Chandlord and I are in the ancient and beautiful city of Augsburg, enjoying a stay at a v. strange hotel before heading to Berlin via Frankfurt tomorrow. We arrived around ten a.m. and spent the day exploring; unfortunately it rained all day, which was all the excuse I needed to buy an umbrella and two sweatshirts, but the city was still lovely despite that.
Augsburg was founded by the Romans and remained an important city in Bavaria for two millennia. Our first stop was the cathedral, which had a romanesque crypt underneath the gothic main building. The stained glass was incredible, and the artwork was also lovely. From there, we wandered to the Rathaus and saw the Golden Hall - I was disappointed that this had nothing to do with the golden hall of Rohan in Lord of the Rings, but it was still quite impresive. The Rathaus was the town hall, built in the 1600s, and the Golden Hall was about as gilded as you would expect given that name. Augsburg was home to the Germans' version of the Medicis and was the foundation of German finance, and the money that flowed through this town over the centuries was obvious in the quality of the art and buildings.
After the Rathaus, I wanted to take a break and enjoy the prilosec that an apothecary gave me for my stomach, so I had a cappuccino while Chandlord climbed the tower next to the Rathaus to get a view of the city. When she returned, we finally had Bavarian pretzels before wandering down the street. We saw the Damenhof, which is now a restaurant but used to be the lovely courtyard of the women of one of the richest families in the city - it had a gorgeous pool/fountain and a lot of tiles and pillars, and Chandlord somehow came to the conclusion that it was like Miami or Vegas. Then, we proceeded to a gallery of baroque art; the ticket seller there proclaimed that we were art students and let us in for free, which was v. kind of her. I must say that I loved the gallery, since it gave me all sorts of ideas for the gargoyle series and was also not filled with rain, unlike the outdoors.
Post museum, we grabbed pizza at a cafe that used to be a cinema. Chandlord wanted to walk around some more, but I was eager to write down my ideas, slightly sick to my stomach, and tired of the rain, so I had tea in a super cute cafe while she explored. When we reunited, we retrieved the car, checked into our hotel, took a nap, and then walked back into the old town to have dinner at an Italian place that Chandlord found on her walk. The food was delicious - I had lasagna and she had gnocchi, and while I should have taken it easier and so ended up with a stomachache, it was still a lovely meal.
And now, I must say auf wiedersehen; we leave for Frankfurt v. early tomorrow so that we can return the car in time to catch our train to Berlin. Goodnight!
4 comments:
Roxette!?!?
I didn't know it was Roxette, but that song is big here - we heard it all the time on the car radio whilst driving about. When did it come out?
Also, I heard Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" twice - the music mix is v. different here.
It's off their "Charm School" album which was released in February (at least that's when I was able to get the import version in the U.S.) It is the first single off the new album. I'm really glad that they're getting airplay in Europe!
-Michael
Also - they sounds pretty good for a couple of 50 somethings, particularly when Marie survived brain cancer and apparently lost most of her reading and math ability, and has trouble learning new things. They're on a world tour right now, you might be able to catch them over there (and not just have to imagine it in the fog).
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