83 - Rilski Manastir, Bulgaria

50mi S of Sofia, in a little valley of its own.

81 - Polistena, Italy

In the center of the toe.


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80 - Orsogna, Italy

In Abruzo, above the Adriatic coast.

79 - Novara, Italy

30mi W of Milan.

78 - Monreale, Italy

In the valley that runs N of Cagliari, Sardinia.

76 - Lagos, Portugal

E of the Cabo de São Vicente. The hometown of Prince Henry the Navigator—quite convenient for launching out into the not-so-known. Had to switch yesterday's and today's atlas pages—couldn't find any Ks in the NW corner of Iberia.

77 - King's Bastion, Gibralter

Overlooking the center of the harbor.

75 - Jalón de Cameros, Spain

On the river Leza, S of Logrono. Here's my rather rectangular rendition, which blogger has decided to invert the hues ... click on it to see the sky in blue:

74 - Iniesta, Spain

Village in SE Cuenca, 60mi W of Valencia.

73 - Hassi Messaoud, Algeria

In the northern Sahara, not too far from the Tunisian border. It's a big oil-town. You can land a plane there:

72 - Gémozac, France

30 miles SE of Rochefort. According to flickr, they have a telethon. Which features line dancing. Groovy.

71 - Franchesse, France

40mi. S of Nevers. In an odd research twist, a few hours after the initial post I decided to research a bit more about this town, and discovered that the top Google result for "Franchesse, France" was ... my own blog entry.

70 - Essay, France

NE of Alençon, department of Orne, in the southern bit of Normandy. Here's my sketch of a room at a chateau-cum-hotel there. I'm trying a new quick-sketch technique: first block in the basic colors, then a layer of sketching in black, and a top layer in white. Still trying to figure out a default photoshop brush to use with the tablet. And one day I'll get the lines semi-straight. Incidentally, searching for "Essay, France" turns up lots of sites to help you cheat on your French homework. I had to figure out the postal code before the results got meaningful.

69 - Diekirch, Luxumbourg

Northern metropolis.

68 - Chennevières-sur-Marne, France

An eastern suburb of Paris. Here's a video-house listing for an art-deco-looking place in C-s-M:

67 - Bellegarde-en-Marche, France

Between Limoges and Montluçon:

In the tiny commune of Bellegarde-en-Marche, they've got a bit of a thing about goats. Once a year, the "Brotherhood of Goat Meat Eaters" assembles to induct new members, while the pride of the goat fraternity are paraded through the streets in costume.
Legend has it that in the Middle Ages, in one of their interminable battles against the warlike English, the inhabitants of this ancient village were saved by the sharpened goat horns that they carried as weapons. Goat's meat may be an acquired taste, but for the residents of Bellegarde-en-Marche, it is also a lifelong passion.

Did the English really attack this far south? Maybe on the way to one of the Crusades ...

66 - Aumont, Switzerland

Ex-town in the Canton of Fribourg, in the west of the country. One of the dangers of relying on a 1977 atlas — in 2004 the municipalities Aumont, Frasses, Granges-de-Vesin and Montet (Broye) merged under the name of Les Montets.

Still in Google though:

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64 - Zweifalten, Germany

In Würtemberg, west of Ulm. I had to switch the order of the last two plates because of Germany's desperate shortage of Y-placenames.

The Zweifalten cathedral. These drawings ought to get less lame once I figure out how best to hold the new tablet and such.

65 - Ybbsitz, Austria

Near the source of the river Ybbs, a Danube tributary above Vienna.

Here's a sketch of a guy wearing a snowboarding helmet, I think, in Ybbsitz.

63 - Xanten, Germany

On the Rhine downstream from Essen. And, saith Wikipedia, the only German town that begins with an X. Maybe because it's just barely in Germany, a few miles from the far-more-X-friendly Low Countries.

Above's  my quick sketch of one of the Roman ruins in their architectural park. A very broken pediment ...

62 - Würzburg, Germany

In on the river Main in Franonia, at the northern tip of Bavaria.

Here's video of their Karnival, featuring that traditional Lenten tune, the "Ole, ole ole ole" soccer fan-song.