Balcony pics first. I took all of these in St Gallen, on a street in the old town where you often see groups of tourists wandering around with (and without) tour guides, taking photos of bits of buildings above your head. So you look up, and think, wow, yes, these are seriously amazing; we should look up more often. In German they’re known as Erker, in English as oriel or oriel windows – though it isn’t one of those words you use every day.
They come in many shapes and sizes, and some of these ones are centuries old. They vary from those with multiple carvings to those with balcony gardens on top:
And from those on plain buildings to those on buildings with frescoes:
From petite and relatively simple, to much larger and ornately carved:
From small and dark to pale and wide.
And as you see, they are in a street bustling with shops and restaurants, part of everyday life. There are more, too, but we’ll have those another time.
Book news: the first two in my trio of suspense thrillers have now been re-published by DP Books, with the third on pre-order for the beginning of October. The Attic Room has a bargain price, too – just 99p/c. Fill your kindles HERE.
According to the weatherman, this weekend is the last when we can expect summer temperatures, ie over 25°C, so I’ll leave you with our lovely Lake Constance. Summer blue…
linda huber 