Frankenstein's Castle, Germany

 We visited Frankenstein's castle on New Year's Eve day.  There was a good bit of snow on the ground (by german standards anyway - about 3").  No one was there.  I twas just us and one other American family.  We went with Chris Eide and Adam Varro.


The castle is on top of a hill that over looks either Darmstadt or Dexheim, I can't recall.  The castle itself is located within a nature park, so admission is free and there are no guards, guides or red tape.










We wandered through the castle grounds for a while.  From the top of the tower, you could see for miles.  The floor boards were old with large gaps, and when the wind blew it was difficult to stand (I didn't stay there long!).  There were old wooden ramparts up and tilted windows where you could imagine weapons would be pointed, ready to fire at enemies.  There were remnants of walls and wooden chairs.  There was even an eerie fog and an odd shape in the vinen formations on the wall.




We ended our trip with a massive snowball fight between the guys.  Eventually a truce was declared and we went up by the tower and built a Franken-snowman, complete with neck blots.  Proud, but cold, and a little wet, we headed back home.

Found after the fact:
Frankenstein Castle near Darmstadt: Local legend claims that Johann Konrad Dippel’s ghost along with others now haunt Frankenstein Castle. Johann, is said to be seen most often between Christmas and New Year’s Day sitting on the roof of the chapel. Visitors to the castle have included numerous groups of paranormal investigators and ghost hunters, hoping to unravel the mysteries surrounding Frankenstein’s home.
http://livingingermany.geekymoms.com/places-to-see/haunted-places-in-germany/
 

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Büdingen, Germany

The town is on the other side of Frankfurt, a little under an hour's drive from Wiesbaden.  Overall, it makes a good day trip.  Unfortunately when we first went, it was VERY cold.  Nate later took his parents to see the town when the temperatures were much milder.


On our trip together (with me, Nate, and Chris), we walked around for a while in the Altstadt.  A lot of the buildings were from the 1300-1600's, which was pretty impressive.  On your way into the city, there was even on with a giant bores head hanging on it.  It made you feel like you'd stepped back about 500 years.


We walked by the city wall and saw the witches tower.  I guess it's a place with 6ft thick walls and a torture chamber underground.  There was also a castle nearby, but we only saw that off in the distance.




We had coffee at a little cafe.  It was the first - and I think only - time that a couple of Germans actually came and sat at a table with us (the guys were up ordering and two ladies sat down with me).  Later on we went to a Croatian restaruant.  Nate and Chris got to speak the language, and the owner was so excited to see someone who knew his language.  It was fun and delicious of course.








On our way back, we saw the castles at Hanau from the Autobahn.  It was really cool to see everything lit up at night.

Oh, and I got to take a picture of some men dressed up in medeival costumes with bows and arrows.  We later found out they were giving a city tour with torches and costumes.  :-)

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Rüdesheim am Rhein

We visited Rüdesheim many, many times during our stay in Germany.  It's a really easy drive (just take A66 all the way).  Along the way you follow the Rhein, and on the opposite side you follow vinyards and huge houses/beautiful churches.  At one spot, there's even some kind of castle ruin.

I went the first time with Holly and Dale.  We were too early for the Christmans market, but we went to some of the shops.  They had a lot of cheap decorations and souvenirs  especialy wooden products.  Some of my favorite trinkets from Germany actually came from here (my German houses, my coffe cups and mugs).

We had the classic Rüdeshiemer kaffee, which I couldn't finish.  They bring out the indgredients on a tray, and make it in front of you.  It consists of: 3 cubes of sugar, the a shot of Ansbach, which they stir then light on fire.  They keep stirring as the flames jump out of the cup, then pour in the coffee.  They top it with a dollop of whipped cream and sprinkle on chocolate shavings.

We also went to a Medieval torture museum there.  Perhaps most unnerving was not the actual instruments on display, but the fact that several of them are still used today in some countries.

We went later with Chris and Courtney.  We saw the Gandala that leads up to Niederwald and the denkmal, and an old castle that was converted into a vinyard.  We also got a great view of the Rhein from where we parked/walked.

