratio of beer to soft drink can be adjusted to taste. Actually, any light golden beer can be used, so a pilsner works, and it’s actually also a chance to use cheaper beer that you might not normally enjoy alone, as savoring the nuances of malt profile or hops characteristics isn’t the aim. As for the soft drink mixer, Limonade (not lemonade), found originally in a glass bottle with a stopper held down by a metal clasp, but increasingly a glass bottle with a twist-off cap, adds a fizzy lemon flavor, but there are orange and grapefruit varieties available, too. As mentioned earlier, lemon-lime soda pop can be used instead, but it’s not quite the same.

Panaché (pronounced “pahn-ah-shay”) is the name in the French-speaking world, Radler (rahd-lah”) for German speakers, and Shandy for English-speaking drinkers. There seem to be more and more shandy brews available from breweries in the U.S., premixed and convenient, but still not the same as making your own. Over the years, I’ve found that France has a Panaché brand, as well as Panach’.

My first exposure to this was in Austria, when my husband-to-be and I went on a multi-day bike ride along the Rhine River from Vienna to Ybbs. Radler actually means “cyclist” in German, so it was an appropriate drink. It must’ve been a waiter who suggested we try one, and it’s been a regular refreshment since. I liken it to Austrian Gatorade - less alcohol than straight beer, with some sugar and electrolytes to help after a ride, without getting so tipsy you’ll trip over your bike when you get back to it.

Flying home on British Airways four days ago, I had two! While folks flying on a more upscale ticket get bubbly after boarding, those of us at the back of the plane can ask for a beer (Heineken’s what was available), a little can of Sprite, and a plastic cup. It works. I’ve been asked if I wanted ice (!?!?!), and the can of Sprite this week said it was the “New, Irresistible flavor.”So Coca-Cola changed the recipe for Sprite? I hadn’t heard anything about that … apparently it’s not resulting in the huge uproar that the New Coke situation created back in the 1980’s.

T for Tenennt's Brewery in Glasgow, Scotland. There's been a brewery in that location since 1556 and it has quite the history. According to the website:
"In 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie and his army lodged in the brewery following their retreat from England. In the Glasgow City Hall records, it is written that every man was refreshed and heartened by the Tennent’s brothers delicious brew."

And then in 1797 they starting exporting to the US to give the large Scottish population there a taste of home.

U

Upslope Brewing Company, in Boulder, Colorado. The name’s inspired by the upslope weather pattern where cold, wet air smacks up against the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, and heavy rain (or heavy snow) results. That moisture can eventually make its way into beer production!

They exclusively use recyclable aluminum cans to package their beers. They distribute their spent grain to local farmers, for feeding to their animals. They are working towards being totally solar-powered. They have debuted new beer varieties in the outdoors, with people needing to do a substantial hike into the backcountry to be the first to taste the new brew.

They also brew Mary Jane Ale, a special recipe available at the Winter Park/Mary Jane ski resort west of Denver. In late April, with the ski season starting to wind down, Upslope had a tent at the ski area base, and gave out teeny thimbleful samples of several varieties … provided you had I.D. with you while skiing, proving you were over 21.

just to say that the belated credit for this round is now posted, back a few posts...

V for Vimy Brewing Company of Ottawa, Ontario. Not coincidentally, for the 2nd round in a row V is a reference for Vimy Ridge and the WW1 battle that some describe as Canada's coming out party as a nation. The Brewery is named in honor of that battle.

Do you think we can make it through an entire round just on beer references?

W is for Samuel Webster's beer of Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

The Brewery was founded in 1838, and Samuel Webster was a prominent Congregationalist.

The Company was taken over by Watney Mann [two for the price of one here!- a London Brewery] in 1972.

Watney Mann in turn was acquired by Courage in 1990 and the Halifax Brewery closed in 1996. Brewing then moved to John Smith's Brewery at Tadcaster, North Yorkshire around 2004 but the name of Samuel Webster's vanished from the taps and shelves around 2015, after further acquisitions and mergers.

Now see if anyone can find a beer starting with X!

Well I know one with 4X's.

XXXX is an "Australian" beer. Originally from Castlemaine in the Central Vic Goldfields. I think started up in the 1920s. Now owned by Lion.
Never tasted the stuff myself.
Pretty much a Queensland beer these days.

Y for William Younger's Brewery of Edinburgh.

This was established in 1749, and the family are thought to be of Flemish extraction.

They had the Abbey Brewery, at Holyrood. In 1793 a second brewery was opened at what is now Calton Road, but that site is now within Waverley Railway Station.

There was also a Robert Younger who had the St Ann's Brewery also at Holyrood.
They supplied beer to the British Army during the Crimean War.
By the start of the 20th century the company brewed 25% of Scotland's beer.
In 1960 after a series of mergers the company was merged into Scottish and Newcastle brewers, which later became part of the mighty Heineken empire.
The site of the Brewery is now within the footprint of the dissolved Scottish Parliament.
Like Jennings (above) the brand is now part of the Carlsberg Marstons group.

By the way you may not believe that I am now all but teetotal- not quite but very close.

A for Admont, Austria. (Finally my timing is close!)

Located in central Austria, in the Gesause National Park, Admont is best known for its Benedictine Abbey. At the Abbey one can visit the world's largest monastic library, decorated in the Baroque style. I had the chance to visit last fall; for the first half-hour our group had it to ourselves! An excellent audio-video guide explains all of the paintings and statues. In addition, the Abbey houses several museums, galleries, a restaurant, and gardens where one can easily spend an interesting day.

I know this doesn't fit the current topic of beer...but some in our group did enjoy a tasty one in the restaurant!

Z - to wrap up the “beer round,”

Zero.Zero, more likely shown on a label or glass as 0.0, and identifying a non-alcoholic beverage. This is not to be confused with 0-0 Flour, the softest, finest-ground flour in Italy, a favorite for making fresh pasta and pizza dough.

I don’t believe that the 0.0 nomenclature is in wide use in the U.S.A. even though zero-alcohol brews have been available for decades. But it seems that it’s the standard in Europe, and is catching on for those who want the aspects of a beer or cider, without potential detrimental effects of alcohol.

In Ireland last month, a 0.0 Guinness allowed my husband to have a pint and still be confident driving home from The Mills pub in Balleyvourney. The bartender, who was English but working in an Irish-speaking gaeltacht town, suggested that was the beer to have, and that Guinness had done such thorough work to create a 0.0 version of their famous stout that would hold up to the original, it was impossible to tell the difference. It was really close, with an impressive head on top, but the flavor and body of the drink seemed just a tad lighter than usual. Still, it was great to have a Guinness while enjoying the Trad band, and be able to get home on narrow, dark roads - and keep the rental Seat Ibiza to the left side of the center.

There’s also 0.0 cider, too. You might argue, with no alcohol in it, isn’t it just apple juice? Well, there does seem to be a difference there. Ciders in Ireland are proud of the varieties of apples they use, and where they’re grown. And whether beer or cider, you can bet that if it’s 0.0, the pub will have a special glass marked 0.0, to set it apart.

For this round, it’s Time, drink up! Cheers, Sláinte, Santé, Salute, Cin Cin, Prost, Na zdraví, ¡Salud!, Saúde, наздраве, etc.

B

Bucatino, in the Testaccio neighborhood of Rome. After a round of beers (literally), I’d been thinking that this next round might feature favorite or notable restaurants, and since Den’s “A” post mentioned the restaurant at that abbey, we’re off to a good start. I would’ve started off with Alto Resto, my favorite place in Nice, France, but I’ll continue with this “B” entry.

Bucatino is very, very good. It’s a family-run place, with excellent food that you’ll find throughout Testaccio (considered the area by many to have the best food in Rome), but not expensive. We ate there once on our trip last fall, and got dinner twice on our trip the year before that. It’s a definite place to go if you’re in Rome.

The second time in 2021, they were booked for the night. We were still able to order dinner to go, so still got a great Bucatino meal that we took back to our rental apartment.

C

Clipstone Restaurant in London, on Clipstone Street (natch) at the corner with Bolsover St. It was an excellent meal last year, with an elegant but comfortable setting, a wonderful menu, talented chefs in the kitchen, and an impressive wine selection. They even have English bubbly, which these days gives French champagne a real run for its money. Certainly one of the better restaurants in London!

