I’ve always thought the name “Black Forest” sounded especially dark, menacing in the way that Hansel and Gretel’s witch is. But this part of Germany is absolutely gorgeous, and it doesn’t just include forest.
Laufenburg, Baden Wuertemberg, Schwarzwald. Photo copyright dpa/picture alliance
Photo copyright dpa/picture alliance
Photo copyright dpa/picture alliance
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Loading ...Is it spring yet? Once this snow and cold finally let up, there will be beautiful things to see on Germany’s Island of Flowers, the Mainau on Lake Constance. Check it out:
Photo copyright picture alliance / dpa
Photo copyright dpa / picture alliance
Bettina Gräfin Bernadotte and her brother Björn Graf Bernadotter welcome spring on their family’s island. Photo copyright dpa /picture alliance
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A study in orange – an old school punch buggy in front of an old school building in Lübeck, Germany.
Did you know that the city of Lübeck, Germany (founded in 1143 aka a billion times older than Vancouver) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site? I totally did. Okay, maybe not, but as of last weekend I learned that. Also, it’s the marzipan capital of Germany, possibly the world. You can learn about and eat all things marzipan at the famous marzipan chain called Niederreger Lübeck. They even have a museum.
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This blogger hearts the Deutsche Bahn. Photo (cc) flickr user Train Chartering and Private Rail Cars
Everyone in Germany, it seems, likes to complain about the trains. A train will be five, ten minutes late, and you know that at least a dozen people somewhere are muttering (loudly) under their breath about how intolerably unreliable the Deutsche Bahn is. But I am an American, and frankly, the tendency to be disappointed in the state of the German public transportation system is a cultural tick that I will never understand. The people grumbling about the delays have obviously never ridden Amtrak or Greyhound.
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Photo (c) Resident on Earth
Aachen was an important city in Germany in the Middle Ages, and is where the kings of Germany were crowned. It was Charlemagne’s favorite place to be, and undoubtedly his mark is felt on the city.
I really enjoyed our visit to Aachen–at just this time last year. The Mann lived there when doing graduate work, so he was able to show me around. I thought the city had a really nice vibe and feel to it. It felt low-key, and yet it had that energetic “university town” element to it. We talked a lot about how livable it feels.
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The Kölner Dom: Hard to fit in one photo. Photo (c) Resident on Earth
One day last May as we were zipping along the Autobahn at light speed, we decided to make an impromptu stop in Köln (Cologne) to see its impressive and famous cathedral, the Kölner Dom. So we zipped in, saw it, and zipped out.
And impressive it is, to say the least. I craned my head back, looked up at it, and said, “Mein Gott!” It was hard to even fit the whole front facade into one photo. The cathedral is one of the world’s largest churches, and is the largest gothic church in northern Europe. With its enormous twin spires, it boasts the largest facade of any church in the world. Construction on the cathedral began in 1248, and building continued intermittently until its completion in 1880. It seems the cathedral is continually under some kind of renovation/restoration…always. The Mann says this is the Sagrada Familia of German building projects.
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Photo (c) Resident on Earth
One Sunday last June, despite the fact that we were monstrously tired and the weather was rainyish, we trekked all the way out to Gelnhausen for their medieval festival. Of course it was only marginally historical, but still, rather fun.
This is where Germans love to dress up in spectacularly bad costumes and act all medievally by laboring with crude materials and standing around smoky fire pits cooking food that went out of style for a reason. At one food stall they were actually roasting a pig’s head – yes, a pig’s head, and some tourist was eagerly kneeling before the fire with his crude wooden plate outstretched and waiting for the medieval impersonator to carve off some meat.
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