I think we also brought about every visitor (Deb, Abby, Geoff) who came to see us to Rüdesheim, and we went with Jackie and Caiti as well.  It's just a picturesque little town on the Rhein.

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Wiesbaden Christmas Markets 2005

The Christmas Markets in Wiesbaden were always a joy.  I don't know that I can say they were my favorite Christmas market, but they were the closest, so we got to visit them often.  A nice stroll down to the city square and you were immersed in the bright lights, the festive music, and the smell of glühwein, bratwurst, crepes, cherry waffles, kartofel puffers, and other tasty treats.





The entire town (or at least the market square, and then some) is decorated and blocked off for the markets.  Vendors come in and sell all sorts of goods from crafts to food.

 

    

The towns also usually have some sort of nativity set up as well as some rides for the kids.  Wiesbaden has a merry-go-round and an ice skating rink.

The markets are best after sundown, in my opinion.  Everything is lit up.  It's a really fun tradition.

  

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Rüdesheim Christmas Markets 2005

Our first taste of the Germany's Christmas markets came in late November 2005, when we went with the Faegins to Rüdesheim and walked along the town.  It was still too early for the markets to be open, but already everything was decorated for the markets and the stall were being set up to sell the wares.

There's nothing quite like the Christmas season in Germany.  In Rüdesheim, every street has evergreen trees and trimmings, and lights and silver, gold, and crimson decorations adorn every corner.  There's less cheap plastic and corny decorations, leaving behind just the rustic traditional Christmas.

And we discovered that Santa even visits the Medieval Torture Museum (see below).

 

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Worms, Germany

Worms was one of the earliest trips we took from Germany.  We went not really knowing much about the town, other than the fact that Martin Luther was brought before the Imperial Diet of Worms here, where the famous words "Here I stand, I can do no other" were uttered.

We were pleasantly surprised by the town's many other treasures.  It is one of the oldest in Germany, proudly dating back almost 2,000 years.

We stopped by a travel office, where we got a free map (I actually found the PDF version online here), and set out on our own little walking tour to see the sites.

One of the first, and most prominent, ones we saw was the Imperial Cathedral of St. Peter.  It was larger than any photo can express, but I will retype the description from our map here:

"Imperial Cathedral of St. Peter, twin-choired structure with four towers and two domes, erected in the 11th and 12th centuries, representing church and state of the High Middle Ages.  Rich ornamental decoration, especailly at the monumental East Choir and the magnificently organized West Choir which completed the construction around 1200.  The main entrance was by the Imperial Door on the norther side (the place of the "Quarrel of the Queens" in the Nibelungen Lied).  Today's entrance is by the Gothic South Door (late 13th century), displaying a remarkable pictorial bible in stone."

     

From the church, we walked on behind it through the gardens, past the library and the fountain, walking towards the Luther monument.

  

We came to the Luther monument, and walked through it, reading the inscriptions.  An except from our map:

"The Luther Monument, portraying through figures and emblems the striving for ecclesiastic reform, the period of the Reformation, and the Luther Diet of Worms in 1521.  Design by Ernst Rietschel, unveiled in 1868."

From there, we proceeded on our own self-guided tour, taking in more sites, to include:

"Magnus Church, on Weckerlingplatz, originally a Carolingian one-room structure of the 8th/9th century, later extended."

"The town wall, mentioned already before 900 A.D., in large part still preserved."

  "Jew's Street (Judengasse) and Synagogue: flourishing Jewish community since the 11th century.  Rashi Jeshiwa (1624), ritual bath (1185/86), and Rashi House (Jewish Museum and city archive)"

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Bad Homburg, Germany

Bad Hamburg was one of the first places we went that was outside of the Wiesbaden-Mainz area.  We went with some family friends, Dale and Holly Feagin, and pretty much just walked around the town and looked for a place to eat.  It might not sound that fun, but walking around town in Germany is much different than just walking around a town in the US.  You never know what kind of old building you might stumble upon.







