I’m still wandering around in Germany. Fitzi and I have enjoyed our time in Bad Salzschlirf but we also enjoy wandering around and going to the nearby towns. These are all towns that are not on the usual treck for tourists so people tend to be a little bit pleasantly surprised to find an American wandering around. Recently we went to the big town of Fulda named after the Fulda River.
I am really mad. I’ve come down with some European virus that has zapped all my energy from me leaving me all but dead to the world. Literally thinking and typing was too much for me much less going out of Fitzi’s Mother’s Apartment. I know it is European because I am the only one that got sick, none of them did (leftover biological warfare ya know? Ahhhh Dark Humor). What a wonderful thing to happen on a vacation. This was our trip to the nearby town when I just started getting sick and the moment I got better after Fitzi put me under house arrest.
Like many cities in Europe, Fulda is older than my country. The most noteworthy place to visit is the Dom, or Cathedral of St Salvador. It is a magnificent old cathedral with beautiful, dynamic vaults that is fascinating no matter what is your practicing denomination. The cathedral was finished in 1712. It was built on the site of an even older basilica that finished construction in 819. I mean, after almost 1000 years so it needed some restorative work.
We spent most of our day wandering around the Schlossgarten or the Castle Garden. This castle isn’t like any fairytale castle. It is more like a large manner house and was once home to a lord of the region. Now it is now used to house the Police station and the theater holds regular shows for the public. The garden is now a public walking park with statues and flowers in the springtime. Surrounding the castle is some of the old medieval city wall including the Hexenturm (Witch’s Tower).
The Altstadt (Old Town) is the oldest part of the city. Some of the buildings are literally medieval including the Witch’s Tower and the piece of the medieval wall as well as the timber-framed buildings that reside within. While most people wander around, minding their own business I have a hard time getting over how quaint everything looks. The buildings look like gingerbread houses. It’s easy to forget this is a modern city until a car is trying to get past on a street that was never planned with the automobile in mind. However, Fulda is also an extremely new city as well. It has all the bustling shopping district outside of the train station, movie theaters, and museums to visit. Unfortunately, I started feeling too sick to visit any of these this day so it will have to be for another one.