Sunday, November 26, 2006

GERMAN SEMINAR

DEUTSCHE BUNDESBANK FACHHOCHSCHULE - OCTOBER 1995

After the vacations in Madeira and Porto Santo, in September 1995 I went once to Frankfurt and once to Paris. Then, in early October, I went to Amsterdam and Brussels, and again to New York. On October 20th, 1995, I had a meeting at the European Monetary Institute. I flew home that night, just to return to Frankfurt on the 22nd, this time to go to the Deutsche Bundesbank Fachhochschule, for a seminar on the Law Governing Central Banks. There are a few photos from the event. The seminar was held in German and took place at the Hachenburg Schloss.

The Hachenburg Castle was first mentioned in 1222. Between 1717 and 1746, Georg Friedrich Graf zu Sayn decided to rebuild the old castle and it became then a baroque residence. In the nineteenth century, the castle belonged to the Dukedom of Nassau and later to the Kingdom of Prussia. From the beginning of the twentieth century there had been a forestry school in the Upper Castle, though the lack of money led to its gradual deterioration. In 1946 the castle became the property of the Federal State of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was sold in 1971 to the "Castle Hachenburg GmbH" to be converted into a hotel and owner-occupied apartments but in 1974 the company went bankrupt. The castle was put up for compulsory auction and was purchased by the Deutsche Bundesbank. The castle was rebuilt and entered use as a centre for basic and advanced vocational training centre.


"THE HISTORICAL STAIRCASE"


"THE GARDEN GATE - the group does not allow seeing the gilt metalwork which shows the initials of Georg Friedrich Burggraf von Kirchberg and of Sophie Amalie Burggräfin von Kirchberg Gräfin von Nassau-Saarbrücken..."


"THE TEN O'CLOCK GATE - Group at the gatehouse that used to be closed at 10:00 p.m.; thus the denomination"


"FOUNTAIN at the Castle's upper courtyard. This is what you see when you enter the ten o'clock gate"

Sunday, November 19, 2006

THE PEARL OF THE ATLANTIC

MADEIRA AND PORTO SANTO ISLANDS - AUGUST 1995

After Eurodisney in April (Easter time), I went to New York once again, by the end of April, to Brussels one more time in May, and in June 1995 I had this schedule:
Lisbon to Amsterdam on June 5th; Amsterdam to Lisbon on June 9th;
Lisbon to London on June 18th; London to Lisbon on June 20th;
Lisbon to Brussels on June 21st;
Brussels to Paris on June 23rd;
Paris to Lisbon on June 24th;
Lisbon to Brussels on June 26th;
Brussels to Amsterdam on June 28th and
Amsterdam to Lisbon on the same day.
No wonder that by that time I always had a bag ready to fly...

Finally, in August, I took some time off and returned to the place where I was born - Madeira -, 41 years after I've left it... That's when we had a much enjoyable vacation in Porto Santo!

***

MADEIRA


"LIDO - The explorers arrive to Lido beach, where I took my first steps in water at the age of three..."


"MAGNOLIA - Already with the cousins, relaxing at the Quinta Magnolia"


"PONTINHA - The port"


"CURRAL DAS FREIRAS (NUNS' VALLEY) - Refuge for the nuns from the Santa Clara Monastery fleeing pirates in 1566!"



"QUINTA DAS CRUZES - It's said that João Gonçalves Zarco, who discovered Madeira and seems to be the ancestor to many Gonçalves families, was the owner of this property, now belonging to the regional government"



"FAMILY PHOTOS - Under the statue of Tristão Vaz Teixeira, companion to Zarco on the discovery of these Islands, and in Santa Cruz, home to the Gonçalves..."


"FUNCHAL GARDEN"

***

PORTO SANTO


"TIA MARIA - A nice restaurant at the fabulous 9 km golden sand beach"



"THE BEACH at Porto Santo"


"NORTH SIDE of the Porto Santo Island"

Saturday, November 04, 2006

EURODISNEY, PARIS, FRANCE...

AMAZING FRANCE - APRIL 1995

EURODISNEY

Disneyland in France is a contradiction in terms. Most probably is also the reason why it takes some time to be a success...


"MAIN STREET USA"


"BIG THUNDER MOUNTAIN"


"LION KING"


"PIRAYES OF THE CARIBBEAN"


"DISCOVERY LAND"

***

LA DEFENSE



"COWBOYS in Paris?"


"L'ARCHE"

***

CENTRAL PARIS


"AUX CHAMPS ELYSÉES"





"EIFFEL TOWER"


"PALAIS TOKYO"