Schleswig-Holstein

Pictures of our day traveling through the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.  Busum, Kiel, Lubeck... 

Our neighborhood... 

Hundreds and hundreds of 20 story tall windmills... The Germans are also big fans of solar; the government incentives make it easy... Too bad America's energy companies are in bed with our government.... 

Busum...  More popular when it's summer...

Much of the area is protected by dikes... Very much like being in the Netherlands...

We are bundled up, the locals are eating ice cream...

German pride...

Terrific meal last night.  The owner shared that according to the locals, their Bavarian menu is like a Chinese Restaurant arrived.

WWII eliminated 80% of Kiel (naval and submarine industry) and almost half of Lubeck.  The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. Situated on the river Trave, it was for several centuries the leading city of the Hanseatic League.  Because of its extensive Brick Gothic architecture, it is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. 

The original gates to the island city of Lubeck...

The original trade warehouses for this ivory ant city... Keep in mind we are talking 13th century...

The devil outside the church... like the one who sits on my left shoulder!

Like in Italy, we continue to see astrological clocks... Before Swiss watches and the world-wide inter web!

Lunch in the back of the car... We've bought dozens of bags in stores these weeks... But do we keep any in the car?  We do at home, guess it's vacation brain....

We see lots of well mannered owners... and their dogs...

And my best present today is a pic of the kids having fun on the beach at home.... Woof!

Wesselburen

After trekking through cities, we decided to take a few days and relax... We arrived in a Wesselburen near the border with Denmark yesterday.  Wesselburen is part of a region very popular in the summer for enjoying the North Sea resorts... In April, it's still chilly and a wee bit rainy... Our house is a century old, very spacious, on the town square, and is perfect for doing nothing.... Although we will go see Lubeck, Kiel, Hamburg one day, and Monday is designated a spa day (massage, thermal baths, etc.)... I wanted to go sky diving but the season opens May 1st and we'll be in Paris.  I popped down to the local bakery at 7am this Sunday morning for fresh baked goods on a misty morning with all the other husbands sent clogging away down the winding streets for fresh breakfast goods... So cool to be a local.... Can you say Chandler and Joey?!!!

Leipzig in Pictures

In my last post, I talked about Leipzig and its history.  Here are the pictures to go with it... The city has always been a major trade center, and the city center is full of these great trade houses and passageways for people to wander through to see all the shops and wares for sale.  The city is also one of music and education.  On Friday night, we went to a Motette at St Thomas church to hear the boy's choir, a treat because they were accompanied by organ music (which I usually don't care for) in a beautifully restored church... and the choir is often touring.  These pictures are a view into the old and the new.

The famous Riquet family trading house...

Passage ways through the trade houses... Our flat was entered via a small foyer within...

Market Square...

Fur trade was hot way back when...

Love the lack of tourists in April!

Mendelson...

Bach...

Wagner...

Old Stasi headquarters.... Which the U.S. Occupied for a month in April 1945...

The monument and church where the revolution for freedom in East Germany began in 1989...

Does this make me look skinny or alien?!

The monument where Napolean was defeated in 1813 by the Prussians, Austrians, Russians, and Swedes... Yup, for a little man, he conquered a lot of Europe...

And for you know who....

What a great time.....