Tuesday, August 18, 2008

Carol's notes:
We left the Trendleberg Castle and went to the city of Kassel. We visited the Lowenburg Castle that was built by
Wilhelm IX, ruler of Hesse-Kassel. This Castle was built in the 18th century and made to look like a castle from the medieval times. It is also called the Lion Castle because there are Lion statues at the entrance and Lion statues throughout the inside of it also. A German Princess brought us into the castle and then the kids went with her and the adults took a tour of the castle. One of the most interesting things was seeing the Knight Room, which held various suits of armor, including the "bad-luck" black suits. This castle was bombed in 1945 and is still being repaired. It will be done in 2011. All the furniture had been removed before the bombing so it is authentic and very interesting.

After a 3 hour trip through the countryside this afternoon, we entered the walled city of Rothenberg. It is also called the Christmas Village. We had just a short time before an evening Night Watchman tour, but in that short time we were amazed at all the beautiful little shops that are filled with Bavarian china, cuckoo clocks, smokers and YES, nutcrackers-hundreds of nutcrackers. How will I ever choose just one to bring home? They told me in the shop that they ship to the United States. Tomorrow is shopping day in the afternoon!!

Jaci's observations:
There are no billboards anywhere so the countryside is clearly visible and beautiful.
Palaces were built in the 1800s, so they are considered "new."
When Germany pronouce "th," it comes out "s", so Thursday is "Sursday."
The tradition of saluting a person of respect comes from Germany. The knights used to lift up their metal visors to greet their allies so they could see their eyes..and that motion evolved into the salute.
"Stinking rich" was coined for the Germans who didn't bathe often. The poor people just plain smelled bad and the rich would buy huge bottles of perfume. They still smelled, but they tried to cover it up by being heavily scented, thus "stinking rich" or "filthy rich."

Word of the day:
Romantische Strasse (ROH-MAN-TISCH STRAZ)
The Romatic Road is a tourist route created in the 1950s that stretches north to south across 24 towns in southern Germany. This is the path we traveled today.