Meeting with friends

We live in the southernmost tip of Austria and they live in the middle of Germany. So, we agreed to meet somewhere in the middle. Each of us drove about three hours to reach a Spa, called "Bad Reichenhall".
We drove there on Saturday and met with our friends Saturday, afternoon, then for dinner in the evening, for breakfast on Sunday morning and lunch, later in the day. At about 3PM we took a leisurely drive back home. It was a lovely short weekend. The weather also played along, starting to rain a bit only during our homeward trek.
It was not a "photo shoot".
It was just to meet and talk to friends whom we do not see often enough.
I took just a few shots along the way:

a rustic "Gasthaus" offered us cool drinks

and good food.

it's  called the "Madlbauer" (the Girlfarmer)

The story has it, that although he, the farmer, his wife

and finally the entire village prayed that he may have a son

this farmer begat nought but girls.

                                  A small lake, maybe a big pond, 
                                       at the foot of the "Gasthaus"
Just imagine how beautiful it had been, had the sun shone a little.

       Lilac, Lilac, Lilac everywhere you looked. Simply beautiful.

God vs God

I've been told by some of my discussion partners and readers of this Blog, that I concentrate too much upon the Old Testament in my criticism of the murderous brutality, the jealousy and vindictiveness of the Christian God. I should, they suggested, look in the New Testament where I would find Jesus Christ, the loving, compassionate God. 

Well, so I did. And, indeed, there are many places where compassion is shown to some individuals.
To a prostitute whom he saved from being stoned by saying : "Let him, who is without fault cast the first stone." Or the beggar with whom the rich man shared his coat and many more such individual compassionate acts. So, it seemed, he truly was a "Good Guy".

On the surface it seemed as if we were dealing with two completely different "Gods"
In the Old Testament we meet the murderous, brutal, punishing God, while in the New Testament we meet the compassionate, forgiving one.

But, look a little closer and the New Testament God reveals himself as not such a nice guy, after all.

Jesus, on several occasions, informs his listeners that all those, who reject him and refuse to believe that he is indeed the "Son of God" are condemned and will suffer eternal damnation in Hell. 
(Mark 16:16, Mathew 10:14 -15,33, John 3:16 and so many more.. too many to list here.)
Unbelievers are mercilessly sent to the place of eternal fire and sulphur and there they will be punished for ever and ever and there shall be no relief from the pain during the days or the nights.

Matthew 25:41 : Jesus speaks of "Hell" as a place of "unquenchable fire" so that there will be eternal suffering and "gnashing of teeth"...

Who goes to Hell? Why, everybody who dies having committed a "mortal sin" without having confessed this transgression and having received absolution from a priest.
So, just imagine: There recently were over 250 passengers on a ferry which sank suddenly, giving passengers very little time to repent from his/her mortal sins, confess them and receive absolution. Every one of them will go to this place of no return, of eternal pain caused by fire and sulphur.

So the God of the New Testament, Jesus Christ, starts punishment at death and causes it to continue for all eternity.
And you cannot tell me that he is only the messenger, telling us what God has ordained.  No !
According to Christian belief, Jesus is God... the same as his father.... in fact, they are one and the same, two parts of the Holy Trinity..  that's the only way the claim of Monotheism can be sustained,
and if indeed he is God, than he is even more cruel than his Father, the other third of the Christian Godhood.

Now go and check on the list of "mortal Sins".(most of you will have committed one or two, or several )... then quickly go to confession, otherwise you end up FOR ETERNITY in this place of Fire and Sulphur.

We are dealing here with the God of Love and Forgiveness, 

All of this would be scary if it were not so laughable.

Bertstravels For Ever!

P.S.
If you have just gone through a dreary day and you need a good laugh, look up the list of "Venial Sins".
As we have "Coca Cola Light", So we here have "Sin Light" which does not have to be confessed, but the Church recommends that you include them in your confession... just to be safe...


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Still snow-capped

The "Petzen", our house mountain, is still snow covered and I am sure that some ultra enthusiasts have trudged up there to get in just one more skiing run.
Unfortunately the cable car has stopped for the season and if you want to ski down, you first have to climb up. Oh, well.. nothing is too onerous for the ardent skier.

In the Valley, Spring has come and many trees are in bloom.

What is supposed to be green, has indeed turned this colour.

The top of "The Petzen", however, is still white.

For better perspective I took these shots from our attic window.

But, by and large, this is what we see from our balcony

and it is warm enough to have breakfast and lunch there.

Skiing is only possible in the higher regions.

There is not enough snow down below to make the entire run to the bottom on this mountain.

