Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Picturesque -- but hardly bustling! -- Hirschhorn (Photo-essay)


On the final day of my recent German vacation, my German friend remarked on how I had been pretty lucky in terms of weather (as well as other things). And I couldn't but agree since: the temperature generally hovered in the high teens Celsius for much of the visit (in contrast to two weeks before I visited -- when I was getting e-mails from her reporting abnormally high temperatures of 38 degrees Celsius and such like); and there nonetheless were more days with bright sunshine (and associated bright blue skies) than rain or even just gray, overcast skies during the close to two weeks that I spent in that country.

Although the third full day of my recent German holiday began with gray skies and a chill in the air, the sun broke out in earnest in the middle of lunch at Schloss Hirschhorn. Consequently, a good proportion of the following photos feature blue skies along with other elements that I found very pleasing to the eye (along with a surprisingly -- for me, at least -- small amount of people (a state of affairs I plan to discuss further in at least one future blog entry!))...

View from Schloss Hirschhorn of
the
Neckar River and Hirschhorn (a village
that's spread across both sides of the river)


Hirschorn village houses in the front
and
Schloss Hirschorn and beautiful blue skies above

One of many signs I saw during my trip
that got me realizing
that
the Germans really do love their
pretzels

Walking on Hirschhorn's picturesque --
but most definitely far from bustling! -- main street

towards its well kept-after Catholic parish church


Inside the village's Catholic parish church

In the shadow of the 14th century gate tower
that abuts the Catholic church


One peculiarity we couldn't help but notice:
Be it side street or main street, there just weren't
many people out and about -- and this despite
our visiting on a fine Saturday afternoon!

And oh, lest there be any doubt: of course
Puppet Ponyo
did go on the Neckar Valley tour with us! :D

5 comments:

sarah bailey knight said...

ytsl,

Looks like a storybook setting. And Ponyo looks like she's having a great vacation.

Is there anywhere in Hong Kong that isn't bustling with people or at lease a good showing of people? I'm not sure if other places are always as busy as Hong Kong is.

Of course rural Vermont is dead but even in the area of Tokyo (Kita-Shinjuku)where my daughter lives the side streets aren't busy and the main street only in morning and evening.

fallingstones said...

haha. I bet Ponyo had a great time!

YTSL said...

Hi sbk --

Storybook setting is about right. I kept on thinking "this is what Disneyland wants to be... only it's real"! :)

"Is there anywhere in Hong Kong that isn't bustling with people or at lease a good showing of people?"

Aiyeeeeeeeeeee... didn't you learn from my blog that the answer is "Yes, indeedy!" Though having said that, it really was weird for me to see main streets so devoid of people!!! :D

Hi fallingstones --

Yup re Ponyo -- and have to say that Puppet Ponyo's the luckiest of my Ponyos. She's been to Germany, met celebrities... and also not been squished too much as a result of *my* stress! ;b

sarah bailey knight said...

Hi ytsl,

Is there anywhere in Hong Kong that isn't bustling with people or at lease a good showing of people?"

Aiyeeeeeeeeeee... didn't you learn from my blog that the answer is "Yes, indeedy!"

Sorry I didn't make my question clear and specific. Yes, your blog is about areas that aren't busy with people. Parks, trails, etc in wooded countryside areas for recreational use.


I should have specifically asked about the built up urban areas where people, live, work, shop, etc. For example are there times in the area where you live that there aren't people around and your street is very quiet.

M lives a stop away from one of the busiest train stations in the world yet her neighborhood is very quiet with an occasional person walking by.

YTSL said...

Hi again sbk --

The street where I currently live is pretty noisy since, among other things, it's one where buses and mini-buses run on. But I have been on side streets in Hong Kong where things can be on the quiet side, including the area just south of -- and up the hill from -- the western end of Hollywood Road, and the streets deep inside Tai Hang.

Still, I really didn't experience anything like I did in Germany... i.e., main streets devoid of people in broad daylight! And, yes, I think this experience stuck out in large part because I had gone to Germany from generally super bustling Hong Kong! :D