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Photo Essay

Photo Essay: Place des Vosges on a Summer Morning

Usually I never sleep in when I’m visiting a city for only a few days, because I just don’t want to waste any of my precious time sleeping. But still, I rarely leave my hostel before 9 am (which I still consider somewhat early!). On my June visit to Paris however, I arrived in the City of Lights at 5.30 am in the morning. Obviously, I couldn’t check into my hostel this early so I had no other choice but to go out and explore Paris while it was slowly waking up on that beautiful warm June morning. Sideways were [...]

By |2013-07-16T21:50:38+02:002013/07/01|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: , , , |7 Comments

Photo Essay: The Centre Pompidou

It was during my last years in high school during my art class when I realized that I'm biased when it comes to architecture. I quickly fell in love with medieval cathedrals and I admired ancient Greek and Roman architecture. I learned to read Renaissance footprints and I was charmed by ornament-rich 19th century historicism. But at in the beginning of the 20th century architecture somehow lost me… When I saw a photo of Paris' huge museum for modern art for the first time, my reaction simply was "ugh, that's ugly". And it's true, the Centre Pompidou cannot be considered [...]

By |2013-07-06T21:25:37+02:002013/06/25|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: , , , , , , |8 Comments

Photo Essay: The Promenade Plantée

In a city like Paris you can never see it all. And Paris and I sort of have the tradition that every time I get back from a trip, I hear about a really cool thing to see or place to have coffee at within a week of my return, which I have just missed. When I got back from my visit to Paris in November -- on which I in fact managed to see a lot of the lesser known attractions like the Jardin des Plantes and Cimetière de Montmartre -- I learned about one place I definitely had [...]

By |2013-06-30T23:11:37+02:002013/06/17|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: , , |8 Comments

Photo Essay: Utterly Dutch Utrecht

I knew I would like Utrecht. My little sister has been there a few years ago and said it was like a mini Amsterdam. When I visited Amsterdam a while back, the city and I didn't really connect. I mean -- I had a great time in Amsterdam, I liked the pretty canals and enjoyed the cliché touristy stuff like visiting the Heineken Brewery. But somehow, Amsterdam felt too crowded, too crammed with the typical let's-get-high-and-see-prostitutes-tourists. So to me, a picturesque mini version of Amsterdam sounded very promising. And Utrecht did not disappoint. Whereas Amsterdam has complex ring-like system of [...]

By |2013-06-25T15:05:12+02:002013/06/10|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: , , , , |19 Comments

Photo Essay: Baroque (but Beautiful) Karlsruhe

To be honest, Baroque is so NOT my favorite art historical epoch. Baroque paintings are just heavy fabrics, surreal clouds, intense colors, and full cleavages. Baroque architecture is full of patterned marble and fat gold baby angels. For me, Baroque is simply always over the top. Although I love churches and could usually stay for hours, Baroque churches have the tendency to scare me away after a few minutes, because it's just too much gold and kitsch for my eyes. But there is one exception to my Baroque aversion: Castles and palaces! Castles are allowed to have a lot of [...]

By |2013-06-17T22:15:26+02:002013/06/03|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: , , , |10 Comments

Photo Essay: Dissenting Rotterdam

Rotterdam is a city with a reputation. And that's not the very best one. I've heard people calling it the ugliest city in the Netherlands. I knew before I arrived that I wouldn't find anything I usually love about European towns in Rotterdam: No narrow cobblestone streets, no old-fashioned cafés, no breathtaking Gothic churches. All the words and phrases I normally use to serenade the picturesque cities of Europe can't be used when describing Rotterdam. Let's face it -- Rotterdam is not the typical European city, because it doesn’t have a medieval city center with ancient little shops and tiny [...]

By |2022-01-05T15:14:23+01:002013/05/27|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: , , |13 Comments

Photo Essay: The Colors of Colmar

When spending a few days in the Alsace one might quickly get the feeling that it looks pretty much the same in every town -- cobblestone streets, half-timbered houses, cute little bakeries with kouglof (or in German Gugelhupf) in their window displays. And all this is definitely true for the little town of Colmar, but it still puts something on top of all this Alsatian cuteness: Colors! Or better: The most intense colors you could think of! Although Colmar is a city with not so much going on (except if you're into medieval art -- Musée Unterlinden is a must!), [...]

By |2013-06-03T15:21:01+02:002013/05/23|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: , , , , , |8 Comments

Photo Essay: Stunning Strasbourg

Yet another alliteration, but this time it really makes sense -- the biggest city in the French Alsace region is truly nothing but stunning: The medieval center of Strasbourg is circled by canals and the majestic cathedral towers over the half-timbered houses with their colorful shutters. Little deserves the term picturesque more than Strasbourg. One of the many cafés next to the cathedral  "Unicorn" beer -- What other beer could you drink in a fairy tale city? Strasbourg may be close to Germany, but it still feels SO French! The cathedral is surrounded by souvenir shops and restaurants as this [...]

By |2013-06-03T15:17:36+02:002013/05/13|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: , , , , , |9 Comments

Photo Essay: Inside the Cathedral of Strasbourg

No matter how much I like the view of gorgeous 19th century town houses or ancient Roman ruins, my favorite buildings of all times will always be the grand Gothic churches. No other buildings make you feel that small and insignificant, but at same time encase you with such an atmosphere of spirituality and serenity. Every time I enter a Gothic cathedral it gives me goosebumps. I feel overwhelmed and weakened, my mind is racing as I pass through 800-year-old gates. Although I theoretically know how cathedrals were built, I just can't fully grasp how they could build this high, this [...]

By |2013-05-29T16:15:31+02:002013/05/07|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: , , , , , , |4 Comments

Photo Essay: Alsace in Bloom

I just got back from an amazing weekend in Alsace and can't wait to share all the beauty I encountered in this stunning French region. Alsace is a province that differentiates itself from the rest of France through food, architecture, and language. Since the region's history is so closely intertwined with Germany, Alsace feels totally German to the French, but at the same time so very French to the Germans. The truth lies somewhere in between: The people of Alsace speak French, but the older generations also know a dialect that is incredibly close to German. The architecture combines the [...]

By |2013-05-28T08:52:21+02:002013/04/29|Categories: Art History, Photo Essay|Tags: , , , |9 Comments
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