Freiberg LDS Temple, Saxony Switzerland, and Dresden

So, it seems that when you make plans to go to the temple things arise to try and stop you from going.  During the 4 day weekend in October 9-12, 2014 Whitney and I decided that we wanted to take a low-key trip to the LDS Temple in Frieberg, Germany and then continue on to do some fall time hiking in the Saxon Switzerland National Park. Even though we planned a relaxing weekend this trip ended up being pretty stressful for us, but we did manage to see all we wanted to see and experience a beautiful temple and outdoor hiking area.

Our stress started the first night when we had used hotels.com to book a hotel room in Freiburg and were not notified that we had to check in to the hotel by 8pm.  The email said that our room was confirmed, so we left right after work on Thursday to get to the hotel by 10 pm.  However, when we got to the hotel they had given our room away and gave us a room in an old apt in another building with no internet and just two small beds (After the trip Hotels.com did refund the stay).

The next day, Friday morning, we went to the temple and were able to have a really good experience there.

 Holiness to the Lord.

 

 Saxon Switzerland is famous for the Bastei Bridge (basteibrucke).  The roads going out to the national park were super windy and that is never good for my poor Whitney who gets car sick anyway.   Also, along the way we had our first camera speeding ticket here in Germany.  We hear that it will be the first of many.  Yes, here they have speed camera that takes a photo of you if you are driving over the limit,  but we pressed on with the hope that a weekend in nature would help us let go of our stress.  So onto the next hotel in Bad Schandou... Well, when we got to the hotel we had read our email wrong (which was in German) and the hotel was booked, so we had no hotel reserved for the next two nights.  We went to the town information center and fortunately they were able to book us a room for the weekend.  We relaxed at the hotel that night and walked around the cute town that was located on the Elbe River.  We had Chinese food, which was interesting because the chicken was fried similar to how to Germans fry schnitzel here in Germany.  It was served in a sauce that is normally found in Chinese food but less spicy.  The dinner was like a merge of German and Chinese food....good memory.

Now on to the hiking...

 The Bastei Bridge was built in 1851 out of sandstone and leads to the remnants of the Felsenburg Neurathen (Medieval Castle).

After the Bastei Bridge we did some hiking in Saxon Switzerland.  We chose a hike that was going to take us to a waterfall.  The name escapes me now but the hike was fun because there were hand railings placed into the cliff walls as we walked and the area was still so green, but we were a week or two early for the Fall leaves I guess...  

The Waterfall,  really a small trickle of water but pretty nonetheless.

We were going to hike for another day in the national park, but we felt that the trip was spent, so on our way home we stopped in Dresden for lunch and to do some sightseeing. 

 Dresden was so badly bombed in WWII that the city was pretty much destroyed.  As many of the original stones that could be used to rebuild the city were. That is why you see the white stone (new) and the Blackened stone (old) on all of the historic buildings.  It is really amazing.

We ate lunch at the Guinness book-certified "worlds most beautiful dairy shop," Pfunds Molkerei, founded in 1880.  The tiles are all hand-painted tiles by Villeroy and boch.  Lunch was pretty good, potato soup and rice pudding.

I love Graffiti and street art, so we went to the Outer Neustadt area where there was tons of street art and fun shops.

When all is said and done, although the trip was super stressful, it was also amazing.  Looking back, it is much easier to see the beauty of the areas we visited.  I would definitely love to go back and visit Dresden some more.

Nuremberg

After our car finally arrived in Germany in September we attempted to get it registered, but it was deemed unsafe to drive when we sent it to emissions, so we braved public transit and took the train to nearby Nuremberg rather than risk taking the car anywhere.  The train ride was great minus my usual motion sickness.  We spent the night in a hotel in old town and spent the weekend just walking around and exploring the city.  

Crossing the Pegnitz River that runs along the middle of the city.

The Ehekarussel Brunnen, a fountain depicting six interpretations of marriage based on a verse by the medieval poet, Hans Sachs.  I haven't read the poem, but I get the feeling that he has a very varied take on marriage. 

 

The Schoner Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain).  According to tourist legend, if you spin the gold ring on the outer gate of the fountain three times you will be blessed with good luck.

A view of the grounds of the Kaiserburg (Imperial Castle).  The Imperial Castle played an important role in Holy Roman History.  In 1356 the castle in Nuremberg was deemed the location where every newly elected ruler was to hold his first Imperial Diet, thus solidifying its importance in the empire during that time. Over time the castle lost its importance as rulers began to break with tradition and the Imperial Diet was eventually permanently relocated to Regensburg.

Inside the Kaiserburg.

The Imperial Chapel inside the Kaiserburg.

A replica of the crown jewels.

Some pieces of medieval armor.

After our tour of the Kaiserburg we intended to tour the Nazi Rally Grounds, which is located in a different area of town.  Because we were confined to public transit, we took the train, but we just couldn't seem to find the rally grounds. As it would have it, a Volkfest was going on that same weekend near the rally grounds, so we cut our losses and toured the Volkfest instead!

Our first exposure to German festival food.

Just about anything pickled in a barrel.

Smoked fish.  I'm not sure how you eat this?  

Some strange candy ropes.  I have yet to try this, but it looks fascinating.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

So, I (Whitney) used to have some old friends (aka Nate Dowdle and his wife Erin) who lived in Germany up until a few weeks ago.  Since we now reside in Germany we thought it would be fun to get together!  We were both able to meet up over labor day weekend, so September 1st was the day!  Since they were living in Weisbaden, which is about three hours away from us we planned to meet up in the little tourist town of Rothenberg ob der Tauber and I am so glad we did.  Not only was the town just a little piece of fairytale cuteness heaven, it was so fun to catch up with Nate and Erin.

Rothenberg lies along Germany's Romantic Road, a 350 km stretch of highway in middle Franconia that connects picturesque old medieval towns that lie along the route.  Today, Rothenberg remains one of Germany's best preserved medieval walled towns.

Entering the city center fortification.

With Nate and Erin in front of the town hall in the center of town.

Jake getting his schneeballen (snow ball) on.  For those who don't know, a schneeballen is a ball of deep-fried layers of pastry dough that is covered in powdered sugar.  Apparently it's a Rothenberg delicacy.  I say, I've tried it once. 

One stop we made was to the criminal museum, which featured various medieval devices of torture.  It was... interesting.  There are many reasons that I am glad that I didn't live during the medieval ages, various methods of torture is one of them.

Just walking around the city.  We had to make a stop at the very spot that is on the cover of our Germany Lonely Planet travel book. 

Some cuteness.

 One of the highlights of touring the city was walking along the city wall.  We had a great view of the red roofs that define the city. 

Some more views of the wall.