One of the recurring themes in Limburg is red. Everywhere. On practically everything. Red here is hard to escape, but the splashes of color seem to fit the ambiance of the city. As you stroll these streets, you are being transported 800+ years into the past, and it shows everywhere you go. But you can’t escape those reds. Or… can you?
Brown sandwiched between reds
Ooops. Short reprieve. Right back in the red zone:
Seeing Red in Limburg
The many slate tile roofs are also a fun feature:
Slate Roofs Everywhere
That’s it for today, as I leave you with these views of Limburg:
We’re now down with the Vision of the Seas, and we’re moving on. This trip, which began in May 2022, lasted until early July, which gives you an idea of how much we did. We started aboard Vision of the Seas for a transatlantic crossing, then stayed aboard Vision for a Mediterranean follow-on to some seldom-seen ports in Spain and France. In late May we disembarked and flew off to Germany, where we visited out eldest daughter. Here, our daughter took us on a little sightseeing to the medieval town of Limburg an der Lahn (Limburg on the Lahn), the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in the State of Hessen (Hesse). So, over the next three weeks, I’m going to treat you to the sights of this charming little city. The first two weeks will end with Fun Photo Fridays, and the third will be schnitzel on a Fun Food Friday.
Ursula (right) posing with our tour guide daughter
Limburg, as you may have guessed by now, lies along the river Lahn, a tributary of the Rhine. Hence the name: Limburg an der Lahn. When you come for your visit, make sure you have spare camera batteries and plenty of memory cards. You’ll need it. We parked our car in the garage at the east end of Sackgasse, next to the Woolworth’s, and set out eastbound on foot. It was only a matter of yards/meters before we got our first glimpse of the old town portion of Limburg.
Corner of Rosengasse and Kleine Rütsche
From here we just started wandering the narrow pedestrian streets as we slowly made our way to the Dom zu Limburg (Limburg Cathedral). That’s where I’ll end today, leaving you with this taste of Limburg:
As you’ll recall from Monday, this week I’m taking you on a tour of El Paso’s annual Christmas decorations in the historic San Jacinto Plaza. This was between venues, starting with dinner at Gonzalos G&R and culminating with this night’s Broadway in El Paso show at our magnificently restored Plaza Theatre. We’ll get to that in a moment, but first let’s continue with the San Jacinto tour:
Another Christmas “tree” in San Jacinto Plaza — This one changes!
Ever strolled through a Christmas tree ornament? Well, here you can, and this one changes colors:
Believe it or not, one piece of history from San Jacinto Plaza’s earlier days involved alligators, which resided there for many, many decades. “What’s that?” you say. “Alligators in the Chihuahuan Desert?” Yep. We had alligators in the plaza — at one time as many as seven of them! Back then the unofficial name for San Jacinto was La Plaza de los Lagartos, which translates to “The Plaza of the Alligators.” Young men would come here to impress their dates by wrestling with these reptiles. Alas, in 1974 El Paso’s alligators were permanently relocated to the zoo, as some of them were maimed, and two of them even killed, by vandals. Idiots such as this is why we can’t have nice things. At any rate, El Paso still honors La Plaza de los Lagartos with the fibreglass statue Los Lagartos statue by the late, nationally acclaimed local artist Luis Jiménez:
Los Lagartos by Luis Jiménez
Now a discussion on thePlaza Theatre and Broadway in El Paso. The Plaza dates back to 1930. Once abandoned and falling into disrepair, El Pasoans rallied and sank about $38 million into renovating it, expanding the screen area into a stage, and making the venue suitable for Broadway-on-the-road productions. Thus was born Broadway in El Paso, to which Ursula and I have had season tickets for many, many years. How long? Let me just say that over the years we’ve worked our way up to the second row, which gives us a really impressive vantage. On this particular night we were there to see On Your Feet, a musical highlighting the lives of Gloria and Emilio Estefan. Don’t let the smallish front façade fool you. This theater is massive, seating over 2,000 in just the main auditorium alone!
El Paso’s historic Plaza Theatre showing On Your Feet
This week’s Fun Photo Friday will feature favorite shots of the San Jacinto Plaza’s Christmas decorations and lights. Until then, here’s a few additional views:
Decisions — Murder in Paradise
The Globe — Murder in Luxury
R. Doug Wicker — Author 