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Published: June 21st 2019
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Summer usually means adventures of one kind or another, and this summer's adventure is what I am starting to think of as the Grand Tour. Not because we are hitting all the cities that used to make up the Grad Tour of Europe - far from it - but because getting seven people (three brothers, two parents, and a cousin) to eight European cities might be more of an adventure than I anticipated.
The adventure began in Augsburg, Germany, where my cousin Michelle lives. She got married last Friday and did it in great German style. One German tradition is to break porcelain - old dishes, apparently sometimes toilets - and then have the couple clean up the mess to show they can work together. Not only was this a fun time, but it brought her American and German families together. Though language is a bit of a barrier, it was fun to see everyone communicating.
The actual wedding was held in a nearby castle. Now in looks and style, I would call it more of a residence, but they called it a castle, so who am I to argue? The ceremony was in a tiny chapel and the
reception in the beer garden and dining hall. My cousin's request - aside from our presence - was that we wear traditional Bavarian lederhosen and dirndl. Being one of the first to arrive in Augsburg, I got to go clothes shopping multiple times - first for mine, then for my aunt and uncle's, next of my parents, and finally for my brothers, but by the time we hit the brothers, I dropped them off at the shop and went to go have ice cream. The fitting process is quite an adventure, and I quickly learned there is no such thing as personal space. By chance, the same store - because there are of course many - outfitted my entire immediate family, and after the wedding we went down to the shop in our traditional clothing to take a picture with the young lady who helped us. She was so happy to see us all dressed up and promised to hang a picture of us all behind the counter. So, if you go lederhosen and dirndl shopping in Augsburg at Wirkes, look for our picture 😊
With all of the family and many group dinners and ice cream stops (at
least once a day), we didn't play tourists until our last two days in Augsburg. Michelle took us on a tour of the Augsburg Dom (cathedral) as she will be starting as the English tour guide soon. Augsburg is the second oldest city in Germany and was founded by the Romans, so several examples of Roman statuary and other artifacts can be seen just outside the cathedral. The Romans also gave Augsburg their symbol, which can be seen all over the city today: the pine nut. In the Dom, one of the chapels had chandeliers and candleholders that had pine nuts hanging from them. There were several windows of very old - original to the Dom - stained glass, and two of the windows had backgrounds that were made of very thinly sliced marble instead of glass. There are also several frescos that have been uncovered and give one an idea of what the church might have looked like before everything was whitewashed over. The Dom is definitely worth a visit! Look for my cousin to be your tour guide.
My brother Curt, who has lived and worked in Germany for the last two years, took us on a
Tour of Augsburg Dom
My cousin Michelle at the Sanctuary door of the Augsburg Dom giving us a tour. If you needed sanctuary and the church was closed, all you had to do was hold on to this ring and you were safe. tour of the Fuggerei. This housing complex is the oldest socialist housing in Europe, created to truly help people escape poverty and is still used as welfare-type housing today. The residents still pay the original rent - .88 Euros a year for their house and another .88 Euros to maintain the development's priest. An original requirement of the Fuggerei was that the residence be Catholic and pray three times a day for the founders. Statues of various saints dot the walls of the houses to show that the residents are Catholic. Each door also has a different shaped bell pull so residents can recognize their door after dark. Also in the Fuggerei is a bunker from World War II, in which the residents hid during the worst bombing to hit Augsburg in February 1944.
On our final day in Bavaria, we went down to Fussen, Neuschwanstein Castle, and Hohenschwangau Castle. This was in celebration of my brother Kyle's birthday, and our cousin Gabby joined us (and will continue to join us until Amsterdam). Kyle did want to go in the castles, which made everything easier. Instead, we hiked up to both to see their facades, to Marienbrucke, and around
Augsburg Dom
St. Christopher fresco Alpsee lake - which offers beautiful views of both castles and is not a difficult hike, so I highly recommend it. What I recommend even more is the town of Fussen. After seeing the castles and hiking, we made our way back down to the town and ate a wandered a tiny bit. I would love to see more of the town. The High Palace is beautiful to look at and boasts some of the oldest 3D painting in Europe. I know the next time I'm with someone who wants to see Neuschwanstein, I will let them do the castles while I explore Fussen.
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