Dambach-la-Ville in the Alsace

On our way back to Oberursel, we stopped for lunch in the village of Dambach-la-Ville (about 10 minutes from Sélestat). It was Sunday, and very quiet. The only people we saw were a handful of tourists like us heading to the restaurant opposite the church.

This must have be the quietest place on earth. No voices (from neither people, nor animals), no car traffic, no sounds coming from any of the homes. It seemed the residents had all left for the weekend. This was the case on an early Sunday afternoon in late February.

The village (based on all the signs we saw) offers much wine-tasting, hiking routes, and places to stay overnight. Next time, we’re heading to the Alsace, we will spend a few days in Dambach-la-Ville. The village lies on the eastern slopes of the Vosges, and offers quite a few hiking trails.  I’ll even try it – the shortest one is a one-hour trail. I can manage that.

This is one of the many half-timbered homes in the village.

The roads in this medieval wine village were deserted on this Sunday in February.

 

To learn more about this village, visit Dambach-la-Ville, Alsace.

Holidays in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain

For our summer holidays, we chose this little mountain village (population of 303) in Burgundy for its solitude, and that is exactly what we got.

Flavigny-sur-Ozerain is a quiet village with few tourists, and it is also listed as Plus beaux villages de France. This was the view from one of the upstairs windows of our self-catering vacation rental. *

Room with a view in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain

The village seen from the valley.

On Main Street, soon after entering through the Port Val, you might want to look up to one of the windows of the houses on the left. She is definitely a piece of art.

This shop was the setting for the movie Chocolat (with Johnny Depp).

This is what we did most days – relaxing, reading, drinking wine, shopping for good things to eat, and mostly lying in the garden, shaded by trees.

* In case you’re interested what vacation rental we had booked, here it is: https://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/flavigny-sur-ozerain/6122857

I can highly recommend it, if you want quiet days and need time to visit yourself.

Taking the South Tour Bus for Marsaxlokk on Malta

On day two of our visit to Malta, we hopped on the South Tour bus, which runs a total of 2:50h around the southern part of the island. There are 14 stops along the way, and with the nice hop-on/hop-off arrangement, one would expect to see quite a bit.

In reality,  if you take the bus by 10am, it is advisable to make three stops.  The first one is for lunch around noon, then you get on the bus around 1:30 or 2:00, you travel for an hour and get off for sightseeing once more. Wherever you are along the route, you will be able to catch the bus, e.g. at 15:30 from Marsaxlokk to be back in Valetta by 16:50. The very last bus brings you back by 17:50 (but not on Sundays – check your schedule).

Buses were somewhat unreliable, we missed two of them. One did not show up and the other we might have missed, but only if it had come early. Which I doubt.

Wish we could have stopped here in Marsaxlokk, but we were already on one of the later buses and we still had plans to see the Blue Grotto. This was at 15:30 in Marsaxlokk. It looks nice and sunny, but it does get dark and cooler around 16:20. The photos were taken from the bus as you can tell by the reflection.

Marsaxlok Fishing Village

This is an interesting fishing village with lots of vendors along the water promenade.

Marsaxlok in the sun

Loved these various colors on their doors and windows.

Colored doors in Marsaxlok

This photo shows  the traffic sign for various town names in Maltese. My iPad location told me I took this photo in the area or town of Multigas.

Multigas

Our next stop to get off was the Blue Grotto, of which I have some photos to share in my next post.

I recommend the bus tour, it is the best way to see the island. The ride is pleasant on these double-deck buses, the bus driver sells beverages, and he will let you off on his route anywhere near your hotel.

Easter Decoration in Germany

The tradition of decorating the local fountain near church for the Easter holiday might soon become extinct.

On our drive to Franconia in Northern Bavaria, we only passed two villages with a display of public Easter decoration.

Franconian village Easter decoration

One photo opportunity I missed as we were going around a tight bend in another village, and the third Easter display I found right here in my hometown village of Hambach (suburb of Dittelbrunn, near Schweinfurt).

Easter decoration in Hambach (Franconia)

Customs are bound to change with time.

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