We actually never visited this town in the day time, and the first time we went, we actually missed most of its main attractions.  But to give you a little overview of the town, here's an excerpt from http://www.inyourpocket.com/germany/
frankfurt/sightseeing/badhomburg.







Rumored to house the most millionaires per capita in Germany, luxury, relaxation and tranquility seem to be the name of the game in Bad Homburg. With exquisite Baroque-influenced architecture and the huge sprawling Kurpark (spa garden) throughout the town, it couldn’t look more different than Frankfurt. It’s officially called Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, ‘before the Heights’, as it is located at the foot of the Taunus mountains, an extremely popular weekend walking spot for Frankfurters. For centuries Bad Homburg has been home to celebrity visitors, princes, kings and queens, writers and czars, all looking for a bit of relaxation and recuperation in its amazing natural springs, or looking to lose a fortune at the famous casino, as Dostoyevski famously did in 1867 and documented in his novel The Player.

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Whale Watching in Monterey, CA

One of my favorite things to do in Monterey was to go whale watching.  It wasn't always cheap, but I loved seeing the seals, the birds, the dolphins, the whales.  And even if we didn't see much in terms of aquatic wildlife, it was always exciting to just be on the ocean, feeling the breeze, smelling the sea air.

The ride out was usually a nice way to see some seals and other boaters.  You also got some great views of the coast line.  It usually took about 15-20 minutes to get to where the whales were, but you never knew what you would see on the way.  

On all of my trips out, I have to say I never actually saw a whale breach or jump, but I got to get pretty close to them.  We saw a small school of dolphins once, and saw blue whale, gray whales, and humpback whales.

  

 

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Denver & Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

Nate and I had planned a mini-vacation following his graduation from Goodfellow.  He would only have about 10 days between graduation and departing for Germany, and we wanted to make the most of it.  At first, we had set our sights on seeing the Grand Canyon, but we made a last minute change of plans, and decided to go up and visit Geoff and see the Rockies instead.

We took off from San Angelo about as soon as we could, dropping off a classmate at the airport on our way (and both of them flipping the entire place the bird on the way out).  We drove up through Texas, and there wasn't much to say for it.  Dry, oil, etc.  Then briefly drove through NM before entering Colorado.

We went up and visited Geoff, who was living outside of Denver at the time.  We relaxed at his place for a while and got some camping supplies before heading out to the park the next day.

We drove up to Estes Park, and visited the town for a little while, grabbing some Starbucks, as I recall, before heading up to our first ever camping trip.  We saw some elk on the road as we were entering the park.  We drove into the camp grounds, got our camping permit, and drove up to Moriane Park Campground to set up our tent.

We walked around the park, soaking up the views of the mountains.  Geoff and his pooch joined us for a campfire.  We weren't quite prepared for how cold it would be in the Rockies in May though, so our tent and sleeping bag (yes, we only brought one) was not sufficient.  We ended up sleeping in the Stratus with the heat running most of the night.  At one point, I was quite grateful that I was in the car not the tent.  I woke up to find elk surrounding us, and let me tell you, they are a lot bigger when they are 2-3 feet away than they look like they ar from 15-20 feet away!

On our last day there, we drove up to the Alberta Falls trail.  Snow was still thick on the mountains up there, despite the moderate temperatures (and the fact that it was May!).  We walked along through the higher mountains, and soaked up the scenery.  The pics were taken with my "real" camera (not a digital), so you'll have to take my word when I say it was beautiful.  :-)

A few more pics from our hikes along the trails follow:


From our hike along the Fern Lake Trail:

  

    

Sunset views from the campground weren't too bad either:

  

We spent the last day relaxing at Geoff's then-girlfriend's place, which was a nice break from the hiking.  We took off for "home" (then California), driving through Wyoming, then Utah, the Nevada, before finally entering California.  It was a grueling drive back, and we tried to do it straight through.  We did too, aside from a small sleep break (though in the car still).  Who'd have thought we'd hit snow in the mountains of CA though?  What a drive!  But we made it back with a few days left to just relax and spend time together in CA before Nate left for Germany.

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