Old Retired Guy Blog
July 8 - 14, 2010
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Eichstätt (Page 4 of 5)With the wonderful wedding celebrations at an end, we had a little time to relax and walk around Eichstätt. As with most of the places we've visited in Europe, Eichstätt has been around for a long time. The city was chartered in 908, so it's 1102 years old. By comparison, the Hofmühl Brewery in Eichstätt is rather new. It didn't start brewing beer until 1492. Maybe Christopher Columbus was drinking some of that brand new beer when he was sailing around trying to find his way to India.
We walked along the Altmühl River to where the city had recently constructed a public swimming pool. The weather was quite hot so this was a very popular place. Then we walked back to the center of town and Kathy looked for some gifts when we passed likely stores, trying to stay in the shade as much as possible. There were a number of public art installations located around the city which were interesting to see. A strange one that caught my fancy was an old wrecked VW bug sitting on the sidewalk in front of an abandoned building. Both the car and the building were covered with thousands of paper butterflies.
Andi picked us up later in the day and took us to the Gabrielli Gymnasium, the school that Eric attended with him in 1992. Though it was closed, Andi saw a janitor that he knew who let us in to look around. I know that this is the thought of an old guy (that's what this blog is about you know), but it seemed hard to believe that it had already been 18 years since Eric had been here. When we left the school Andi drove us to his house. It was very nice to see him and Gina and their children -- Elia, Milena, Leander, and Laurin -- in their home. The children weren't bashful for long, especially when Kathy took out some gifts for them. Gina is very artistic and has a studio in their basement. With Andi's musical background their home is filled with paintings and instruments. There was a happy atmosphere that only children can bring to a home. Since Andi and Gina both speak English quite well we were able to have a long enjoyable conversation.
The view overlooking the town of Eichstätt and the Altmühl river valley was very scenic. Oddly enough, it made me think of Jimi Hendrix singing "And so castles made of sand fall into the sea, eventually." Our final stop of the evening was at the Frauenberg Kapelle, a beautiful chapel on a quiet hillside. Only one other person walked around the grounds. I could imagine that this would be the kind of place to come when you needed to be alone with your thoughts. We all need a place like that.
'Eichstätt' |
