High on a Hill

 So here are three more, very different images from the Chateau de Haut Koenigsbourg in Alsace.

The first image is taken from one of the towers looking along the ramparts and into the distance towards Germany. This region was hotly contested throughout the centuries and changed hands between France and Germany several times. The castle itself has fallen into ruin and been reconstructed over time too and is now a remarkable place to visit.

The second image is og a sculpture that sits on top of the well in the inner courtyard. I wish I could say more about it but sadly I didn't pay enough attention to the information display so all I can say is that it is an interesting sculpture of a mermaid.

The final image is of the main staircase which leads from the inner courtyard and is housed in a hexagonal tower. Can you tell whether you are looking up or down the stairs?

Czech Underground

After a night in Dresden we moved on to Prague for a couple of nights. We were staying in a very modern hotel in the business district and so to get into the city centre we took the metro.  At first this was looking like it might be a problem since I didn't have change for the ticket machine and there was no ticket office. When I found a tabac where I could get tickets the vendor was not terribly helpful or friendly but we eventually got tickets and made it into the city.

As you can see we got off the train at Malostranska and were immediately impressed by the underground architecture and attention to detail. It was a bust station but I waited until the platform and then the escalators cleared so that I could get a couple of shots. The light was quite poor so I have had to use a very high ISO since these were handheld and I didn't want to risk a slow shutter speed. In spite of the grainy quality I really like these pictures and I hope that you will like them too.