This morning dawned bright and sunny, but still cool enough for jackets. After a yummy traditional German breakfast (Nutella is my friend) we loaded into the vans to head for Meersburg Castle on Lake Constance in southern Germany. In fact, we were so far south that across the lake we could see Switzerland! This castle is awfully old. In fact, it was built around 630 and is the oldest castle in Germany that is currently inhabited. I wonder what the living quarters are like because the rest of it looks pretty darn rugged!
The folks who built this castle and lived in it over the many centuries had to be some hearty stock. It would have been cold and drafty and quite uncomfortable in our estimation. However, it did have its own cell for criminals! It was a deep, deep room that the person was lowered into, by a rope. It surely would have been pretty grim!
There was a bathroom of sorts. It was a small room next to the kitchen that held a stone bench that had a hole in it. The waste emptied directly into the moat a couple of floors below. The kitchen garbage also went directly into the moat along with who knows what else! Imagine how stinky that must have been!
Because of the age of the castle there were several centuries of artifacts and articles on display from armor to furniture. Very interesting stuff and again made me feel really small and insignificant in the great big picture of this awesome world we live in.
After the castle we enjoyed a group lunch. It was fun all being together to dine, and it was Anna Rehder’s 30th birthday and we called her in Texas and all sang Happy Birthday to her! I hope she enjoyed it because with the acoustics in this great big castle room we thought we sounded pretty darn good!
Some light shopping followed and then a visit to a nearby church overlooking beautiful vineyards, there are many vineyards here, and Lake Constance, Germany's largest lake. The clouds over the Alps let up some and we could see the mountains in the distance. The church is the most elaborately decorated pink church I have ever seen in my life! Everywhere you looked there was decoration at the Basilica Birnau. It was almost too much for the eyes to take in and the mind to comprehend. Gold gilt was everywhere and statues and paintings and carvings just went on and on. I cannot begin to describe it but trust me; the decorations fairy threw up all over this room!
Home at the Park Hotel was only a short hour’s drive away and we bailed out of the vans and headed our separate ways. I wanted to get a manicure and Sandy wanted to visit the local cemetery. I walked to town but after three shops could not find anyone who could take a walk in so I just went to our meeting place by a fountain near our hotel.
I hadn’t been there long and my adopted friend stopped by for a nice long visit. You see, yesterday an orange and white kitty was roaming the streets. Of course, I stopped and petted him and after a minute or two he sauntered off. Then early in today’s venture into town I ran into him again downtown and we spent a few minutes together. Later, when I was waiting for Sandy on the park bench he strolled up and I scratched gently behind his ears and he promptly jumped up in my lap and stayed sitting there for 20 minutes or so until San showed up. He was purring contentedly and shedding white and orange hairs all over me. He was really a nice ice breaker with the passers-by and several of them stopped to chat in broken English with me and pet my friend. Even a grandma with a baby in a stroller stopped to say hello. When Sandy arrived he stayed long enough to receive a few more scratches, pose for a picture, and head on down the road. I will miss my furry Villingen friend when we leave tomorrow.
Sandy and I walked downtown and stopped at a restaurant with outside seating near the cathedral bell tower. We enjoyed supper as the bells pealed every 15 minutes and it was really nice to hear. At 6:15, we don't know why, but the bells rang for 6 straight minutes! They put on quite a concert for us!
As we sat here in this ancient city in Germany I got a little misty-eyed thinking how this was my Great Grandfather Carl’s country of birth. He left Germany 120 years ago and here I am, thousands of miles from my home, back where it all began. I am humbled by this place and honored to have been privileged to come here. Often, when Sandy and I see something we will comment on how that practice or event had shaped our youth and lives, or Wilfred would have remembered using this particular item, or Marvin would enjoy seeing a particular piece of equipment. Memories...they are flooding in and surrounding us in this place and it makes me very conteted and happy to be able to experience this. This was a great night!
After supper it was back to our home away from home, and journaling and editing photos. An early day again tomorrow, with a road trip to Austria! The hills will be alive with the sound our foreign American voices and I can't wait! Love to you all! Deb
After supper it was back to our home away from home, and journaling and editing photos. An early day again tomorrow, with a road trip to Austria! The hills will be alive with the sound our foreign American voices and I can't wait! Love to you all! Deb
No comments:
Post a Comment