The Liberty Bridge Accross Danube River in Budapest

Time truly runs so fast. It's been almost a month now since we visited Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. It was only a short trip but we had seen and experienced a lot of sights. The highlight of our visit was the fireworks during the National Holiday in Hungary.

The image you see below is the Liberty Bridge, called in Hungarian as Szabadság híd. It is sometimes Freedom Bridge. It connects Buda and Pest across the River Danube. It is the third southernmost public road bridge in Budapest, located at the southern end of the City Centre.

Szabadság híd or Liberty Bridge during our visit last Aug. 20, 2011

Cruising in Danube- From Spitz to Krems in Austria

It was only some hours cruise trip but a very fascinating and memorable one. I was with a friend Jean during that cruise. After we traveled from Gyor, Hungary to Wachau in Austria, we did had this wonderful cruise. It started in the Spitz, a wine town and ended in Krems, a riverside town in the Danube's Wachau Valley in Austria. These towns are famous tourist spots in Lower Austria.

The landscapes and scenery that we saw around are priceless. It was truly a wonderful trip last August 2011.

Spitz, this is where our cruise started.

Krems is where the cruise ended.

a castle that we passed-by during our trip.

Hohensalzburg Castle in Salzburg, Austria

It was during my third visit in Salzburg, Austria when I had the chance to go inside the Hohensalzburg Castle. The Festung Hohensalzburg which literally means "High Salzburg Fortress" is located on top of the Festungsberg mountain. It is one of the largest medieval castles in Europe with a a length of 250 m (820 ft) and a width of 150 m (490 ft).

From the you can have breath-taking views of Salzburg and the Alps. Inside the fortress is a museum of medieval weapons, life on the fortress, and torture instruments. Since we don't have so much time to hike up to the Fortress, we took the funicular. A family ticket cost 24.30 Euros.

Festung Hohensalzburg during my third visit last July 2011.
Construction of the fortress began in 1077 under Archbishop Gebhard von Helfenstein.

panorama of Salzburg from the Hohensalzburg Castle..taken last July 2011.

Cacti in Regensburger Dultfest

Dultfest is a festival in Regensburg held twice every year in this city. Maidult is celebrated every month of May and Herbsdult is sometime in September. One thing I love during the Herbsdult in Regensburg is that, you can see a lot of kiosks selling anything from clothing to food, kitchenwares, books, etcetera..

During our visit last 2009, there was this man that sells cacti. I want to buy some but we don't have a place anymore inside the house. Besides I already have some kinds of it.

the cacti for sale in Regensburger Dultfest. taken last September 2009.

Winter in Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle is one of the most famous castles in Germany. It was commissioned by the so-called Bavarian mad king named King Ludwig II. This castle was the inspiration of Disneyland' Sleeping Beauty castle.

Neuschwanstein Castle is located on a hill in Hohenschwangau near Fuessen (written as Füssen in German). I had been to this castle thrice and I always love it.

image taken during my second visit last November 2010. This is what you see upon entering the main entrance of the castle.

Beautiful Lilies in our Garden

We did some changes in our garden since April. I believed it looks better now than before. It is still not done and I hope before summer ends, everything will already be in order. I have a lot of kinds of flowers in our garden. One of it are the lilies. Some are dying now but still few are left. This afternoon I made some photos again but still did not uploaded it yet. I wish to share more images once I am done uploading.

I love gardening and simply love flowers! this was taken last year from our garden.

Weekend Trip To Italy

It seems that I was not able to update this blog for some days now. I am finally back and hope to give you more updates. I had a weekend trip to Italy last weekend with friends. It was a nice trip especially after all the shopping and sightseeing we had in some of the cities in Italy.

As we arrived last Saturday, we did some capodimonte shopping first. After that we proceeded to Verona, a city in the Veneto region in northern Italy. We spend the whole day last Sunday in Venice, one of the most visited cities in Italy.

The Bell tower in Saint Mark's Basilica..You can also see the Saint Mark's Basilica in the background at the left side. This is the so-called St. Mark's square or Piazza San Marco.

Verona Arena the famous sight in Verona, Italy.

Beautiful Winter in Bavaria

The sun is shining outside.
But I still remember the last beautiful winter,
When the surroundings were all white and snowy.
But I am very glad and thankful,
That spring time finally came,
And soon lovely summer too!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

-Ruby Benz.

taken on our way to Neuschwanstein castle in Schwangau, Bavaria, Germany last January 2011. I love this scenery but but happy that we are having sunshine at the moment.

A Visit to Vatican City

It was summer 2010 when I had the chance to visit Rome. Together with Nonna, a friend from the U.S., we also visited Vatican City and landed in St. Peter's Square, the famous square in Vatican. Piazza San Pietro, as it is called in Italian, is located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica.

We also had the chance to climb to the cupola of the Basilica. To reach the cupola, one must to climb 320 steps after taking the elevator. People especially the elderly who have ailments and heart problems must be aware of this. We had a great experience as we visited this part of Rome.

St. Peter's Square and the St. Peter's Basilica in the background. taken last August 2010.

May is Finally Here

Happy Monday everyone! Here we are again on the first week of another month. The fifth month of the year is finally here. This month has a length of 31 days. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere part of the globe, you are currently having an Autumn season. I currently live in Europe which is located in Northern Hemisphere, therefore, we are currently having a spring season. This is one of my favorite time in the year, where most flowers start to bloom.