D

Da Enzo in Parma, Italy. This was a nice family-run restaurant we visited in the week leading up to Easter 2017. Entering through the part of the cucina, we knew it would be tasty, and it was. Most notable was our antipasti of local breads, including one called ‘tigelle’. Our waiter, having presented the lovely platter, told us to wait until he had instructed us on how to eat the tigelle, which he did when he returned to our table..first we were to add some ground meat followed by parmigiano reggiano and then topped with thick balsamic vinegar..delizioso! We also had gnocco, a potato puff eaten with stracciatella cheese. Our entrées of scallopini with balsamic sauce were delicious as well.

We were also happy to see a large Italian family in the dining room. Two very young children, maybe four or five years old, were quite happily, and adeptly, eating their pasta dishes, their sweet little faces barely above the table.

And a happy time was had by all.

and now time for the Umpire to jump in and say that with all those 6s and 4s, and such good bowling, this over has been well and truly enjoyed by all. Plenty of beer running around the Pavilion to keep players and the viewing public well lubricated (including the 0.0 ones).

Well played, well played. Here here.

So kudos to Den who on only his 6th contribution here since he was capped has come up with a corker - the Abbey at Admont, Austria. Well done Den, and that starts up Round 85. As it says up at the very top,

and round 85 not far away, and round 85 has indeed rolled up.

in only 5 days, mostly talking about beer

Round 85 at post equiv. number 2842 which is only 158 posts from 3,000. Reached on June 10, 2023 (Den on only his 6th post here) discussing the Benedictine Abbey at Admont Austria

Let's keep it going now it seems to have a new lease of life.

Well done all, and Den I hope you enjoy your well earned Nauga Star!!!

E for Edinburgh Larder. It's open for breakfast and lunch; the owners pride themselves on preparing fresh, local ingredients. The waffles with peanut butter yogurt, bacon, and cherry jam were divine! Daughter decided to try the full Scottish breakfast. She was so impressed by the haggis that she refused to try it elsewhere so as to not be disappointed. It's a small restaurant, with a varied menu and friendly service. Their teas are from Eteaket...suppose I should have saved that one for the next round!

F

Fort Restaurant, Morrison, Colorado, USA. In the 1960’s, Sam Arnold built a replica of Bent’s Fort (a fur-trading post in the 1830’s in what would become Colorado forty years later), and opened a restaurant that served bison and other old-West foods. Dining tables were lit by kerosene lamps. Sam wrote a cookbook called Frying Pans West (more books followed), and had a show on the local public TV station, featuring some of his historical recipes. Cocktails were served in pint Mason jars. It was elegant in its rusticity. The Arnold family lived in The Fort, on the level upstairs from the restaurant. Sissy Bear, a pet black bear, was kept on the property, too. I got to feed her cherries. I took a cooking class from Sam many years later.

The Fort was isolated, in the mountains waaaay outside of Denver back in the 1960’s, but the suburbs have reached it and it’s now on the fringe of the Denver metropolitan area. The frontier menu still removes it from modern times a bit. Sam’s gone, and The Fort is owned and run by his daughter. Come to Denver and have Shinin’ Times at The Fort. As Sam used to say, “Huzzah!”

G for The Grizzly House in Banff, Alberta. It may be the most bizarre restaurant I've ever been to. It's a fondue place but what sets it apart is the décor which is very rustic with wood panels like an old cabin but then you've got avocado green light fixtures, macramé wall hangers, Swiss themed fence boards, a large carving of a camel as well as buffalo and elk heads hanging on the walls. Apparently the décor hasn't changed since 1967 when the place opened as a disco. Food was served from a hole in the wall to the Chinese restaurant next door, but that soon closed and due to liquor laws of the time it was necessary to serve food wherever alcohol was served and so the owners brought in their own fondue pots from home and the current restaurant was born.

Despite my description, the food is quite good, but what is most memorable is the experience.

H

Hood Station Firehouse along the 160 outside Sacramento. The “ old “ Sacramento River highway is a favorite California drive.

This place has good food and for me a pleasant stop during baseball season. Watching my SF Giants play is a nice afternoon out. If staying with Sacto friends this is a place we like to visit.

There are a number of “old “ CA highways that provide access to places tourists would never consider seeing. Most folks have no clue regarding the agricultural history of California. Its usually Hollywood, Yosemite, Disneyland, Napa, Sonoma and the Pacific Ocean.

Trust me so much more to see and do in my home state.

Incline in Pittsburgh. It is a wonderful "trolley" that takes you from.the top of a hill overlooking the city down the mountain where you get off , wander around and then ride back up. it offers the most fantastic view of the city and the rivers that form Pittsburgh and for about $5.00 round trip it is well.worth the trip. It is worth more than that.. It was the best thing we did in the city.

J is for the St. Joseph's Abbey Brewery in Spencer, MA, just outside Worcester --
it's a Trappist monastery only dating back to the 1950s, although the order itself fled France after the Revolution; it closed up last year:

https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2022/05/23/spencer-trappist-brewery-closes-243040

There are about 45 monks left and they weren't able to make a going concern of Belgian style beers anymore --
yet another reason to hate IPAs.

from the article:

In Belgium, the main beer-making monasteries are still thriving because they have much bigger breweries run by laypeople as modern businesses, with on-site bars, restaurants and aggressive sales techniques. For example, the Orval Brewery produces over 100,000 barrels a year.
By comparison, Spencer failed to reach the mere 10,000 barrels per year it had aimed for. “The whole market changed on them,” said Mr. Crouch. “And even European breweries are now making American-style beers. The Belgian monasteries only survive as breweries because they have big sales operations, and they’re tourist destinations.”

K

The Kitchin, a premier restaurant in Leith, Scotland. In the same Edinburgh suburb where the former Royal Yacht Britannia is docked, there’s a restaurant I haven’t yet tried, but plan to the next time we visit Edinburgh. Surprisingly (or perhaps not), the owner and chef of The Kitchin is named Kitchin … Tom Kitchin. Coincidence that a fine restaurant, and its owner, basically share the name with the essential room of any restaurant? Certainly not!

Also, I was very sad to learn recently that another outstanding Edinburgh chef, named (surprisingly or not) Paul Kitching (there must be something in the water in Edinburgh) died late last year. We had lunch at his 21212 restaurant on Calton Hill a few years ago, and went back again, but it’s so unfortunate that Chef Kitching is no more.

L is for Labuanbajo....a town on the western coast of the Indonesian island of East Nusa Tenggara (formerly Flores). It is considered a jumping off point to visit Komodo Island, home of the famous Dragons.

M for Villa dei Misteri in Pompeii. If you want to get away from the crowds at Pompeii that cause lineups for the more popular buildings, you can take a walk over to this villa and only have to share it with a few other people. Based on my experience, the tour groups don't venture out this far. It has one of the most spectacular Frescos you'll find anywhere in the Pompeii site ruins.

N

is for the Neisse River, part of the Oder-Neisse line, which was agreed to as the border between Poland and what emerged as East Germany.

The town also has the same name. Since it is east of the Oder, it is located in Poland called Nysa, formerly called Neisse an der Neisse. You can get there from Wroclaw to Nysa

O is for Orvieto. Small city in Umbria, Italy. Lots of Etruscan history including a massive underground structure of caves where they attempted to avoid being sacked by the Romans.

P
Puyallup

https://www.thefair.com/
The Washington State Fair is one of the biggest fairs in the world and the largest in the Pacific Northwest. It started in 1900 in Puyallup.

And it always fun listening to tourists trying to say "Puyallup."

Q is for the Restaurant Quixot in the Eixample slightly north of the main plaza in Barcelona.
It's quite close to the Casa Batlo so it caters to tourists and big groups, but there is good table service, too.
https://www.quixotebcn.com/la-carta/

I'm personally not a big fan of the dining in the Eixample so if I was in that area and wanted something with old-timey theatrics I would stick with Cafe Zurich right next to the plaza. --so save this post for the Z too.

thanks to avirosemail who took this Part 2 to 222. (of course now I have spoiled it with 223 - sorry)

Road to Hana Maui
Thinking of our friends in Maui during the devastation of the wild fires.

