– Fat Agnes – 

In the free city of Regensburg lived Klara, the daughter of a tinsmith, who was usually called the “Liebfrauenbildlein”; because she was exceedingly beautiful in face and figure. She grew up to be, god-fearing, devote and honourable, as it befits a fine virgin.

One Sunday, when she returned home from the early mass, it happened that a stately nobleman came in her way; he was dressed in velvet and precious finery and wore a heavy gold chain on his chest and a beret with big feathers on his head. And when he saw the lovely maiden, he stopped and looked after her, almost shocked, until she went around the corner. The next Monday, according to her habit, Klara was at mass at St. Cassian’s, and when she stepped out of the church, the nobleman stood there and greeted her. And on Tuesday he greeted her again and suddenly put a little letter into her hand. Hence the virgin blushed deeply and thought she was holding a glowing coal between her fingers. But she did not want to drop the letter in fear of the gossip. Instead she carefully hid it in her scarf, with the intention of throwing it into the fire at home. And if she had done so, she would have been spared great suffering.

But in her small chamber she thought different, because she liked the delicately folded parchment, but especially the gold embroidered ribbon with which it was wrapped. And as she was pondering and turning the little letter back and forth in her hand, suddenly a little voice, like the chirping of a cricket, said to her: “Well, you foolish thing, why do you hesitate so long? Hot off the press! Dead letters don’t bite.” But whoever spoke like this? It was a tiny, barely inch-high woman, crouching in a corner at the fireplace. At first the maiden was horrified by the spook; but because the little one seemed to be untroubled and even acted friendly, she let herself be persuaded and reached for the scissors. And at the moment the tape was cut, the woman grew one finger length higher.

On Wednesday, Klärchen did not go to mass, but locked herself in her chamber as if she were ill. In the meantime, however, she looked for the letter again and read how the nobleman had developed a fierce love for her and could never let go of her and wanted to serve her as an honourable, honest suitor. Such a thing was written in the letter with even fancy words. And while she was still reading, the woman appeared again and cried, “Listen, my daughter! Don’t you hear the sound of spurs in the alley?” And Klärchen hurried to the window and saw the nobleman walking along. He noticed her hiding behind the curtain, because the lovesick have hawk’s eyes. And he greeted up, and she greeted down. But the woman giggled up her sleeve and was growing as high as a shoe, even though it had only been finger-length before.

Thursday, during the meal, the tinsmith scolded his daughter, “You dream in broad daylight and throw more salt into the soup than my palate would like, and the cat steals the meat from the pot before your very eyes.” Towards evening, in the twilight, the woman came back and carried a box of ebony under her arm and said, “Take it. It’s a memento from your suitor.” But Klara stepped back and replied: “Go away, temptress! A virtuous virgin shall not take gifts.”

Then the woman departed grumbling; but at the door she turned around again and said, “A gift is better than a purchase. Think well and see what you despise.” With these words the little woman opened the box, and – o glory! – Inside was a magnificent necklace of vain gold and richly set with pearls and precious stones. The flickering and sparkling enchanted Klärchen and her eyes began to sparkle too. She took the box and stepped in front of the mirror and enjoyed the finery very much. The woman applauded and shouted: “Now you may carry your nose as high as the Countess Monika does.” On Friday they went so far that the nobleman climbed over the garden wall in the darkness and came into the alcove for a little chat. – The little woman was already a cubit high today. – The nobleman talked quite intimately with the tinsmith’s daughter and told her even more beautiful things than he had written in the letter. Meanwhile the woman kept watch at the entrance of the alcove, and – lo and behold! – with every word of love and every handshake it grew an inch in height and an inch in thickness.

And when the couple stepped out of the alcove on Saturday, there stood a superhuman-sized woman with the circumference of a beer barrel. Klara was frightened and screamed, “What are you doing here, you brute?”; But the giantess just laugh loud and replied: “How, my daughter, do you not know your old friend anymore? I am Fat Agnes, and you have kept me well and fed me so much that I, at first a tiny thumb, have grown so tall and fat.”

