Friends in Deutschland; Other Adventures

Daniel with Darius and Maya and Emma with Vida and Arianna, who lived in an apartment upstairs from us. The kids formed fast friendships with the three siblings, who were also visitors from the U.S.

In our final week before our vacation in Switzerland, we enjoyed other adventures in and near Stuttgart. With our US friends, we visited Leuze, a mineral bath in Stuttgart. The kids enjoyed watching bubbles collect on their skin and sampled the salty mineral water, which some people believe adds years to one's life. We also toured the impressive Rosenstein Museum of natural history, a former palace, with beautiful dioramas of different ecosystems and an overview of biological evolution.

(Emma was fascinated to see a real whale skeleton and a model of its inner anatomy.)

Museum am Löwentor, a fossil museum housed in a separate building across the park from Rosenstein, has a fantastic collection of fossils, also beautifully displayed; but at the end of the day we had limited time to view them. (Emma Maya did get to hug a dinosaur, however.)

Also during our last week in Germany, we met relatives of one of our US friends in the Stuttgart-area town of Esslingen, who showed us a beautiful church and other preserved Medieval buildings in the lovely town center. In the bottom picture of the town wall (with original shingles from several hundered years ago--imagine a roofing job that lasts that long!), you can see some of the vineyards that cover the hillsides all around the Stuttgart area.

On a beautiful Sunday, we toured the Black Forest town of Baden-Baden, near the border with France. Since Roman times, the area has been known for its elegant mineral baths/spas (including co-ed spas enjoyed au natural). In recent history, it has experienced an influx of Russian immigrants, some of whom became involved in the local gambling industry (perhaps beginning with Dostoevsky, who came when gambling was illegal in Russia). The underground hot springs have produced a Mediterranean microclimate, where plants that usually grow in south Mediterranean countries can thrive. One Catholic church in town is built over an ancient Roman bath (this one not open to the public) and receives all of its winter heating through its floor tiles. The church is unusually humid year-round; pews have to be replaced regularly. (Unfortunately, during our kitchen remodel back at home, it was discovered that our crawlspace--located near water-table level--is producing a similar effect.)


We read that the Baden-Baden castle, pictured above, was purchased for billions of dollars by a Kuwaiti woman, who plans to refurbish it. Word is that she is facing the usual hassles and red tape involved in restoring an historic building.