Hana is one of those unusual areas that includes 600 turns, waterfalls & hours of pristine scenery.
Sending our sincere thoughts & prayers.
Janis

S for Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. My wife and I have moved Egypt closer to the top of our list and then decided if we're going that far, maybe we should head south and do a Safari on the same trip. Then, if we go that far, maybe we'll head to Australia for a couple of weeks and see if we can find a cruise home. Hmmm, go big or go home...or don't go home. Keep on Travelin'....

T is for Torquay in Devon UK, the birthplace of Agatha Christie. I hope to visit this area some day, along with many other Christie landmarks including Greenway (her house), Burgh Island (And then there were none; Evil under the sun), Churston (ABC Murders).

40 months and three quarters of an hour in...

2872 posts all together

U

Under, a restaurant in Lindesnes, Norway, at the southern tip of the country. Its notable feature is being situated underwater, 5 1/2 meters (that’s more than 18 feet) below the surface of the ocean, with a view out to the sea bed. While you’re enjoying course after course of seafood on their “Immersion” menu, some sea creatures can be swimming past you, visible through the acrylic windows of Under.

We’re wrapping up our Norway visit this week, and had ditched the original thoughts of reaching Norway via a ferry from Denmark. That would’ve had us arrive in Kristiansand, still some distance from Under. And the price for dinner at Under, in a country where even lunch is surprisingly steep, would have put our finances underwater. So we didn’t get there.

I did, however, fix braised lamb that we got at a nice market in Stranda, up in fjord country. Four days ago, September 26, was the last Thursday in September, the day that Norwegians traditionally fix their “national dish,” fårikål (basically forget-ee-kohl for us English speakers). It’s lamb and cabbage, seasoned only with salt and pepper, with perhaps a bit of flour for thickening, and “boiled” for 3 hours. Sure beats lutefisk or rakfisk.

V- Vitznau , Switzerland, is the boat stop to catch the cogwheel train to Mt. Rigi. I've been to Rigi in summer and winter, and found the fresh powdery snow against a bright blue sky to be the most magical. One is standing above the tree line and the clouds. Oh, to return!

W-
Weggis, Switzerland, the alternate stop to ascending Mt. Rigi, via the gondola.

It irked me a little bit in earlier rounds when comments alleged that there aren't any 'X' beers or alcohol or breweries to continue that part of this game, when I had already mentioned Dos Equis ( XX )
so it is my continuing obligation to mention the marvelous Brazilian dark beer

Xingu

which is delicious and looks great, too.

https://buckhead.towerwinespirits.com/wines/Xingu-Black-Beer-w2474220jd

Apparently it can be hard to find in the USA, sorry.

Edited to add:
You can get it cheaper from New Jersey:
https://mansfield.bottleking.com/beer/Cervejaria-Kaiser-Xingu-Black-Beer-w7359112b3

Y

Yum-Yum Tree, a restaurant in Denver, Colorado fifty years ago. The Yum-Yum Tree (perhaps the name was inspired by a 1963 Jack Lemmon movie?) was essentially a food hall, 50 years ahead of its time. There were 8 restaurants under one roof, which ranged from a deli, Chinese, Italian, German, Mexican, Steak and Chop house, and BBQ rib, and desserts offerings. It moved after a few years to Aurora, the city on the east side of Denver, then closed for good in 1981.

Z

Zaidy’s Deli in Denver, Colorado. This wraps up the quasi-restaurant A to Z round. I haven’t been in a position to frequent the expensive Cherry Creek part of Denver too much, especially in the last decade, but Zaidy’s was an institution for as long as I knew. I wondered if it was still in business, and it turns out that the original owners, who first opened in downtown Denver before following Cherry Creek upstream (southeast) to the Cherry Creek neighborhood, closed in October 2020.

Well, new owners opened a new Zaidy’s in a new location, at Leetsdale and Holly, a bit farther southeast. If they’ve kept the Reuben Sandwich just as it had been, it’ll be tasty but a bit messy. Eat it fast, before the bread gets too soggy. Good that there’s still a Zaidy’s.

A

Automated Teller Machine (ATM), the best way to get cash when traveling nowadays. That is, if you get cash. On the trip to Denmark and Norway, from which we just got home two nights ago, we never withdrew cash from any ATM, and all transactions were handled electronically. Still, if Cash is King, an ATM will dispense it.

In Paris, though, the recent advice from chef David Lebovitz is to no longer withdraw money from any ATM that’s out on the street. Use one inside a bank, or at least inside a foyer enclosure. He recently tried to get cash from an ATM located on an outer wall of a bank, and just as the notes were coming out of it, a man suddenly appeared from somewhere nearby and lunged for them. Another bystander, an elderly woman, fended him off with her umbrella. She saved the day, and he won’t be using that Parisian ATM again.

Bank, where most of the ATM's are.

C is for Cashpoint
the British equivalent of the American initialism ATM

maybe I should have gone with caja or cajero instead
so that it would be easier to continue with something involving
Dough
for 'D' and the origins of dough boxes as metaphors for money storage.

We'd then bounce back up to the UK for
Exchequer
if you please

F

Francs. They’re what I used to get from an ATM in France; still do in Switzerland.

F

is for Friedland bei Goettingen.

This site was known as Camp Friedland, the site of the well-known large camp post-1945 for returning German POWs, expellees (Heimatsvertriebenen) from the German East, refugees. The site with its museum now can be visited using public transport , as Friedland is located close to the famous university city of Goettingen.

G

is for Goettingen, south of Lüneburg.

Postcards of this city display Goettingen as the " university city" . I was only once in Goettingen. That was in 1987 , my first venture into what then was labelled as "Central Germany" , ie, away from Bavaria, and the Middle Rhine areas, spending 2.5 days here in this interesting city , staying 3 nights in the DJH hostel.

H

is for Hoexter.

This little town in Westfalen is interesting to see because of its chateau, (Schloss). I saw this site several years ago, 10-15, you'll see the name of the town written with the umlaut over the "o" . instead of using the "oe" vowel combination..

I was there on a week day as part of that summer's trip visiting more sites in Westfalen and Lower Saxony. Only a few visitors were present in the Schloss, all German.

The author of the poem which became the Imperial German national anthem after 1871 has his grave site on the premises of the Schloss. Only 2 stanzas remain of the present anthem, the omitted stanza having no more relevance.

*Islington *

The neighborhood I stayed in on my second trip to London. Went with a grad school friend.
Remember we walked to Sadler Wells for a performance of Swan Lake.

Also recall a pleasant evening in The Old Queens Head pub when I met up with friends who were staying elsewhere. Fun evening and recall the green tiles that adorn the exterior of the pub. Whole experience was completely different than an evening out in a US bar. Helped to generate my love of London and it’s neighborhoods.

J

Jacobsen og Svaert Kaffe in Trondheim, Norway. Og is the Norwegian word for “and,” pronounced like “oh,” so it’s Jacobsen & Svaert, in what was the capital city of Norway for centuries. Trondheim also apparently had a stupendous fish market until recently, but when visiting last month, it’s disappeared. Locals now get their fish from the supermarket, it seems. Back to coffee …

I stopped in at Jacobsen og Svaert for a cup to drink right there, but also was looking for some superior coffee I could use for making over the next 3 weeks. The helpful man who waited on me asked many questions, including whether I liked coffee acidity (I do), how I’d be making the coffee (small, travel French press), how strong I liked it (really strong - I have 6 shots of espresso in a mug each morning at home). He then asked whether I’d tried fermented coffee. I was intrigued. You ferment cabbage (sauerkraut, kimchi), and other foods, but coffee? It was probably the best coffee I’d ever tasted. Really expensive, but since the price includes 25% tax, maybe it’s not extreme.

If you’re in Trondheim, definitely go to Jacobsen og Svaert, just across the Nidelva River from downtown, and at the north side of the Bakklandet area. You can have a pastry with your cup of choice, and/or get an education on at least 10 kinds of coffee for making on your own.

thanks to all who got us over the hump of round 85 and Cyn who started round 86

It was slow, 117 days and I didn't think it would ever be finished. But a talk about money seems to have done it.

Thanks and stars to all.