It is to be known, however, that the fat Agnes was a hellish ghost, which was roaming the city at the time. Initially in the form of a thumb-length woman, it lured people from the right path by those idom and common phrases that guilty pleasure uses to gloss over its actions. And where it was not banned by prayer and devoutness, it stayed like a vampire and sucked itself full and prospered and grew to a ghastly monster.

Klärchen, poor Klärchen: After the nobleman had had his amusement with her for some time, he left her, not bothered by her reproaches and tears, and married the daughter of a rich family. Same things happened to other virgins who had been involved with Agnes, and some of them fell so low that their names were later found in the register of the Reichstag, who, as is well known, was entrusted with the care of the travelling prostitutes.

As far as the menfolk were concerned, the ghost especially seduced young people, who had untold amounts of money in their fingers. It whispered in their ear: “A few pennies will not harm your Lord – he does not feel it. A penny ain’t a silver coin!” Several of these bewitched journeymen started just with a grab into the cash register and ended up as highwaymen.

Such moral corruption made the wise council of Regensburg very much concerned, and they seriously thought about how to master the spook. Physical weapons, however, did not work on him, and so the venerable Minorite Monks were approached for aiding and abetting. According to the legend, they did not easily banish the ghost into the deep cellar of a desolate house at Bäckenspreng. It could still be heard whimpering and groaning for many years afterwards, to the horror of everyone passing by, in the time between the sounds of prayer and the crow of the rooster.

After arriving in Luxembourg late in the evening i wandered around in the Petrustal, the neighborhood of my hostel, with is World Heritage. In the morning i met up with Claudine Bechet-Metz, who works for the city at the Culture Office. We strolled through Luxembourg and talked about her work and she showed me some of her favorite places. We f.e. visited the black Madonna at the Johannes church and the Melusina statue designed in 2013.

Next i met up with Gilles Genot. I already heard the romantic version of the Melusina legend from Claudine. He gave me a tour of the Letzebuerg City Museum and we talked about the historic background of the Melsusina legend and its meaning behind it. But Gilles also showed me the Schueberfouer exposition he curated at the museum.  Sadly i was  just about too late to visit the real Schueberfouer funfair that is taking place annually in the city. The funfair was founded by John the Blind, King of Bohemia and Count of Luxembourg,  in 1340. And it will be soon part of the intangible World Heritage, Gilles told me. This would be the second intangible World Heritage after the Echternach dancing procession that is specific to Luxembourg.

On our way to the Bock plateau, Gilles drew my attention to small Melusina details that are spread all over the old town like the sandstone panel with  a depiction of a mermaid under the balcony of the Palais Grand-Ducal. At the Brock plateau we talked more about Luxembourg’s history and Gilles showed me the spot where Melusina allegedly sat when Sigmund first laid eyes on her. You can read all about the famous legend of Luxembourg if you scroll down. After lunch i met up with Robert Philippart. In his position as a UNESCO site manager for town and fortress of Luxembourg we talked a lot about the organisation and discussed different viewpoints people have on World Heritage. Before sundown i visited the Kasematten, a network of caverns underneath the city which are part of the fortress.

I also tried out the Unesco bike tour and was pleasantly surprised. On my bike tour i really enjoyed spectacular view from the special bike bridge that is located directly underneath the Grand Duke Adolf bridge. It was the perfect way to discover Luxembourg as a whole and not only the city center. Where Brussels is a constant mix, Luxembourg is like all typical city types combined in to one. But because of its special topography it does not not feel thrown together and overwhelming. All quarters are bit segregated by the hills and plateaus Luxembourg is built on. The charming old town, the modern business quarter, the quite suburbs, the beautiful green Petrustal.  All could be their own complete town, but together they form a perfect city.

