[Dress: Dahlia via ASOS/ Heels & Necklace: Zara/ Bag: Mango/ Watch: Casio/ Bracelet: Vintage]

While impatiently waiting to receive the official photos, here is a little preview of the outfits I wore on my dear friends’ Vintage Circus themed wedding, in Northern Germany, last week-end. It was the best wedding I have ever been to and we all had such a blast! You’ll have to wait a couple more days to see the pics of the event but I am telling you it is so worth it…

Being one of the bridesmaids I had to look rather impeccable and I believe the outcome wasn’t  that bad at all. The bride was so cool to let me pick the entire outfit (including the choice of colors to mix & match), the only rules were: no evening gowns, vintage & color, color, color! I picked yellow – one of the most covetable colors this season – with red accessories. The dress is so comfortable with an amazing fit – I could hit that bbq buffet totally confident, knowing that my dress wouldn’t pop
The shoes were a superb investment – thanks to the high platform and chunky heel I could run around doing all my bridesmaid duties the whole day – and I can’t wait to wear them again on breezy summer night outs.

[Dress: H&M (old)/ Blazer & Heels: Zara/ Sunburst Cocktail Ring: House of Harlow 1960]

A couple of days before the big event the bride & groom had a more laidback yet lovely ceremony at the city hall. This time I opted for a rather simple outfit – the weather wasn’t very friendly that day – you can never go wrong with the dress + black blazer & pumps combo, don’t we all know that, ladies?

My man looked pretty damn fine in his Zara suit, didn’t he?!

What are your thoughts on my outfits?

xxx Greta

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Mentre aspetto impazientemente le foto ufficiali, eccovi un’anteprima degli outfit che ho indossato al matrimonio dei miei cari amici – il tema: circo vintage – al nord della Germania, lo scorso week-end. È stato il matrimonio più bello in assoluto e ci siamo divertiti un sacco! Dovrete attendere ancora qualche giorno per vedere tutte le foto dell’evento ma, credetemi, ne vale la pena…

Essendo stata una delle damigelle, il mio look non poteva che essere impeccabile – credo che il risultato non sia poi stato così male. La sposa è stata così easy da lasciarmi scegliere l’intero outfit (perfino i colori da combinare) con queste uniche regole: niente abito lungo da sera, tanto vintage e colore, colore, colore! Ho scelto il giallo – uno dei colori più cool della stagione – con accessori rossi. Il vestito è dannatamente comodo – ho potuto abbuffarmi al buffet con tutta nonchalance, senza paura di esplodere

Le scarpe sono state un super investimento, grazie al plateau altino e tacco largo sono riuscita a correre qua e là (doveri di damigella!) tutto il giorno senza problemi – già non vedo l’ora di indossarle di nuovo nelle fresche notti d’estate.

Un paio di giorni prima del matrimonio, la sposa e lo sposo hanno organizzato una cerimonia – più tranquilla ma davvero carina – in comune. Per l’occasione ho optato per un outfit molto più semplice, dato che il meteo non è stato così gentile con noi: non ci si può mai sbagliare con la combinazione vestitino + giacca e tacchi neri, giusto ragazze?

Non era divino il mio uomo in completo di Zara?!

Cosa ne pensate dei miei outifit?

xxxGreta

(I did not take this picture, it’s been circulating on the Web). The ad is by Ogilvy Brasil.

I’m running a photographic art school these school holidays in Bremen! Enrolments now open! course is in English, various dates available!

Einige waren anscheinend ganz besonders erpicht darauf, fotografiert zu werden:

Ich war von dem “Boss” besonders beeindruckt.

Als die hübschen anfingen, förmlich in die Kamera zu laufen, habe ich es dann doch als Angriffslust gedeutet und lieber langsam und unauffällig das Weite gesucht.

Russia and France were allied in 1807 by the Treaties of Tilsit, which also involved Prussia. Tsar Alexander I of Russia agreed to comply with the Continental System, Napoleon’s attempt to wage economic war on Britain. Alexander supported Napoleon when he went to war with Austria in 1809, sending an army to threaten Austria’s eastern frontier. His foreign minister, Nikolay Rumiantsev, thought that the alliance was in Russia’s interests.

Charles Esdaile argues that Napoleon damaged Franco-Russian relations by making too many demands of his ally. He wanted Russia to send troops to the West, and away from Serbia and the Danube, where Russia was fighting the latest in a long series of wars with the Ottoman Empire. Napoleon ignored Russia’s interests and left Alexander feeling that he was regarded as the junior partner in the Alliance.[1]

The Poles under Marshal Joseph Poniatowski, unlike the Russians, gave great support to Napoleon in 1809. Poland had been first weakened and then destroyed after its territories were partitioned by Austria, Prussia and Russia in 1772, 1793 and 1796. The Treaty of Tilsit between France and Prussia in 1807 had established the Grand Duchy of Warsaw as a French satellite; it consisted of most of the former parts of Poland annexed by Prussia. In 1809 it was expanded by the addition of territory taken over by Austria.