K

Kødbyens Fiskebar, Copenhagen, Denmark. Talk about money, Nigel, this “fish bar” is not a cheap place to eat, but you truly do get what you pay for here, and it’s money well spent. Our last night in Scandinavia before flying home was at this Bib Gourmand awarded restaurant, located in Copenhagen’s old meatpacking district. The tiled interior remains largely unchanged since its days as a slaughterhouse, but the fare is spectacular. We started with a platter of various oysters - really different from the varieties we get on this side of the Atlantic - and the fish just kept coming. Probably the best mussels (in cream sauce) I’ve ever tasted. Sauces were wonderful, as was all the fish.

It was a bit challenging to locate, wandering amongst old warehouses in a light rain, without the summertime crowds that the area might see. Another woman was lost, and asked me something in Danish. I said, “Engilsk?”. She said, “Oh, English. You can’t help me!” Well, gee, sorry I did’t meet her expectations. After we found the Fishbar and were seated, I saw the woman at the front door opening, asking for directions. I hope she found her place.

Two young German women at the next table were on a short getaway from Stuttgart, as, we learned, the next day was Germany’s annual Unity Day, celebrating the former East Germany rejoining the former West Germany.

It was an exceptionally good last night of the trip. The experience getting home the next day was exceptionally nasty. It’s good to have something nice to remember.

L

Lom, Norway. This small city is inside the Jotunheimen (Home of the Giants) National Park, and we encountered it while driving from the “Nutshell” Sognefjord area to the Geraingerfjord area, two potentially over-touristed places that are separated by wide open spaces high above timberline. After passing towering mountains with glaciers and coursing waterfalls and rivers, we reached Lom, in need of lunch. It turns out that a celebrity Baker/chef, Morten Schakenda, started his bakery here in Lom. It was popular, with some tables packed on the ground floor, next to a window overlooking exceptionally powerful whitewater rapids on the adjacent river, and many more tables up a spiral staircase.

The Scandinavian breads and pastries were fabulous, as was the Neapolitan-style pizza. Sadly, Chef Schakenda died last year from lung cancer. The cafe had stacks of his many cookbooks for sale just inside the front door. There was no actual mention of him, and his name’s not on the bakery (it’s just Bakeriet i Lom, or The Bakery in Lom), but his presence was felt. I actually bought one of his cookbooks a few days later, at a bookstore. It’s titled Bakeskole (Baking School), and was written to teach children to bake, and it’s all in Norwegian, so it’ll be a learning experience. It was 499 Norwegian Kroner (almost $50, including 25% tax), but hopefully I can turn out some of the amazing things it promises.

M

Month of September, a place on the calendar, and a questionable time of year to visit Scandinavia. We just got home from a month in Denmark and Norway, and September offered a mix of good and not as good. The good part is that, apparently, as busy as some places were, it would’ve been much more crowded just a few weeks earlier. Instead of having 1 cruise ship unloading hundreds (or thousands) of passengers on a tiny town a few days each week in September, there’d be 3 ships every day. Time and time again, when I started thinking there were too many people around for my comfort, I had to remind myself that july and August would’ve had phenomenally more crowds. We were able to get down streets, sidewalks, and across plazas, albeit often getting buzzed by 20- and 30-somethings on rented bikes and e-scooters. We didn’t have elbow-to-elbow mobs at museums. Lodging prices were, apparently, lower than they might’ve been in high season. Getting lodging, or dinner reservations, was doable.

The bad part is that some of the museums and other sights we wanted to see were closed for the season. Apparently August 31 is the last day for tourists for some things in Denmark and Norway, and as of September 1, you can’t go there/see that/do it. We did get to the Fontana stave church south of Bergen, Norway, on the last day it would be open for months, Sept 15. Whew.

The tiny Resistance museum in Bergen, however, is shut for the season. The opportunity to row/sail in a Viking-type boat at the museum in Roskilde, Denmark, has stopped for the season (except for a week in October, which is apparently a school break), although the museum is still open, and offers fascinating walking tours outside in the rain. Some lodging is unavailable in September. Some roads can be closed for the rest of the year, due to weather conditions (we didn’t encounter any).

September is also a shoulder time where Northern Lights might be visible, after the summer nights make that unlikely. We didn’t spot any, as most nights were overcast. September is still milder than later months could be. Seeing more things when it’s not September, but battling more crowds to see them, makes summertime seem like a less ideal tine to go to Scandinavia, and maybe September is ideal.

M

is for Maubeuge, France.

This city is located on the famous Sambre River in the region of Nord-Pas de Calais, very close to Belgium.

I went there as a day trip from Paris on this trip. You can see " les remparts" since this city was a fortress town.

Maubeuge is historically intriguing and obviously, I did not have enough time to see even the centre-ville. Going there this time only piqued my curiosity, the city is on the itinerary for my next trip to France.

The city was caught up in the fighting in WW1 right from the outset.

Okay … so …

N

November, a place on the calendar where visiting Norway is possibly less rewarding than other times of year? Days are getting short, sights and sightseeing activities are in very limited availability (or have severely reduced hours), it’s likely harder to get around, it’s definitely not fully wintery yet, so skiing, dogsledding, etc. are not happening, and Christmas is still a ways away. It will certainly not be crowded, though, and lodging could be cheap, if you find any available.

Norway in November in a Nutshell: Not Likely.

O

Odiferous Duty Free shopping malls at airports. This wasn’t something I’d experienced until the last 4 or 5 years, but suddenly, to get to your plane, you had to pass down a lane and get subjected to one assault of perfume spray after another. Gatwick in England has been the most offensive, but others have been bad, too. Rather than being intrigued to stop and buy that one … No, wait! That one! No, that other one smells fantastic!!! (as if I could tell any difference after being hit with several floral aromas in a few steps along the way) … no, rather than being enticed to spend a fortune on new perfume, I’m just urged to move as quickly away from the scene as possible. Maybe they’re trying to sell fragrances, but they might as well just blow an evacuation siren. Olfactory terrorism at the airport - Security should focus some of their attention there.

P

Post Office ATM’s. Banks (and scurrilous exchange bureaus) aren’t the only one who offer ATM’s for cash withdrawals. I’ve used them in France and Italy with success, located on the outside of a local post office. I never checked to see if you could get stamps from them, too.

Q is for the Portal de Quart, medieval towers at the western side of the old historical center of Valencia.

I think I've mentioned before that just a block or two outside this gate the dialect of Catalan/Valencian changes to an even more obscure one.
The city gov't page warns that the towers are open only when the weather allows:

Les torres de Quart formaven part de la muralla cristiana de la ciutat i la seua construcció es va realitzar entre 1441 i 1460 sobre una porta anterior, seguint el model de la porta de Castel Nuovo de Nàpols, alçat per Alfons el Magnànim.

Torres de Quart
En 1623 el Consell municipal va acordar que s'habilitaren com a presó per a dones, i en 1813 van passar a ser presó militar -i van seguir sent-ho fins a 1932-. Tradicionalment eren conegudes com les Torres de la Calç, pel fet que en el segle XVIII s'exigia que la calç que entrava a la ciutat es fera per esta porta.

L'edifici consta de tres cossos: les dos torres pròpiament dites, de forma cilíndrica, construïdes en morter i assentades sobre un basament en forma de talús, i el cos central, de planta rectangular, on s'obri la porxada, formada per un arc de pedra de mig punt

En el lluït exterior encara es conserven els senyals de l'intens bombardeig patit durant el setge francés a la ciutat en 1808, aprofitat per una colònia de lloros per a niar.

Retrieved from
https://www.valencia.es/-/infociudad-torres-de-quart

Note that as above when you pay attention to the signage at many forts and ruins thereof throughout Spain you learn more about French expansionist history -- ditto in Rome, for example.

R for red sandstone buildings. in this case specifically in Collonges-la-Rouge in the Dordogne region of France. The Dordogne has jumped to near the top of our list recently and research has begun to figure out how long we need/want to spend there. Every day we seem to come up with another town or area that we've never heard of but want to add to the list. Collonges-la-Rouge is a town built entirely from red sandstone and the photos are stunning. It is a member of the Most Beautiful Villages of France and the association was created there. At the rate that we're adding must-see Dordogne villages to our list we may have to spend a year there.

