Ulm Cathedral

On Sunday we decided to go to a small town call Ulm.  In the little guide book we were reading from it said not many people go there, but the Ulm Cathedral was a place they said is a must see.  It was only about an hour from Stuttgart  so not far at all.  All the shops were closed, but thankfully the Cathedral was open.  It was an amazing sight to see coming into town and than walking towards it.  Now for your history lesson for the day.  Ulm Cathedral - This is the second largest Gothic Church in Germany and has the tallest steeple on the face of the Earth.  It was begun in 1377 but not completed until 1890, when its spire was at last raised to pierce the heavens.  The cathedral's interior is awe-inspiring, with a ceiling nearly one hundred feet above the central nave.  The organ has 8000 pipes.  The pulpit, dating from 1510 has above it a splendid sounding board and a second pulpit for the Holy Ghost.  We climbed the 530-foot tower with 768 steps in it which has a panorama view where we even saw the Swiss Alps.  The boys were so excited, they were basically running up the steps.  We were having a hard time keeping up.  The steps weren't big either and they were in a tight spiral.  On the way down I got a little dizzy when I went a little fast to catch up to the boys.  

Our first full view of the Cathedral and its height.  We were at the top of that tower, still incredible to look at.

We are about halfway up at this point.  Luckily there were a few stopping points to rest, I mean take some great pictures!!

                                Here we are at the top looking out over quite a bit of Germany

                                    Another look down at the top to show the difference in height

This kind of shows how small the spiral stairs were that we went up and down - these two were making jokes almost the whole time, I am surprised they still had breath to make it up them all.

                                       The church bell, I am glad we weren't there when it went off.

                                                    AJ showing off his monkey skills!!

                                                 Some of the beautiful carvings on the cathedral

                                            They love their stained glass and so do I!!!!!!!

                             These were all over the cathedral - we think they are family crests but not sure

                                                       Their beautiful nativity scene!!!

                                                   Just one word - AMAZING

                                 
                                The ceilings were over 100 feet high, it was very breath taking

                                                    This was a confessional  - very ornate

                                        They had a plaque in this cathedral also for the US Army

                                  I wanted to put this in to show the perspective of how big it truly is

                                                              It is towering over the city

                                  This is the last set of stairs to get to the top - you can see how small the spiral is

                                     A beautiful, peaceful scene from halfway up the Cathedral

            Still smiling after going up all those stairs and then back down a few, the boys were champs

                                                              showing the height of it

                                                        details on the front of the church

We had a wonderful time checking out the cathedral.  It was a bit cold and a lot windy up there at the top.  So then we decided to stop at the only coffee shop that was open and have some hot chocolate.  David tried a white hot chocolate and that was really yummy!!!  It also warmed up our toes and bellies.  It was really packed and we were lucky to find seats.  After that we headed back to our friend's house to relax and get ready for another day of adventuring.

Triberger Wasserfalle - Triberg Waterfall

After our wonderful day in France, we took a little detour before heading back to our friend's house to Triberg Germany.  This is home of the famous black forest cuckoo clocks.  The stores were closed when we got there but that just gives us an excuse to go back :-).  We were going there for the Triberg im Schwarzwald - Fest Deutschland.  In Triberg they have the largest waterfall in Germany.  Triberg Waterfalls, with their total of 163 meters in height are the highest and most famous waterfalls in Germany. After the Gutach has formed from the streams of many hollow valleys Schönwalder plateau, she rushes over huge granite steps in a wooded valley, which opens directly into the center of Triberg. The Triberg Waterfalls are divided into the upper falls with three main stages (decreasing altitude of 872 m to 856 m above sea level.), A steep torrent section and finally the seven-stage major events (falling from about 805 m above sea level to 713 m above sea level;. Over a length of ) approximately 230 m.  The week after Christmas they do a HUGE festival and put up more than 100,000 lights.  It was truly amazing!!!  We did find out that next year we will need to get there a little earlier and buy tickets in advance.  It is really full.  They had a kids area and then a fire show on the waterfall.  They put different colors behind the waterfall and all around it.  They did it to music.  There were violins that were played with fire bows, a guitar played with a grinder that threw out sparks, the boys were amazed.  The biggest problem was that it was cold and we got a little wet during the show and the boys got cold.  After the show we walked and found a small place to have some dinner and then watched a fire work show.  It was really amazing and would love to go back next year.

                                                One of the stores heading up to the waterfall

                                                      On the way up to the main waterfall

                                                      Getting ready for the show

                               you can see some of the different colors they used behind the waterfall

   Michael not as happy because he is wet and cold - I told him to wear his heavy coat.  :-)  Waiting for the show to begin.

