BajaNomad

Eltz and Eltz castle on the Rhine river.

BajaBlanca - 7-24-2021 at 04:36 AM

Yesterday we visited two castles. One was the Eltz! Tours to the inside were just reopened and we went over yesterday. Another magical town!


from wiki:
Eltz Castle (German: Burg Eltz) is a medieval castle nestled in the hills above the Moselle between Koblenz and Trier, Germany. It is still owned by a branch of the same family (the Eltz family) that lived there in the 12th century, thirty-three generations ago. Bürresheim Castle, Eltz Castle and Lissingen Castle are the only castles on the left bank of the Rhine in Rhineland-Palatinate which have never been destroyed.


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A little history:











The castle itself:







No photos allowed inside but it is 3 family homes set side by side, history spans 33 generations. They were all counts. Two houses are for touring and cost 11 euros for each adult. One family still has one of the homes separated from the tour and they use it for royal visits but they do not live there.



This was the entrance room - I took the pic before the guide said we were not allowed to.













Here are some photos of an area called THE TREASURY where photos were allowed.












There is a white round ivory sculpture and every side has a face and one of the eyes of the previous face is the left eye of the next face. Hard to explain but I have never seen this ingenuity before.








It was a truly magical day.



John Harper - 7-24-2021 at 06:10 AM

Wow! To own a castle, just mind boggling. Spectacular.

John

German Castles

JDCanuck - 7-24-2021 at 06:41 AM

Amazing pics! We toured some of the remaining older buildings south and east of you near Augsburg and Fussen when we were there years back and were constantly amazed at the beauty and history that we found also.

BajaTed - 7-24-2021 at 10:01 AM

Holding title to land for 850 years with No problems.

Ten years in Baja and you can loose it all.

The concept of land title is from the Romans

JC43 - 7-24-2021 at 10:18 AM

Whats even more amazing: In a German castle there are signs in English language. That makes the Germans smarter - or let me say friendlier to foreigners - than i.e the Mexicans or the U.S. citizens. If I am visiting whatever in California, there is nothing else than English on any sign.

[Edited on 7-24-2021 by JC43]

BajaBlanca - 7-25-2021 at 01:26 AM

I think signs are in English because it is considered the International language to communicate in.

German roads are fantastic. My son loves driving them!!

For the Eltz castle, you park in a parking lot below and a shuttle picks you up (runs every 10 min) and takes you to the top. I think this is wonderful!

Honestly, how they got up there with all the rocks and other building material is mind boggling.

Inside one of the houses are family photos that bring royalty down to our level - it could be any photo of any of us with our loved ones.

There were bathrooms installed and one of the stories is that at the time, it was customary to leave the doors open (you cannot see inside) to be able to continue conversations with others in the living or dining room.

Secret passages and very narrow stairs in some parts.

Many paintings of the counts adorn one room.

I do intend to buy a book on the castle and will share pics then.

Elona - 7-25-2021 at 02:43 AM

Quote: Originally posted by JC43  
Whats even more amazing: In a German castle there are signs in English language. That makes the Germans smarter - or let me say friendlier to foreigners - than i.e the Mexicans or the U.S. citizens. If I am visiting whatever in California, there is nothing else than English on any sign.


In the most popular castles, explanations for foreign visitors are in English, e. g. the Heidelberg Castle, too. But also in Chinese, as there were a lot of Asian visitors before Covid.

JC43 - 7-25-2021 at 08:04 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Elona  
Quote: Originally posted by JC43  
Whats even more amazing: In a German castle there are signs in English language. That makes the Germans smarter - or let me say friendlier to foreigners - than i.e the Mexicans or the U.S. citizens. If I am visiting whatever in California, there is nothing else than English on any sign.


In the most popular castles, explanations for foreign visitors are in English, e. g. the Heidelberg Castle, too. But also in Chinese, as there were a lot of Asian visitors before Covid.


That`s what I wanted to point out: Inside the U.S. or Mexico as well, you`ll barely find any sign in a different language for visitors. Different to Germany which is open to foreigners and their language. That has only little to do with "global language". It is a friendly thing to visitors to talks to them in their language --- if you can of course!!! The U.S. folks think: English is THE language for the world and evarayboday should talk English. Chinese or Japanese or German folks i.e. are trying to learn other languages.

Lost in translation!

AKgringo - 7-25-2021 at 09:04 AM

I wish I had put more effort into learning other languages (particularly Spanish) because a whole lot of words and phrases don't translate well!

Quite a few years ago, I came across a story by a well known science fiction author, that had been translated into Mandarin, and the author then had it translated back into English!

It was amusing to read for a short while, but very hard to follow, and devoid of any artistic expression!

JC43 - 7-25-2021 at 09:06 AM

Quote: Originally posted by lencho  
Quote: Originally posted by JC43  
The U.S. folks think: English is THE language for the world and evarayboday should talk English.

