You Go Nate!

WELCOME TO WÜRZBURG

I left Frankfurt on Thursday, March 26 and rode the regional train for about an hour and a half back into Bavaria. I arrived in the Franconian town of Würzburg (Franconia is a region in northern Bavaria).

The boyfriend of my fourth cousin once-removed lives and studies in Würzburg and so I was able to touch base with him before-hand and he was nice enough to let me spend the two nights in his apartment. Michael picked me up from the train station and we walked to the apartment where we had a nice Bavarian lunch of Weißwurst (white sausages), pretzels, and Weißbier, which is kind of like Root Beer except made from barley (and non-alcoholic, of course).

After lunch we went up to the fortress that sits on a great hill overlooking the Main River and the city. He then left me to get back to work, while I went out into the city to explore.

Würzburg was heavily bombed in WWII and suffered as much as Dresden in terms of destruction of the city. They've done a nice job of rebuilding, however, and it was fun to see a new city.

As the evening approached, I headed up to the fortress hill to get night shots of the city. It was a little bit rainy, but it wasn't too bad.

I went back to the apartment and Michael and I cooked a Chinese dinner with chicken, vegatables, and rice. After dinner we went to the train station to meet up with my fifth cousin once-removed, Antje. We went back the apartment and chatted a bit before retiring.

The next day Michael had a lot of work to do so Antje and I went out into the city to see some more sites. She had spent several years here at the university and so she knew the city fairly well. We visited several churches and the fortress again.

We trekked up another hillside to a wonderful Baroque Chapel with an impressive interior.

After lunch we went to the Würzburg Residenz. This enormous palace was built in the 1700's by the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg. It is quite impressive inside and has several treasures. We were lucky enough to get there in time for a free tour (in German, and after the price of admission). This was really good because the best rooms of the Residenz are only available to see with a tour guide.

After touring the Residenz, we went to an Italian Cioccolateria where we had some fine Italian hot chocolate. We then went to the market and bought some vegetables from a gabby toothless old woman and then went back to the apartment.

I went out again in the city to get some more pictures and then came back in time to help cook a typical German dinner of Schnitzel, Kolrabi, Potatoes, and Carrots.

Fun story.

Michael, Antje, Nate



The Festung... fortress above the city.




Gate to the inner courtyard of the Festung. You can see the statue of the Prince Bishop and to the right, his coat of arms. If you look carefully on the coat of arms you will see a pair of scissors!



Side view of the interior gate




Sunset over the Festung




Classic view of the Cathedral and City Hall of Würzburg from the Mainbrücke. This bridge is one of the oldest stone bridges in all of Europe and miraculously survived the bombs of WWII.




The Baroque Chapel on a hill




Baroque artwork inside the Chapel




Rococo organ loft




This is the front entrance to the Residenz with the statue of Franconia facing back towards the city




Below Franconia sit two famous Würzburgian artists

When the architect of the Residenz designed and built a huge trough-vaulted ceiling for the grand staircase, many other architects declared it unsafe and foolish saying that it wouldn't last a single thunderstorm. Two hundred years later British bombs fell on the Residenz destroying every ceiling except for this one. It is a masterpiece of construction and boasts the worlds largest ceiling fresco.

Technically you aren't supposed to take pictures inside the Residenz because all the flashing was a distraction. Nevertheless, I snuck a few flashless shots of the ceiling and its fresco (and Antje's head.)

Typical of Baroque frescoes, there are about a million different things going on. On each side of the wall, however, a different woman is depicted representing a different continent. Each woman rides upon an animal unique to the continent. Asia is on an elephant, and Africa on a camel, but I thought America was the best. She is sitting on an alligator. The men to the left of her are serving her hot chocolate (an exotic delicacy in the 1700's), and to the right of her is a BBQ of human flesh, since of course, all Americans are canibals...

The Festung fortress from the Residenz



Leaving the Residenz



This doorway on a church caught my eye as we walked past. I'm not sure what was behind the door, but I'm sure it's creepy.




Night rain on the Old Main Bridge




The Festung reflecting in the Main River



The Festung and the Old Main Bridge




Night panorama of Würzburg

I had a fun time in Würzburg and in Frankfurt but it was nice to get back to Munich as Spring was springing...

Starling in mid-sentence

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