Four Cities, Four Stars

Me: I will miss you.
Paul: Nah. You will be too busy having fun.
Me: I had so much travel last year. I wanted to take it easy this year.
Paul: But here you go again and to Europe this time.
Me: Last year I went to Canada, Mexico and India.
Paul: And which countries will you visit this year?
Me: Netherlands, Germany and Austria.
Paul: What if they run out of room in your passport for stamps?
Me: You are being silly.
Paul: Have fun.


And I had so much fun.  You know when you have an extraordinary experience, the memory lingers long after the actual event is over?  I have been back for a week now and I am still smiling.
And the stories...oh the stories of the handsome ticket agent, the cute waiter, the night we broke the key in the lock, the day when Nina and I had a fight and went in different directions...and eventually made up.

But let's start from the beginning. Our first stop was Amsterdam.

Just the right color

But slightly big

 I am not wealthy.  But I do live a rich life :-)

Windmill Cruise, Lisse. Near Amsterdam

Windmill. Can you spot the clogs?

The following pictures are from the Keukenhof tulip gardens near Amsterdam.  The challenge was to pick a few pictures from the 200+ that I took.

Just wow!!!

Indoor display

So happy to be here

Look at the thick whorls

This is how sunshine is captured!!!

Still tulips - but unlike any other

Second stop - Hamburg.  Mell came to the airport.

with Mell near Alster river

We went to see the famous church lovingly called Michel by the locals.  A very long wait for the very tiny elevator led us to the top for gorgeous views of the city.

View from Michel

 See the space needle in the back?  We saw that again next day.

View of the Harbor

You know, we quilters can find fabric anywhere.  A woman in the church was carrying this bag with cute cat fabric. Forgive me, lord for my eyes strayed away from the altar.

Cute cats 

After a long day of flying in plane, sightseeing on foot, traveling in car, boat and train, I suggested to eat dinner at home. Mell prepared the vegetables and I made the chicken.

Making Coconut Chicken in Mell's kitchen

I was done. Exhausted. Ready to pass out. But Mell had other ideas. We are going to the fair, she declared.

Poffertjes - a Dutch treat

I am glad I went because I loved these sweet treats at the fair. Similar to silver dollar pancakes, they are eaten with nutella, bananas or caramel.

At the fair

At night, I got to sleep with friendly ghosts :-D
Nina said that the ghosts are upside down.  And I said - Not from my perspective :-)

Tired but Happy

Nina had brought a saree for Mell.  Of course, Mell is free to cut it up and use it as fabric for whatever.  But just once, we wanted to see her dressed in a saree. Mell let us.

Doesn't she look lovely?

 Please  ignore my pink/orange sock in the background.  And focus on the beautiful garden below.

Planten un Blomen

Japanese Garden within the Planten un Blomen

I am still eating and sharing the candy that Mell gave us.

My co-worker loves the candy

The candy that comes with a legend

I also managed to get some of Mell's scraps. They are going to find their way in the next scrap vortex quilt.

Mell's scraps for me

And they came in this cute zippered bag. How appropriate!!!

Hamburg is beautiful and the weather could not have been better. Mell was a terrific hostess. She made sure that Nina and I were spoiled rotten. I wish I could have spent more time with her but Cologne beckoned to us.

If you go to Cologne and want to see the Cathedral, ask for directions to the Dom.
It has two spires, no dome, I complained to the local lady.
Oh and the Neumarkt is actually old and the Hauptmarkt is new, she added with eyes twinkling.

Inside the Cologne Cathedral (Dom to the locals)

Made sure to experience the city from the boat - a short cruise on the Rhein river.

Along the river Rhein

I am sure I could (ahem) afford an apartment overlooking the Rhein, just suspended over it.  But I am afraid of heights :-p  So I let it pass.

Brand new

There are over 250 churches in Cologne. I am sure that everyone is very devout :-)
We had just one day in Cologne so much left to be done.

And ancient

Really wanted to experience the trolley car but what was a gentle breeze for me was considered too windy for the trolley. The service was suspended :-(

I am sure I will revisit...

Vienna was the fourth and the last city on our trip.

Schonbrun Palace

A very windy day

There is picturesque architecture everywhere.
What to us in America will be a heritage site, tickets, no food allowed, do not touch etc, is just another retail/office area in Vienna. Drool away!!!

Vienna City Center

A desire to capture the bygone era

But people also want retail and restaurants

So there it is all mashed together - beautiful buildings with exquisite Gothic architecture serving as retail and office locations.

Beauty is everywhere

The next day we took a trip to Wachau valley, famous for its apricots.  The trip included a bus ride to the village of Durnstein on the banks of Danube.  Natural beauty on one side and ruins of a Medieval castle on the other. That is a rare combination.

Durnstein. Remnants of a medieval castle

Danube

 I did dip my feet into the water.  But for just 20 seconds. The water was very cold. YIKES.

Cobble stone path to the village

The second part of the trip consisted of a cruise on the Danube.  Extraordinary beauty along the way - ancient monasteries, old viaducts and cute little villages.

Schonbuhel Monastery

Don't know what this was - just picturesque

The cruise brought us to the town of Melk, home to one of the oldest monasteries - the Melk Abbey.  And although photography is not allowed inside, the pictures from the top of the Abbey are the best.

Melk

Gorgeous views!!!

Beautiful town

 Of course the actual Abbey has been destroyed, built and rebuilt a few times.

Melk Abbey

This is just a small sample of the pictures I took.  The hard part was picking just a few to share.

Question - What is the purpose of a first date?
Answer - To make the second date.

And Vienna made sure that I will return a second time.

As I showed pictures to Paul...
Me: Babe, we should go to Vienna. It is absolutely beautiful and there is so much to do.
Paul: Such as?
Me: Other than sights in the city, exquisite architecture, museums, palaces etc. we can take side trips to places like Budapest, Bratislava and the cruise on Danube.
Paul: Cruise on Danube?
Me: Yes, it was so romantic. I believe that my life will be incomplete if I don't do it with you.
Paul: What about my life?
Me: Let's not talk about that.
Paul: Such a brat.


I had been away from sewing/quilting for long enough. I dived into my UFO and finished a mini quilt. It has four interconnected stars.

Four Stars Mini

Love the greens

Rust and Orange

Purple with Stars

Yellow & Red - Like the tulips?

What a whirlwind of a trip that was?

Cute Cat Backing

Do you think this backing was inspired by the cute cat fabric I saw in Hamburg church? May be.
But then four cities mini trip were followed by a Four Stars mini quilt.  Guess coincidence is everywhere  :-)

In any case, finishing this mini felt awesome.  Do you have a Friday finish?
I will be checking out what others have been up to when I connect with all my favorite linky parties.
See full list on the sidebar.

A Friday Finish!!!

You'd think that the trip created a dent in my budget and so I would behave myself. I did too.
But then Connecting Threads announced wide backing is on sale...and I caved.

Wide Backing from Connecting Threads

Maisie's Daisies

I got all the four colors of Maisie's Daisies.
I mean how do you say no to 104" wide fabric priced at under $9/yard?


Angela has just announced the RSC 2019 color for May. It is ORANGE!!!
Did I scream? Just a bit :-)

Orange Fabrics :-)

Don't you look. Stop peeping. My ladies are getting dressed.
They will step out once they are ready. So what have you been up to?
I'd love to know.


Paul: This looks like a very long blogpost.
Me: Oh you don't know the half of it.
Paul: Will you tell?
Me: That is another blogpost :-)