                                                    Some of the ways they were using fire

                                                He took a flame thrower and lit it up!!

                                   Another shot of one of the small streams off the main waterfall.

                                            Part of the 100,000 lights they used

         Taken after the show, we were all pretty wet from the waterfall in much need of hot drinks and food

          Those drums in the top left corner lit up too, they played them with sticks that were on fire

The tunnel was really cool to walk through, they had a lot of them on the way up to the waterfall and other places.

Happy New Year!!!!

Well we had a wonderful new year weekend! We started it out by going to France, then to Triberg Germany, the next day to Ulm and then following one to Stuttgart. We went to Strasbourg, France. The Christmas market was still going on. It was a HUGE one!!! There were things all over the city. There were at least three different Christmas markets, plus many other things going on. Looked like a flea market at one square. Strasbourg is such a quaint town, there were so many things to see and do that we have already made plans to go back. 

 

One of the many cathedrals in town

 

There is a river running around the town and we saw a gentleman trying to feed some otters

                                                               
                                                                     My boys!!!!

 

One of the Christmas booths with some really cool lights - too bad they are all 220V and they won't work back in the states very well

 

Our Christmas market cotton candy.  I think we have gotten one at each one.  I guess it is only fair since it isn't the most exciting thing for the boys.

 

We also saw some swans on the river

 

Their purchase at the market, they really loved their new hats!!

 

One of the streets in Strasbourg

 

This was the main tree in the heart of the city called The Big Tree (30m high, the tallest natural Christmas tree in Europe).  A traditional, illuminated Alsace village has been set up at the base of The Big Tree. 

 

I love these trees on the sides - they are just so neat. We wonder what they are going to look like in the spring. 

 

Many people decorated the buildings in town, this is just one of the ways they did it.  There were also angels and other Christmas items hanging from them.

 

I just really think the buildings are really cool.

 

 

We also let the boys pick one ride each market to go on and this was the one they choose - Michael in the Mario truck and

 

AJ in the star wars fighter.

 

One of the main attractions was the Strasbourg Cathedral.  It was amazing!!!  I really can't believe the architecture and how did they build these buildings back then.  I would not want to be the one that had to work on the top of the building that is for sure.  We haven't had a lot of history lessons lately, but you will get quite a few the next few days starting with the Strasbourg Cathedral.  The construction began in 1176 and wasn't finished until 1439.  It was built on a site where first the Romans built a church and then there were two other built before the Cathedral was started.  It was started in Romanesque style, but then torn down and went to Gothic architecture.  Above all, the famous west front, decorated with thousands of figures, is a masterpiece of the Gothic era. The tower is one of the first to rely substantially on craftsmanship, with the final appearance being one with a high degree of linearity captured in stone.

 

The cathedral, on each one of those protrusions is a statue along with an animal.

 

Look at the height on this, it is absolutely amazing.

 

This is the pulpit where the priest preaches - amazing!

 

They had different scenes from the bible all over the church

 

The Strasbourg astronomical clock is located in the Cathedral de Notre Dame of Strasbourg, it is the third clock on that spot and dates from the time of the first French possession of the city (1681–1870). The first clock had been built in the 14th century, the second in the 16th century, when Strasbourg was a free imperial center of the Holy Roman Empire.  The current, third clock dates from 1843. Its main features, besides the automata, are a perpetual calendar (including a computus), an orrery (planetary dial), a display of the real position of the Sun and the Moon, and solar and lunar eclipses. The main attraction is the procession of the 18 inch high figures of Christ and the Apostles which occurs every day at half past midday while the life-size cock crows thrice.

 

This was in the church on the wall inscribed - It is really neat to see that they appreciated the US Army all over Europe.

 

Some of the stained glass windows - they were all over the place.

 

This was their organ - I would have loved to hear it played I am sure it was AMAZING.

 

One of the doors (not for the public to go in and out)

 

This was only one of the archways above the doors, there were at least two others that we say and they were as ornate as this if not more. 

 

This is one of my favorite pictures that I took with the big stained glass in the background with the organ on the right.

 

                                     The inside where you can light candles for loved ones.

 

 

I tried to put a few of the outside to show the carvings, but I didn't really even scratch the surface.  It was pretty overwhelming to say the least.  We stayed in Strasbourg for about six hours and still didn't see all of the town, hence we will go back again.  The boys did really good since they were walking the whole time.  They also did a little bit of bird chasing and tag while we ate a bit of lunch.  It is kind of fun to order food that you really don't know what it is and just hope it tastes good.  They also spoke French, of course, so it was a little harder to communicate.  Some knew some English, but then others didn't, but we made it through with body language, etc.