A bit of Kilkenny and Carlow

We always like to go for a walk in Graiguenamanagh in County Kilkenny. It is a quiet town on the river Barrow and it has a nice walking path along the river and up to the forest. We saw today that there are some house boats for sale, I would immediately buy one, if I had so much money to spend.

Nobody knows how this old mill stone got there. It is assumed it was produced at the same place where it is and probably forgotten.

While there is lots of snow everywhere in Europe, we have temperatures up to 9 degrees and nature starts to blossom again.

St Mullins in County Carlow

Very artistic graffiti on the old flour mill.

Photos by Margit Anna Doyle (Binder)

County Wicklow

Photos by Margit Anna Doyle (Binder)

South East of Ireland today

Dunmore East

Woodstown

Photos by Margit Anna Doyle (Binder)

No snow - no winter

Last year was a strange year, we had no summer and no winter either. 2012 started with autumnlike weather or maybe even like spring, even some plants got mixed up and started to push their heads through the grounds too early. They probably freeze to death, when the weather changes.

Lots of people are ill and have to stay in bed, so did I, a bad flu knockned me out since Christmas and I am only slowly recovering. I am looking forward to spring to get out into the nature more often again.

Photos by Margit Anna Doyle (Binder)

CHRISTMAS 2011

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2012 to all my guests, who visited my Blog!

Advent 2011 in Wien

Das Wiener Rathaus erstrahlt wieder im vorweihnachtlichen Lichterglanz, doch leider ist von Schnee heuer weit und breit nichts zu sehen, was ich sehr schade finde, da ein verschneiter Christkindlmarkt noch viel schöner anzusehen ist.

Der Wiener Wurstelprater ist einstweilen in einen Winterschlaf verfallen. Man muss bis zum Frühling warten, bis die Attraktionen wieder geöffnet werden und wieder alles zu neuem Leben erwacht.

Am Karlsplatz vor der Karlskirche befindet sich wieder der alljährliche handwerkliche Christkindlmarkt, wo man wunderschöne hangefertigte Waren erstehen kann.

Photos by Margit Anna Doyle (Binder)

Ich wünsche allen meinen Lesern ein wunderschönes Weihnachtsfest, frohe Festtage und Prosit 2012!

December 2011

It was a lovely day today, a nice change to the daily grey of the last few weeks. So I took my camera and wanted to take some photos of the autumn/winter landscape, but everything looked so boring to me, the bare trees, the brown hedges, no flowers, it was really unexcting, that's why we went to Tramore again, I love the sea! It has so many faces, it can be wild, stormy, powerful  and threatening or soft, gentle and calming.

It was about 3 o'clock, when the sky started to get darker already, you would have thought it is much later in the evening. I don't like it in winter, when the darkness dominates most times of our days.

Some last sun rays forced their way through the dark clouds and made the area around the Metal Man appear in a bright light, as if God was looking down there.

Photos by Margit Anna Doyle(Binder)

Hainburg and Carnuntum in Lower Austria

Hainburg is the most
easterly city in Austria, it is located between the Danube in the North and  the Braunsberg (brown mountain) and the Hundsheimer mountains in the South, near to the border of the Slowakian Republic.

Hainburg ist die östlichste Stadt Österreichs. Es liegt zwischen der Donau im Norden und dem Braunsberg und Hundsheimer Bergen im Süden, nahe der Grenze zu Slowakischen Republik.

There is a long tradition of colonisation in this area, reaching back to the new stone age. Settlements of Celts were found, but also traces of earlier cultures.

In diesem Gebiet gibt es eine lange Tradition von Besiedelung, die weit in die Jungsteinzeit zurückreicht. Es gibt Hinweise auf keltische Ansiedlungen und auch Spuren einer früheren Zivilisation.

The stronghold dates back to the 11th century and was later extended. With its 2.5 km long surrounding wall, 3 still existing gates and 15 towers it is one of the oldest in Europe.

Die Festung wurde im 11 Jhdt. erbaut und später erweitert. Mit seiner 2.5km langen Stadtmauer, seinen noch immer existierenden 3 Toren und 15 Türmen, ist sie eine der ältesten und best erhaltenen Festungen Europas.

The stronghold of Hainburg was partly destroyed by the Turks in the 17th century, in the second Ottoman besiege. The citizens of Hainburg fled into the stronghold and hoped to be protected by the strong walls, but it is said that more than 8000 people died, nearly the whole population of Hainburg. One of the survivors was Thomas Haydn, the grandfather of Joseph Haydn, the great Austrian composer.

Die Festung Hainburg wurde im 17 Jhdt. während der zweiten Türkenbelagerung teilweise zerstört. Die Stadtbewohner flohen vor den Osmanen und suchten Schutz hinter den starken Mauern der Festung, mehr als 8000 Menschen mussten ihr Leben lassen, beinahe die ganze Bevölkerung von Hainburg. Einer der wenigen Überlebenden war Thomas Haydn, der Grossvater von Joseph Haydn, dem grossen österreichischen Komponisten.



Luckily Hainburg escaped from being destroyed in the 1st and 2nd world war.

Glücklicherweise blieb Hainburg im 1. und 2. Weltkrieg von weiteren Zerstörungen weitgehend verschont.

Photos by Sabine Binder

CARNUNTUM



South West from Hainburg is the district of Petronell, where you will find Carnuntum with its ancient Roman history.

Im Südwesten von Hainburg befindet sich der Bezirk Petronell mit den römischen Ausgrabungen von Carnuntum.

Carnuntum was a part of the Roman province Pannonia in ancient times. You can see lots of artefacts and reconstructed rooms, when you visit the exhibition.

Carnuntum war im Altertum ein Teil von Pannonien. In der Ausstellung kann man viele Artefakte sehen, die dort ausgegraben wurden und Nachbauten von römischen Räumlichkeiten besichtigen.

Photos by Sabine Binder

Autumn in Ireland 2011

We had a lovely day today, bright, sunny, only a few clouds, but 10 degrees, not what you would call hot.

But it  was nice to be outside for a while. We thought we had to enjoy the last sunrays before another long winter comes.

Fotos by Margit Anna Doyle (Binder)