Alexander, wanting to retain the lands that Russia had acquired when Poland was partitioned, saw the growth of the Duchy of Warsaw as a threat. It was not called Poland but used Polish symbols and the Polish language. He tried to negotiate a treaty under which Austria, France and Russia guaranteed the Duchy’s current borders and agreed that it could not call itself a kingdom. Napoleon refused to sign on the grounds that this meant that the actions of another state could force France into a war. Esdaile points out that, whilst this was true, Napoleon’s real motivation was to allow himself freedom of action in Eastern Europe.[2]

Many Russian were also concerned by King Charles XIII of Sweden’s adoption of Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, one of Napoleon’s marshals, as his son and heir in May 1810. The Russo-Swedish War of 1808-9 resulted in Sweden losing Finland to Russia. King Gustavus IV, who was considered to be insane, was deposed and replaced by Charles, who was childless and in poor health. Sweden still controlled over half the Baltic coast, including Pomerania, and many Russians feared that Napoleon was trying to encircle Russia.

In fact, although Bernadotte had served with Napoleon for many years and he and Joseph Bonaparte were married to sisters, he was not close to the Emperor. Bernadotte was jealous of Napoleon’s success, whilst the Emperor had been angered by Bernadotte’s failure to move his corps to the action at the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt and by his attempt to claim credit for the victory at Wagram. According to Zamoyski, Napoleon once said that he would have had Bernadotte shot three times had they not been related by marriage.[3]

A further source of dispute was Napoleon’s desire for an heir. He and the Empress Josephine had failed to have children. Since she had a son and a daughter by her previous marriage, it appeared that this was the fault of the Emperor until he had a son by Maria Walewska, his mistress. Determined to produce a legitimate heir, he decided to divorce the 46-year-old Josephine and marry a younger and royal woman.

Napoleon’s first choice was Alexander’s teenage sister, Grand Duchess Anna. Their mother, the Dowager Empress, opposed the intended marriage, as did many leading nobles, who did not want to strengthen ties with France. Alexander was not keen and in February 1810 asked for a two-year postponement because Anna was too young. Napoleon immediately turned his attentions to the Archduchess Marie-Louise, daughter of the Austrian Emperor France I, marrying her on 1 April 1812.

Napoleon managed to offend both the Russians by his quick change of target, and the Austrians by the speed and lack of courtesy with which he pursued Marie-Louise. According to both Esdaile and Zamoyski, he was not playing a double game; Anna was his first choice, but he wanted to marry a young princess and father an heir as soon as possible. There were some complaints in France about Napoleon breaking his ties to the Revolution by marrying an Austrian archduchess, but this had little political impact.[4]

One strong reason for Russian anger with France was the impact of the Continental System. Russia had little industry and had to import many manufactured goods. Alexander wanted to expand Russian trade, but exports fell by 40 per cent in 1806-12, customs revenue from 9 million roubles in 1805 to under 3 million in 1808, the paper currency halved in value in 1808-11 and prices of coffee and sugar rose by as much as five times in 1802-11.[5]

Alexander did not leave the Continental System, but he ceased to enforce it. In December 1810 he opened Russian ports to US ships and made tariffs on imports by land, such as French goods, much higher than those on goods, mostly British, coming by sea.

Also in December 1810, Napoleon annexed the free ports of Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck in order to give him greater control over imports into Europe. The next month he took over the Duchy of Oldenburg. Its ruler, Grand Duke Peter, was Alexander’s uncle, and Peter’s heir was married to one of Alexander’s sisters, Grand Duchess Catherine.

By 1811, Alexander was preparing for war with France. He offered to restore the Kingdom of Poland, but the Poles did not want a war that would take place mainly on their territory, and many of them preferred Napoleon to Alexander. Attempts to sign military alliances with Austria, Prussia and Sweden failed. Alexander decided that Russia would not start a war with France.

It was Napoleon who decided to go to war. The best explanation for the reason why is that given by Charles Esdaile:

‘One is left, then, with one explanation, and one explanation alone: frustrated by the long war in Spain and Portugal, and the failure of the Continental Blockade to bring the British to heel, Napoleon was simply bent on flexing his military muscle and winning fresh glory’[6]

The 18th Oldenburg/Bremen CSD (Christopher Street Day – What the German’s call their Pride Parades) parade included a marching band, a king and king of the parade, and floats representing all the towns and cities around Oldenburg. The parade snaked its way through the “altstadt” of Oldenburg, a city of just 160 thousand people. The celebrations livened up the old town’s main shopping district for a few hours, with music blaring from the floats as interested shoppers looked on, with many children enjoying the lollipops handed out by volunteers, and shop-staff crowding their doorways to watch the parade, seemingly ignoring their actual customers.

