Liguria: A Pilgrimage To Madonna Di Aquasanta Sanctuary

From Montalto Ligure, a short steep hike uphill, through the aromatic woods and the bees you’ll find this marvelous place: Madonna di Aquasanta – Madonna of the holy water. It is told that in the 15th century the Madonna appeared to an old lame man an told d him to take a bath in a nearby fountain. He was immediately healed from his handicap.
Today the people from the surrounding villages come to pray, to take water from the fountain and to ask the Madonna for favors. Their offerings, mostly rosaries in all colors and forms, transform the hill next to the chapel with the tiny, white statue of the Madonna in a magical place where it is good to stay, think about the world and listen to the sounds of nature.

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A Trip To Alsace: Beautiful Strasbourg and a little throwback to the past

We have been to Strasbourg before: My brother was just born and I myself have been 4 years old. My Mum at the time bought a leather handbag from a street vendor which was very smelly. We called it “the dog” and it had its place on the balcony for many years to come.

At the bottom of this post you will find some old pictures from Strasbourg my Dad made more than 40 yrs. ago.

At the time we went onto the roof of the famous cathedral but this time (Corona and I don’t know) the cathedral was closed over noon and we haven’t had the chance to see it again from the inside. But we went into another, very beautiful church – Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune-protestant – which is really a gem and worth to go.

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Eglise Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune protestant

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A little throwback to the past

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The last picture I remembered to have seen in our family album. I made my mum repeat the pose from memory. Not too bad! And she doesn’t look at all like she is more than 40 yrs older than on the first picture!

Odenwald: Engelberg Monastery and Miltenberg

Gottersdorf

 

Engelberg Monastery

 

Miltenberg

Azores: A Guided Tour Through The Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Conceição in Angra

We met the priest of the church just when we wanted to leave and he offered to explain his church to us. Unfortunately his English wasn’t as advanced as his enthusiasm was (and neither was our Portuguese). But we really enjoyed the tour where he told us about the saints exposed in the church, the Flemish style paintings in the classic Portuguese altar, the baptismal font out of “singing” stone and the 400 year old seats and cabinets of “iron wood” from the Brazilian colonies. He even tried to explain something about the Jews, the Portugueses, the Spanish and the British how they lived together at the time and how it should be possible today, we tried to understand and it appeared to be really interesting, but unfortunately we weren’t able to get it.

Azores: Horta, The Capital Of The Sailors

 

Igreja do Santíssimo Salvador

Peter Café Sport

Leaving Horta on a rainy day