No matter what U.S. folks (or you, for that matter) think, that's the crude and unfortunate reality. "Unfortunate" because English isn't that easy to master even for native speakers, but Esperanto didn't take off so we're stuck with what is.

Whatever the case, it's the de facto international language for the foreseeable future, and anyone who wants to be successful for international work or travel, needs to learn it. :O

Consider that it could have been Mandarin! 比英語還難!


First and foremost: If you`ll find mistakes in typing, keep`em. Do not sell`em! It is "everybody" of course. (Don´t tell the goat)

U R 100% right, no question! BUT, the Chinese will take over the leading position in the world, (thanks to an U.S Preident named Nixon, opening China) no question either - but only by using the English language. Again, u r right with Mandarin. Who will learn that ??
What has that to do with Baja????? Many Chinoisesses(!) products are sold in Baja: Good reason?

[Edited on 7-25-2021 by JC43]

BajaBlanca - 7-25-2021 at 10:41 AM

Well, I beg to differ about the ease of English. I speak fluent Portuguese, Spanish, passable French, understand Polish and have studied (moons ago) Norwegian and Russian.

Although born in NY, Portuguese was my first language.

English is really easy compared to all those other languages, my amigos! I find it so clear and easy to explain/teach.

JC43 - 7-25-2021 at 03:39 PM

@lencho. Don`t wanna answer for BB (BajaBlanca - well she looks a lill bit like BB [Brigitte Bardot]) My opinion: For most people it is impossible to get rid of their accent. At least if you are - lets say - over 50. i.e the French people, they have big trouble with English. Mostly b/c they do not pronaunce the "H" They dodn`t say Houston (juston). They say ´uston`. The Germans can´t roll the "R" like the U.S folks. They pronounce the "R" way back in the gourge. (like a tiger is roaring)
To immitate another language perfectly is v e r y dificult.
There is no U.S guy who can talk fluent German i.e. You always hear the difference. And the Mexis trying to speak English (mostly) is a challenge! For those hwo are listening in the first place!

BajaBlanca - 8-7-2021 at 11:29 AM

Speaking English well and speaking with an accent are two different things, methinks.

When I studied linguistics many years ago, there were 2 theories about accents.

One was that after a certain age, the mouth muscles simply can not move the way they must to produce some of the sounds in the new language.

The second was that when you speak another language FLUENTLY and ACCENT FREE, no one will ask where you come from. So, you have lost part of your identity. Which is quite an interesting thought.
My German grandmother spoke Portuguese with the most atrocious German accent known to man or woman.

My grandfather spoke English better than I vocaulary wise, he had no perceptible accent at all, but he never came to the US that I am aware of.

My Mom speaks any language thrown at her in the dialect of the region. When in La Bocana, she inadvertently picks up the local lingo, but she first learned Spanish in Spain, so that still dominates here speech.

I have the same gift. I have no idea how I can absorb languages so quickly. Remember that years ago someone in Mexico asked me "What part of Mexico do you come from?" Hahahaha One of the greatest compliments ever.

On this trip, we went to Germany and stayed 3 weeks with my son, who was born in Brazil, came to the States at age 3 and promptly learned English within a month! When we called his Dad one day, he answered him in English rather than Portuguese, even tough his Dad spoke not a word of English. I cried but when his Dad finally came to the States, he quickly spoke Portuguese again.

What I learned this trip is that my son has the same gift - he does not speak German but dabbles in it and can understand a lot. Pretty cool.


Skipjack Joe - 8-7-2021 at 07:45 PM

Russian immigrants have trouble with English. This guy cracks me up. I've never met anyone with such a strong accent. But he actually knows English really well.

BajaBlanca - 8-8-2021 at 07:34 AM

Lencho, my granddad read voraciously in English, more than I do and I devour books when I have the time. He was born in Brazil to German parents and went to school in Germany.

He also did crossword puzzles, in English, as a passtime and that is when I realized how vast his vocabulary was.

Lastly, I think there is a gift for learning languages that he, his daughter (my mom), my son and I were given. If you hear me speak Portuguese, you would never guess that I was born in NY. If you hear me speak English, fluent and accentless. Give my Mom a week and she will start to talk exactly like you do Hahahaha

BajaBlanca - 8-8-2021 at 07:38 AM

Adding to that, I remember my Russiam teacher in college looking at me and saying: your pronunciation is perfect but your handwriting is atrocious LOL The Cyrillic alphabet is quite artistic and I lack in that gift!!

surfhat - 8-8-2021 at 09:36 AM

So true lencho.

The earlier one learns and is exposed to multiple languages, those stimulated brain pathways will serve us our entire lifetimes with an ease of learning, and more than just with language learning.