HEIDELBERG, COLOGNE, PLUS CRUISING THE RHINE

(If interested, scroll down to my previous posts for the start of my trip to Germany.)

We're headed to Heidelberg via the Romantic Road - beautiful countryside with rolling hills, farms and vineyards.

Heidelberg has Germany's oldest university dating back to 1386.

The 700-year-old castle overlooks Heidelberg.

The view of the Neckar Valley was spectacular from the castle.

For my Wiggins' viewers I'm including our group picture at the castle. The backdrop looks fake, but it is the real wall left standing at the ruins.

We left Heidelberg to cruise down (or is it up?) the Rhine River.

It was a short 3-hour cruise, but the scenery was beautiful.

Castles, churches, villages, and vineyards.

And finally, our last stop in Germany - Cologne.

The cathedral took more than 600 years to complete. But Cologne seems to be all about shopping these days. Just off of the cathedral square is over a mile of pedestrian shopping. Since Cologne has a professional football (soccer) team, I figured it was a good place to find a soccer shirt for my grandson. I took off to find the shirt, always keeping my eye on those twin spires of the church so that I didn't get lost.

Found the shirt; had a sweet pretzel; had a diet Coke that actually had ice and a slice of lemon; and managed not to get lost!

Next up is France, but before I continue the travelogue; I think my next post will be about Germany's charming windows and their lace curtains.

(Most pictures may be clicked on to enlarge and view the details.)

MUNICH, DACHAU, ROTHENBURG

(If you are interested, just scroll down to my previous two posts about the beginning of this trip to Europe.)

On the road to Munich, we saw fields of hops being grown for the making of beer. I had no idea that they were a vine and grown on a pole/string apparatus.
The interesting architecture of the 1972 Munich Olympic Park. The 1972 olympics are unfortunately most known for the massacre of Israeli athletes.

At the center of Munich is the Marienplatz, once the intersection of medieval trade routes and home of the famed Glockenspiel that is in the tower of Neues Rathaus.

We were there at 5:00 pm and saw the Glockenspiel do its thing.

Then it was time to check out another beer garden, so I could have my daily Diet Coke. My Coke always cost more than the beer - usually about 3,50 euros or over $5.00!

We had dinner at the oldest brewery in Munich called Augustiner; then headed to our hotel in Puchheim.

The next day the tour was scheduled to go to Neuschwanstein to see King Ludwig's fairy-tale castle. Instead, three of us elected to take the commuter train back to Munich to take in the art museums. I'm so glad we did, as the others reported that it was quite a hike uphill to Ludwig's castle. We had a wonderful day back in Munich. I spent my time at the Alte Pinakothek immersing myself in the paintings of Cranach, Vermeer, da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli, van Dyck, Rubens, Rembrandt, etc. etc. etc. Wonderful!!!

I did discover a new favorite - Jan van Kessel, a Flemish painter from the 1600s. He did the most detailed work of animals and botanicals with a large painting in the middle then a series of smaller paintings around the outside edge.

We also toured the Munich Residence Museum, the Palace of the kings of Bavaria.

This grotto courtyard was all done in shell work.

Opulence everywhere.

All of the extravagance of Munich was left behind. We next traveled to Dachau, the first concentration camp in Germany. What can I say - this was a sobering experience to think of the lives lost or changed forever. The inhumanity that took place was unbelievable.

I spent most of my time there in the museum reading the stories of the people that were interred. I'll never forget some of the stories and pictures.

We left Dachau, and traveled on the Romance Road to Rothenburg.

Rothenburg is Germany's best-preserved medieval town with half-timbered homes, cobblestone streets, and city walls.

We are headed to Heidelberg next for what must seem like to you an endless travelogue. Hope you check in for my next post.

I apologize for spacing problems - Blogger is giving me fits tonight!

(All pictures may be clicked on to enlarge to see details.)

I LOVED NUREMBERG!

If you are interested, you may scroll down to read my first post on my recent trip to Germany and France.