During the day i met up for lunch with Shaaf Milani-Nia, a city architect. We talked about future projects, like f.e. a third city elevator and the  reinstatement of the riverbed, and about how she is working together with the locals and what their opinions are about World Heritage.

I stayed in Luxembourg during mobility week. All week i could use the buses for free. From next year on an, all regional transit in Luxembourg will be free. So i think i have to come back and discover the rest of the Dukedom.

 

 

– Melusina –

Many hundreds of years ago a noble knight, Count Siegfried, lived at Körich Castle. Once he lost his way while hunting, and toward evening he found himself in a narrow, deep, and wildly overgrown valley. This was the Valley of the Alzette at the place where today the suburbs of Luxembourg City picturesquely blend with the cliffs. Rising before him, the count could see sheer rock cliffs, upon which stood the ruins of an ancient Roman castle. Suddenly the sounds of wonderful singing fell upon the startled knight’s ears. After listening for a time, the count hurried in the direction that the sounds were coming from, and soon he discovered a maiden sitting among the castle’s ruins. Captivated by her beauty, he stood still. It was Melusina, the Nixie of the Alzette. With a fixed gaze Siegfried stared at the otherworldly vision. Seeing the handsome knight, the maiden covered her face with her green veil, then disappeared with the last rays of the evening sun. Overcome with fatigue, Count Siegfried lay down beneath a tree and fell asleep. The next morning the song of a bird awoke him from a blissful dream. He got up and followed the river. He soon found himself in the familiar vicinity of Weimerskirch, and from there he returned straight away to his homeland.

The vision of the beautiful maiden and her wonderful singing had mightily captivated the count’s soul. He often returned to the place, now very dear to him, in order to see her and hear her again. Once he met her in the valley, for she took pleasure in the count’s visits, and she had fallen in love with the handsome knight. He rushed toward her, declared his love for her, and asked her to become his wife. She consented under the condition that she not be required to leave the cliffs, and that he would never ask to see her on Saturdays, when she wished to be alone. Under oath the count promised this to her.

Siegfried entered into an agreement with the Abbot of St. Maximin near Trier to trade the former’s fruitful commune of Feulen near Ettelbruck for the latter’s infertile rocky cliffs and their surrounding woodlands. Because it would have taken years of time and great expense to build a castle on the rocky cliffs, where he could take Melusina home as his wife, Siegfried gladly accepted the help of Satan, who offered to build the castle for him and make him exceedingly wealthy if the count would surrender himself after thirty years. At the top of the cliffs a magnificent castle appeared overnight, proudly looking down on the valley below.

Siegfried married the beautiful Melusina and lived happily with her. Melusina presented him with seven children. However, every Saturday the nixie remained hidden from all eyes, retiring to her room and locking the door. This proceeded for many long years without her husband asking her what she was doing on those days. However, his friends, who with time learned about the situation, planted seeds of distrust in the count against his good wife. Now, at any price, Siegfried wanted to know why Melusina withdrew from him every Saturday. The next Saturday he secretly approached her room. From inside he could hear the sound of rushing and splashing water. Looking into the room through the keyhole he saw his wife in her bathtub combing her long blond hair with a golden comb. Her beautiful limbs ended with a horrible fishtail, with which she was splashing waves. The count uttered a cry of horror, and in the same moment Melusina sank into the depths of the cliffs. Siegfried had lost her forever.

– The End –

 

That is the lengthy and detailed version of the legend about the woman who is said to have been the wife of the founder of Luxembourg, Count Siegfried.  Every child in Luxembourg knows the story of the mermaid, its even told at school. In a survey Luxembourger were ask who they thought are important figures from Luxembourg. On fourth place many people mentioned Melusina. Even tough every adult knows that mermaids aren’t real, some of them still think Melusina is a real historical figure.