The parade lasted for just over 3 hours ending in a massive street party with live music, german sausages and of course, plenty of beer. The party raged for a good two hours after the parade finished, and the crowd was entertained by some local bands, and community group bands from around the area. Eventually after a very un-German torrential downpour, the crowd ran for cover in the neighbouring shopping centre and only a few die-hard dancers were left enjoying the rain as the sun set behind the clouds.

Oldenburg is the first in a string of CSD Events in the coming weeks, we’ll keep you posted on the happenings in Berlin, Cologne, and Hamburg, right here, at Out-Spoken.org

Insert pictures here.

more pictures of the days festivities can be found here:

http://www.szenenight.de/party-berichte/16-06-12-csd-oldenburg.html

Edit:  My wish came true!

I met Marian and her husband Jeff in The Badlands of South Dakota a few weeks ago, the day after we both visited Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument. We didn’t run into each other then, though. It’s rare that you connect with people upon first meeting but we did that day so when Marian extended an invitation to visit, I accepted. We dined, talked about our travels, and drank the best scuppernong wine I’ve ever tasted. Hmmm, I think I just caught a whiff of it!

As Marian and I talked, I was reminded of events that happened before and after Daddy died in 1975 that left me with fear, sadness, anger and maybe even hatred for white people. I repressed those emotions and quite a few memories for over 30 years but they started coming forward several years ago as I recuperated from a broken ankle. It was a painfully difficult process but I’m very fortunate to have released and resolved most of them and my road trip has been instrumental in releasing a few more.

But since my last post, I’ve made new friends and also visited my friends Olga Maddox in Arlington, VA and Brenda Simpson-Carrion in Charlotte. It was a gorgeous day as Brenda and I strolled through uptown admiring the buildings and murals. We had breakfast at Showmars in Independence Tower, and I tried livermush for the first time. It looked a lot like scrapple but tasted distinctly different. It was good.

I’ve toured and tasted in Milwaukee’s Miller country; tried chocolate fudge cheese, venison and elk jerky at the Cheese Castle in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

I’ve seen Michael Jackson’s childhood home and the memorial erected after his death at 2300 Jackson Street in Gary, Indiana. I also added my sentiments to his fans’ memorial fence.

I’ve seen Lake Michigan, Oprah Winfrey’s studio, and the Michael Jordan statue at United Center in Chicago.

I’ve seen the stadiums where the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bulls, and the Indianapolis Colts play.

I’ve seen state capitals in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia.

I’ve walked where Presidents Harrison, Adams and Jefferson walked in Indianapolis, Montpelier, and Monticello.

I’ve walked where the Hatfields and McCoys feuded in Pike County, Kentucky and Mingo County, West Virginia.

I’ve seen the home of the real John Boy Walton, author Earl Hamner Jr., in Schuyler, Virginia.

I’ve seen the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC with my good friend Olga on a still Monday morning.

I’ve visited towns with familiar names (Athens, Morrow, and Fayette County, Ohio) and streets and towns with funny names (Memory Lane in Green Bay, Wisconsin; Zigzag and Rhododendron, Oregon; and Bat Cave, North Carolina).

I had my first convent experience at the Sisters of Saint Francis in Oldenburg, Indiana.

I’m in the home stretch now, though, and feeling a little sad that my road trip is coming to an end. The first thing I’ll do when I “reenter the atmosphere” is get the emissions test for my car so I can get my tag by June 4.

It’ll be good to see family and friends, of course, and I’m looking forward to seeing my lake at Indian Springs. I’m also looking forward to other firsts: photographing a wedding and an interview about my trip. Beyond that, I don’t really know but I’m open to whatever else God has in the works.

It’s been an incredible journey, and I’m grateful for each experience along the way. I’m thankful, too, for the friends who followed me on Facebook and read my blog. What really surprised me, though, was the number of people who sent Facebook friend requests so they could follow me, too; I look forward to meeting you soon. It’s been great sharing with you, and I thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement along the way.

Die heutigen Bilder sind mal wieder auf meinem Balkon entstanden und zeigen, na was wohl, den Schnittlauch, der in unseren Blumenkästen blüht. Ich habe gehört, man müsse die Blüten abschneiden damit wieder mehr Schnittlauch wächst. Mal sehen ob ich das machen werde. Fotografiert sind sie ja jetzt.

And for the beauty of them, two more pictures of rhododendron blossoms:

Sandy needs cherry red jeans.

They must match her cherry red eye

From her drunken man and his cherry red cheeks.

Cherry red will accompany the drapes.

Oh yes, that she got from the Cherry Red Store.

The lady’s magazine told her to get ‘em,

And the matching toaster that left a cherry red sore. 

It doesn’t matter, as long as all is cherry red.

Oldenburg dunked her man’s office cherry red

And as long as the money comes home green,

The cherry red Thompsons will have a festive Christmas

……………..as long as it’s what the neighbors said.

“Woman, where are my cheeries? I’m damn hungry! Has everyone in the world lost their damn minds??”

“Well, Honey, Cherry Red Grocery is closed on Christmas and…”

“Sandy… close those cherry red blinds.”