Our most recent trip (August, 2000)
Although we drove through the Belgian and German
countrysides, we had two main points of interest. Both the first and
last nights out were spent in Brugges, Belgium, a lovely medieval city renowned
for its beautiful canals - and chocolates and some 400 varieties of beer (but
who's counting?)
We visited Weinheim, Germany
(near Manheim and a bit south of Frankfurt)
to stay with friends and indulge in
the local wine festival. "Weinheim" literally translates into
"Wine Home" but, frankly, most of the liquid refreshment
available seemed to be good German beer. Pity, though. I was really
looking forward to the wine! Still there were some magical moments to be
had as on Saturday evening. when the city park was completely lit by candles in
paper lanterns.
Germany
While
living in Munich, we did our best to get acquainted (mostly by train) with
Bavaria and the areas of Austria that were close by. In the shadow of the
Alps, it is a fairy tale land of everyday-folk in lederhosen, fanciful
castles, highly decorated half-timbered houses and ornate, heavily gilt
churches. All can be found along the "Romantic Road" in
southern Germany.
The Bavarian people tend to
use any occasion for dressing in the traditional costumes of the region, from
harvest festivals to holy days to weddings. Every
locality has its own colors and combinations, especially evident during
Oktoberfest and most towns have their own oom-pah band. Look closely and
you'll see the men are wearing what can only be described as calf-warmers!
Mad King Ludwig nearly broke the Bavarian bank when he build
his series of three romantic castles. He turned up quite dead on a lake
shore not long after plans for a fourth were unveiled. Neuschwanstein is
probably his most fanciful, but with a large percentage of it uncompleted, it's
not his most ornate. Disney land? Sleeping Beauty's castle was
modelled on this one.
Rothenburg
ob Tauber is one of our favorite German tourist
traps. It's another ancient walled
city and has been carefully preserved. You can just barely see the wall
at the right edge of the picture. Jeff has to hunch
over in order to walk along the upper catwalk.
We found the churches to be amazing, many of them retaining
most, if not all, of their heavily ornate Rococo styling. The ceilings
often had the most beautiful paintings, full of angels and saints. The
altars tend to be laden with silver and gold relics and ornaments; so much so
that we often spared a thought of all the poor of the parish that that gold
could have helped. Still, the effect is stunning, to say the least!
The Bavarian church pictured here is actually out in the middle of a farmer's
field. It houses a statue of the scourged Christ that is purported to bleed.
The
pilgrims come by the busloads.
Links to:
FAMILY ALBUM
BRITAIN
