happy easter
For Easter weekend I had two extra days off (easter friday and easter monday) and while normally I would have taken a 4 day holiday to go somewhere else on my own, it happens that this holiday falls between two huge vacations for me (my week long trip to Spain and trip to Barcelona for a bachelorette weekend) So given my lack of plans, I was very nicely invited to go with the family to their Hometown on Augsburg. It is a town on the way from Stuttgart to Munich, about 45 min west of munich. We started the weekend with our usual sit down breakfast, during which we all drew faces on the shells of our eaten eggs. This was a result of a bit of conversation, but in the spirit of decorating eggs durning easter we felt it was appropriate. So here they are from L to R: Tim, me, Sabine, Reimund, Ines:
After breakfast, we loaded up the car and drove to Augsburg. We went to a nearby lake, walked around, had lunch at a beer garden and enjoyed the beautiful weather. I walked with Reimund and the kids to Sabine´s mom´s house from there, so I could see somethings along the way. Augsburg has these canals running throught the city because it is basically on two rivers. Off on the river Lech, is this site for kayaking, and it is where the kayaking events were held for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Here is a pict of it, but you just have to imagine way more water flowing through over these rocks for a very intense kayaking experience. We saw some people practicing, and it was quite amazing to see them do these slolom courses both down stream and up.
On Saturday I went with Reimund, Tim and Reimund´s mom to Schloss Neuschwanstein, which is perhaps the most famous Castle in Germany. I have heard that it is what Walt Disney based his Disneyland castle on. It was a beautiful day, so we did a lot of walking around and walked up to the castle, and of course played tourist like the rest of the people. It is always so strange for me to go to places like that and hear other people speaking English, well to see other Americans. I always forget about them, and just live in my own little world there. We definitely experienced one fellow, who was the definition of the 'ugly American' 20-something guy, beer in hand at 3pm (which is totally normal for Germans done in the right fashion) swearing, talking loudly, complaining, all while walking up the hill to the castle.... Come on buddy, pull it together!!!! Anyhow, I had a great day despite all that. The castle has quite a story and it was well worth it to go on the tour. And, of course, here´s the pict:
Easter Sunday, they didn´t have a whole lot planned, so after breakfast I went on a nice walking tour of old town Augsburg. It´s a lovely old town, with some unique aspects for the time. The main street is really wide, and impressive, especially for a all the old farmers in the 14th century, when Augsburg was THE town to go to.
They also have a great city hall, with a Golden Room, pict below. As well as a huge church which is half Roman and half Gothic. Augsburg was originally a Roman town founded by Emperor Augustus. One other very interesting facility there is The Fuggerei. Fugger was the last name of one of the rulers of the town in the early days. And much ahead of his time, he created a little town with in Augsburg for poor people. There are apartments there, a church, park, communal water... and the idea is that someone could live there for sat 1 Deutsch Mark a year and the Fuggers would pay the rest. People still live there today, many of whom are older and have no family to live with, and cannot afford a lot of rent. After my time in town, I went with Sabine and Ines so Ines could see her Aunt´s horse, and we got to walk around the Augsburg University which Sabine attended and her dad taught for many years.
After breakfast, we loaded up the car and drove to Augsburg. We went to a nearby lake, walked around, had lunch at a beer garden and enjoyed the beautiful weather. I walked with Reimund and the kids to Sabine´s mom´s house from there, so I could see somethings along the way. Augsburg has these canals running throught the city because it is basically on two rivers. Off on the river Lech, is this site for kayaking, and it is where the kayaking events were held for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Here is a pict of it, but you just have to imagine way more water flowing through over these rocks for a very intense kayaking experience. We saw some people practicing, and it was quite amazing to see them do these slolom courses both down stream and up.
On Saturday I went with Reimund, Tim and Reimund´s mom to Schloss Neuschwanstein, which is perhaps the most famous Castle in Germany. I have heard that it is what Walt Disney based his Disneyland castle on. It was a beautiful day, so we did a lot of walking around and walked up to the castle, and of course played tourist like the rest of the people. It is always so strange for me to go to places like that and hear other people speaking English, well to see other Americans. I always forget about them, and just live in my own little world there. We definitely experienced one fellow, who was the definition of the 'ugly American' 20-something guy, beer in hand at 3pm (which is totally normal for Germans done in the right fashion) swearing, talking loudly, complaining, all while walking up the hill to the castle.... Come on buddy, pull it together!!!! Anyhow, I had a great day despite all that. The castle has quite a story and it was well worth it to go on the tour. And, of course, here´s the pict:
Easter Sunday, they didn´t have a whole lot planned, so after breakfast I went on a nice walking tour of old town Augsburg. It´s a lovely old town, with some unique aspects for the time. The main street is really wide, and impressive, especially for a all the old farmers in the 14th century, when Augsburg was THE town to go to.
They also have a great city hall, with a Golden Room, pict below. As well as a huge church which is half Roman and half Gothic. Augsburg was originally a Roman town founded by Emperor Augustus. One other very interesting facility there is The Fuggerei. Fugger was the last name of one of the rulers of the town in the early days. And much ahead of his time, he created a little town with in Augsburg for poor people. There are apartments there, a church, park, communal water... and the idea is that someone could live there for sat 1 Deutsch Mark a year and the Fuggers would pay the rest. People still live there today, many of whom are older and have no family to live with, and cannot afford a lot of rent. After my time in town, I went with Sabine and Ines so Ines could see her Aunt´s horse, and we got to walk around the Augsburg University which Sabine attended and her dad taught for many years.
We left Augsburg on Monday evening after spending the day with Sabine´s Dad and his wife. It was so great to see where Sabine and Reimunds origins are, and the town they speak so fondly of. I had been meaning to go for some time, so I am really glad it all worked out. Just another aspect of German life I get to experience before I go.
posted by emily at 12:35 PM
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