There are also tales surrounding the whereabouts of the mythical mermaid: Once every seven years, Melusina returns, either as a serpent with a golden key in its mouth or as a beautiful woman. All it will take to win her freedom is for some brave soul to kiss the womanly vision or take the key from the serpent’s mouth. Other stories speak about  Melusina appearing every seven years in human form above the cliffs, asking people to redeem her. If this does not happen, the white figure soars over the city crying, “Not for another seven years!” then sinks back into the cliffs.

Those stories are the reason why, when Luxembourg was still a fortress, sentry duty, especially at night, was not very popular. One time a courageous soldier who had traded shifts with a comrade was standing guard on the cliff-top. Melusina appeared to him in the form of a beautiful maiden and asked him to redeem her. She told him that it would be a difficult, but not impossible, task. However, he should not attempt it if he thought that he might not succeed, because if he failed she would sink three times deeper into the earth. While she was thus speaking there arose a mighty rumbling sound around the cliffs, causing the soldier to fear that they were about to collapse.

The soldier promised to fulfill Melusina’s wish. She said that for the nine following days, every night at exactly twelve o’clock, neither one minute earlier nor one minute later, he would have to appear behind the altar of the Dominican Church. On the tenth evening she would appear to him in the form of a fiery serpent with a key in her mouth. With his mouth he would have to take the key from her mouth and then throw it into the Alzette River, which would redeem her. For eight nights the soldier stood behind the appointed altar at precisely twelve o’clock, but on the ninth night he arrived late. Returning to his quarters he heard such howling and screeching coming from the cliffs that he thought all the wild animals were fighting one another in the air. However, no other person heard the noise.

According to another legend, Melusina is imprisoned within the rock that helped form Luxembourg City’s tremendous defenses. She passes the time by knitting, but thankfully she manages only one stitch each year, because should she finish her knitting before she’s released, all of Luxembourg and its people will vanish into the rock with her. It is also said that whenever Luxembourg City is threatened by danger or mishap, Melusina circles the cliffs while crying out mournfully.

On my way to Luxembourg spontaneously stopped in Brussels for a short stop. The capital of Belgium was a bit of a shock for me.  Never have i ever traveled for so long alone and after staying in Bruges, Lille, Brest, Nantes and La Rochelle, i think i was used to small and/or quite cities.  Even the bigger cities like Budapest and Bordeaux could not compare to this city. The feeling was totally different. I stayed in a youth hostel in the turkish quarter. I visited all the big places i could fit into my small time frame: Grand Place, Royal Palace, Bourse, Art Nouveau Quarter, the Atom, the Cathedral and the Mont des Arts.

If New York is the city that never sleeps, than Brussels for me is the city that never passes up the chance to celebrate something. In the one and an half days i stayed there they had a free comic festival, a free electronic music festival, a beer fest, a stage at the Grand Place with traditional music  and many markets like a flee market and a turkish market. Tom, a local, told me himself  that Brussels can be overwhelming, weird and confusing at first and that is the way i felt half of the time i stayed there. The wild mix of architecture, from decorative, golden guild houses to big, glass office buildings in the next street. But i also learned to love the people in and their mentality. Tom told me a lot of funny but untrue tales and the special ways the people of Brussels dealt with problems. For  example they just covered the river Zenne in the late 19th century with earth instead of cleaning it up. It had become a health hazard because everybody used it as their trash can.

Its really good to have a tram card in Brussels. You can visit all the quarters.  Brussels has 19 mayors because why have one if you can have for one for every part of the city. My favorite places to spend time were the terrace on Place Poelaert Plein by sundown with a view over the hole city, eating congolese food at the Rue de la Longue Vie in Little Africa and the comic festival was pretty amazing too.

