Galleon "Santísima Trinidad"

Today is Sunday and I got up very early to go to Alicante to visit and ancient Galleon called "Santísima Trinidad" that is in the harbor :
This Galleon is a replica of the Santísima Trinidad. It took over 2 years and more than 4 million euros to build it,as well as many mangement studies .
I would like tell the real history about the original "Santísima Trinidad"

The "Santísima Trinidad " was launched in 1769 in the Habana (Cuba) navy yard. At that moment,the ship was well known like "The seas´ Escorial" (because Escorial refers to great spanish monastery) due to of its magnificence was the biggest and most armed vessel around the world. It took two year to build an 40,000 Spanish ducats. It was huge :63 metres long(208 feet),17 metres breadth(55 feet) and 8 metres tall(27 feet).Furthermore,it weighed 4,950 (4,872 long tons),had 140 cannons and a 1,160 men crew. Several fine woods were used to fit it out,such as "mahogany","júcaro" and "caguairán"

The "Santísima Trinidad" ,helmed by the brave aye Baltasar Hidalgo Cisneros "The Great",it took part in a lot of decisive historical events while it was crossing the seas.The galleon was spanish flagship fleet in July 1779,during the American War of Independence,when Spain and France declared war Great Britain to support the North American Colonies.It was also part in the english Channel missions lateon that year,1780,the ship helped to capture a English convoy formed by 55 vessels. Two years later the "Santísima Trinidad" was incorporated into the so called Mediterranean Squad and fought in the Espartel´s Cape.
However,the ship in fame for its tragically end in 1805,during the Trafalgar Battle.On that ocassion,the vessel was a well commanded by Baltasar Hidalgo Cisneros,together with Francisco Javier de Uriarte y Borja. After a slog Armageddon,the "Santisima Trinidad" was finally seized by the English in very dreatful conditions,with a lot of structural damages and over 200 casualties and 100 injured.The English fleet tried hard to save the spanish vessel by taking it to their port in Gibraltar,tugging it by the frigates HMS Naiade and Hms Phoebe. Nevertheless,the efforts were meaningless,as the great ship finally sunk 25 miles at the Cadiz south,on October 24th.

That sinking was someshow a banner of the end of the Spanish power in the seas.Nowadays,the greatest and the most powerful war weapon of the XVIII Century lies at the sea bottom.Its artillery pieces were however removed and set up at thePantheon of Illustrious Sailors,located in Carraca´s naval dockyard,in Cádiz.

Germany,France and Switzerland

When I thought that my travels to abroad had finished in this 2012 ,I saw an interesting travel to visit the BlackForest in Germany very cheaper. How I had hollydays in September I was thinking about this travel and finally I bought it. This is how a new chronicle begin :

Monday ,17th of September 2012

BLACK FOREST
Yesterday morning I took a train from Alicante to Barcelona because I had to take a bus in this city to go to Germany.
Now is 9.00 am ,and I´m in the reception doing the check in . I leave my baggage in my room and I go to visit the beautiful places near to the hotel

This place is amazing,I have been walking and seeing beautiful landscapes and the people here is very nice . Today I don´t have much time to walk around the mountain because I have to take a bus to go to the restaurant and visit some interesting places. I have decided that tomorrow very early I´ll get up to visit the mountain and the forest again.
In the restaurant try the famous cake called "SELVA NEGRA" and it´s delicious :

And now I´m going to visit Toudtnauberg´s waterfall :

I´ve been walking 2 hours more or less around the forest and it is a nice feeling, I can feel that it is good for my soul and dreams. The water is very clean and cold.... I have been thinking about to have a bath,but finally I have thought that better not,jaja.
The day concludes with a beautiful sunset:

And finally in the hotel I have a shower and a great dinner. When I finish I go to the hall of the hotel to have a tea while read a book. Today has been a great day,I feel a bit tired and tomorrow I want to get up early to visit the mountain,so it would be better go to bed.

Tuesday, 18 of September 2012

FRIBURGO

Is very early ( 6.30 a.m) and through the window I can see that the weather is foggy. I take my rucksack with my camera and I put on my coat.Now I begin to walk to the top of the mountain :

It´s amazing. I don´t have words to describe this place and my emotions. I have been sitting a few minutes and after I have walked around the mountain. Today I have to take a bus very early to visit Friburgh,so will be better that I come down from the mountain to have a great breakfast before to take the bus. Tomorrow I will be back again.
The first stop is to visit a beautiful place where you can see a big cuckoo clock and walk around the blackforest:

Now I have to take a bus again to next destiny : Friburgh

Freiburg im Breisgau  is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany with a population of about 230,000 people. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain.

Freiburg Minster  is the cathedral of Freiburg.The last duke of Zähringen had started the building around 1200 in romanesque style, the construction continued in 1230 in Gothic style. The minster was partly built on the foundations of an original church that had been there from the beginning of Freiburg in 1120. In 1827 the Minster became the seat of the Catholic archbishop of Freiburg and thus a cathedral.

