Day 97

26 July 2013

Graatz- you win !

Most of Europe has at least a 2000 year history. Many places started with the building of a castle for a particular Lord and Master, with the peasants living close by at a lower level. Each and every castle I have seen thus far is positioned on a hill. Yesterday I was riding through a village and saw a sign pointing into the direction of a castle I had already taken a picture of. I followed the signs and had a look. The place was very impressive and completely self sufficient. Obviously these places need a lot of money for their upkeep; in this case half was let out as office space while the remainder consisted of a restaurant and coffee shop/terrace overlooking the town.

Now… as from today I will put fewer pictures of buildings on the sight unless they are very different than what I have come across in the past, and will try to stick to interesting / different things. I know that looking at pictures of building can get boring.

Today I found something I had not seen before. I passed a shop where you can by wine and spirits and all types of oil. Now what so special about that? you may ask. Well… in the shop they have dozens of vats and large bottles with taps. You can bring your own bottle or if it is a gift, you can buy a standard or fancy bottle and fill them with whatever you like. There were many different wines, spirits and liquors, like pina colada for example and different bath and cooking oils. It would make a very personal gift to someone.

Another thing I came across today was a bridge with more locks on it than I had seen in Russia and the Baltics. Just to refresh your minds; couples who have committed to their love for each other would buy a lock and get their names inscribed on it. They then lock it the bridge and throw the key into the river below. This time there were more locks than I had seen on all bridges put together.(as you can see in the pictures. And yes I can get the name right too- Graattzz !