South Germany Day 2

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Well, today was an interesting day. I got to sleep in today as opposed to yesterday, I got up at 5:30 AM instead of 5 AM. The head of the family who I am staying with works at a secondary school, and I got to go to school with him and sit in on a class. I also saw mechanical workrooms, other schoolrooms, and offices. After that, we went to Ravensburg and he led me on a tour of the town. We saw the town hall, churches, upper and lower towns, and lots of other things. Evidently Ravensburg was tied heavily to trade, connecting the Mediterranean, Russia, and Western Europe. When the Reformation came around, the town was so split over which denomination would be in charge that they required their mayors to switch off, so that no one denomination had consecutive terms in office! My temporary tour guide hypothesized that as the New World trade became more important, Ravensburg’s value as a hub between regions decreased, with the more lucrative trade from North America and the precious metals coming out South America.

After Ravensburg, we went out to Lake Constance where we saw Birnau Church, which is a Baroque church right on the shore of the lake. This was possibly the most stunning church I have seen after St. Peter’s, even after my recent Paris trip. It was unbelievable, and equally unbelievable that they would not let anyone take pictures. You can find pictures if you poke around the web a little though. My host took the only picture so far of the entire trip with me actually in the picture, so that was nice. Then we came back and had dinner. I wasted no time in falling asleep tonight!

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