S

is for the Sambre River in Northern France (and Belgium)

Until this trip in Sept I had never seen this well known river. I saw it on the day trip from Paris to Maubeuge. As you walk from the Maubeuge train station into town, you come across the bridge over the Sambre.

T

is for the Taunas area in Germany.

I was in this area only once when I stayed in one of its villages in August of 1973 towards the end of the trip. The Taunas is located near Frankfurt.

U is for Utrecht, The Netherlands

V
Valley of the Hearts Delight which was the name of the Santa Clara Valley of California.

Today the its known as Silicon Valley.

I grew up there. Until the 1960’s the area was known for its agriculture. Cherry, apricot, prune orchards and Almond orchards. There were also strawberry fields.

If one wanted to see a fruit orchard there now you’d need to drive South past Gilroy on 101.

The area you mean is named Taunus.

W
Wedding is a sub-district of Berlin, Germany. Of course you can also marry in the other districts.

During the Cold War Wedding was an own district of (West-)Berlin, today it belongs to district Mitte.

I grew up close to it and the area is known for its multi-cultural atmosphere. Traditionally it is more a poor than a rich area which turns currently. For tourists it is a less changed area compared to other sub-districts such as Prenzlauer Berg.

Very special is that this location name is often used in German language with an article; called "Der Wedding". This is very unusual.
On the website of Berlin you can find more impressions and information about Wedding.

X

X marks the spot.

Y

I may have used this one already but in between Reus and Tarragona is the
Bodegas Yzaguirre distillery
which makes great vermouths
for your afternoon break.

https://www.bodegasyzaguirre.com/en/content/1-history

The Spot’s been getting marked on this thread (and/or on the original one) for some time. Good thing it’s still getting marked by that “X.”

Y

Yerevan, Armenia. If our trip to Armenia (and, hopefully, Georgia, too) happens, the Armenian capital, Yerevan, will certainly be part of the itinerary. I wonder if not speaking Armenian, or even Russian, will make it more difficult? Maybe English is becoming common enough for the tourist sector of that part of the world, as has been happening so many other places.

Z

Zovuni, Armenia. There’s a city of about 8,000 residents just north of Yerevan. It turns out that it sits at 40 degrees N Latitude, so it lines up with parts of Colorado, including Boulder and the northern Colorado Rockies. At over 4,000 feet in elevation, it’s a relatively high place to visit, too. Certainly won’t have any cruise ships docking anywhere nearby.

*** Note: the round before the last one took almost 3 months to complete. The most recent round took less than 1/10 that long. Maybe Fall brings more entries??? Onward to …

A

Adriatic Sea, the body of water that separates Italy from Croatia and Albania (Nigel’s first Alphabetic entry on the original thread). Lots of Cruise ships ply the Adriatic.

B

Baltic Sea is so full of various impressions.

• Fully iced in the northern winter (Finland and Sweden)
• Mild and warm in summer around South Funen Archipelago (Denmark)
• Wild and stormy at Kattegat and parts of Skagerrak
• Sunny and chilled around Bornholm with huge beaches and little villages
• Beautiful at white cliffs on islands Møn and Rügen
• Mystically and hidden in Sweden's archipelago coast
• Wonderful cities and towns such as Copenhagen, Lübeck, Stockholm, Gdansk and so on.

My parents lived for years 40 meters near the south beach of Grossenbrode in Germany. I always loved the atmosphere at this part of the Baltic Sea - espsecially at the end of summer when the wind blows the sand over the empty beaches.

So head to this Northern part of Europe - it is unique and so manifold.

C

Charlottenburg - once the independent, fancy and free-minded counter part city to imperial and order-loving Berlin, 1920 embodied into it by Greater Berlin Act and now a central district of Berlin with famous Kurfürstendamm, the Berlin Zoo and Charlottenburg Palace.

Carrying on with Charlottenburg, I am always, always awestruck at the vastness of Bismarkstrasse / Strasse des 17 Juni while standing at the corner of Bismarkstrasse and Wilmersdorfer Strasse, on my way to Rogacki for lunch.

Hitler often paraded high-level visitors on this throughway, from the train station to the Reich Chancellery.

I hope you allow the hint that there is a "c" missing in Bismarckstrasse - just for the people searching for it.

And I agree that it is an impressive street with changing names leading also through less known Charlottenburg Gate which did not belong to the older gates of Berlin. Also interesting Wikipedia entry.

D

Dalsnibba is a 1.476 m high mountain in Norway. The top of the mountain offers a wondeful view into the end of famous Geiranger fjord and can be reached by car (toll way). Since a few years it has an own skywalk which allows spectacular photos.

I will return there someday.

I think that Cyn has been lurking ready to pounce with a new round!! Thanks, and thanks to all especially those we don't see often. Her point is well taken!

We are now in sight of a major milestone - the 87th turning of the Alphabet was at equivalent post number 2909 - so 3,000 is not beyond the comprehension of the mind!

Thanks again to Cyn and her little trip on the Adriatic, rewarded with another Nauga Star for her collection! 🥇✨

Sorry, there doesn't appear to be an emoji for Naugahyde

To the Stars! and Beyond!

I wasn’t lurking, but did happen by the thread when it was almost at the end of the round, so figured it was an opportunity to start a new round. Glad the Alphabet thread is still going!

E is for Eindhoven in the Netherlands. It's not directly a tourist desination but better known as the centre of one of Europe's top tech hub, the Brainport Eindhoven region. It's also home to ASML, one of the innovation leaders in the semiconductor industry. The most advanced microchips are only made by the machines this company produces for the top chipmakers worldwide like TSMC in Taiwan.

From 21 till 29 October this year it's home to the Dutch Design Week, so interesting for anyone who is a fan of innovation in any form you can imagine.

F is for the Frankfurter Tor in Berlin

The towers at the Frankfurter Tor in Berlin were built as part of a monumental socialist boulevard, the Stalinallee (renamed to Karl-Marx-Allee after Stalin's death). The Stalinallee was a flagship project of East Germany's reconstruction programme after the second World War. The towers which mark the end of the boulevard were designed by Hans Henselmann, the head architect for the city of Berlin at the time.

Designed at the height of Socialist Realism, the two towers with their domes are in fact a citation of two other landmark buildings in Berlin, the "Franzosische Dom" and the "Deutsche Dom", which were built in 17th century Prussia. They stand in another quarter of Berlin on the "Gendarmenmarkt".

Although the architecture was heavily critisized and Henselmann later distanced himself from the buildings , they found appraisal by the postmodernist movement. Today the whole ensemble with the two towers are listed as historic monuments.

https://architectuul.com/architecture/frankfurter-tor

G is for the book The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in the Urban Landscape by Brian Ladd

Here's a review:

https://networks.h-net.org/node/22277/reviews/22486/maiershofer-ladd-ghosts-berlin-confronting-german-history-urban

H is for Berlin Heidelberger Platz station

Berlin Heidelberger Platz is a railway station in the Wilmersdorf district of Berlin. It is served by S-Bahn lines S41, S42 and S46 and U-Bahn line U3.

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

I is for Instagram
Instagram a great way to easily share travel photos with family and friends. No, don’t work for them. Merely enjoy sharing pics by using it on my iPhone.

J is for Berlin Jannowitzbrücke Station

"... 16 years later, on 13 August 1961, the station had to be closed again. However, this time, it was not only for a few months, but for more than 28 years. Due to the construction of the Berlin Wall, the station became a "ghost station". Trains simply ran through on line D without stopping in East Berlin. The entrances to the two levels above were completely walled off so that only a faint rumble of moving trains was still heard. Only trains of the oldest class were used on this line and on Line C (now line U6) as Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (West)—the operator in West Berlin—was concerned that East Germany could delay new trains in the Waisentunnel during a political action.

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

K is for Königsberger Klopse

German meatballs in a creamy caper sauce.

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

L

is for Lille.

I went here twice as day trips in 1997 and 1999, the largest city and the cultural center of Northern France, took the local train from Arras.

Lille is a station for the EuroStar. If one is interested in seeing WW1 sites, nearby (ca. 20 mins) is the small town of Lambersart , where the German WW1 military cemetery is located.

