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Münsters, Inc.

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Nearly every town that we’ve been to in Germany in the last week has had a münster or very large church.  They are very old; some were started in the 1200s, and each one has it’s own set of interesting carvings, painting, and spires.  However, the champion of all of them is in Ulm.  This münster has the tallest church tower in the world and comes in at 161.5m.  There should be no doubt about what we did next… 768 steps to the top.  The view is fantastic and every other building in the area looks tiny compared to the scale of the tower.

Here’s the view from the bottom:

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Essen Lesson

Friday, July 24th, 2009

We’ve been in Germany for a few days now and I’ve learned something about myself. Over the years I have aspired to be a foodie and definitely enjoy fine dining and innovative chefs. It’s also no secret that I love wines that are way above my pay grade. It should come a no surprise that we spent a lot of our time in the culinary capitals of Italy and France partaking in some of the famous specialties. We had Bolognese sauce on our pasta in Bologna, the appropriate drinks in Bordeaux, Cognac, and Burgundy, and every cheese named after a locality in between.

With this in mind, I had a smug expectation that the cuisine in Germany would be a let-down. I totally underestimated the “comfort food” factor. I also forgot that it’s either in my DNA or maybe just my upbringing to be a carnivore. Our dinners have been wonderful – the perfect thing to finish off a long day of “wandern” (hiking) on the many trails here in the Black Forest. What’s not to like about grilled and roasted beef, pork, or chicken with all sorts of potatoes, noodles made from potatoes, or potato dumplings, all washed down with the excellent local beer. Sehr gut.

Here’s how we’ve been working up the appetite – so many trails, so little time!

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