 

 

 

 

 

– Manneken Pis –

The legend of Brussels is not something new to anybody. I’m sure even every tourist knows about it after one day. Some might have guessed it already, it’s the famous Manneken Pis. Located in the old part of Brussels near the Grand Place a little bronze boy urinates in to a fountain and everybody loves him. The statue was designed in 1388 naked but nowadays you see him dressed up most of the time and you even can visit the  Musée de la Ville  where all of his clothes are on display. Because the statue is so beloved by the locals many armed forces have tried to steal it in the past. The story goes that after the french grenadiers stationed in Brussels attempted to steal in 1747, the population rebelled against this deed and threatened a bloody revenge. To calm things down, the King of France  offered a outfit made of brocade, embroidered with gold for Manneken Pis. He also allowed him to carry a sword and gave the statue the Cross of St. Louis, the royal french military order.

There are more than one origin story of the Manneken Pis statue.  The most common one, at least of that i know, is about a little peasant boy. The little boy wandered around out side the city gates as he heard enemies forces approaching and he hid. He saw how they buried dynamite underneath the gates to blow up the city gates and walls. He did not quite understand all the enemies whispered to each other but he knew it was not something good. The boy did’t not know what to do. There was no time to get a adult or warn someone so he got to the end of the fuse and urinated on it. And so a little peasant boy put out the dynamite and saved Brussels.

Other stories take about the little Duke Godfrey III of Leuven, a two-year old that was hung in a basket from a tree to bring the troops luck during a battle in Ransbeke. From high up he urinated on the enemies and they lost the battle. Another legend speaks of the son of a noble man, who left a procession to urinate on the wall of a witch’s house. Furiously the witch transformed him into the statue.

Near Manneken Pis you can also find his sister Jeanneke Pis. But she has not so much history to her. A restaurant owner put her up to get more business. There is also statue of a dog urination. So you can see the fame of Manneken Pis really caught on.

 

 

– The Legend of the Golden Eel – 

Long ago, when the Golden Handrei was still called the Sint-Gillisreitje, the water of the canals was so pure that it was filled to the brim with all kinds of fish. You only had to throw your net in to the water and within minutes it would be filled miraculously with perch, bream, pike, carp, roach and eel. There was a lot of fishing going on in the canals. But it was generally known, to better stay away from eel. The eel looks like a snake-like creature, that lazily lay under the mud all day and only comes out at night. The animal must therefore be possessed by the devil the people of Bruges said. There was an unwritten law that prohibited fishing for eels. You better not get the devil out of the water …

Now there was a man, it is said that he came from Lissewege, who did not care much about those laws and traditions. One evening he laid a trap in the Sint-Gillisreitje. The next morning, he picked it up full of winding eels. His eyes sparkled with pleasure because he caught so many delicious fish. His wife would make a nice mess of it. They would not have to fear for a hungry stomach for a few days.

To his surprise he saw that there was also a beautiful golden-yellow eel winding between the others. Curious, he lifted the trap a little higher to hoist the golden eel on dry land. As he was pulling the fish out, a strong, golden hand suddenly arose from the water. It grabbed the fisherman by the ankle and dragged him into the water. No one has ever heard anything from the poor wretch and since then the inhabitants of Lisseweg have been called mockingly “the eel catchers”.

– The End –

Till this day it is rumoured that you can see at night in the moonlight, a shining golden hand, in which a golden eel twists, rising from the water at where the fisherman vanished. It is as if the devil himself wants to warn the fishermen to stop fishing for eels. Luckily this is not possible, since that day all eels disappeared from the “Reien” (the canals running trough the city) and they never returned.

 

Bruges is a beautiful city. The old town really looks like a postcard. But because of the exceptional big amount of preserved historic buildings, it’s very attractive for tourists. And too many of them are coming to Bruges. Since 2016 the visitor numbers have risen almost a million per year.  In 2018 there were 8.3 million visitors compared to 20000 residents in the Unesco protected city center.  Because of the rising numbers Buges doesn’t even promote itself anymore. From the 8.3 million visitors 6 million are day trippers, meaning that they don’t stay overnight. They spend only half of the money that regular tourists spend on their trip. Were other cities are campaigning for more visitors to bring revenue to the tourist sector, Bruges is drowning in them. But sadly it’s not the right kind of tourists.