L for Land of 1001 Castles, or the Dordogne region in France. We're currently in the early planning stages for a trip there next Fall. I'm game for visiting all 1001, but I'll only have 7-10 days...

M

is for Montereau, France.

If you're looking for another striking site connected to Napoleon ( similar to that in Rouen in front of the Hotel de Ville), Montereau is another such place to see.

Montereau was the site of a decisive victory against the invading Allies in 1814, accessible by train, the same line going to Fontainebleau.

N

is for the Nikolaiviertel, Berlin.

I've been here , the Nikolai Quarter, twice. The first time was during the Cold War days in August 1989, I came back again in 2015 after presumably the refurbishing and all that had been done to see, obviously, the sharp contrast and the distinction between then and now,....like night and day. The Nikolai Ouarter is within walking distance from Alexanderplatz.

One of the reasons I wanted revisit the Nikolaiviertel , aside from seeing the modernization of the buildings, streets, etc, was to see the house belonging to one of the great figures in German literature, G. Lessing, a personality of the Enlightenment and its German version, "die Aufklärung."

O

is for the town of Oranienburg located a bit north of Berlin.

This town is where one gets off from the regional train if one's goal is to see the concentration camp Sachsenhausen memorial.

Pre-pandemic I was on this particular regional train route Berlin Hbf to Stralsund, noticed the train was very crowded, far more than one would normally expect, plus especially since it was full of 20 somethings of various nationalities. They had signed up for a tour.

My stop on this day trip was Neustrelitz, explore that town and hopefully get to its Schloss.

The coach practically emptied out 80% or so when the train stopped in Oranienburg. Seeing that I thought ...that's why.

P is doubly for Pablo Picasso, born on this day in 1881 in Malaga.

He said " Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

He also said that if you want to understand cubism it helps to have been born in Malaga.
The cityscape is a jumble of angles and intersecting facades, as though the Romans never laid out a street plan and the French never managed to impose their imperial will on the landscape -- but that's only because the Romans never laid out a street plan and French never managed to impose their imperial will on the landscape.

Q
Quiver, another intriguing piece of sports equipment to try to get on a plane.....
No doubt there are opportunities for archery in every country

R is for Ris de Veau, one of those French dishes that separates the tourists from the travelers, ha.
I prefer the versions of it that include mushrooms over those that include capers and lemon.
https://worldoffinewine.com/editors-picks-homepage/at-the-table-ris-de-veau-aux-morilles

and that article sez that the version with Morel mushrooms is typical of the Champagne region.

R is for Rouladin (sp) a dish I have tried to replicate with limited success.

S

is for Schloss Stauffenberg.

This Schloss/chateau is accessible by the regional train, located between Hechingen and Meßstetten, Germany. The von Staufffenberg family set aside this Schloss as an exhibition of the family and of the man who made the assassination attempt on Hitler at Rastenburg (Ketrzyn) , East Prussia in July 1944. I've only been there in the Schloss once.

T is for Taliesin
One of Frank Lloyd Wright 's most famous "compound" and school available for tours and day camps. This is located in Southern Wisconsin, there are also several buildings by FLW in Oak Park and greater Chicago area

this post would be equivalent post number 2,936

I've updated the most recent turning of the Alphabet with the statistics on 18 October. Scroll back a page or two if you want to see the exciting news.

Sorry to be slow

U is for Unter den Linden

From the Spree to the Brandenburger Tor, this main artery in Berlin was in the East and thus off limits. I remember my first walk down it. I also particularly remember walking down it to get ready to join the Love Parade. I have other memories, but these are particularly strong.

V is doubly for Mont Ventoux in the Vaucluse

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

First thoughts here might be of the hill climb segment of the Tour de France race but that's selling this area short --
there's oodles of history and culture and controversy strewn about the landscape.
Por ejemplo, here's an item in The Met's collection:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/439375

W is for Waterloo, Iowa.

No connection to Napoleon

However, was the hometown of the Five Sullivan brothers, a sibling group that served on the same ship and were drowned when it was torpedoed in World War ll

X is for HeXe. I cannot see the letter X without thinking about the long tradition of witches in the Harz Mountain region. We have a friend who’s childhood home was in Osterode and we’ve been on the walking paths with them hiking from hut to hut and stamping their hiking books with a little witch/hexe stamp in each hut. The Harz region is full of beauty and lore.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harzer_Hexenstieg

Y is for Ypres. I’m sure this city has been mentioned in Part 1 or 2 but I’m encouraged to know that we will probably be spending a few weeks in Belgium this summer and I will have the time to explore Ypres more fully. I hope to hire a guide for this city and area to discover more about its history, especially during WW1. I have a lot of research to do between now and then! My other goal is to be able to pronounce it more accuratly.

Z is for Zeebrugge and the many other small towns in Belgium that begin with the letter Z. I don’t have much hope that a commercial and cruise port will have much charm but I still hope to visit it this summer and maybe several of the other Z villages nearby. Why so many Zs in Belgium? Again, more research…

Mona, Ypres and its surrounding area are truly fascinating. The French pronunciation is something line “Eee-pray.”

But since it’s in Dutch-speaking Flanders, the locals call it Ieper (starting with a capital “I” although my phone screen makes it look like a lower-case “L.” But it’s definitely not “Leper.” Anyway, that’s pronounced more like Eee-pehr.”

A symbol of the town is a cat, and there are things like cute cat cookies, around all year. In medieval times, when cats were considered evil, they would drop them off a tall tower. Not nice, but now there’s a cat festival every May - next one is on May 12, 2024, and besides a big parade, they will toss toy cats out of the town hall tower. Much of the old town had to be rebuilt, in the old style, after it was destroyed in World War I.

OK, so next entry happens too be an:

A

Ålesund, Norway. The little circle over the A means you pronounce it like a long “O.” So it sounds like “Oh-leh-suhnd.” On our trip to Norway that ended last month, we did’t make it there, as it was just a bit too far out of the way from Stranda and the Geraingerfjord area we were visiting, before making a beeline to Bergen to turn in our rental car and fly to Oslo. It’s considered a unique place in Norway, for its supposedly Art Nouveau architecture (influenced by German Kaiser Wilhelm, who visited regularly), but pictures in guidebooks made it look, frankly, like pretty much the other pretty Norwegian cities and towns among the western fjords. Maybe we’ll make it to Ålesund, if another trip to Norway happens.

Bergen, Norway. Bergen is Norway’s second-biggest city, but it used to be Scandinavia’s biggest city (year 1600). I was there in the year 2007 and the weather was always rainy. 😍

C

California; home to mountains, beaches, rivers, deserts, the pacific coast, Disneyland, Mt Shasta, Edwards Air force base ( where the Space Shuttles landed ) San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Rose Bowl, Mt Lassen, Lake Tahoe, Sacramento, Hollywood, Big Sur, Monterey, Napa, Yosemite, Mt Whitney, Sonoma, Redwoods, Santa Cruz, Malibu, Alcatraz, San Diego Zoo, LA, Mojave Desert, Solvang, Ukiah, Crescent City, Fort Bragg, Sausalito, Channel Islands, CAL, Newport Beach, San Juan Baptista, Carmel, Jenner, Bear Valley, Sutter Creek, Stanford, Piru, Temecula, Simi Valley, Mendocino, Baker, Lake Arrowhead, Alabama Foothills, USC, Atascadero, Half Moon Baby, Silicon Valley, Berkeley, Merced River, Missions, El Mirage, UCLA, Clear Lake, Gilroy, Palm Springs, Salton Sea, Long Beach, Santa Barbara, Beverly Hills, Santa Barbara, Modesto, Cambria, Morro Bay, Ventura, Pinnacles, etc., etc., etc.

D is for Dog Mountain in St. Johnsbury VT. This site hosts a Dog Chapel where people come to celebrate their pet companions. Brought to life by the artist Steven Hunick whose artwork featured dogs and especially black labs, the site holds summer concerts but more importantly is a spot where people and their pet companions can celebrate life.

here we go again!

Cyn is in Ålesund, Norway which means that we have started round 88!!! at post number 2,944.

88, or in bingo calls two fat ladies (nobody round here).

