Monday, July 18, 2005
We were able to spend 13 great years with him. Until we see him again, he will never be absent from our hearts. We love you Otto -
He was always able to make us smile, make us laugh, share his love.
Monday, July 18, 2005
We have some very sad news to send out tonight. Earlier today we lost our beloved Otto. For those of you that know our family, you know how much he means to us and how much he will be missed.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Another view of the castle from the Venus Temple. The King never had a single guest visit him at this residence. This remained his favorite residence until his tragic death in 1886. We all had a great trip! After the Schloss we headed back to Mannheim.
Behind us is the terraced hill and Venus Temple. The gardens are beautiful at this castle.
This is another picture from the same room. The pictures don't really show it properly but the castle interior is stunning.
This is a picture of the bed chamber. It is the largest room of the castle. After King Ludwig visited Versailles, he designed this castle as his own mini Versailles.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Yesterday, we had to say goodbye to Italy. After a pit stop for some Italian pottery shopping just outside Vincenza, we continued our journey back into Germany. We stayed once again at the Hotel Forsthaus in the Alps. We had a great dinner and we all relaxed in the hotel's hot tub. We even met a young guy(Alex), travelling with his family, that is in the Israeli Army. Tuesday morning, we checked out of the hotel and went staright to another one of King Ludwig's castles - Schloss Linderhoff.
Tonight we had dinner right on the Grand Canal. We just enjoyed Venice so much!
They loved it! I think they could have fed the birds for hours.
This was a highlight for the kids - feeding the pigeons! The kids had the pigeons eating out of their hands!
We were not allowed to take pictures inside so this is a scanned image from our book about the church. It really does not do it justice but you get the idea - it's beautiful.
The magnificent interior is clad with dazzling mosaics. And unbeknownst to us until we were inside - Mark is housed in the altar. Now that we have seen St. Peter and St. Mark, we are curious to know where the rest of the Apostles are buried.
The Basilica of St. Mark is an amazing sight. The exterior is full of countless columns, bas-reliefs, and colored marbled and mosaics.
And behind the family in this picture is San Marco's!
We hopped onto another vaporetto and went to the mouth of the Grand Canal where San Marco's is located. Behind me in this picture is the Palazzo Ducale. Once home to Venice's rulers and to the offices of State, the Doges' Palace is a triumph of Gothic architecture. Its just beautiful. It is built with pink marble and the columns of white Istrian stone. We did not go inside the palace - I had to leave a few "excuses" to come back to Venice.
I thought the flowerboxes on this building were great - glass flowers! What else would you have in Murano?!
Murano was beautiful. From the factory we wandered along the canal and did some more shopping. Here is a picture of Scott and the kids on one of the bridges.
The kids loved this! The glassmaster, who is retired and now makes the little figures, has been making Murano glass for over 30 years. During his demonstration, he took the glass blob on the end of a pole and had only 60 seconds to make it into a horse. And of course, once he started pulling at the glass, in less than a minute he made a horse! The kids were each given one but not the one he just made because it would take 48 hours to cool completely. After he had finished the horses a few minutes passed and he touched a piece of newspaper to the horses and the paper instantly caught fire. The kids thought that was so cool.
We wandered into Murano and found this factory - Mazzega, and went in for a tour. Wow! It was amazing! Danielle gave us a complete tour showing us the artwork, wine glasses and chandeleirs. He was terriffic and took us to the part of the factory where they blow the glass. It was a Sunday so they were not making anything large, only small pieces for demonstration purposes.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
A beautiful morning! After a delicious breakfast we hopped on vaporetto number 42 (waterbus) and went out to discover Murano.
Saturday, July 16, 2005
The Rialto Bridge is in the background of this picture. The Railto takes its name from rivo alto (high bank) and was one of the first areas of Venice to be inhabited. The bridge was completed in 1591 and was the only means of crossing the canal until 1854, when the Accademia bridge was built. It is a great place to watch the constant activity of boats on the canal below.
What is a trip to Venezia without a Gondola Ride! Gondolas have been a part of the city since the 11th century. After dinner we opted for a sunset ride.
This is me standing on the famous Rialto Bridge overlooking the Grand Canal. The city is truly unique. We easily succumbed to the magic of Venezia.
Scott and Bob enjoying our first night in Venice.
Saturday, July 9, 2005
This morning, Vickie, Bob, Scott, the kids and I hopped into the truck and headed southeast. After a driving about 9 hours, we finally arrived in Venice, Italy! After we checked in at our hotel (the Hotel Atlantide), we were quickly out the door and off to explore this beautiful city. Our hotel was steps away from the Grand Canal! Everywhere you walk in Venice is a postcard! We walked out near the Rialto Bridge and found a restaurant near the seafood market to eat some dinner. A little dinner, some chianti and beer - we were a happy group!
Friday, July 15, 2005
Oh yes - we saw Lance Armstrong! He is right in the center of the shot - wearing the yallow jersey of course! They came by so fast - probably at about 30mph! If you click on the picture(or any on our blog) they will enlarge for you.
Friday, July 8, 2005
In case you haven't heard there is a little bike race that they do over here in Europe about every July. It's called Le Tour de France and this year 2 stages of it were held in Germany. So, Scott, the kids and I and Vickie and Bob all jumped in the truck with the destination of Karlsruhe, Germany. It sits only about 1/2 hour to our south. It was so cool! We staked out our spot by 2:30 ish, watched the PR caravan, sipped a little cold beer and waited for race.
Along the old wall are these beautiful wildflowers. I just couldn't resist the photo op!
The round tower is called the Witches Tower and the square one in the back is called St. Martin's Gate. They were at the entrance into the old town through its medieval wall - which is still there.
Wednesday, July 6, 2005
Just a few minutes from us is a little hidden treasure - the town of Ladenburg. This old Roman town surprises you with its almost completely preserved old town center mixed in with some 2000 year old Roman treasures. The column that Kaitlyn and Jake are in front of is an actual column from when the Romans were here over 2,000 years ago. Cool, huh?
Look at how charming this city is! It has canals that encircle the town. Just a beautiful place to visit.
I thought the building that the kids and I are standing in front of looked very cool. As it turns out, it was once a rich merchant's mansion, its highly elaborate, carved facade dating from the mid 15th-late 16th centuries. Today, Maison Kammerzell is a restaurant.
Here is the clock! This clock, like the one in Prague, has a parade of the 12 Apostles but here they each turn to Christ who then blesses each one. Very cool. Jake's favorite was the skeleton ringing his bell.
We were able to get inside the church just in time to see the "show" put on by the astronomical clock located just inside the south portal.
It is a beautiful church! See how tiny the people are next to it?
This is the Cathedrale Notre-Dame! It is a masterpiece of stone lace-work. The sandstone cathedral "rises like a most sublime, wide arching tree of God," as Goethe marveled. It was so impressive to see how high the tower reached to the sky. The construction of the church began in the 11th century.
Monday, July 4, 2005
About 1 and 1/2 hours from us is the beautiful French city of Strasbourg. As border regions, Alsace and Lorraine have been fought over for centuries by France and Germany. This city appears very German in nature.
As you can see, it was a very good day! Let's hope their wine doesn't break on the flight home!
Saturday, July 2, 2005
We have some guests! Vickie and Bob Rogers flew over to Germany to spend 2 weeks with us. Where was our first stop? Yes - it was the Weinstrasse. We ate lunch in the ruins of Wachtenburg castle From there - it was off to explore the German wine region.