One day doesn’t do Bruges justice.  Outside the busy old town i found many gems. I went to the Volkskundemuseum “De zwarte Kat” (The black cat) and lost myself in the oldtimey rooms. I especially liked the pharmacy, the full functioning confectionery  and folkloric games. Speaking of cats Bruges has also a cat cafe called Puss and Books, were you also can adopt cats. Near the cafe you can find a neighborhood guerrilla gardening project. Another wonderful relaxing place is the windmills. After that go along Langestraat fo find second hand and alternative shops.

My real highlight was kind of a suprise find. The Heilige Magdalenakerk church behind the Konigin Astridpark. The YOT hosts exhibitions, plays and concerts there.  But even without a event the transformed church is worth a visit.  I relaxed on the big swing that hangs from the painted high ceiling and  enjoyed the original glass windows. 

In Bruges I met up with Minou Esquenet and Leentje Gunst in Bruges to talk about the World Heritage, tourism and how both affect the city and it’s locals. Because I had the chance to talk to a city official in Bordeaux too, i now could ask question to compare World Heritage Citys from an other standpoint.  On of the my questions was about ecotourism because it was so clear to me that Bruges is swamped by tourists. We also talked about the brand new four-leafed clover plan, which is a concept to chance tourism and it’s effects on Bruges. There are four pillars to ensure the plan works: the balanced, connected, attractive and enterprising city.

By 2024 the city wants tourists that stay longer, have more sustainable and accessible tourism and locals that love to live in the city and don’t feel stressed by the tourists. Even though most of the locals support tourism and for some their income depends on it, one third sees the rising numbers as a threat to livability and one fourth thinks tourists are causing everyday inconvenience.

I also had the chance to visit the new Gruuthusemuseum and talk to Leentje, a city architect, about the architecture of Bruges. Everybody talks about the new pavilion you see in the picture right here. It was built on to the estate as a information and ticket center. Compared to the surrounding buildings the pavilion looks quite abstract and new. The sharp roofs are inspired by the classic Bruges house.  Many locals protest that the pavilion does not fit in and want it removed. It is important to keep in mind that Unesco does not only stand for preserving, we can and should change things , else we have no world heritage to give and future generation will live in a museum. Bruges city center is so well preserved and so it seems that for some locals this little pavilion is to much change.

– La terrible legende du dragon de la rue de la Vieille Tour – 

as told to me by a local:

Once there was a dragon who would bring illness to the people and let the fields full of crops burn, so that the citizens would have nothing to eat anymore. He lived up high in a tower in Bordeaux and would only stop terrorizing the locals if he would get young virgins as a sacrifice every Sunday. So the city would offer him poor girls from the streets to keep him satisfied.

But one day a girl from a richer family offered to go. She took a lot of wine and fresh food with her. Because she had a plan to talk to the dragon and hopefully find out his weakness to free the city from this terror.  Luckily when she went in to the tower the dragon did not eat her immediately. The girl was intelligent and had a lot of wit, the dragon enjoyed talking to her.  And he also enjoyed the food and especially lots of the wine. As the night went on the dragon told her his secret: only the holy staff of a saint could kill him. The girl quick wrote this down and threw little pieces of paper out of the window when the dragon wasn’t looking. Of course the people found the clues and searched everywhere for the staff but the weapon was nowhere to be found in Bordeaux. Actually a town near Bordeaux called Limoges had the staff but when the people of Bordeaux asked for it, they wouldn’t give it to them. They were afraid that they would never get it back. But the Bordeaux people begged and even agreed to send sons of the rich families as hostage to Limoges as insurance.  

The staff was traded and when the bishop hurried to the tower and touched the wall, the frightened dragon burst out in a stunning noise and jumped into the Garonne where he went up in flames and smoke. Nicolette was saved and all the people of Bordeaux gave her a wonderful celebration. She was proposed to by a rich and beautiful lord of the region. But the staff was never given back, because they just washed and dressed up some poor men of the streets that they did’t want them back.

