Holiday 2019, Sept 12, Rothenburg ob der Tauber - Weerberg - Maxenhagerhof, Day 8

 Today was a travel day!  The plan was to end the day in Weerberg Austria so we had a good full day ahead of us as it was 560 km south. 

After a full breakfast, we cleaned the cupboards and stripped the beds. (Liesbeth had so kindly found enough bedding for us to haul everywhere we went 💓 - it doesn't come with all the rentals), we were packed in the van and on our way, waving good bye to Kircheim Germany and heading south to Rothenburg ob de Tauber, a town in Bavaria. It is known for its old city center, the best preserved walled town out there! In the middle ages it was the second largest city in Germany. Now it is called Germany's Fairy Tale dream town. Rothenburg ob der Tauber was located about half way our drive to Austria, so it was the perfect place to have a rest, picnic lunch out of the back of the van, and a walk-about.  

Rothenburg has appeared in many movies, and is the inspiration for the 1940s Pinocchio. Of course we had to find the quaint yellow house and be one of the many tourists that posed and took pictures with it. 

Of course there was a lot of capitalizing on the medieval theme.  The kids were thrilled when we went inside the Armory and had marvelous time looking at all the weapons and clothing.  All of the kids walked out with some sort of souvenir and proudly walked down the streets showing off their swords and chain mail.  It made for some good laughs for other tourists, and (especially) Rowan was oblivious to the grins of passers-by while he lunged and pranced to imaginary knights.   

💙 Taking kids on holidays really is so much fun.  Never a dull moment, and we love watching their facial expressions of joy and amazement at all the sights and experiences. 

Walking around the outside of the walls we came across this amazing playground with a medieval theme. It was a wonderful place to sit for a bit before driving again on the crazy autobahns.  What a fantastic stop.  Such great weather and so much to see and experience. 

A couple hours later we made it to the Austrian border! The landscape changed into the Alps. It was pretty neat how things changed slowly but surely into slower driving, higher altitude and just a totally different look. We were happy to have made it to Weerberg before it got dark.  

We stayed at a stunning farm called Maxnhagerhof which was a beautiful former dairy now converted into horse lodging for locals and tourist accommodations.  It was truly stunning.  After driving slowly and precariously up the side of the valley, turning back and forth on all the hairpin curves we had made it! The sun was casting shadows and a slightly misty look on the manicured lawns and fields and the houses were bursting with flowers and gardens.  It felt like we had stepped into another sort of fairy tale.  The kind from the Sound of Music, where the "hills come alive".  The Austrian Alps really were like stepping into another world. 

...stay tuned...

Holiday 2019 - Sept. 11, Kircheim - Point Alpha - Day 7

 We spent a good portion of day 7 at Point Alpha, which was a large and utterly fascinating historical site and observation post from the Cold War. It separated Eastern and Western Germany with a tightly controlled border.  The post overlooked the Fulda Gap, which would have been the prime invasion route had the Cold War resulted in actual warfare.  At Point Alpha there is a preserved memorial with an American military base and observation tower. There are still parts of the actual border, how it would have looked back in the day, with many explanation points showing how difficult it would have been for someone to try cross. This was called the Iron Curtain. There was a piece of the Berlin Wall on display, as well as the East German lookout tower. 

This museum was totally different from the kind of history we had studied the previous days, and it was very sobering to see.  A day well spent.    

Seth is pointing to where we are, which is right on the border of the former USSR (Russia).

This is the Russian sign for the border.  There were these metal anti tank obstacles still there so people do not forget.  There were several layers of fencing with dogs and land mines as well as barricades in between.    

Hidden close to the ground were "pillboxes", little bunkers from which to fire weapons at people who could have tried to cross the border.  The kids were mesmerized and imaginations ran wild.  

This is inside the American base which was right on the border. There was a tower which was used to keep an eye on the Russian movements. This base was abandoned in 1991, two years after the fall of the Berlin wall.  After the Americans left it was opened for the public.

In the base there were many barracks which were turned into museums with displays of how the soldiers lived there as well as stories of people who lived thru the Cold War.  There were stories of families and farms that were separated by the border and the sadness that caused was touching. 

On top of the observation deck, looking towards former East Germany. 

This is the Russian observation tower, which stood on the other side of the former border. 

This is the road where the patrols could drive on to check to border.  It basically separated all of Germany in two.  Now most of it is gone and converted back into farmers fields but there was a stretch of it left here as a bitter reminder to future generations of a country split in half. 

We were so blessed to be able to have beautiful weather day in and day out.  We went back to our holiday home for some real German bratwurst.  

The kids all had travel journals (since they were "skipping" school for a month) and every evening we gathered around the table to fill in details about the day as well as paste in pictures and admission passes.  It was a wonderful way to unload and recap the day. 

Holiday 2019 - Drachenslucht - Eisenach - Day 6 {continued}

 The Wartburg was perched right above the Drachenslucht, translated as Dragons Gorge.  We had to drive a bit to get there and it was worth the hassle to find parking.   Driving in Germany was quite an experience in and of itself.  There were many major highways which took you to places quickly, even though they had the ability to drive you crazy as they were mostly two lanes, one lane driving at unlimited speeds (autobahn) and the other for transport trucks which were governed at 80km/h.  The autobahns also took you over all the little villages and towns and it was fascinating to see the way in which Germany was laid out.  Houses and farmyards were not scattered over fields the same way as in North America, but rather, the farmhouses were in the towns while the fields lay around the towns.  This may seem obvious, but it made for very neat and quaint towns complete with farm machinery in the centers, having to drive out of town to the farm land every day.  You could tell the town bylaws were also very strict as all the houses had the same colour roofs and brick  - old and new alike - making very picturesque towns. 

Drachenslucht

Eisenach had more to offer than just the Wartburg.  This town was filled with history of all sorts.  

From the town centre we could follow a self guided walking tour to the most famous sights of Eisenach. We started with the Lutherhaus. Tradition holds that Martin Luther lived here during his school days in and around 1498.  It is now recognized as one of the most important Reformation sites. 

 We went on to see where Johann Sebastian Bach was born and raised.  We all enjoy the music of Bach frequently as well as appreciate a good pipe organ so we were thrilled to be able to walk where he walked and go inside and even listen in to an organ concert happening at the church where he was baptized.  

The Bach House

Along the way we came across a small market.  

This is in the foyer of the church that was having an afternoon Bach concert.  We could quietly listen in, and stand in the shadow of this great musician.