What's more, the very next post, the very first post here by engrdavid42, is the 300th post in this Part 2!!! Such great numbers!

engrdavid42 was telling us all about Bergen, also in Norway.

So hand cut and decorated (it is nearly Advent you know) prime Nauga stars for both engrdavid42 and Cyn.

Thanks and congratulations to both.....

We are getting closer and closer to the magic 3,000 posts now!! Wowser.

Well, eels here might not generally be loved and remembered as fondly as dogs at Dog Mountain, but:

E

Eel Pie Island, an island in the River Thames, at Twickenham, west of downtown London. It had other names, but got its current name in the late nineteenth century. In the early twentieth century, it had a hotel that drew genteel clientele, and a jazz club started on the island in the 1950’s. By the 1960’s, rock and blues acts began to appear there.

It’s now all private, with mostly artists and their studios, but this coming weekend is one of the two times each year that the public is welcome to cross the footbridge and view studios (and perhaps purchase some art?) - details here:
https://londonist.com/london/things-to-do/eel-pie-island-open-weekend-studios

F is for Fleury-devant-Douaumont.

This is an unoccupied village which really doesn't exist anymore. Sitting outside Verdun, it became part of the front line and changed hands many, many times until it was not only destroyed, but basically uninhabitable. A few foundations, a lot of craters, and the name are all that is left.

The whole area is quiet. But not peaceful. It feels heavy. Beautiful. And alive. And yet so lonely.

G is for Gary, Indiana.

I have never visited but all I ever heard about it is as a dirty, industrialized suburb of Chicago. I drove past it on the Freeway a couple years ago and got to wondering if what I heard is true. Or, was it true but has changed for the better?

Maybe some day I will visit and find out.

Great, now the song from Music Man is stuck in my head:
🎶 Gary, Indiana, Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana my home sweet home 🏡!!!

H is for Hamburg

We all know that this is the greatest city on earth.

I is for Isère, which we all know is the greatest skiing and hang-gliding department in Europe.

And right outside its main city Grenoble is the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility,
where a few of the recent Nobel prize winners did their research among the 44 beamlines available.

https://www.esrf.fr/home/about/History.html

Just this evening I noticed that

Juan-les-Pins

is mentioned in the famous folk rock ballad by Peter Sarstedt
"Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_Do_You_Go_To_(My_Lovely)%3F

Looking back from our current vantage point this sub-genre of male folk/pop singers like Rod Stewart and Peter Sarstedt and Cat Stevens and not forgetting Bob Dylan doing all these whiny songs about women who didn't behave the way they wanted them to
seems very different from how they were received back in the day.

But at least it lets me add this round's letter J.

Khitomer/Kittimer ( alternate spelling)

Not a good place to be if you are a Klingon.

( If a question about using FF miles to get to Atlantis is OK, why is it necessary to limit this topic to only Earthly locales?)

https://wiki.fed-space.com/index.php?title=Khitomer_Massacre

Merry Christmas everyone.

L is for Lemala Camp on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania.

Hearing the sound of cape buffalo grazing outside our tent while we tried to overcome jetlag on our honeymoon is a pretty special memory. Whispering, wondering if unzipping the window would spook the animals, shivering because of the cold mountain air, buzzing with excitement for the start of a three week epic adventure . . . .

A special place.

M

Muir Woods north of San Francisco.

https://www.nps.gov/muwo/index.htm

I'm reflecting on the many places in North America that have "New " as the first part of the name. In some cases I assume that immigrants brought that name with them as a reference to their original home, but sometimes I think the name was pulled out of thin air to convince people that this new town was going to be fancy or prosperous.

As a specific weird example I offer up New Madrid , Missouri. The name is a residue of when Spain was trying to claim that part of the world as a territory. The town has been nearly wiped out a couple of times by earthquake because of the other use of the name, it sits on what is now known as the New Madrid Fault.

While there are seismic areas in Spain, it’s helpful that there’s not an Old Madrid Fault. But there is, for an

O

Old Town, a neighborhood on the west side of Albuquerque. Old Town, New Mexico … which is it?

P

Philadelphia - a gritty and often beloved city in Pennsylvania. Philly - home to fervent sports fans and the Liberty Bell, plus a gazillion other important things too many to mention.

Q

The 2009 movie version of Dragon Quest based on the videogames from the '90s appeared to be set in medieval Europe but it was actually filmed in Nevada in Red Rocks Canyon Park

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1353997/

R for Rocamadour in the Dordogne region of France. We'll be visiting the region next Fall and are considering Rocamadour as a 2nd base after a few nights in Beynac, but opinions on this Forum range from wonderful to tourist trap. Hmmmm, decisions, decisions...

S

S is for Sensorio, a beautiful way to spend an evening if one visits San Luis Obispo in California.

https://sensoriopaso.com/

S

is for Saale River, Germany.

While I have not seen the Saale River itself, I have been in two cities which lie on the Saale River. ie, Jena an der Saale and Naumburg an der Saale.

In Naumburg that was in 1997 having had to change trains there, Jena was in 2017 as a day trip from Berlin but didn't make it out to the battlefield museum since it was further afield (Jena-Cospeda) than I had thought. In neither city did I get to the Saale River.

T

is for der Tierpark in Berlin.

Originally, a hunting preserve for the Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia.

The Tierpark is located in Berlin-Charlottenburg on the Straße der 17. Juni, named after the demonstration and violence against the Soviets in 1953. Prior to that event the broad avenue was called Charlottenburger Chaussee in honour of the wife of Frederick I, King in Prussia but Elector in Brandenburg. Between Berlin Hbf and Berlin Zoo "Tierpark" is one of the two S-Bahn stops.

I first saw the Tierpark area in July of 1971, my first time in Berlin. The Soviet Memorial in western Berlin is located at Tierpark facing the Straße der 17. Juni. Prior to 1992 the 2 Soviet soldiers doing their goose-stepping rountine could be seen.

U:
Unterlinden Museum in Colmar - I was just researching this because I enjoyed my visit so much last time I was there. But now, I have found out it has a painting of Tobias and the Angel, so I want to visit again even more!

W

is for the Weser River in Germany.

This major river flows through Bremen, which i saw on my first trip in the summer of 1971. Far more recently I saw the river, walked across it some years ago in Minden, yes, Minden an der Weser, which I visited as day trips from Berlin and also as overnighters.

The Zentrum has numerous half-timbered houses plus the military soldier monuments. The large history museum on Prussia in Westphalia (Preußen in Westfalen Museum) is located ca. 30 mins from the train station. Very interesting and enlightening exploring Minden, historically a garrison town, (Garnisonstadt), however, didn't make it to the canal.

V:
Vivid winter sunsets when the snow capped mountains seem to be pink in color. Vivid fall sunsets as well with colors or red, orange and gold. I have stopped dead in my tracks viewing these sunsets. One particular sunset have the vivid sunset colors to the west and a full moon rising in the east. Literally stopped the car for 15 minutes.

remember that "X" is opXional

X is for the Xavier family castle in the Basque country of Navarre, where St. Francis Xavier, one of the founders of the Society of Jesus -- St. Ignatius' gang -- was born.

I noticed some time back , or at least I think I noticed, that Fran and Iggy's time in college in Paris had some overlap with when Calvin was there, too, but I have never found anyone willing to speculate about whether the Jesuits and the Calvinists ever had some early run-ins there at school.

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

https://www.xavier.edu/mission-identity/xaviers-mission/who-is-francis-xavier#:~:text=He%20was%20born%20in%201506,for%20the%20University%20of%20Paris.

Y

Yreka, CA., last town on Interstate 5 before the Oregon border.

Z-- Zenith,WA

https://www.kuow.org/stories/what-happened-to-the-town-of-zenith-wa

It's a challenge to find "Z" places.

KUOW is the U of Washington NPR station

A is for Ahem
.
What round are we about to embark on Nigel ?

B

is for Bar-le-Duc, France.

This was one of the small towns I did a day trip in, taking the TER train from Gare de l'Est, on this summer's trip. well worth it, am glad I did based on the recommendation of a local.

Originally, the plan for the day trip was to go to Chaumont but a bit too far and too pressed for time.

Chaumont will have to wait for next summer's trip in France.

C

is for Charleroi, Belgium.