On our way to Munich we stopped at Nuremberg, the town that was famous for its association with Nazi Germany's Third Reich and the trials that were held there to determine the perpetrators of war crimes. It certainly has shaken that image, and is now a charming town with the most beautiful fountain in the square.

There was a market in the square with all of the beautiful sights you could imagine, including a flower market.
Vegetables, meats, and cheeses - no one seemed too concerned about the e-coli scare at the market. However, the restaurants that we ate at did not serve any fresh, uncooked vegetables.

I was especially intrigued by all of the white asparagus. One evening, we had white asparagus soup with our dinner - delicious.




Street scenes!

Sushi everywhere including Nuremberg!

I bought a lebkucken cookie (gingerbread, fruit & nuts) at the market for my lunch. Hey, I was on vacation - nutrition out the window! I then went to McDonald's for a Coke with ice and ran into the teenagers -- four days without American food was their limit, I guess. Plus, McDonald's always has clean and free bathrooms!

We all met at the fountain to head to Munich.

On to Munich for my next post!

(All photos may be clicked on to enlarge for details.)

JUST A BEGINNING GLIMPSE OF GERMANY

A little background about my recent trip ----- my son teaches high school science and math in a small Colorado community where the art teacher arranges overseas trips for the students in this small school to expand their horizons. My son, Mike, accompanies them as another teacher. The tours also include some parents, relatives, and friends. Two years ago, Mike told me they were going to Germany & France in 2011 if I wanted to go. And that is how I became part of the tour group that included ages 14 up to 72 (me!). The wide range of ages and interests only contributed to the fun experience. I traveled with people that I wish I could get to know better, and enjoy their friendship further.

We started our trip in Berlin, Germany. Below is a part of the remaining, infamous Berlin wall.

And more of the wall that has been painted. I enjoyed the graffiti
art on the wall, but was surprised by the amount of graffiti tagging all over the city.
The Brandenburg Gate - once the symbol of the undeclared Cold War, but now the symbol of a reunited Berlin.

We also toured the Checkpoint Charlie museum - shocking to see what was going on in the 60s, 70s, and 80s at the wall.


On a fun note, we stopped by the Lego Museum. Here is my 42-year-old kid under the giraffe all made of Legos.

And the teenagers in our group having Lego building contests in front of the museum.

One of the newer landmarks in Berlin (1969) is the TV Tower.

I left the tour group to go to the Handcraft Museum - no pictures allowed, but it was a wonderful exhibit of art nouveau and art deco dishes, silver, etc.

Lots of walking!

I had a Coke in a beer garden, bought T-shirts for the grandkids, then met the group for dinner (after a long walk) - we had broth, currywurst, potatoes, bread and Berliner filled donuts.

AND ON TO DRESDEN--

So different than Berlin with beautiful houses, buildings. They were having a huge festival with 130,000 Lutherans in town, plus it was a National Holiday.

We toured the Zwinger Palace to see paintings by Raphael, Durer and Titian in the Old Masters' Gallery. Then we saw in a different section their National Jewels, etc. More Coke in a beer garden; then walked to another beer place for dinner of Schweinsnitzel, fries, potato soup, bread and a bread pudding with apple sauce and whipped cream. Then, an hour drive on the autoban to Chemmitz for our hotel.

Next up - Nuremberg -- stay tuned for another post.

(All pictures may be clicked on to enlarge further for details.)

HOME AGAIN!

I'm home from my trip to Europe, jet-lagged and overwhelmed! The family went to a semi-pro baseball game today, so I'm home alone with my washing machine. I'm sitting here at the computer eating nachos, a diet Coke (WITH ICE!!!!), and a macaron from Paris's Laduree. Pathetic, I know.

No pictures today - it will take me awhile to sort out the over 1000 that I took. Hope the GPS on my camera worked to tell me where each castle and cathedral was located, as they were all starting to look alike.

Stay tuned for more details to come in a day or two. In the meantime, I'm dedicated to my laundry and sitting in my recliner. One day in Germany I walked 8 miles, as shown on the pedometer. That's a lot of walking for an old lady!!

Later------