– The End –

I loved the story and the way the french lady told it to me but of course i had to research a bit more. So here are some additional info about the legend:

The name of the girl allegedly was Nicolette. She was very pretty, very intelligent and a ploughman’s daughter. The dragon told her he could only be forced to leave the tower by presenting him with the miraculous stick of Saint Martial, a pastoral staff endowed with miraculous powers, which Pope Saint Peter had given to Martial a long time ago before sending him to convert Aquitaine to Christianity. The staff had been in the Limoges Cathedral for years. Twelve jurats from Bordeaux were sent to Limoges to negotiate the loan of the famous staff, six were held hostage to guarantee the loan and the staff of Saint Martial finally arrived in Bordeaux. The sad end of the story tells us that the people of Bordeaux, having learned of the other magical powers of the St Martial’s staff, in particular its ability to bring rain, decided to keep it in the Basilica of St Seurin. As for the hostages, in other sources i read that they were not jurats but in fact poor heirs paid for this mission. Because of the Bordeaux refusal to return the staff of St Martial, they were buried up to their necks and massacred in a square in Limoges.

The legend about a dragon in Bordeaux originates from a time, in that the city of Bordeaux belonged to the English.  In the famous tower there was a cannon, used to announce the curfew or to sound the alarm in time of war. At the top of the tower, floated the english standard decorated with leopards that the Bordeaux people called “dragons”. Extraordinary things were reported very quickly about the tower and the children who were shouting were threatened to be handed over to the dragon. Even though in the legend the dragon dies, scary stories of a dragon in the tower continued to be told to the children so that they would remain well-behaved.

The dragon’s tower allegedly still stands today, but now it’s part of Hôtel Tour Intendance so you can’t visit it anymore, a tour guide told me.

Bordeaux – the Port of the Moon always has been and will be a melting pot of cultures and ideas. A local told me that the only people not welcome in Bordeaux are those who want to keep people out. And that’s exactly the feeling i got from my stay in the city.  Bordeaux has a proud number of 347 listed UNESCO buildings. Wandering through the city, i noticed a lot of them: the Basilique Saint-Michel, Cathédrale Saint-André, the Grosse Cloche and other belfries and city gates. Colorful wooden shop facades and many beautiful green areas. For over a decade the city is working on transforming itself into a much greener place. Every year the city f.e. plants at least 1000 trees, from this year on, the new major, doubled the goal.

Tourism increased immensely since Bordeaux became World Heritage in 2007. The city tries to minimize the impact of tourism f.e. by allowing only 50 cruise ships a year into the port. And there are other World Heritage sites only an one or two hour train ride away. This helps to stretch out the the big tourists numbers in summer. The city is perfectly situated for day trips f.e. to St. Émilion with it’s amazing monolithic church carved out of a limestone cliff. Bordeaux and St. Émilion are both very famous for wine, which is an intangible World Heritage as part of French cuisine since 2010.  But more importantly on it’s own as the ancient Georgian traditional Qvevri wine-making method. In Bordeaux i visited the new wine museum Cité du Vin and studied up on some wine facts.

In front of the World Heritage Center of Bordeaux at the Place de la Bourse is a unusual sight: The Miroir d’eau was built by the city as a meeting place. For rich, poor, locals, travelers, adults, children … In the summer is also perfect for dogs to cool down. The mirror is even more spectacular in the summer months when the water transforms into a field of fog every 15 minutes.

While staying in Bordeaux i got the chance to meet with Leila, a architect from the city. We talked a lot about the measures that are in place to keep the city as beautiful as it is. The world heritage of Bordeaux includes many 18th houses and shops, which are in use every day. That’s why the regulations for the old town are very strict: f.e. the doors should always be painted in classic colors. A deep blue, red or green is fine, but no pastels. Leila also goes from house to house documenting every building . This work is time consuming but she says she loves it, because she gets to go out of the office . She also often gets approached by people who are interested in her work and wanna discuss or make her aware of a problem in the area.

