Europe 2016 - Worms, Darmstadt and Heidelberg

On Thursday Allen gave me some choices of where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see. Some consisted of going out of Germany to France or the Netherlands with an overnight stay, but I chose the "stay-close-to-home" option. We started the morning in Worms (the W is a V sound).

We happened upon an old cemetery.

Martin Luther.

On April 18, 1521, Luther appeared as ordered before the Diet of Worms. This was a general assembly of the estates of the Holy Roman Empire that took place in Worms. At this assembly Luther was presented with his Ninety-five Theses and asked whether he stood by their contents. He responded with the following: "Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in the councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen."

At the end of the council, since Luther would not go back on his Ninety-five Theses, he was declared an outlaw. It was a crime for anyone in Germany to provide Luther with food or shelter, and anyone was permitted to kill Luther without legal consequence.

With all the rain in Germany, there were so many pretty flowers. Notice the two bees on this flower.

We saw a couple out on a bike ride with their dogs...I thought this dog was cute just sitting waiting to go.

We found a pretty amazing gelato place. Allen deciding what flavor to get.

Yum!

The day we were in Worms was a religious holiday called Corpus Christi. We watched the parade and  some of the ceremony, and then went inside the church where it was being held.

After we walked around for a while, we went to the Strand Bar to sit by the river and relax for a while.

This was the first sunny day in the 5 days I had been in Europe so far. I took a nap on this lounge chair.

The entry point to Worms.

Next on the agenda was Frankenstein Castle.

Looking towards Frankfurt. You can't see the skyscrapers in this picture, but you could in real life.

Frankenstein Castle isn't too impressive and it is pretty run down, however, it is alleged that this castle was the inspiration for the novel Frankenstein.

On our drive to Heidelberg we noticed there was strawberry picking off the side of the road so we made a stop.

This was high seasons for strawberries in Germany. They were good, but I don't think they were organic :(

Dinner in Heidelberg.

Heidelberg town square.

Looking back towards Heidelberg and the castle. I have concluded that every city/town in Germany has a castle.

That ended Thursday...another great day!

Europe 2016 - Mörsdorf, Wierschem and Kirchheimbolanden

Wednesday morning Allen went into work for a while so I slept in again (I think I was over jet lag after this day) and then went for a run around Allen's village. Allen came home just before lunch but he needed to do one more thing at work so I went to the base with him. This was my first time ever on a military base.

We then went to walk across the longest rope suspension bridge in Germany. It was a pretty recent build, as it had just opened at the end of 2015. This picture is describing the bridge (in German) but it is located over the Geirlay canyon and approximately 300 feet above the canyon floor.

We parked and then walked about a half mile to the bridge.

This picture doesn't do justice for showing depth - it seemed MUCH higher than this.

Allen taking in the view after we had crossed - now we just have to go back.

After we finished at the bridge, we hurried to get to Eltz Castle in Wierschem. Allen kept telling me how amazing this castle was, but I didn't expect anything like...

THIS!

It was such an amazing view and looked just like a fairytale.

Unfortunately the inside of the castle was closed, but we were able to walk around the outside.

I will just have to go back to Germany with this on my list of things to do and get there a little earlier to go inside. Of all the castles I saw during my trip, this one was by far my favorite.

On the way home we had dinner in a town called Kirchheimbolanden. Allen did a walking tour of this town previously so that is how he knew about the town.

Allen ordered a traditional German dish...schnitzel.

The name of the restaurant where we had dinner. We were the only ones in the restaurant with one other family. Most Germans tend to stay in and cook at home.

The town square.

This town's claim to fame is the fact that Mozart played a concert there so there were streets named after him.

The church were Mozart played at 22 years old.

By the time we got back to Allen's place it was almost 10pm. Another good day in the books!