Invitation To Germany, Vignettes-3

Chapter 10 Kaiserslautern to Freiburg

Ramstein … Mitch, a retired Marine Colonel and recipient of the Congressional Metal of Honor, deserved, and was treated with all the honor and respect the guards could muster. The guard’s footprint, … must still be visible in the asphalt street.

Speyer cathedral … Martin Luther’s “protesters” acquired the name Protestants … Romanesque Basilica with four towers and two domes … battery-driven floor sweeper was keeping the floor clean in a manner not envisioned by the original builders.

Calw … In the 1400s the tiny Gothic St. Nikolaus Chapel, about the size of a small dining room, was built on one of the bridge piles and teeters over the Nagold River.

Freiburg … notice the gargoyles using both hands and feet to hang on to the side of Freiburg’s Münster, with their bare fannies pointing toward city hall.

Chapter 11 Donaueschingen, Stuttgart,

Tübingen … City Halls in Germany that are attractive and deserve attention, but we don’t remember one that is more pleasing, or more resplendent than Das Rathaus in Tübingen.

Stuttgart … Emmy’s … cup of coffee with an ice-cube, instead of the dip of coffee-flavored ice-cream she thought she had ordered. Kaffee-Eis or Eis-Kaffee, who knows!

Chapter 12 Ulm to the Bodensee

Ulm … world’s tallest church steeple … The last hundred or so steps are a narrow circular staircase enclosed in the lacy Gothic tower … Jim personally counted each of the 768 steps … when he reached the top he wasn’t even breathing hard — in fact, he almost wasn’t breathing at all.

Bodensee … As they advertise, “One lake, four countries, and a thousand possibilities.”

Chapter 13 Alpenstrasse, Füssen to Garmisch

Neuschwanstein Castle, … one of the most photographed castles in the world. … a light dusting of snow garnished the castle and the surrounding trees — an enchanting sight.

Zugspitze … There are thousands of cog-railways, cable-cars, ski-lifts, and other ways to reach mountain tops throughout Europe. They are generally expensive so we haven’t traveled on many, but we did venture on a few.