Day 341: Wuerzberg on the Romantic Road

Ted had to get the gear oil changed, I walked to the market, made some sandwiches for our trip and did a load of laundry before he got back.

It is an absolutely glorious day - even if it is cold, the sun is shining.  Because we consulted the weather beforehand, we knew we would be traveling to Wuerzburg.   It's about an hour an half northeast of Stuttgart and is one of seven cities along the Romantic Road (it's not actually a road...it's just what it is called)

We found our way to the center of town and parked in an underground parking area.  Based on the map  that I found online, everything appears to be in close proximity and within walking distance.

We emerged from the underground parking onto a large plaza.  I started snapping photos of the buildings.

The dull white stucco against the brick red accents of this church makes it unforgettable.  

This church was so tall I could not get it all in one shot.  However, I wanted to focus on the door and how intricate it was.  This door is actually on the side of the church!

Here's a more panoramic view of the side of the church.

This is a part of the plaza.  It's difficult to tell from this picture but the building in the foreground has yellow, almost gold accents.  The photo does NOT do it justice.  As you can see, there are some markets going on, probably because it is Saturday.

This is a more panoramic view of the plaza.  The market is going on around the statue, more of an obelisk, and the people seem oblivious to their surroundings other than they are focused on getting their shopping done!

This bank reminds me of the church because of the colors they chose.  But that's where the similarity ends.  














We started walking towards the bank (above) and we were saying how we didn't know where anything was and I had a hard time following the map from the internet.  I noticed a woman standing along the wall and she was smirking so I knew without a shadow of a doubt that she understood English.  When I asked her, I found out I was right, she did speak English .  We had a long conversation about Germany and the U.S. and she recommended we see Baumberg since it is more authentic.  She said Wuerzburg is "fake",  meaning that the buildings  were all but demolished during the war and have been rebuilt.  What she meant was they are not the original buildings.  It's sad, but it's a fact of life.  However, whether they have reconstructed the buildings or not, it is still incredibly beautiful and we are going to enjoy them just the same.

She directed us to the where the bridge is that goes up to the Fortress.  Because of our car issues, we didn't leave soon enough to be able to walk up the hill to the Fortress so that means we have to make another trip to Wuerzberg which is not a hardship at all!!!  The bridge to the Fortress is amazing.  Here are some shots of the bridge and the Main River.

The bridge is a pedestrian only bridge.  As you can see there are loads of people out on this beautiful day.  The sun came and went so some of the shots are better than others.  

Along the bridge there are these half moon areas where there are statues of various saints.  

Another view of the statues on the bridge.

It seemed incongruous to be listening to a bagpipe on a German bridge in Wuerzberg and yet, here he was.  He played "Amazing Grace" and it was gorgeous!  

We were told by the German woman we met earlier (we ran into her on the bridge), that the water is very high right now.  It's obvious by these photos.  The town has had to put up walls in certain areas because there was flooding.  The  water is not clear.  I certainly would not go swimming here.  LOL!

It's hard to tell but the water is rushing and overflowing in a cascade.  It's almost like rapids!

I couldn't resist taking a photo of this mosaic.  Unfortunately, the photo does not do the mosaic justice.  It is actually on the side of a building and it is gorgeous.  It looks like it's pearlized or iridescent and it's quite beautiful.  This mosiac is at the other end of the bridge.

This is the plaza at the start of the bridge.  I snapped this on the way back over the bridge.  We were disappointed that we missed seeing the Fortress but we know we will return another day.  It's a short ride and makes a great day trip!

After all of the walking, I wanted to stop in this church.  It's St. Dominics, a Catholic church.   As you can see, there are still tons of people milling about even though it's quite cold and getting late in the afternoon.

 We're not supposed to snap photos but I couldn't resist taking a few.    This is the entrance to the church.  The filigree iron work is some of the best I've ever seen.  

We sat and marveled at the workmanship in this church and just enjoyed it.

It is amazing to me that they have fresh flowers outside in the winter time.  The Germans love their fresh flowers.  From roses to tulips and all the other ones in between, the flowers were gorgeous.

The children (and their parents) take time out from shopping to have a bit of fun (and rest).  The children must love climbing all over those statues.  It appears it's a water fountain in the summer time.

I loved this dark coral pink building sitting back by itself.  It turns out it's the "Rathaus"  (pronounces "rot-howz").  It's the German version of a courthouse!    

Once again, the towers have clocks on them.  In ancient times, the poor had no clocks in their homes so they depended on the local church tower's church to give them the time.  The bells indicated what time it was.   

Ted stopped in the Ecco store to look at shoes.  We did some window shopping.  We looked at watches and rings.  Some of the watch prices were outrageous!  $20k to $40k!  I found a children's store and bought my darling grandson a summer hat which I will send to him next week. 

Here's another gorgeous church.  I wanted to go inside but it was getting late and we opted to come bank another time and visit not only this church but the Fortress as well.   Look at how blue the sky was.  So clear and fresh.  You can tell it's getting late because the shadow covered the bottom front section of the church.













I had done the research and we would be going to dinner at a place called the Backoefelle (pronounced back-oo-fel-leh). We didn't know where it was and if was anywhere near by we preferred to walk.  We stopped and asked someone where it was.  At first she didn't understand us (my pronunciation is awful but I'm working on it.)  She said we were within five minutes of it.  Hooray, we leave the car where it is and walk to dinner.  We got so far and then we asked someone else again for directions.  It turned out we were not two blocks from the place.

I saw this building and it turns out its a restaurant attached to a hotel.  The photo does not do the artwork on this wall justice.  Another block and we hit our dining destination.









The place was terrific!  I scored points with my husband for having chosen a place with so much atmosphere (it reminded us of the Schwanenbrau in Bernhausen - it had the same old world German atmosphere) and such great food!  Ted had the Argentinian beef fillet which was awesome (he graced me with a few bites) and I had a wonderful chamberbert and cranberry dish with a salad.  We topped it off with chocolate everything (chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and chocolate ice cream).  Thankfully we would be walking off some of that desert.  It had turned cold but we didn't mind it a bit.  The drive home was uneventful and we went to bed happy that we had the first trip of the new year!

Saturday 02/27/2010