Frauenkirche market square:
Interesting photo from Neustadt:
We also got to see the "Wall Street" area of the city; here are the famous Bull and Bear in front of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Check out the red building in the background and the men holding up the building, this seems to be a common architectural touch in Germany:
Saint Katherine's Church:
Interesting mall with a hole right through it:
Not really sure what building this but it attracted our attention as it looked cool:
Noah in front of Goethe birthplace and home:
Saint Paul's Church, which is a historic monument in German as it was the seat of the first democratically elected Parliament in 1848. However in 1849 Prussian troops ended this by force and dissolved the parliament however during the one year of it's existance a constitution for a unified Germany was developed, with the Prussian king as it monarch.
Cool German symbol above Noahs head right across the street from Saint Paul's Church, near Römer area:
Noah on a walking bridge over the Main river:
Saint Bartholomew's Cathedral (Dom Van Frankfurter), a very large gothic church, from the Main:
Frankfurt is a very different city then all the cities we have visited as it is more like a large American city, with tall skyscrapers and a very urban feel:
Me on the bridge over the Main:
Römer area, one of the few areas of Frankfurt that has been preserved like its old German, pre WWII, feel.
At the footsteps of the Saint Bartholomew Cathedral were some old ruins, Noah found a comfortable resting spot as the temperature had hit 35 degrees C (95 Fahrenheit):
I really like this picture of a side doorway to Saint Bartholomew's Cathedral:
The impressive Saint Bartholomew's Cathedral(Dom Van Frankfurter):
The large pillars inside:
Back at the Frankfurter Main Train Station and back to Dresden:
And more fireworks:
Noah on the Heiliggeistkirche:
Inside of the Heiliggeistkirche:
Around the Heiliggeistkirche was a wonderful farmers market with great fruits and things to buy also there was a famous walking street through the center of old Heidelberg that was a busy shopping corridor, were English seemed voices seemed out outnumber German, which was a first for us as this was a very popular area for English speaking tourists.
Back up to the castle with David, he finished his test and caught up with us, looking back on the Heiliggeistkirche and the Neckar river:
David and Noah in one of the guard houses of the castle, again notice the red rock:
Cool red castle walls against the blue sky:
More of the old castle:
Next we were going to explore around Heidelberg while David took his College entrance tests at a US military base. I let Noah pick out the travel book and he did all the guiding around the city. First off was up to the Castle, the view from the castle was very beautiful:
The Heidelberg castle is a very well known ruin and it was not hit by any WWII bombing, however it was sacked a few times in the 1700 and 1800s. Inside the Castle walls:
Here is a quote from "A Tramp Abroad" as Twain describes the next picture, which is the ruined Powder Turret:A ruin must be rightly situated, to be effective. This one could not have been
better placed. It stands upon a commanding elevation, it is buried in green
woods, there is no level ground about it, but, on the contrary, there are wooded
terraces upon terraces, and one looks down through shining leaves into profound
chasms and abysses where twilight reigns and the sun cannot intrude. Nature
knows how to garnish a ruin to get the best effect. One of these old towers is
split down the middle, and one half has tumbled aside. It tumbled in such a way
as to establish itself in a picturesque attitude. Then all it lacked was a
fitting drapery, and Nature has furnished that; she has robed the rugged mass in
flowers and verdure, and made it a charm to the eye. The standing half exposes
its arched and cavernous rooms to you, like open, toothless mouths; there, too,
the vines and flowers have done their work of grace. The rear portion of the
tower has not been neglected, either, but is clothed with a clinging garment of
polished ivy which hides the wounds and stains of time. Even the top is not left
bare, but is crowned with a flourishing group of trees & shrubs. Misfortune
has done for this old tower what it has done for the human character
sometimes−improved it.
Another ruined turret:
The Upper Prince's Fountain build in the 1730's:
Lots of tadpoles and Newts in the pond:
On the way back to Heidelberg we saw castles again, they were from 1100 to 1230 AD, Vorderburg:
Mittelburg:
Hinterburg:
Heidelberg castle from before 1214 AD:
