Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Pictures from Germany - Tuebingen

Yesterday, I told you about our visit to the Roman Open-Air Museum ... today's travel report is about our visit to the beautiful university town of Tuebingen. As before, Agnes's cousin Anna was our tour guide, and did a wonderful job of showing us the sights of a very lovely city. Here are a few highlights...

This was our first view of the old part of Tuebingen, taken from the bridge over the Neckar River. We had perfect weather for the visit and the obligatory picture-taking ...

The town is built on hills that rise up from the Neckar, and the narrow, twisting streets and alleys show it ...

We hiked all the way up to the top to visit Schloss Hohentuebingen, an old fortress which now belongs to the University of Tuebingen and is largely used as a museum and for offices and classrooms. Here's the approach to the main entrance ...

Agnes and I manning the battlements. Photo by Anna, who takes a mean picture as well as being a world-class tour guide ...

An atmospheric shot taken within the castle walls ...

Looking out over the rooftops of Tuebingen from the castle ...

On the way back down from the castle, we wandered the streets and ended up at the main square. This is the beautiful facade of the city's Rathaus (City Hall) ...

And this is an example of the sort of architectural decoration you find all over in the older parts of German cities ...

Anna told us that the year-round population of Tuebingen is about 30,000 souls ... but it swells to over 80,000 when classes are in session. Happily, we visited during the holidays and were able to enjoy the city without too much crowding. This appears to be one of the ways the students who remained in town enjoy passing the time - sitting on the wall above the Neckar, watching the boats (and the tourists) go by ...

And it was such a beautiful day, I couldn't resist taking this picture of a beautiful young lady being rowed down the river by her lucky suitor ...

I actually took 226 pictures, but I won't bore you with all of them. Trust me ... it was a wonderful day, and the remaining pictures just add more proof.

We're now in Singen, visiting Agnes's parents. Tomorrow, we're taking the train to the border city of Konstanz for the afternoon, where we'll hook up with cousin Anna and her daughter Lea (whom we haven't seen for several years) for an afternoon of sightseeing along the shores of the Bodensee (Lake Constance) and around the city.

More about those adventures tomorrow.

Have a good day. More travel updates coming ...

Bilbo

4 comments:

Mike said...

We'll wait for the facebook version of all 226.

KathyA said...

Isn't it interesting that college kids are just so generic looking! I find this comforting. Still makes me feel old, though!

Your photos attest to the cooperative weather -- looks like a perfect time to visit Germany. Those narrow streets and the houses along the river are absolutely charming.

Bilbo said...

Mike - it'll be another week or ten days ... hope zou can hold out.

Kathz - I felt just like an old and crankz student again. And I canät get the hang of the German kezboard lazout anz more!

Queentammiefer said...

Good post, I like the way you start and then conclude your thoughts. Hotel Frankfurt-Oder