Happy birthday, Gretchen Menn!
Gretchen Menn of Zepparella @ Rogue Theatre (December 2019)
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Strasbourg Cathedral
Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg (June 2024)
This was a weird day. The weather was horrible, but it was our only chance to visit Strasbourg, France so we got up early and headed to the bus station. Buses came and went, but ours was not among them. A group of us grew very frustrated. In fact, most of the people who wanted to ride the bus from Saarbrücken, Germany to Strasbourg gave up and went home. We had no other options so we continued to wait. Our bus finally pulled into the designated spot, but it didn’t come from afar. No, instead, it had been there (on the other side of the parking lot) the whole time with the bus driver fast asleep. He offered no apologies for making us all wait 2+ hours, and thus our day trip to Strasbourg was significantly shortened.
Strasbourg was really cool, even in the rain.
The church in the town center was being used as a TikTok background by multiple groups of dancers (as you can see in today’s photo).
Matanuska Glacier
View from the Glenn Highway, Alaska (July 2023)
Six years ago today
Snow in Joshua Tree is not unheard of, but this much snow only happens once every few years. We were lucky to experience it as it was as beautiful as it was odd.
Czech Bear
Brown bear in Hrad Český Krumlov moat
You probably thought the title of today’s photo (assuming you saw the title before seeing the photo) was a typo.
I was surprised, not having done any advanced reading, to stumble upon this bear in the moat of the Český Krumlov Castle complex. There is a bear festival held every year on Christmas Eve here. This is the only time of the year when visitors are allowed in the enclosure. Kids feed the brown bears apples, Christmas biscuits, pastries, and honey. Of course, the kids aren’t in the moat at the exact same time as the bears or they would be on the menu as well.
Bears have been living in this moat for over 300 years. The family who owns this castle has a coat of arms featuring two bears.
Rosenberg family coat of arms (Czech Republic)
Feliz Navidad
Casa Valadez – Anfitrión & Gourmet (Guanajuato, Mexico – 2019)
Once upon a time, 40+ years ago, I grew up in a lower-middle class home, and we had enough money to go out to dinner exactly once a year. That day was Christmas Eve and the restaurant was the Acapulco in Alameda, California. It was our family tradition to go there every year on December 24.
I went back once in the 1990s, and it wasn’t the same. Ownership has changed since the 1990s, at least once, so there is no way to go back to that experience.
I haven’t kept up the going-out-for-Mexican-food-on-Christmas-Eve tradition, although we have done it a few times over the decades. Maybe this is the year to give it another shot?