6/27/2010

Today we drove out of the city, to the French village of Hunspach, which we had read about in the France magazine we purchased. What a happy accident to purchase that magazine and thus discover that town. It was nearly deserted (outside) because it was Sunday, but the restaurant we entered was soon full. We had a delicious meal and after a bit joined in conversation with two folks sitting at the next table, Patrice and Rosalyn from Nice, France. They were staying in Strassbourg. He spoke halting English, she none. We speak less than halting French, yet we had a delightful time. The meal was leisurely, as once the restaurant was full, no more folks came in. We sat there for two hours!!! Finished off with crème brulee (K) and mousse chocolat (D) and espresso. Wow and Wow! Don't miss the photos of Hunspach and our yummy dessert in the album.

6/26/2010

Today we drove into Heidelberg (on Saturday hardly any traffic) and found two Wool Shops on Kathy's list. She will probably visit them during the week when they are open. One was near the Handschuhsheim, a structure partly ruins, partly in use, that was once the home of knights. References to it as far back as 8^th century! Nearby was a large church that was open and the organist was practicing. Lovely. Later we ate at a very good Italian restaurant near Nicole's home. The other couple eating was American, and were celebrating a wedding anniversary as well!

6/25/2010

Today we took a day trip along the Neckar River, through Heilbronn and on to Maulbronn where there exists a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Maulbronn Monastery. The Neckar is a pretty river, and the valley rather narrow at the Heidelberg end, but widens as we drive south. We even saw barges on the river, and passed several locks. Heilbronn turned out to be larger than we anticipated, and we didn't find the old buildings we were seeking. We were ready for some lunch, so drove on; we stopped at one backerei (bakery) where one can get sandwiches as well as sweets, but it was closed from 1-2pm. So on we went and what a fortunate accident that was-- as we were pulling off into the small town of Gemmingen, I saw a sign for Toskana Cafe pointing away from the town. I jerked the steering wheel and we pulled onto a one lane road, thinking and saying, "this can't be right". About a mile down the road we pulled into the parking lot of a beautiful, brand new, contemporary cafe and gift shop. We were amazed, and went in, as they say in German, "gerne"... gladly. What a wonderful meal, wonderful service, and friendly atmosphere we encountered. But AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH--- the camera battery died after Kathy took this photo of me in the cafe. Look behind me at the cafe, not at me. :) There are photos of the drive to Toskana in the Piccasa album.

After lunch we drove on to Maulbronn and the ancient monastery, dating back to the 1100's. It was an impressive structure and community. It had not only the church and quarters for brothers and laymen, but also a winery, barns, apothecary, bursar's office (financials) and more. During the Reformation, the ruling powers of Kingdom of Wurttemberg became Protestant, and eventually the whole monastery became Protestant. In the mid-1550's the monastery became a Protestant school, training boys beginning at ages 10-14 for religious work in the church. Among the better known students matriculating from Maulbronn were Johannes Keppler (astronomer and mathematician) and Hermann Hesse, German author. It was an inspiring afternoon, capped off with a nice glass of local Riesling at the Restaurant zur Kloster Katz, part of the entire complex. Here is a photo of the complex from the web:

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It's worth the effort to look at other photos at: http://www.archaeologie-bw.de/maulbron/mb_tab.html

View of the Platz (town square) and Schloss (castle) behind it on hill.

The scene is just wonderful... of course many people, but many of them being very leisurely (like us). We plan on going up to the castle soon.

Heidelberg "Altstadt" Heiliggeistkirche (Holy Spirit/Ghost Church)

Ok... thanks for the emails from Margaret & MJ, I figured out I had to give permission for comments on the posts...

so now anyone can comment... even the mailman or the firewoman.

Today we went to the "Aldtstadt" the old city of Heidelberg... reminded us lots of Reykjavik, Iceland. We took the Tram and it was so nice... America wake up! And as you can see in the photo, Kathy found what she was looking for (a wool shop)! I suspect it won't be the last she visits!

I went on, and saw some of the old buildings, (the oldest University in Germany is in Heidelberg) and the old 'Holy Spirit Church'. I'll upload a couple photos from that historic area. Will probably return, as we only gave it a cursory visit.

Let's Go Sightseeing!

Guten Morgan!! It's 10:00 a.m here and we are ready to hit the town! Must have been tired... we went to bed at 6 pm (all time now Euro time) and I slept until 7:30 a.m. Unheard of! Of course I was awakened by what must have been the celebration of a German victory in the World Cup games! Went for a walk this a.m. and purchased sweets from the local bakery and flowers for "meine schoenes Frau" and did it all in German! Yea me! Starting to feel like we are on vacation!

Now we are flying over the Atlantic between Iceland and mainland Europe. It's 4:15 body time, and we just finished a delicious breakfast of asparagus omelet, croissant, juice, coffee, and a delicious serving of waffle that had been “sugarized”... it was served cold with blackberries, currants, and lignon berries (?). We had a happy circumstance of being upgraded to business class for this leg of the trip. We had splurged for “economy comfort” for the trip, which meant wider seats and sitting in the first class seating area without the first class treats (but with a lesser level of treats). For this leg we get the full treatment and it's a nice way to travel and fun birthday gift!

The body is amazing, coping with only a few hours of much-disturbed sleep and now struggling to adapt to European time... while it's 4:15 a.m. in Wisconsin, it is now 9:15 here. I suspect that when we arrive in Heidelberg (probably about 2:30-3:00 pm Germany time but 9:00 a.m. body time) we will crash hard and sleep the (European) night away.

It's a bit unsettling to be sitting down to chocolate croissants and swiss mocha with cream on top at 2:00 a.m. But here we are in Keflavik Airport, Iceland. The clocks here say 7:00 a.m., so it's time for the body to adjust! Keflavik was voted the best airport in Europe in 2009 and they have a big gold trophy to prove it. We enjoy the airport, very international and excellent coffee!!! On to Frankfurt!

Getting this set up before we leave. Your comments are welcome. First time I've done this!