Bernadine studying bus schedule om my first day in Germany. good thing she speaks fluent German!
Bernadine instructing me on the bus system in case I'm brave enough to go out by myself.
Market Platz (Market Square) Stuttgart
Stuttgart, Germany - The Imperial Museum
Bernadine & Renee with King Wilhelm at the Imperial Museum, Stuttgart. This guy was really good!
Bernadine having a quiet moment with King Wilhelm. Wilhelm actually looks a little scary here, if you ask me.
Christmas Fair in Stuttgart. The lights were beautiful.
Glauwein (Hot mulled wine) served here. An ice skating rink was temporarily erected as part of the Christmas Fair.
Stuttgart
Strasbourg, France - we finally arrived after a long learning experience about German trains.
Strasbourg, France
Strasbourg, France. No cars allowed in this area--kind of like Burlington, Vermont.
Cathedral in Strasbourg, France
Painted facade in Strasbourg, France
Inside the Cathedral
Nativity scene inside the Strasbourg Cathedral
Nativity scene in Strasbourg Cathedral. I liked the elephant.
Altar in Strasbourg Cathedral
Strasbourg, France. Typical narrow alley.
Closeup of Wine Bar, Strasbourg. Yes, all that walking really works up a big thirst!
Bernadine in Strasbourg
Another cafe in Rothenburg, Gemany
Cafe in Rothenburg, Germany
Bernadine studying the menu at Red Hen Restaurant in Rothenburg. Mm-m-m - should it be red cabbage and bratwurst?
Bernadine in the Red Hen Restaurant in Rothenburg, Germany
Interior of the Red Hen Restaurant.
Interior of Red Hen Restaurant
Inside the Red Hen Restaurant, Rothenburg
Tower in the town of Rothenburg, Germany
Rothenburg. Notice how the cars park on what we might consider a sidewalk.
Rothenburg, Germany
Sunset on the Autobahn, outside Stuttgart
Renee's first view of the Alps, heading toward Lake Constance
Me & Bernadine on Lake Constance, looking toward the Swiss Alps in the background.
Lake Constance, looking toward the Swiss Alps
Ninja in her hut
Cafe in Rothenburg
A road in Rothenburg
Strabourg, France
Roasted Chestnuts stand in Strasbourg, France
Christmas in Strasbourg, France
Huge Sycamore tree in old city of Strasbourg
The medieval section of Strasbourg, France. These pics look cloudy because they were Dark and Dale had to lighten them up a little.
Medieval Strasbourg, France
Rowdy German soccer fans on train from France
This Bud's for you!
Soccer fans hamming for the camera. Right after this I had my first and only anti-American experience in Germany.
Bernadine and Ninja cuddling in the morning.
13th century Maulbronn monastery in Maulbronn, Germany.
Maulbronn, Germany
Bernadine's favorite house in Maulbronn, Germany
The Granery in Maulbronn
Maulbronn Square
Monastery in Maulbronn
Maulbronn Courtyard
Sunset on the Autobahn
Church in Maulbronn, Germany
Church in Monastery Courtyard in Maulbronn
Red chalk painting in the vault - 15th century
Bernadine at Maulbronn Monastery. We were so cold! It was freezing! Imagine what it must have been like for the monks. No electric blankets then.
Stained-glass Gothic windows at Maulbronn Monastery. These are in the Refectory.
Stained-glass Gothic windows in Maulbronn Monastery refectory (where they took their meals.) At some point heat was designed to come up through pipes in the floor.
Bernadine at Maulbronn. The 2 crescent moons were the motto of one of the royal families in the area.
Stained-glass in the Monks' refectory, circa 1225
1609 coat of arms from the ruling house of Wurttemberg at Maulbronn (in the refectory)
A burial stone in the Maulbronn Monastery, October 1611
The famous Fountain House at the north wing of Maulbronn monastery, erected 1340 - the timber framed part is more recent - 15th century.
Weir walk (Wehrgang) to the milking stable. Witches' Tower in background
View into Maulbronn courtyard
Stairs to the weir walk. These were very steep.
Weir walk
Witches' Tower in Maulbronn (finished 1441). I didn't get a good shot but that little protuberance on the upper left is actually a toilet seat. (with a view!)
Outside view of Maulbronn
Witches' Tower
Gate into Maulbronn Monastery - one of the three original gates.
View from weir walk
View toward Monastery gate in Maulbronn
Town of Maulbronn
Schloss Solingen (Solitude Castle), Stuttgart. 1790. Buit in a French tradition of architecture.
Looking down on Stuttgart, from Schloss Salingen
View from Schloss Solingen
The view from Schloss Solingen.
Schloss Solingen Barn, Stuttgart
Hotel Alte Post in Wangen im Allgau. Note Gummy Bears on pillows
Note feather down duvets.
