Scenes of Germany (and one from Prague)

Snapshots of Germany.

Numerous roadside stands. Payment is on the honor system.

One of many green overpasses.

If you can't weave past these barriers, we don't want you in our town!

Let's meet down at the Jesus bakery.

Solar panels everywhere. How many solar panels can you find in this picture? (Click on the picture to make it larger.) Does the German government subsidize them?

The cock crowed three times? We saw many roadside shrines but this one has an unusual element.

Beautiful berry bushes.

Decorated doorways.

Margaret loves the kind of baby buggies that Germans use.

Famer's market. You can buy a slice of squash or pumpkin.

Many villages have a sign like this, each with its own distinctive design.

Flowers on houses.

More flowers.

Roadside flower garden. Cut your own and pay on the honor system.

Can you find a McDonalds here?

Everyone hikes.

Sigmund Freud hanging out in Prague.

The Black Forest

The Black Forest is all about scenery.

Our first Sunday in the Black Forest we drove through the beautiful Jostal Valley to the small village of St. Peter for Mass.

The church at St. Peter, a former monastery. The Mass was long: long sermon and a play about St. Francis.

Margaret politely asked for permission to take this picture of women in traditional dress. Only about six elderly women were dressed traditionally.

A walk through the cemetery.

The entrance to Löffingen, the first village where we stayed in the Black Forest.

The village of Löffingen.

Another picture of the Jostal valley.

When we returned from France, the Fall colors were much stronger. This was the view we had after a long climb up a steep mountain. There is a ski lift nearby.

Driving on through the Black Forest.

A man raking hay by hand. Remember that Germany, a country with many very small businesses, is the most prosperous and efficient country in Europe!

Yesterday we visited the Freilichtmuseum (open air museum) near Gutach. This house dates back to 1599.

Another house from the early 1600s.

The village of Schiltach, home of many half-timbered houses.

More of the same village.

Our current B and B.

Around Füssen

A blog posting from earlier travels. These are pictures from around Füssen, Germany.

The Plansee, just across the border into Austria.

Neuschwanstein

Neuschwanstein. We toured this castle 31 years ago so we didn't bother to do it again.

We booked all of our accommodations online. This does lead to an occasional surprise, such as happened here. Once we got past all the toys and junk in the yard, the room was ok.

We would have done better to stay at Hotel Chrisine, where we stayed 31 years ago.

Linderhof Palace

Post from earlier travel. While in Füssen, we visited Linderhof, King Ludwig's hunting palace.

Beautiful grounds, huge. Smaller than his other palaces. This was the only palace in which he actually lived.

From above, looking down at the palace.

Margaret discovered this unusual sign above the toilet in a restroom. It says "Please do not use the toilet in this way!" Margaret was amazed to realize that she has those same sandals at home!

Another blog from earlier in our trip. On our way from Ramsau to Füssen, we visited Herren Chiemsee, the royal palace of King Ludwig. After some initial confusion about ferries, we headed for the palace, which is on an island in the Chiemsee.

After reaching the island we tried to purchase tickets for an English language guided tour but the cashier told us that the next tour would be at 12:00; no, 1:30; no, there will be no more tours in English. Suspicious about the reliability of this information, Margaret went to another cashier and bought tickets for an English language tour without difficulty. Apparently the confusion was caused by Hollywood. The palace was being closed early because of the filming of a movie.

Ludwig greatly admired Versailles, so he used it as a model for his own palace.

On the far side of the fountain there was a red carpet, perhaps 100 yards in length that had been laid out for the movie. The tour guide later told us that the movie was Three Musketeers.

The fountains were beautiful and elaborate.

The St. Nicolas Church in Prague has some interesting statues, such as one that seems to be holding handcuffs up in the air. But this one, located at the front of the church, on the left side, is especially striking.

Here we see a bishop who seems to be having a good day.

And a heretic who is having a bad day.

This statue, situated at the front of the church, on the left side, was surely intended as a lesson and a warning to the faithful, reminding them that they should adhere to the truth, as defined by the bishop. If the bishop says that the sun revolves around the earth, that is the way it is.