Lyn loved the tri-cornered hats most of the guys in costume wore. I liked anybody duded up in masks. You can see what surreal feel the eyes behind the masks gave the whole costume.

PilotGuides.com has this opinon on Venice Carnival:

At carnival time, Venice is packed with party-goers in costume and tourists who are eager to experience the event in one of the most beautiful and unique cities in the world. During the day parades weave their way through the streets, and performers keep the crowds entertained for hours. The city's free ball takes place in St Mark's Square, but there are numerous other masked balls and private parties throughout the duration of carnival.

Traditionally carnival is the last all-out binge before good Catholics give up all things luxurious for Lent. According to the earliest records, the Venice Carnival began in 1039, but the event only became popular in 1162 when grand celebrations were held after an important victory in the war against Ulrico, Patriarch of Aquileia.

The custom of wearing masks allowed the people of Venice to adopt a different persona for a short time each year. Over time, restrictions were imposed on the wearing of masks in the hope that this would halt the rapid moral degeneration of the Venetians, but certain individuals continued to take advantage of their anonymity to get up to all sorts of mischief. Mussolini finally put an end to the carnival in the 1930s, but the tradition was revived in 1979, and over the last two decades has grown once again into the splendidly frivolous event it once was.

Sorry for the silence these past few days. Kyle and I took a trip to Venice over the weekend and managed to catch the beginning of Carnivale. Kyle just received her new Nikon D200 digital camera and she really broke it in! 492 pictures in two and a half days! Even she was amazed...

This picture is a shot of a couple of the costumed performers who stroll through the crowds near the Piazza San Marco during the festival. Kyle had a blast taking pictures like a pro...and I had a blast just watching her so happy.

I will be posting more of our weekend over the next few days, so stay tuned....

I know, I know it's cheesy! But what the heck, it wouldn't be Valentine"s Day without a rose or two. I picked this wild rose for Kyle during our first trip to Ireland.

Don't worry Lauren, you will always be my favorite Valentine!! I love you...

Daddy

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost
(1874-1963)

Lichtenstein Castle is one of those fairy-tale structures scattered around the European countryside. This particular castle is located near Honau in the Swabian Alb, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany (I know, I know...look it up!).

Historically there has been a castle on the site from around 1100 AD. It was twice destroyed: first in the ReichsKriegs war of 1311, and then again by the city-state of Reutlingen in 1381. The castle lay in ruins until around 1802 when it came into the hands of King Frederick I of Wurttemberg who reconstructed it and turned it into a hunting lodge.

By 1837 the land passed to the hands of his nephew Duke Wilhelm of Urach, the Count of Wurttemberg, who, inspired by the author Wilhelm Hauff's novel "Lichtenstein", remodeled the castle between 1840-1842. The romantic Neo-Gothic design of this present day structure was created for the Count by the architect Carl Alexander Heideloff. Today the castle is still owned by the Dukes of Urach and is open to visitors on weekends.

Some of the best times that Kyle and I have had in Germany involved picking a likely-looking ruin on a map and checking it out. That is how we happened upon this charming little (relatively) castle in the south of Germany near Stuttgart. We spent a wonderful afternoon walking the grounds, touring the structure, and crashing a wedding in the small chapel next to the castle. It is truly amazing that there is so much history just sitting out there waiting to be discovered. This castle is older than our country!!

Kyle again. This is a picture of Carla (mom) Allen (dad) and Becky (owns the ranch) on Becky's horse pasture near Silver City, NM. Mom is figuring out the vagaries of her new GPS, Dad and Becky are glassing for horses. And me with my camera.

Now, I don't think this area is really beautiful, but it sure is good horse pasture. The funny part about NM is that most people cross the state, doing slightly above the speed limit on I-10 or I-40, look around and go 'yeech, this place is desolate!' And it is, without even the redeeming value of large cacti. Well, we have some, but not like Arizona. The pretty parts of the state are in the Gila Wilderness, the Pecos, the area by and above Santa Fe. There's more than that, but we're talking large areas. The bonus is it keeps the population down. We like the silence and the small towns. Who needs malls when you've got feedstores and the Buckhorn Bar and Saloon? And just under two hours away!

Located in moorland beside the A82 trunk road, 1¼ miles (2 km) northwest of Spean Bridge, is the Commando Memorial. This 5.1m (17-foot) high memorial was designed by Scott Sutherland, of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art (Dundee) and unveiled by HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (1900 - 2002) on 12th September 1952. The three soldiers which comprise the memorial look out from their plinth over Leanachan Forest to the peaks of Aonach Mor and Ben Nevis. It commemorates the elite force known as the 'Commandos', which was set up in 1940 on the orders of Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) to harry the axis forces and regain the initiative on the part of Britain. The force trained in the area around this monument, with their Training Centre at Achnacarry, 4 miles (6 km) to the northwest.

The plinth of the memorial records the Commando's motto United We Conquer and a plaque states: "In Memory of the Officers and men of the Commandos who died in the Second World War 1939 - 1945. This Country was their Training Ground."

Well, I think I have finally gotten the comments working correctly. Sorry for the mixup...funny how computers are supposed to make our lives easier!! It seems I had a setting buried deep withing the template of this blog that caused all comments to be sent to my email inbox. This would have been fine if I had bothered to specify an email address.....which I didn't. So I guess the comments just disappeared into cyber space. Freaky.

Anyway, all should be working fine now. So let's hear it, what's up Lesterville?

The World War II Normandy American Cemetary and Memorial is situated on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel. It is located on the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetary, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944...the first American cemetary on European soil in World War II.
The cemetary covers one hundred and seventy-two acres and contains the graves of 9,387 American military Dead, most of whom gave their lives during the landings and ensuing operations during and after D-day.
Kyle and her father toured the site during his visit in August of last year (hint, hint Mom and Dad!). For more information on this and other U.S. memorials in Europe please visit the American Battle Monuments Commission.