Day Seven Pictures - Black Forest

A farm home within the Black Forest mountains

Baroque style church that was once a Benedictine Monastery

The white walls with the gilt and Renaissance style painting are characteristic of the Baroque style.

The organ in the church choir

The original steps of the church that were moved during renovation to preservation.

The bike riders were brave or unconcerned with the lack of shoulders on the roads filled with buses and the steep cliffs along the roadway.

The chuckoo clock workshop with the giant clock on the side of the building.

The cathedral of Breisach on the edge of the Black Forest

 

Breisach city gate

Day Six Pictures - Strausbourg, France

The city government building - it has changed hands between France and Germany many times.

This was the official headquarters of the Jacobites.

The roof contains many small windows in the attic.  This area was used for a living area in the times of the plague to provide a bit of space between the residents of the building and the chaos of the streets.

Strasbourg Cathedral - view of the front

The doors of the cathedral are only partially used today.  As you can see, the red portion of the door is no longer in use.

Details around the doors of the cathedral

Interior of Strasbourg Cathedral

The clock that I previously described with the many measurements of time

Stained glass windows with freat detail

The left side of the cathedral was added to until the 1800s

William in the front of the cathedral.  On the way home on the plane, we watched Sherlock Holmes 2 and William immediately noticed that this is the same view as the opening scene of the movie when the cathedral is "blown up" in an effort to start another war between Germany and France.

Day Five Pictures - Heidelberg

Details above the gates of Heidelberg Castle

The interior of the moat within the castle walls.  It was never effective because it leaked.  Today is appears more like a deeply walled courtyard, but you can see the tunnel on the far wall.

Above the gate of the castle, there is a piece missing.  Notice that in the center there is an area that appears to be carved into the stone wall.  The is where the silver coat of arms was once located before it was removed and stolen from the castle.

More of the crumbling walls of the moat closest to the interior walls.  The castle was destroyed in a series of battles and only portions were rebuilt.

The only interior palace of the castle that was rebuilt.  It was not open to the public except for the terrace and the wine cellar.

View from the castle terrace of Holy Ghost Church that I described earlier that was one of the one buildings in the city that survived the series of fires.

Mom taking a picture of the palace on the terrace

The largest wine barrel in the world - see the person on the left?  It takes up an entire room in the wine cellar.

Heidelberg Castle from the view of the city below

The streets of Heidelberg

The other stone building to survive the fires.  Four hundred years ago it was a wealthy cloth merchant's home, but now it is a hotel.

The far tower of the castle.  You can see how thickly the walls were built, but even that strength could not stop the gun powder canons.

Day Four Pictures - Rhine Castles

We started the morning by docking in Koblenz to make our way to Marksburg Castle.

Marksburg Castle from the base of it exterior walls.

Mom overlooking the view from the walls of Markburg Castle into the valley below.

Views of Marksburg Castle from the bottom of the mountain. With the hill for defense, it is not wonder that it is the only castle on the Rhine that was not destroyed in war.

Mixed among the views of the castles along the Rhine Gorge were many vineyards on the sides of the mountains.

 

St. Goars-hausen - Two castles with a wall between them.  Built by a pair of brothers in the 13th century after a falling out.  Conrad and Henry were both in love with the same girl, Angela.  Conrad was to marry Angela, but went on Crusade before they married.  Henry stayed home and took care of the family home and watched over Angela for his brother.  When Conrad returned from Crusade, he had brought a new bride.  Henry challenged Conrad to a duel to the death, but Angela intervened.  Conrad built the white castle and the wall in between.  Angela died in a convent with a broken heart and Conrad's wife later left him for someone else.  The brothers never reconciled and Conrad jumped from a wall into the Rhine.

Henry's Portion of St. Goars-hausen.

Conrad's portion of St. Goard-hausen

 

Terrace farming along the Rhine

Tolls were collected for ships traveling the Rhine during the Middle Ages.  The tolls were paid to the lords based on the goods in the ships.