I still have some tulips blooming in our garden but most of it are dying now. Don't you know that the month of May has been named for the Greek goddess Maia, who was identified with the Roman era goddess of fertility, Bona Dea, whose festival was held in May? If you were born in the month of May, your birthstone is the emerald which means love or success. Its birth flower is the Crataegus monogyna and the Lily of the Valley. It is quite interesting to know some things about this month.

Here some of tulips from our garden taken last month. Now, they are almost gone. I will see them again next year.

Spring 2011 in our garden.

My Beautiful Tulips are Here Again

Good day everyone! The weather outside right now is just perfect. It is sunny and everything around are turning to green. I also spent some time in our garden this morning, checking about the blooming flowers. My beautiful tulips are finally here. Some are currently in good blooms and some are just starting to bear flowers. The hyacinths, narcissus, violas and primulas are also showing its beauties. I simply love plants and flowers.

the beautiful tulips in our garden. I love it!

Shopping and Sightseeing in Würzburg

I would say, it was only a window shopping. Me and my friend from the United States had a sightseeing in Würzburg (Wuerzburg), a city in Bavaria, Germany. It was during her three weeks vacation in Europe last year. It was quite a nice trip we had in this city.

I forgot to mentioned that my friend had a very good deal of a yellow benetton umbrella. She bought it and bring it with her to the U.S.

a shopping street in Würzburg, Germany. taken last August 2010.

Saying Goodbye to Winter

Good morning Europe! Good day everyone! We are having sunshine again. I guess spring is fast approaching. I noticed yesterday, while looking on our garden, that the tulips are slowly growing. I hope we can finally say goodbye to winter. I don't need it right now. I can't wait to see the flowers in our garden again. I am quite excited to go gardening soon. Thanks God for the very nice weather today!

I am saying goodbye to winter. No more snow please. Here is an image taken last December 2010. I also wish everyone a beautiful and wonderful month of March.

snow time last December 2010.. such a fairytale scene but I want to say goodbye to winter now. Take care folks. I'll see you later again. Off to a Fasching or carnival in a nearby city.

I Love King Ludwig's Castle, The Neuschwanstein Castle

Schloss Neuschwanstein or simply Neuschwanstein Castle was commissioned by Kind Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, Germany. It is also said that this castle was the inspiration of Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle. It is one of the beautiful castles I visited in Europe.

Literally, Neuschwanstein is composed of three German words; Neu, Schwan and Stein which consecutively mean New, Swan and Stone. I guess my German translation to English is correct.

the main entrance to Neuschwanstein Castle. It was so foggy during our visit last November 2010.

taken during my second visit last November 2010. I had been to this thrice already..and yes, if given the chance, I will still keep on coming back....simply because I love this castle.

No More Snow Please

Honestly, I don't need snow anymore. The snow especially last December was already too much. I am just happy that the weather is getting better. I mean, not snowing anymore from the past weeks. Some places in Germany are still experiencing snow but not in our place.

Here is one of the images I took the other week.

I was driving back home when I took this image. I miss the warm weather now. We had sunshine when this photo was taken but the weather was still cold that time.

Visit to the Colosseum in Rome, Italy

I once visited Rome in Italy. Me and my friend Nonna had a great time seeing the amazing wonders of architecture in Rome last summer 2010. One of the sights we visited was the Colosseum, an Amphitheater in this city.

The Colosseum's original Latin name was Amphitheatrum Flavium, often anglicized as Flavian Amphitheater. The building was constructed by emperors of the Flavian dynasty, hence its original name, after the reign of Emperor Nero.

Beautiful Sunday!

I am just thankful that I had a very wonderful weekend. Last Saturday, I had the chance to visit again for the third time the famous Neuschwanstein castle of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Thanks to my friends for the invitation to go with them. Yesterday, I had a relaxing and nice day too. I had a walk with hubby in the winter wonderland. It was simply a beautiful Sunday. Thanks God for everything!

the tower of the Castle ruins in Hohenfels. It seems that the snow is slowly melting. I love the blue sky here. This was taken during our walk yesterday.

Wish I'm Home

I always believed in the saying, "There is no place like home". A lot of people had been asking me if I want to go back again in my home country in the future. I already found my second home here in Europe but I always believed, that one day, I will find my way back home.

How I just wish that I am home this time...even just to give comfort especially to a loveone. Sometimes it is just difficult to be away from your loveones but there are always ways where you can meet again....and again!

One of the beautiful scenes I miss from my home country. There is where I used to sit especially in the afternoon watching the beauty as the sun goes down....what a priceless view of nature and I truly miss it!

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Paris

This is the The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Paris, commonly known as Sacré-Cœur Basilica. This was taken in August 2010 during my second visit in Paris, France. It is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Paris, France.

I am letting you know that taking pictures are forbidden inside the Basilica.

It is a popular landmark of Paris. The basilica is located at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city. is built of travertine stone quarried in Château-Landon (Seine-et-Marne), France. This stone constantly exudes calcite, which ensures that the basilica remains white even with weathering and pollution.

The Quote and the Image

"People were created to love.
Things were created to be used.
The reason why the world is in chaos
is because Things are being loved
and people are being used."

-Anonymous.

taken somewhere down the road! I guess as we drove to Neumarkt last April 2010.