Cozy bar Taba&co in Sofia

Today I am gonna whistle-blow to you a very favourite location of mine in Sofia. Perfect on a hot or warm summer day, when looking for some refreshing shade. The "Taba&co bar" (6A "Moskovska" Street), glued on the back of the yellow ex-Palace, now National Gallery of art, is a cozy place for a stop and/or also to meet friends for chat and drinks. I love their creative menu with fresh pressed juices (of course they have also alcoholic cokctails and more). The whole bar is decorated in art-nouveau style and in the garden next to the bar several statues are also contributing to the art-flavour! 

In the evening the bar becomes a night club, usually on weekends. While in the winter the place is pretty smaller as the terass is closed, but It is however lovely sipping on a warm drink and gazing the snow-covered statues and trees in front...

Dienten im Hochkönig, Salzburger Land

 
A great getaway in the Austrain mountains offers the cute and beautiful flower-pot-covered village Dienten im Hochkönig....Not too far from Salzburg (73 km) this cozy place at 1500m altitude is worth visiting not only in the winter but also in summer!

Next to relaxed hikes and wild flowers and herbs, one may also do some local-schnaps-tasting or just enjoy mountain air, good food and amazing landscapes. I stayed twice at the family hotel "Mitterwirt" and can only recomment it further: great place with first class hospitality, delicious food and wine as well as great spa...

Krimmler Wasserfaelle/ Krimml Waterfalls, the biggest waterfalls in Europe

 

Next to fresh mountain air, breathtaking green landscapes and local specialties (such as local cheese and wine), the Austrian mountains imSalzburger Land offer just tons of beatiful nature...A great place for a day-hike are the Krimmler Wasserffaelle...They are the biggest waterfalls in Europe with a total height of 380 meters!

 

The falls are formed from the Krimmler Ache river and are located near the village of Krimml in the High Tauern National Park in Salzburgerland. After the falls, the river joins the Salzach, which flows to the Inn, then into the Danube River and finally to the Black Sea.

...and when the sun is there, it is just a perfect summer day in the mountain!

Flower and other decoration in villages in Lorraine

 

France and the cute and tiny villages there always surprise me and impress me with their lovely floral and other decoration. This blog entry is dedicated to the flower-villages in Lorraine.

Some of the flowers in the gardens are also eatable as the blue flower as a decoration in the glas of fresh pressed tomato juice (last shot)...

The amazing Museum-Aquarium de Nancy-part 2

I was so impressed by the aquarium in Nancy, that i would love to show you soe more pictures and even some videos...ENJOY!



In the first video you may see funny transparent fishes from Mekong, Thailand. The second fish tank displays two funny creatures called "Atlantic horseshoe crab".The last ones are most commonly found in the Gulf of Mexico and along the northern Atlantic coast of North America. A main area of annual migration is Delaware Bay, although stray individuals are occasionally found in Europe.

The amazing Museum-Aquarium de Nancy

 
The museum-aquarium of in the French city Nancy  (famous mostly for its art-nouveau architecture) is really worth visiting. The first floor hosts one of the most impressive aquiariums in Europe I have ever seen. The diversity of species one may see there from all ends of the world, as well as salt and sweet water species: all are just breathtaking!

 

 The second floor meets the visitors with a huge "arbre généalogique de la vie sur terre". Then all of species families are presented in the next hall.

One of the reason to visit the museum last weekend was the temporary exhibition of the famous French wildlife photographer Vincent Meunier. The wildlife expo is called "From dusk till dusk" and half of it shows wildlife and landscapes photos from Lorraine (the region Nancy belongs to). The pictures are on display till February 2012. A short preview is offered with the my shot below...

Mirabelles en Lorraine/ Season of mirabelles 2011

 

The symbol of Lorraine in France is a tiny aromatic fruit: la mirabelle. They are kind of plums from which the local make brandy, jams or very delicous cakes...The fruit is very yummy and I enjoyed collecting some mirabelles myself last weekend.

 

Almost at the same time another fruit, the blue plum is also getting ripe-this one is also used for desserts and tarts.

Murnau and the summer house of Kandinsky and Münter...

 

After an hour drive from Munich one arrives in the cute and cozy village Murnau, south of the big city.

Here on the top of one hill the summer residence of Gabrielle Münter and Wasil Kandinsky invites all impressionist lovers for some great discoveries...There are not a lot of paintings, but other treasures are there. Both artists painted almost all firniture int he house themselves...

So one may admire cupboards, tables, beds and stairs decorated with flowers, people and more. In front of the house a beautiful garden offers an amazing view to th village center...A great stop and worth visiting if you love impressionism or are fan of the group "der blaue Reiter".

Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg

 

On a cloudy July day a great thing to do in Munich last weekend was a visit ot the botanical garten, Botanischen Garten München-Nymphenburg. This amazing piece of nature is situated directly next to the park of Schloss Nymphenburg and offers very beautiful and relaxing flora...One may find here over 14.000 different species as well as preserved rare plants and European bees.

 

The first botanical garden of the city was founded in 1809 near Karlsplatz, today's garden was created in 1914 at this location. In 1966 it became affiliated with the Botanische Staatssammlung München and the Institute of Systematic Botany at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

 

Several flowers were blossoming, so plenty of insects were present too-as you may see on the pictures. The garden is divided in alpine garden, arboreum, moor and steppe plants, rose gardens, and, and...The greenhouse complex is really impressive  and worth visiting! The cactus house and the huge water lilies house are just breathtaking...A great stop for all nature lovers!