Last weekend I made a day trip to Würzburg. Its only about a 30 minute drive from Schweinfurt(60 minutes if you miss the A70 interchange and have to take the back way home...Just sayin'!) and so beautiful!
During World War II in a 17 minute air raid over 90% of Würzburg was destroyed. So although the city is old, and has alot of history, many of the historic sites were completely rebuilt after the war. The amazing thing about Germany is that they don't really seem to care. They just used original plans and rebuilt their city to look exactly like it always had. One thing I can't get over is the fact that they still claim their buildings as old. For example, if a church was built in 1237, destroyed, then completely rebuilt in the 1950's, how can you get away with putting in brochures and on plaques that it was built in 1237?? The American in me is screaming "That's false advertisement! Lawsuit! Sue them!".
My Würzburg trip also marked my first real trip on the Autobahn, and I have to say...Its not that bad! They definitely drive faster over here, I was going about 130 km/h(about 80 mph) and keeping up well with the semi truck in front of me; in the slow lane :) The hardest part of driving here is not knowing where to park. I CAN parallel park, I just would way rather not. After driving around for about 20 minutes trying to find downtown and somewhere to park that didn't involve the word "parallel" I was starting to get discouraged. Especially after seeing this sign repeatedly:
The fact that its written in English made me slightly offended. Ok so I lied, I stole that from Google, but it made me laugh :) We ended up parking on the opposite side of the river from downtown, but the walk was nice, and the view beautiful! It also afforded us the opportunity to take a picture with a statue holding a goblet of wine, that's my kind of statue!
[This was taken from where I parked, the river is the Main]
If you ever come to Germany one really important thing to to know is that every city has a Marketplatz. It's usually a pedestrian only zone, and surrounded by shops and cafes, with the farmers market taking place in the center. Also housed near the Marketplatz is the tourist office, indicated by a large red i. The Würzburg Faulkenhaus was originally built during the height of the Rococo movement in 1751 and it's a beautiful spring-y yellow :)
We grabbed a city map, and a bite at an Italian cafe and went to a couple of the churches. The first church we visited was Neumüster. It's built on the site where the founders of Würzburg, the Irish bishops Kilian, Kolonat, and Totnan were killed.
[I thought this looked like The Art of the Covenant, who knew that its been in plain sight all these years right here in Würzburg?]
The next stop was Dom St. Killian. I pretty much skipped over the frescoes and gilded statues and went straight the the crypts. Pretty spooky and fabulous!
[Doesn't this look like evil eyes?]
I also took my favorite picture of the day at Dom St. Killian, just spooky and fabulous as the crypts!
The highlight of the day was definitely Fortress Marienberg. Its not technically a castle, but its pretty dang close if you ask me! I mean it has a moat for goodness sakes! Ok, so its not filled with water and never was, but still! (Hm, I wonder if thats why its not classified as a castle? Castles must have moats filled with water...Is that the difference?) Anyways...Fortress Marienberg sits directly across the Main River from downtown Würzburg, there's been some type of settlement on the site since 1000 BC, and the current fortress was started around 1200 AD.
[The walk(hike!) up to the fortress entrance]
[Water-less moat!]
[The church on the next hill over is Käppele, we didn't make it over there, but I definitely want to go next time I go to Würzburg]
[The well, over 100 meters deep and dug through solid stone by hand.]
[Old catapult balls. Historians don't know if they are original to the fortress or not because they can't be carbon dated]
[Princes of Bishops personal garden, with a view of Würzburg]
[I didn't take this picture, but it give you an idea of the amazing panoramic view from the fortress!]
[Looking up standing inside the old prison. There wasn't a door at the base, prisoners were lowered 30 meters from the hole in the ceiling, then tortured in various ways. A favorite method you ask? Filling the tower with water...]
One thing I wanted to mention, sightseeing here is totally affordable! Other than gas, my day trip expenses totally up to a whopping €15. Even with the atrocious exchange rate that's a steal! That includes lunch, post cards, a guided tour of the fortress and an ice cream cone for both Camden and I(walnut maple, Mmmm!)!