Another somewhat blurry view of the Alps & Lake Constance
At the edge of Lake Constance looking toward the Swiss Alps
Swiss Alps
Swiss Alps at dusk
It was cold that day! Need lots more Glauvein! (Hot spiced wine)
Apartment house along Lake Constance
Town of Wangen in Allgau, in Bavaria
Three Bowl Fountain in Maulbronn Monastery
Gaily painted houses in Wange, Bavaria
Tower in Wangen
Another view of tower in Wangen
View of old German store in Wangen
Another view of old German store in Wangen
Wangen, Bavaria
People shopping early morning in Wangen, Bavaria
What I was confronted with every morning! Mmmm-mmm.
Another view of a bakery in Wangen
St. Martin's Tower in Wangen. Note the 2 sundials on its face.
Close-up of St. Martin's Tower
The 2 sundials on St. Martin's Tower
Front of a shop in Wangen, telling the story of Jonah & the whale!
Metzgerai (Butcher shop) in Wangen.
Butcher shop where we purchased lebercasse (meat sandwiches) for day trip to Dachau
Butcher Shop. Note all the different sausages!
Sausage close-up. Yumm.
Butcher Thomas, who made the lebercasse we chose.
Gate into Dachau, 1st concentration camp built in Germany by Himmler, in 1933.
The 20th Armored Division of the Army liberated Dachau in 1945, as seen in “Band of Brothers”.
The caption on Dachau's gate reads “Work Makes You Free”.
Dachau
One of Dachau's memorials
Photo showing some of the prisoner barracks.
The barracks are gone. Curbs of granite mark the place where each one stood. This was #3.
Another view of Dachau. What a sad place.
Guard tower at Dachau.
Avenue of poplars, where early in the camp's history prisoners could congregate.
Avenue of poplars.
Service building at Dachau. A motto used to be painted on its roof: “There is one path to freedom. Its milestones are obediance, honesty, cleanliness, sobriety, hard work, and discipline, truthfulness, and love of the fatherland.”
Bunks in the Barracks. I'm not sure of these are the originals.
Toilets at Dachau.
Sinks. Prisoners would hang themselves from these.
Officer's Room, Dachau
Guard Tower at Dachau. On the other side of the wall, homes are built right up against this.
Guard tower, and elecrtrified barbed wire fence. To stand here alone, on a cold gray day, and think about what took place here..well, it is a very somber place.
Barbed wire fence. Note the old white china knob insulators.
Barbed wire fence at Dachau
Nazi propaganda posters
Nazi propaganda poster
Antique brass bed at our in in Rothenburg
Our room at the Rothenburg Inn. Note the aged planks in the ceiling.
All the comforts of home in a medieval inn in Rothenburg
Bernadine enjoying a glass of wine after a stressful travel day. The directions she had to the Hotel Berand were great. The only problem was that when we arrived, the Inn was dark, and there was an inch of dust on everything. (Yes, it was unlocked.) According to a passerby, the Hotel Berand had been closed for years! So who took Bernadine's reservation over the phone? Cue “Twilight Zone” theme! We found shelter at another nearby inn, the Hotel Gottchefisch, where we had the best German meal of the entire trip.
The Marian Pharmace. Note the statue of Mary above the sign.
Renaissance courtyard of the Town Hall in Rothenberg
Renaissance courtyard
Very cool 15th century Renaissance Portal in the courtyard of the Town Hall, Rothenberg.
The only photo I took inside the Christmas Shop in Rothenberg.
Full view of the City Councilor's Tavern. Every Saturday morning there is an open air market. I bought some great cheese from the vendor on the left.
Bernadine & I took a much-needed break for coffee and pastry at one of the numerous cafes around the square. This was on the 2nd floor, where you could look out the windows into the square.
Bern had “kirschkuche”, cherry cheesecake, and I had a Florentine and an almond horn. Mmm-mmm-mmm. (We shared.)
Bern thinks it's really good.
My eyes are closed. No, we hadn't had any wine yet!
Scene from the Mt. of Olives at St. Jacob's Church, built from 1311-1484, Rothenburg
Another view from Tower in Rothenburg
View from Tower in Rothenburg, Germany
Another view of Rothenburg, Germany
Another view from the tower.
Looking down from the Tower in Rothenburg
View from tower.
Aerial view of Rothenburg, Germany
View of the countryside in Rothenburg, Germany
Another view. Idyllic, isn't it?
This was the triangular hatch we had to climb through to get out on the lookout balcony - the ladder angle was 90% - totally VERTICAL. It was tough. This was after walking up several hundred narrow steps. Plus the photo doesn't show you how narrow that hole is! We had to squeeze through!
Steps climbing up to the Tower (almost vertical) in Rothenburg.
Sunset on the Autobahn. Good-bye Germany!