 

 

Before flying to Bordeaux, I stayed two nights in Treviso. This little town in the north of Venice is more interesting than i thought. In the city center i meet up with Alberto, who showed me around and told me all he knew about the place he been living in for three years. F.e. that italy’s most famous creamy delicious dessert – the tiramisu was born here.  Treviso is also know for being the original production area of prosecco wine and radicchio. Another claim to fame is a mention in Dantes novel “Paradiso”. Treviso was for a long time independent. But when the fights and intrigues between the powerful families of the region became so bad, the city gave itself over to the Republic of Venice in the 12th century.

I visited Venice twice before. The first time as a child. I really did not enjoy the city then. Too busy, hot as hell, you can’t move freely and full of street shops and pigeons. Maybe the touristic one day trip with my parents and a bus full of elders wasn`t perfect time to get to know the city either. ⁠ ⁠ The second time i went to Venice on a schooltrio. We stayed in Jesolo and visited the 56 Biennial. Even though we ran around around in a big group, it was a different experience. In the evenings after the art exhibitions we wander around with belly’s full of tiramisu and italian vine. Sitting at the water and singing italian songs, well rather butchering them.⁠ ⁠ This time I avoided the busy streets too, went right on a cruse along the shore and visited the Biennial, showing the ever growing evolution of art. ⁠

The Nordic Pavilion at the #biennale in Venice was my favorite last year. The motto for the Pavilion was: “Weather Report: Forecasting Future centres around the varied relations between the human and the nonhuman in an age when climate change and mass extinction are threatening life on the Earth.”⁠

     

After spending half of the day strolling through the international pavilions and the rest wandering on the end of the some of the 118 small islands, i had to say that the city really deserves it’s nicknamed: La Serenissima – the serene. Big sites like Piazza San Marco, can’t show the full beauty of the city. That’s why i urge everybody who wants to visit to stay of the main streets and discover more of the hidden gems of Venice.

 

– Legend(ary Person) of Venice-

Giacomo Casanova was a real person but already in his time a literal legend. Like in Verona i too searched for legends about Venedig. I found a Legend about but it was very similar to the legend i wanted to use for Regensburg. So i decided to find out more about a real venetian legend. Giacomo Casanova is a lot like the city itselfs, especially in his time. The republic of Venice  and its capital in the 18th century was a cultural seductive epicenter with ruthless politicians and colorful celebrities.  eared  One can say many things about Casanova: lover, asshole, hero, rapist, seducer, etc. I mean the word Casanova is still in use today to describe a person who romances everybody. Your own , if that is not something to be proud of, I don’t know what is.

Born 1725 to two actors, Gaetano Casanova and Zanetta Farussi, not only inherited his acting skills but also mother/father complex. Left by his mother at a young age to tour Europe,   and his father died. As a child he was treated by a witch for his involuntarily nosebleeds. The “witch” treated him and told him he’d be visited by a beautiful stranger. Later that night, a dazzling woman climbed down the chimney and spoke to him in words he couldn’t understand, and kissed him. In his book L’Histoire de Ma Vie – The Story of My Life he writes that this was the first of many times, a woman’s touch changed the course of his life. His health improved, and in less than a month he learned to read. Casanova said about himself: “I was born for the sex opposite to mine”.

Casanovas life was filled with wondrous, adventurous stories like that.  That’s why the lines between reality and fiction get blurred when it comes to Casanova and years, hundreds of years, later people still are obsessed with him.

Despite reaching impressive heights in society for his station, Giacomo Casanova’s connections couldn’t buy him freedom — or innocence. After returning home in 1753, he ran from of the Venetian Inquisition, which sought to maintain order and Catholic orthodoxy. After getting arrested, Casanova pulled off one of the greatest jailbreaks in history on Halloween in 1756. After that he turned his back on Venice to continue a life of unapologetic debauchery else where.