Saturday, October 8, 2016

Darmstadt

This morning we got up (too early, in my opinion) to go get our rental car.  We need to drive to Augsburg tomorrow already! Our first week (plus!) has flown by.  We have an Opel something.  I think it's made in France.

We stopped at the bakery to pick up some pretzels for our traditional Bavarian breakfast of Weißwurst.  Weißwurst is, quite frankly, a very ugly sausage.  In Bavaria they eat it for breakfast with pretzels, mustard and wheat beer.  Yes.  Beer for breakfast.  #Germans  We are not in Bavaria, but we won't let that stop us!


We sat around for a bit and talked, then went for lunch.  There is a lot of food to be eaten here in Germany!  We went to their local Döner place.  (Remember? A Döner is like a gyro in the Detroit area.  But with different meat.  In this region of Germany, it's either veal or chicken.)  It was very delicious!! Lydia came with us, and Christoph met us there after motorcycle riding all morning.  I forgot to take pics.  OMG WTF.  I remembered at the end of the meal when they bring you tea.  I got the apple tea.  It was super sweet and tasted like candy.



But I did get some next door in the bakery.  This area is all Turkish.  This is what a Turkish bakery looks like:


We bought a BUNCH of these cookies.


Here is Christoph's bike.  Since he is 16, he is limited by German law on the size of it.


After lunch we went to see the town of Darmstadt. There are a lot of businesses and technological companies here.  And Merck.

The thing behind us is a big moving sculpture


We got some ice cream and wandered around.  Darmstadt is different than other German towns I have seen.  It doesn't have as many "German" looking buildings. I think it looks more American.  Except with a pedestrian zone and cobblestones.  There is every store you could ever need right there downtown.  There is also an old castle for the former royalty.


A pretty tower that was the only structure to withstand a huge bombing in WWII

The city was bombed and destroyed on Sept. 11, 1944. 





They were just clearing out the farmers market.  We saw these artichokes with blossoms.
These two.
Lydia took us up on top of a parking structure for some great city views!



We left the city center and went to a place nearby called Mathildenhöhe.  This place has an interesting history. In the early 1900's, the government of the city (or was it the state?  hmmm) had artists come and live in these huge mansions and they were supposed to create some cool art.  It didn't completely work out, and now the homes are privately owned.  It's still a very beautiful area!! It has a large area with some cool art "houses" that you can check out.








There is a beautiful church on the grounds!

The day had been so overcast, and the sun and blue skies were starting to come out.  It made for a cool look to these photos.  







Some mean lady kicked Brad.
We came home and hung out.  Lydia sang some songs while Karen played piano.  She has such a great voice!  Brad and Karen played and sang as well.  Udo and I had a date night at the grocery store for just a few more items.  



We are getting ready for a late dinner and these COOKIES!!  I wish my kids were here.  I would love to share all this good food with them!


I have a feeling we will crash hard tonight.  It seems all the activity is starting to catch up to me. I am so tired!  Driving to Augsburg, Bavaria tomorrow!  (Well, Brad is driving.  I am probably sleeping.) 

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