My Easter Sermon

Today every news paper carries essays of this kind, written by so-called theologians and/or alleged philosophers. It is, after all, Easter Week  and any self respecting member of the above listed, feels the need to talk about Jesus and the Crucifix.
The tenor of it all can be summed up in this:
He allowed himself to be crucified and with this act, the sins of mankind were forgiven.
Please somebody, explain to me the correlation of these two happenings:
The Torture and finally the Murder of a Man brings about the Absolution for mankind of all of its sins:
Does this make any sense to you ? 
The committing of a Sin ( and surely Murder is one of the most abominable sins ) brings about the forgiveness of mankind's sins.

It seems to me that cause and effect are simple laws of nature: When I cut myself, I bleed. When I fall out of a tree, I may break a bone in my body. When I act, there is a reaction. 
So, again I ask you: Where is the connection ? When I kill Jesus after having tortured him beyond human endurance, I absolve mankind of its transgressions!!!
How does this work ?
God, the Father, sacrificed the Life of God the Son, ( who along with the Holy Ghost are one and the same God)..
So God allowed himself to be tortured and murdered so that he, God, could forgive our sins ?
Could he not have forgiven our sins without this spectacle ? He, the Almighty, had to reach into a bag of tricks, to achieve Forgiveness for his creation's masterpiece, Mankind ? Surely he could have simply decided to forgive. And that would have been that. 
No crown of thorns, No torture. No need to carry a heavy Cross up the hill to the place of execution, No Calvary or Golgotha, ... 
Simply God's announcement:  I FORGIVE !
(An announcement he could have made quietly, just to himself, no trumpets nor cymbals needed. Because, in any event, Mankind did in no way change its behaviour, but merrily carried on "sinning")
Instead of this we read in the Bible: "God put into effect a plan to save us. He destroyed sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins." (Romans 8:3) or this: "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son" ( John 3:16).
Once more: "God made a plan to save us! To save us from what ? To save us from Hellfire ?
He, the Almighty, surely could have done that without resorting to this cruel and gruesome trick.
His assurance: "I FORGIVE" could have been followed by a warning: "Listen here fellows, that's your last chance ! Next time I'll send a flood and drown the lot of you. I've done it before and I'll do it again. So, smarten up"
But."No"! He, the "All Merciful" had his son tortured and killed instead.

So, once more, I must ask you: Where is the correlation between the death of a man, (or of a God) and the forgiveness of man's sins ? How does one follow the other ?
It does not ! It is blatant nonsense.

There is a little side consideration to give to the whole idea of Easter. 
Since Jesus, three days after his "death", reappeared, seemingly no worse for wear, he did not really "Die"... To "die" means to "cease to exist"
And in no way could it be claimed that Jesus no longer existed after his crucifixion and death.Some of his followers saw him three days later in his body, wounds included,  and, according to Acts 1:3,9, fourty days later, he sat to the right hand of God, the father. (Mark 14:62 and 16:19 )
Surely, no, certainly, both He and God Father, knew about this, since they are "All Knowing".
So, what is this all about ?
What is it Christians are celebrating today, tomorrow and the next day?

Bertstravels
would really like to know.

The absolutely last image of the Genvac.

You can take all the pictures of a big City,

 all the tall buildings

all the monuments, all the churches,  inside and out

and in sheer beauty you will not match

a quiet lake, deep in the

countryside

BITS and PIECES

My report about what I call our GenVac is pretty well finished.

There are a few pictures left over, which might be worth a gander.

We came accros this little town, more or less a Village,  on the foot of  a pretty imposing mountain.

Its name is:

Nameless

Then we made it to Lermoos. Specifically to the hotel "Drei Mohren"...  some wonderful memories connect me with this place.  Someday, if you are really good, I'll tell them all to you.

 Across the valley, from Lermoos to Ehrwald, the Zugspitze reaches right into the clouds.
Well, this day you had to imagine the clouds. We had, as every day, what I call blue blue sky.

More... by popular request:

This Blog has had hundreds of requests to show additional pictures of "Christa and Elodie"...
Well, maybe not "hundreds" but surely 10 or more....
well, actually Christa's Aunt wrote for more... That's one request.
I am certain there were another  99 fans of this Blog who gave it serious thought, but were too busy to write.

So don't be shy !! Take the time !
Write to
Bertstravels.

Two "Lovely Ladies" - "Crazy Kids" !

It does not take much to change two lovely young ladies into two absolutely Crazy Kids.
Down below, here is the incontrovertible, indisputable, proof.

Now, you have to admit that we are dealing here with two extraordinarily attractive young ladies!

point a camera at them and they go totally bananas.

Only, at a moment's notice, to change back into their lovley selves.

Strange, eh ?

Oh well, let's not overdo it with the "normally lovely" !

If you act up in front of a camera,

you must accept being posted on the Internet.