This trip I did a day trip to Maubeuge dep. from Paris Gare du Nord. This intriguing town needs a day or two to explore.

Like Maubeuge the town of Charleroi is also on the Sambre River, which I saw in Maubeuge, can't miss it en route to the centre ville.

I did not realise that Charleroi was so close to Maubeuge, a direct shot on the regional train for next summer's trip.

D

is for der Deutschmeisterplatz in Vienna.

If you want to see a blatant , upfront soldiers' military monument in Vienna, this place is it. I've been here a couple of times.

The Deutschmeisterplatz is a large military monument of various Habsburg battlefield victories starting in 1697 with that of Prinz Eugen (Prince Eugene, ) whose statue is front of the National Library in Wien and also in Budapest.

first off, as I woke up this morning the delight of rolling over into another round.

Now for all you lovers of cricket - this post is a Triple Nelson, 333. That will have David Shepherd, magnificent Cricket Umpire, dancing around and hopping on one foot. So a little pre-Christmas exercise - everybody ready? - when I say go, everybody hop on one foot, if you are able - ready? three, two, one - GO!!!

on to normal business now - thanks to periscope with the cryptic reference to Ahem, rolls us into Round 89 at post effective number of 2,974... only 26 from the magic 3000. We should reach that this round.

So special Nauga stars to periscope and Merry Christmas to all, Happy Diwali just passed, Happy Hanukkah just passed to all.

E

is for Ellingen/Bayern.

This little place shows up more than once in Germany.

This trip I was in Ellingen in Bavaria, ca. 40 mins from Nürnberg, finally decided to see it in June after putting it off for years. There is a modest museum on the Teutonic Knights (der Deutscher Ritterorden) as the town was their site. One may only see the museum on a guided tour given only in German. A few other locals also showed up when I did.

More interestingly, ie, why I came to Ellingen was to see the larger museum , ( das Kulturzentrum ) on East Prussia, still it isn't as large . extensive, and detailed as that in Lüneburg.

F

Füssen - looking forward to exploring this Bavarian town without visiting the local castles. Füssen appears to have a local Christmas market that runs on weekends only. Next year, I am hoping to visit some smaller markets during the holiday season.

G is for Glide Memorial Church,
two blocks from Union Square in San Francisco
https://www.glide.org/church/
but a better measure of the Tenderloin District's pluses and minuses by far.

From their statement of faith:
"We believe in the power of a spirit-filled community to reach out and welcome all people in our neighborhood of the Tenderloin and beyond. We practice radical inclusion in how we worship, how we enact social justice, how we offer sanctuary and healing, and how we learn together as a community. We embody a lived sense of the beloved community. We are committed to partnering, learning and growing with every person who has ever called Glide Memorial Church home. We are a safehouse for all those seeking sanctuary. "

H is for Hildene in Manchester VT. This was the summer home of Robert and Mary Lincoln; Robert being the sole surviving son of Abraham Lincoln. The home and gardens are beautiful but it also features a working cheese making facility (award winning) and is used by schools for educational purposes.

I

is for the "Invalidenfriedhof" in Berlin.

Getting to this Invaliden Cemetery from Berlin Hbf is ca. 35-40 min. walk. If you want to see the oldest and largest military cemetery in Berlin, that from the Prussian-German side, this site is it. Most of the famous military personalities buried there are from the War of Liberation against Napoleon and also WW1. I've been here a few times, always interesting and revealing

Some English explanation in the large glass display, all the rest is in German. A very poignant place with various memorials, one of which is dedicated to Berlin civilians who perished as a result of the Allied strategic bombing.

J is for Juniper Berry

"The origin of the story is unknown, but the rural custom still exists today in America: On Christmas morning farmers hang juniper boughs — tied with dark red cords, symbolic of the blood of Christ and the Holy Innocents — on the doors of stables and barns." [aleteia.org]

K is for Kyzyl-Oi, a village in Kyrgyzstan, a place with a particularly unique memory, even for experienced travellers.

This town sort of has a paved road and a street light. Not sure what the light is supposed to accomplish. Try finding it on a map and you will see it is tiny and isolated. But it dates back to Silk Road times, which makes it special already. And it is home to a festival of the Kyrgyz national horse games. So for one weekend each year, it fills up with tourists. The festival is worth the somewhat more difficult travel to get there. The locals showcase their traditional dances and music, invite tourists to share songs and dance from their countries, and demonstrate a yurt raising and other cultural traditions. Participation in events like tug of war, bonfire, a chance to ride the local horses, and of course a shared meal in yurts is super fun, even if few of the locals speak much English. After a little break, everyone heads over to the arena grounds on the north side of town. Sitting on a little rock ledge/cliff, tourists get a spectacular view of their national horse games.

They start with a wild game of Ulak Tartysh (aka Kok Boru), which is a sort of polo on horseback with a goat carcass instead of a ball. When we were there this dissolved into a bit of a fist fight with the ref whipping the players with a horse whip to try and break it up--only for the whole brawl to break up when someone's grandmother strolled out onto the field to stop the nonsense. This game was followed by Oodarysh--wrestling each other off their horses--and Tyin Enmei, picking up coins off the ground from horseback.

But the one-of-a-kind memory here was the final game, Kyz Kyymai, where a guy gallops after a girl in order to claim a kiss (or get whipped by her if he fails). I grew up riding horses, so I asked if I could try. THEY HANDED ME A HORSE! So I now have a truly special memory of galloping across a Kyrgyz valley, being chased (and caught) by a local in a traditional horse game in front of a crowd of tourists.

A swim in the river, a dance around the bonfire, some arm wrestling, and of course another meal rounded out this perfect day!

Absolutely worth a visit. If you can get there.

L is for Lapland. Thinking about this northern area of Finland today and it’s official mammal, the reindeer.

M
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!

With Christmas in mind,

N

Newman’s Court, in East London, a slim passageway that’s likely where you’d have found Scrooge’s Counting House at the beginning of A Christmas Carol.

Interesting arguments on Dickens’ location choice here: https://www.london-walking-tours.co.uk/secret-london/newmans-court.htm

Merry Christmas to All, Happy Boxing Day to those who observe!

I have just finished watching the Alastair Sims version of the Christmas Carol for at least the one hundredth time really and I truly enjoyed the article Cyn posted. Thanks so much.

O is for Oberstdorf, Germany.

Great hiking in this village on the Austrian border. Be sure to visit the Breitachklamm, a gorgeous gorge.

P

is for Paretz (Schloss).

This chateau, Schloß Paretz, located in the greater Potsdam area, is one of the numerous Schloesser surrounding Potsdam.

The Schloss is an important place connected to Prussian-German history as it was the residence of the King and Queen of Prussia , (contemporaries of Napoleon) Frederick William III and Luise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in their younger years. Their declaration of war against Napoleon would bring about fateful consequences for their kingdom.

Going out to the Schloss in this pre-pandemic trip was taxing, plus the weather didn't help either, raining off and on.

P is for Philippine, a small village in the south-western corner of the Netherlands. With the exception being a hotspot with it's restaurants for mussel foodies, it’s not so much special from a touristic point of view. However last October a local wanted a pond in his backyard and started digging and digging and digging…. With a bit of luck someone finds something old like earthenware or coins, but to his surprise he found an intact 10 m long and 5 m high section of an 18th century defensive wall. Really liked seeing his facial expression the moment he made this unusual discovery.

I have passed his house numerous times and know there is some adjacent elevated terrain, but never thought like most it could be hiding something special like this. The plan is to open the garden a few days a year to welcome visitors.

Q is for Quedlinburg.

How has this one not come up? Or maybe on the prior thread. GREAT city to visit in the Harz mountains, especially on Walpurgisnacht for the witch festival.

However, Q is also for Quickborn, a suburb of Hamburg. Not that exciting, but I have been here, so there's that.

For the 6th of January (or maybe the first Sunday) as Epiphany,
the R
would be for Galette de Rois

https://www.myparisiankitchen.com/en/story-and-tradition-of-epiphany-king-cake/

all over the Francophone world people are hiding things in their King cake.

Where did that start? Maybe in Besancon, but we're up to the R today.

S

Stanislaus River in California. The river I nearly drowned in while river rafting in the 70’s.