Spring is in the air...!

Why stay indoors when the sky is so blue, the sun shines brightly

and the air is filled with the sweet smell of Spring flowers ?

We decided to take a stroll downtown later this morning, and as the

fleemarket is situated not very far from where we stay, we headed

straight on through the mingling crowd.

After an hour of strolling along the various stalls and weaving our

way through the overcrowded marketplace, we crossed the road and

took another direction through town, but I couldn't resist taking a pic-

ture of the trees dressed in their brand new Spring outfit.

A little further down the road we came across this rose bush and

again I stopped to take a picture. I don't know what kind of

roses these are, but believe me, they are as large as side plates. Do

click on the picture, maybe you'll see what I mean.

We walked downhill through the Old City. Many of these old
buildings date back as far as 1628, some are even older. Note the
RATHAUS city hall in the far background - the red tower building.

Walking down the narrow alleyways heading towards the busy town.


Almost at the end of the walk through the old city, we
found a small Florist's Shop - out of the dark and into the light
awaits the hustle and bustle of the city.



When we arrived downtown, it was surprisingly quiet and not as

crowded as usual, I do believe the

fleemarket and the pleasant warm weather has done the trick of

"robbing" the town of it's shoppers - indeed a welcome change to

browze and shop in all peace and quiet.

Friday 13th

If you're a believer in superstitions, then Friday 13th could

be your unlucky day, but remember, it's simply a superstition,

and nothing more.

Some people take them very seriously, but there is no factual

evidence that anything will happen to you. Nonetheless, super-

stitions are still believed by many.

As we all know , Friday the 13th is always considered an unlucky

day. In fact the No. 13 is considered so unlucky that many hotels

and office buildings don't have a 13th floor or room, but why do

so many feel that this No. is so unlucky ??

It's been told in the Bible that Adam and Eve were expelled from the

Garden of Eden on a Friday.

The flood that Noah had to build an ark for also began on a Friday.

Christians also believe that Friday was the day that witches held their

satanic ceremonies, and they believed that 12 witches and 1 devil (are

there more?) would meet every Friday making the No. 13 a cursed

combination.

Has anyone ever said "Bless you" or "Gesundheit" when you sneeze?

I've often wondered why we say that to people who sneeze.

A long time ago, in the 6th Century, people would congratulate

others who sneezed, because it was believed that they were

getting rid of evil from their bodies.

But then a plague or sickness ravaged Europe, and people began

sneezing violently. Because sneezing became a sign that people

were extremely sick and might die, the Pope passed a law that re-

quired people to bless the sneezer so they would end up in Heaven !

BREAKING A MIRROR: Seven years of bad luck if you break a

mirror, or so the superstition says.

That's a long time to believe that you have bad luck, but the truth

behind this one is,

Long before mirrors were invented, people used to see their reflections

in pools of water, they believed this reflection to be their soul or their

other self, and they believed that any interference with the other self

would injure it.

Hence when mirrors were invented, and they were broken, it

was thought that the other self was harmed.

But where did this 7 year thing come in ?

The Roman belief was that life renewed itself every 7 years, and

since a mirror means "broken" health, it was believed that the person

who broke it would need 7 years to recover.

I'm not a very superstitious person, but if and when a black cat should

suddenly appear next to me on the road, I won't freeze

in my tracks or I won't lock myself away for the rest of the

day.

As a child, I purposely walked under ladders (the truth is, I

still do, ha ha)

BUT, I have the greatest fear of breaking a mirror (I can hear you

all laughing!)

Perhaps it's because I have broken one or two mirrors in

my days, but strangely enough, directly after the unpleasant

experience, and clearing away the remains of broken mirror pieces,

I've had a stroke of bad luck _________ Truth or Fiction ?

But that's another story for a rainy day !

No matter what, I want to wish you all a very good Friday 13th.

Just remember TGIF (Thank God it's Friday)

WISHING YOU ALL...........

Exciting days

peaceful nights

good cheer

loving friendship

hundreds of hugs

kind kisses

family fun

a feeling of purpose

shining smiles

and a song in your heart !

Please go easy on the chocolate eggs !!!

HAVE A HAPPY EASTER !!!