The Reason

Well, the reason for this lovely trip, accompanied by blue blue skies and sun shine, was to visit my Grand daughter. ( she is "Grand" in more ways than one.) Christa, as you may know by now, is the daughter of my son, Steven and his wife Janet. She was borne on 25th October 2000, which makes it easy to remember her age.
She spent 9 weeks with a family in Geneva, to improve her knowledge of French, which, as much as I can determine, is pretty fluent and, so I am told by her hosts, nearly flawless. Last year the host family's daughter, Elodie, spent the same amount of time in Toronto, actually Newmarket, as an exchange student guest in Steven and Janet's house. What a lovely idea....   I only wish that this practice had been in place when I went to school.

Here's the proof: Youth can fly !!!

and after a tiring flight, they rest in a tree.

Just like the birds.

                        Herewith,  a  picture of "the people".

From left to right: Christin, Nathalie and Jean-Luc (parents of) Elodie and her brother Bastien and last, but not least, Christa, with DDD#2

YVOIRE

Just accross the border from Geneva into France lies the medieval town of Ivoire.
It's worth a visit and a few hours during the afternoon.

The Main Gate

and

The Castle

Christin and Doggy-Dog-Dog taking a little rest.

The MONT BLANC BURGER

Talk about a "Big Mac" !  That's like nothing

compared to

"The Mont Blanc Burger"

It takes a BIG mouth to wrap your lips around 

this one.

MONT BLANC - MONTE BIANCO

Mont Blanc (in French) or Monte Bianco ( in Italian), The White Mountain, situated between France and Italy is clearly visible from the surrounding hills of Geneva. Rising to a height of 4,810 meters it is the highest mountain of the Alps.

The REFORMATION WALL

On the grounds of the Geneva University, along the old city walls, the 100 meter long "Reformation Wall" was erected in 1909
The main and center point depict four of the most important personalities, who carried the religious fight against the dominance of the Roman Catholic church:

William Farel (1489 -1565 ),

John Calvin  (1509 - 1564 )

Theodore Beza (1519 - 1605 )

John Knox ( 1513 - 1572 )

Four stern and forbidding men, who, in their religious fanaticism

would put every Pope to shame.

It may be interesting to note,  that just about at that time, the German Priest, Martin Luther (1483 - 1546 ) became disenchanted with his church and posted the famous 95 Theses in 1517, demanding, among others, an end to the sale of "indulgences".

Geneva

An exceedingly important European City, Geneva, is best viewed from the topmost balcony of St. Peter's Cathedral. I think I counted more than 130 steps along a narrow winding stone stair case. Finally the City lay before me and my camera had to work over time.

The mountains of the French Alps 

seem to be on top of those  buildings

and the two flags appear to be 

mounted on the snow covered peak.

GENEVA Street Musicians

Two wonderfully talented and friendly street musicians: 

He, in the Rustafarian garb, from Ghana played a lovely guitar and sang with verve and gusto in the style of Bob Marley and she, with the bright smile beat a rhythmic drum and sang with sentiment and feeling. I could have listened to them for hours.

From Innsbruck to Zurich

Through alpine regions to the rolling hills we reach Switzerland's largest City : Zurich.
The financial centre of Europe, its 383,500 inhabitants enjoy one of the highest standards of living anywhere.
Beautifully located at the end of Lake Zurich it is a city deserving a visit much longer than the one day we were able to give to it.

above and below:

The romanesque style of the Protestant church "Grossmünster"

 imposes its powerful presence over the city.

*********************

St. Peter's Church boasts the largest clock face of any church in Europe

Along the Limmat river imposing structures line the shore.

*****************

The "Frauenmünster Church" and "St.Peter's Church" as seen from one of the many bridges crossing the Limmat.

Well, so much for Zurich. Just a little taste.

I hope it's enough to make you want to visit this interesting place.

from Braunau to Innsbruck

From Bleiburg to Braunau it is 337 km and from Braunau to Innsbruck it is a further 250 km.
The trip is absolutely no hardship. It takes you through the most beautiful country side on good roads with limited traffic. So... don't just sit around, go there !!!

DO NOT FORGET TO CLICK ON PICTURES FOR EXTRA SIZE

Leave the front door of our Hotel

"To the Golden Eagel"

turn left, and this is what you see:

The Hafelekar.

A  chain of mountains, seemingly

going on and on and on.

The Golden Roof in Innsbruck

The Golden Roof

in Innsbruck was decorated in the year 1500
with 2738 fire gilded copper tiles
by Emporer Maximilian I

There is a quaint story connected with the "Goldene Dachl"

The rumour had spread in Austria, that Emperor Maximilian

was broke. The Treasury was empty.

In  order to counteract this rumour, the Emperor caused this roof to be covered 

with shingles made of pure Gold.

When the job was done, the people said:

If he wasn't broke at first, he surely shot the wad with this stupid roof.

Below:

We stayed at the 4 Star Hotel, The Golden Eagle.

consider this: in 1492 Columbus sailed the Ocean blue...

and finally discovered America.

98 years earlier travellers dined in the Restaurant to the Golden Eagle.