Well,the day has been very complete in this city. I have visited all the city,I have tried the excellent sausages and I have met a nice girl called Elena.
Now I take the bus to return the hotel. Tomorrow will be a great day!!


Wednesday, 19 of September 2012

Today I woke up thinking that I would like to be all my life travelling and visiting all places around the world. When I travel my mind think different,I can see other kind of lifes,other customs,it´s a fantastic feeling .
But now is not moment to think,is the moment to take my camera and walking to the top of the mountain to visit the forest and take beautiful photos:

I have tried this blackberries and was delicious. I have walking around the forest for 3 ours more or less. This place will be fantastic to live someday,is very peaceful and landscapes are incredible
Well,today I will take a bus to go to Strasbourg but before I woul like to visit a beautiful small town called Gengenbach .
Gengenbach is a town in the district of Ortenau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and a popular tourist destination on the western edge of the Black Forest with about 11,000 inhabitants

In this bakery I buy some thing to eat after :

And now is the moment to visit the city of Strasbourg :
Strasbourg  is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking, explaining the city's Germanic name.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg ,also known as Strasbourg Minster, is a Roman Catholic cathedral. Although considerable parts of it are still in Romanesque architecture, it is widely considered to be among the finest examples of high, or late, Gothic architecture. Erwin von Steinbach is credited for major contributions from 1277 to his death in 1318.
Described by Victor Hugo as a "gigantic and delicate marvel", and by Goethe as a "sublimely towering, wide-spreading tree of God", the cathedral is visible far across the plains of Alsace and can be seen from as far off as the Vosges Mountains or the Black Forest on the other side of the Rhine. Sandstone from the Vosges used in construction gives the cathedral its characteristic pink hue.

The Cathedral is amazing, I love this kinds of buildings.
Walking around the city I can see differents places to take a beautiful photo :

And  another day ends. It has been fantastic and I´m very happy,tomorrow I have decided visit Switzerland to see Rhin´s Waterfall .

Thursday, 20 of September 2012

RHINE FALLS     -STEIN AM RHEIN       - CONSTANZA

Today I get up very early because I have to take a bus to cross the border until Switzerland:

The Rhine Falls (Rheinfall in German) is the largest plain waterfall in Europe.
The falls are located on the Upper Rhine between the municipalities of Neuhausen am Rheinfall and Laufen-Uhwiesen, near the town of Schaffhausen in northern Switzerland, between the cantons of Schaffhausen and Zürich. They are 150 m (450 ft) wide and 23 m (75 ft) high.

That´s amazing!!!. What an incredible place.
I have took a ship to climb the rock in the middle of falls. Has been a beautiful experience.
And now I take a bus again to visiti a beautiful town called Stein am Rhein .
Stein am Rhein is a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland.
The town has a well-preserved medieval centre, retaining the ancient street plan. The site of the city wall, and the city gates are preserved, though the former city wall now consists of houses. The mediæval part of the town has been pedestrianised and many of the mediæval buildings are painted with beautiful frescoes.

What a peaceful place!. Live here must be fantastic.
And now I´m going to vistit Konstanz.
Konstanz  is a university city with approximately 80,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south-west corner of Germany, bordering Switzerland
Konstanz is situated on Lake Constance (the Bodensee in German). The Rhine river, which starts in the Swiss Alps, passes through Lake Constance and leaves it, considerably larger, by flowing under a bridge connecting the two parts of the city. North of the river lies the larger part of the city with residential areas, industrial estates, and the University of Konstanz; while south of the river is the old town which houses the administrative centre and shopping facilities in addition to the Hochschule or the University of Applied Sciences. Car ferries provide access across Lake Constance to Meersburg, and the Katamaran provides a shuttle service for pedestrians to Friedrichshafen. To the south, the old town borders onto the Swiss town of Kreuzlingen.

 Imperia, a 9 m-tall sculpture:

Konstanz Minster:

And now is moment to take a coffe near to the lake  . Tomorrow is my last day in Germany,the travel come to an end.

Friday 21 of September 2012

LAGO TITISEE

Today is Friday and that means that is my last day in Germany. I have take a great Breakfast and I have prepared my suitcase to return to Spain. But first I would like visit a beautiful lake called Titisee.
Titisee is a lake in the southern Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg. It is said it got its name from Roman Emperor Titus. It covers an area of 1.3 km² and has an average depth of 20 m. It owes its creation to the Feldberg glacier, the moraine ploughed up by which in the Pleistocene epoch nowadays forms the lake's shores. The lake's outflow, at 840 m above sea level, is the river Gutach (or as it is called farther downstream, the Wutach). On the north shore lies the spa town of the same name, today a part of the municipality of Titisee-Neustadt.

 I have took a ship to see the beautiful landscapes:

Now I´m going to buy somethings (gifts,souvenirs,etc.)
This travel has been fantastic,amazing,incredible.... . I hope travel early again to visit another country.
Thank you to read this and looking forward!