Despite the dubious dates, and parking, I am in complete awe of the beauty of Germany. I can't wait to continue to travel and take pictures! Who knows maybe I'll even be ambitious enough to jump back over here and blog about it ;)
Love you and miss you all,
Dani
---------------------------
[The Residenz]
During World War II in a 17 minute air raid over 90% of Würzburg was destroyed. So although the city is old, and has alot of history, many of the historic sites were completely rebuilt after the war. The amazing thing about Germany is that they don't really seem to care. They just used original plans and rebuilt their city to look exactly like it always had. One thing I can't get over is the fact that they still claim their buildings as old. For example, if a church was built in 1237, destroyed, then completely rebuilt in the 1950's, how can you get away with putting in brochures and on plaques that it was built in 1237?? The American in me is screaming "That's false advertisement! Lawsuit! Sue them!".
My Würzburg trip also marked my first real trip on the Autobahn, and I have to say...Its not that bad! They definitely drive faster over here, I was going about 130 km/h(about 80 mph) and keeping up well with the semi truck in front of me; in the slow lane :) The hardest part of driving here is not knowing where to park. I CAN parallel park, I just would way rather not. After driving around for about 20 minutes trying to find downtown and somewhere to park that didn't involve the word "parallel" I was starting to get discouraged. Especially after seeing this sign repeatedly:
The fact that its written in English made me slightly offended. Ok so I lied, I stole that from Google, but it made me laugh :) We ended up parking on the opposite side of the river from downtown, but the walk was nice, and the view beautiful! It also afforded us the opportunity to take a picture with a statue holding a goblet of wine, that's my kind of statue!
[This was taken from where I parked, the river is the Main]
If you ever come to Germany one really important thing to to know is that every city has a Marketplatz. It's usually a pedestrian only zone, and surrounded by shops and cafes, with the farmers market taking place in the center. Also housed near the Marketplatz is the tourist office, indicated by a large red i. The Würzburg Faulkenhaus was originally built during the height of the Rococo movement in 1751 and it's a beautiful spring-y yellow :)
We grabbed a city map, and a bite at an Italian cafe and went to a couple of the churches. The first church we visited was Neumüster. It's built on the site where the founders of Würzburg, the Irish bishops Kilian, Kolonat, and Totnan were killed.
[I thought this looked like The Art of the Covenant, who knew that its been in plain sight all these years right here in Würzburg?]
The next stop was Dom St. Killian. I pretty much skipped over the frescoes and gilded statues and went straight the the crypts. Pretty spooky and fabulous!
[Doesn't this look like evil eyes?]
I also took my favorite picture of the day at Dom St. Killian, just spooky and fabulous as the crypts!
The highlight of the day was definitely Fortress Marienberg. Its not technically a castle, but its pretty dang close if you ask me! I mean it has a moat for goodness sakes! Ok, so its not filled with water and never was, but still! (Hm, I wonder if thats why its not classified as a castle? Castles must have moats filled with water...Is that the difference?) Anyways...Fortress Marienberg sits directly across the Main River from downtown Würzburg, there's been some type of settlement on the site since 1000 BC, and the current fortress was started around 1200 AD.
[The walk(hike!) up to the fortress entrance]
[Water-less moat!]
[The church on the next hill over is Käppele, we didn't make it over there, but I definitely want to go next time I go to Würzburg]
[The well, over 100 meters deep and dug through solid stone by hand.]
[Old catapult balls. Historians don't know if they are original to the fortress or not because they can't be carbon dated]
[Princes of Bishops personal garden, with a view of Würzburg]
[I didn't take this picture, but it give you an idea of the amazing panoramic view from the fortress!][Looking up standing inside the old prison. There wasn't a door at the base, prisoners were lowered 30 meters from the hole in the ceiling, then tortured in various ways. A favorite method you ask? Filling the tower with water...]
One thing I wanted to mention, sightseeing here is totally affordable! Other than gas, my day trip expenses totally up to a whopping €15. Even with the atrocious exchange rate that's a steal! That includes lunch, post cards, a guided tour of the fortress and an ice cream cone for both Camden and I(walnut maple, Mmmm!)!
Despite the dubious dates, and parking, I am in complete awe of the beauty of Germany. I can't wait to continue to travel and take pictures! Who knows maybe I'll even be ambitious enough to jump back over here and blog about it ;)
Love you and miss you all,
Dani
---------------------------
[The Residenz]
