Koblenz and Düsseldorf

Took a day trip to the little town of Koblenz last Saturday. It proved to be a cute little town filled with beautiful Romanesque-Gothic churches, monuments and a medieval fortress in the old town area. Koblenz is a meeting to two rivers, one of which is the Rhine, the other, Mosel. There is a spectacular monument to a German Emperor, complete with a gigantic equestrian statue. It snowed in our faces most of the day, but walking around and enjoying the city made the trip well worth it.

Churches:


Monument to Emperor William I of Germany:


Fortress:




Town:




But in the end...all I wanted was photos of birds.



Today we took a trip to Düsseldorf to get study some of the architecture and the old town area. We had to do a scavenger hunt, with which I was less than thrilled. I would have much rather looked at the buildings at me leisure without a pointless competition attached.

However, there were Frank Gehry buildings. If you are a Civil Engineer, you have every reason to despise this man, despite how interestingly beautiful his buildings are. His designs are not entirely functional and the poor Civies on his projects probably dream of smothering him in his sleep. Pretty buildings nonetheless.



Other neat things:



And of course, BIRDS.


I am especially proud of the European Robin shots. This robin popped in to say hello about two feet away from me. Posed long enough for me to take a few shots. Quite a pretty little fellow. And crows. I don't think I will succeed in getting a nice, crisp shot of these buggers. Oh well, I'll try.

NEXT TIME: PARIS and ROME. Yes indeed, I will be leaving for spring break in less than 2 days. It will be a whirlwind week, but completely worth every moment.