Eisenberg

So I had some free time over spring break, and I hopped on a train (or 2...there was a transfer) to Eisenberg. Unfortunately I went in March so it wasn't that great of weather and the churches weren't open, but the shops were! I went in one shop that reminded me a bit of Vidler's if it had just been bigger. :)


I got really excited when I had seen this trailer. I loved used book shops! but then I walked to the other side and it was pretty much a book shelf covered by a tent. Looked kinda sketchy...and the books were in German anyways, so I just continued onwards.

And what town would be complete without a car dealership? And this is probably the reason why Eisenberg is listed as a point on the map...the VW dealership and repair shop :)

Old city Wall...or just a retaining wall..you decide. It's not like there was a sign on it :p  But you could definitely see the difference between "Altstadt" and the new parts

There are a lot of head statues in Germany...I think the only thing that could possibly make head statues better is if they could talk. Perhaps in tongues. (or just have multiple language choices...that'd work too)

City hall! Always very clearly labeled, lol

Lots of these doors are very large and makes me wonder if they were originally stables--especially considering Eisenberg is known for its horses (and it's town crest is 3 horseshoes)

But I love the wood inlays on this door

Church!

Across from the church there was a very nice little garden with statue...unfortunately Germany isn't having the best of weather this year, but it was still pretty :)

I so wanted to go on this slide, but it looked extremely narrow, and I probably would have gotten stuck. Wouldn't that have been embarrassing!

The town crest

The Catholic Church...unfortunately there was a lot of construction going on all around it, so it wasn't open.

Some very fun statues...they may have been dedicated only in 1998-1999, but I like them. :)

And for the Hartmann's...their very own truck

Now this is a lot of solar panels...I wonder how much electricity they actually produce? They probably would have been better off with wind

A random neighborhood close to the train station that I was walking around

More trees with the eggs (this was just before Easter!)

The crests on the side of some building...just to prove I actually was in Eisenberg and just didn't take random pictures from other small towns :p

And then I hopped on the train and went back to Mannheim.

View from the train

Ulm

So I went with a group to Ulm (first time in a car in almost 3 months!) and exploring the city. It was definitely nice not worrying about train times and connections! :)

The first thing we do in almost every city is try to find the tourist information office. Sometimes it's amazing, sometimes, not so much. Since it was Sunday, although we could enter the building, there were no people to help us (just some not very good brochures!). We did meet a group that was doing a tour and were invited along, but since none of our group was that great at German, we decided to take a pass.

This is the tourist information building--definitely recognizable! We did end up going to the train station and they gave us a map with things to see. :)

Again, we went right before April, so fountains weren't working yet!

The main church here is pretty amazing. You can see they are doing some work (lots and lots of scaffolding!), but from the front that's not even very noticeable.

Again, lots of detailed work along the front.

This is in front of the church. It shows in what direction and how far the city is from Ulm.

Inside the Church

I love stained glass windows, although pictures don't really get across the detail and the feeling they evoke!

Many of these birds can be found throughout Ulm!

Now these are some high ceilings :)

Instead of traditional candle stands, you can light candles and stick them in the sand.

We decided to climb the stairs to the top, and although it was a great view, it definitely took a lot of work to get there!  Here you can see it was a pretty small staircase, and the wind made it freezing cold!

One of my favorite shots of the city, took through one of the cutouts.

Gargoyles! One of my favorite features of these churches :)

And just when you think you've reached the top...there's more stairs

You can definitely pick out the tourist info building :)

And proof that there was 768 stairs...and my legs were sore for days, lol

After that we walked to the train station, picked up a map and explored the city. Lots of canals, biking trails, and river inputs. In a month or so I wouldn't want to leave!

Old city wall

One of the boat inputs

Crooked House

I've seen lots of trees with Easter eggs hung on them

Very small alleyway

I took this one for Annie, lol

Walking on top of the wall you can see the river and bike trail

Metzgerturm

One of the many bird statues around Ulm :)

Old Cityhall

City Library, I believe

Now this is a cool fountain!

In this square we had some good Indian food, and then spent a few hours in one of the museums. It was partly modern art (I really don't get modern art...) and part historical artifacts. Those were quite cool, but unfortunately pictures weren't allowed.

But after that we wandered around the city some more, using what was left of daylight.


Again, more birds. Playing? Injured? Can't really tell

A mirrored bird this time

Wandering bird :)

 

Found on 3 Kings street :)

 

Lady bug bird?

Catholic Church...tell Brett not to diss St. Therese anymore, lol

And that was our day in Ulm. Definitely had fun, although I wouldn't call it a hotbed of activity :p We barely saw anybody on the streets...kinda freaky