Part 23: Saalburg

March 10, 1991 "Partly cloudy – small rain off and on:
Finally made it to the Roman Fortress. “

The site was littered with ruins. Many had been excavated. Keys, tools, pottery, glass, jewelry, buckets, dishes, sandals, statues and mosaics, were just a few of the many treasures on display. We were recognized by some of the locals as we walked along the Limes and were given a replica roman coin to commemorate our visit. There were no towers but many scratchy trees rising to dazzling heights. I much prefer climbing towers which, barring a fall, cause less abrasions.
Roman Limes Reconstruction Ruins
Mural
Statues
Artifacts

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Most people are afraid of ruins. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Part 22: Schloss Bad Homburg

March 9, 1991 (sunny and cool):
“Climbed a 186 step tower that had secret documents under the top ornament. The view was great! What a neat mistake.” The photo is actually one of the postcards that we sent to family.

We started out early morning and stumbled on this castle by mistake while looking for “Saalburg” a reconstructed Roman Fort. Thinking the fort might be on the premises; we walked through the arched gate but quickly realized that we were mistaken. However, there was a nice inviting tower in the courtyard. The burg meister recognized me and started the crowd clamoring for action; so of course I had to stay and climb it.

An interesting side note: New Mexico man had transported cryptic documents across Europe for years. Once he found some old parchment documents in boring script. He translated the text into code on the back of each page "Just for fun". Imagine our surprise to find that these were the very same documents hidden under the ornament adorning the tower. We autographed each page per the burg meister’s request before tucking them back into their hiding place.
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Most people are afraid of burg meisters. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Part 21: Ronneburg Schloss

We went to see this medieval castle which sits atop a hill of basalt. This is my favorite castle and we found it on my birthday. Once, I got a Chinese fortune that read “You will inherit a European Castle”… I’m pretty sure this is the one!

The name implies - a hill fort built of "Ronen" or tree trunks. It was built around the 13th century over the foundation of an older fort.

I read that the tower has 143 steps. I’m not sure whether the person on the web miscounted (there is another set of stair leading to the very top) or whether I mixed my notes up with the next tower. While towers can blend together after awhile, I climbed this tower a few times and counted more than once.
[Click the image below to enlarge captions if desired.]

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Most people are afraid of fortune cookies. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Part 20: Friedberg

February 27, 1991 (Sunny and Warm):
“Walked around the castle grounds. Couldn’t go into the palace this day as it was being refurbished due to a fire. Saw old towers and a neat old church. Went shopping bought bath beads, bath crystals, plastic ice cubes, candy, a ring of blutwurst, ribs, chicken, fresh smoked sardines, croissants, and fruit bread.”

Super heroes are known for their odd tendencies; thus the blutwurst and sardines for New Mexico Man. Not even the steepest tower climb could have honed my hunger into a willingness to eat such fodder.
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Most people are afraid to be around refurbishing projects. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Part 19: Selingenstadt Tower Stairs

February 23, 1991:
“We found an old tower that was a gate tower for the city wall. The tower stairs were all stone, no metal except for the handrails installed by the defense windows for tourists. You can see the stairs in the photo I took from one of the windows”.

The day started off sunny and cool; then the clouds rolled in. Nice weather for tower climbing. We then went to the small marketplatz where we bought saffron, whole nutmeg, current cake, dark bread, a bunny roll, gluwine (blech), cinnamon, chocolate covered sour cherries, dried lychees, a glass duck ornament, postcards, and cheese.
CAUTION: Tower Climbing may result in odd cravings.

Went on a tour of an old Abbey which took over 30 years to build. Then bought a loaf of bread and fed the ducks. In addition to his many talents, New Mexico Man is quite the duck whisperer. Once again we were amazed to find that our fame continued to spread throughout animaldom. We spent hours signing webbed feet and wings.

Antiquity:
Seligenstadt is one of Germany’s oldest towns. Sometime about AD 100, during the reign of Roman Emperor Trajan, a cohort castrum was built on what is now Seligenstadt’s marketplace and parts of its Old Town. Since the 16th century, the castrum has been assigned the name “Selgum”. With the fall of the Limes during the stormings by the Alamanni about 260, the castrum was forsaken, and the Romans withdrew farther behind the Rhine line.
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Most people are afraid of duck fans. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Part 18b: Barbarossastadt - Gelnhausen

Gelnhausen -one of my favorite towns, was founded by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1170, it is therefore nicknamed "Barbarossastadt".

Perched on a steep hillside overlooking the Kinzig valley, it is a wonderment of ancient timbered houses and narrow cobbled streets encircled by medieval walls.


The moated Imperial Palace of Frederick I (Barbararossa,”Red Beard”) was built [ 1170-1200] below the town on an island in the Kinzig river supported by 12,000 driven piles [a job that would have kept New Mexico Man in work for a lifetime]. Today it is the best preserved palatinate castle from this era.

It is said, that Barbarossa awakens from his sleep in a mountain in central Germany every hundred years to see if Germany needs his help. Sometimes he and King Arthur get together and play cards. On this day, he played tag with the Fearless Castle Tower Climber Woman.



Walked the ivy-ladened walls of the ruins which made my trusty side-kick become rather faint of heart. He watched, breath held, while I performed fearless pirouettes atop this wall.

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Most people are afraid to pirouette. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Miscellaneous Meandering: A Mr. Bean Christmas

Merry Christmas!
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Many people are afraid of dinosaurs. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Miscellaneous Meandering: Ah Yeah! Holidays

As mentioned in a previous post, I am unable to recall all of the the domestic details of our life in Germany. However, I'm sure we must have been Bounty fans.

And so with that...
Encore for the Paper Towel Gang, Ah Yeah!


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Many people are afraid of encores. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Part 18a: Friedrich Rückert's “Barbarossa”

The ancient Barbarossa,Friedrich, the Kaiser great,Within the castle-cavern, sits in enchanted state.

He did not die; but ever waits in the chamber deep,Where hidden under the castle he sat himself to sleep.

The splendor of the Empire he took with him away,And back to earth will bring it when dawns the promised day.

The chair is ivory purest whereof he makes his bed;The table is of marble whereon he props his head.

His beard, not flax, but burning with fierce and fiery glow,Right through the marble table beneath his chair does grow.

He nods in dreams and winketh with dull, half-open eyes,And once a page he beckons beckons--a page that standeth by.

He bids the boy in slumber "O dwarf, go up this hour,And see if still the ravens are flying round the tower;

And if the ancient ravens still wheel above us here,Then must I sleep enchanted for many a hundred year."

~Friedrich Rückert
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Most people are afraid of old poetry. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Part 17: Wilhelmsbad Puppenmuseum

February 21, 1991:
“Inside the main building was the Hessisches Puppen Museum. There were many dolls and puppets. The coolest exhibit was an Oriental display of an entire village made of crepe-like paper”.

Once we went to an old spa, called Wilhelmsbad, with its many secret nooks and crannies throughout the grounds. The spa was built in 1777 by Prince Wilhelm von Hessen-Kassel. Sadly, there was no access to the tower of the castle ruins; so I had to make due climbing to the top of the Hermit’s cell.

In the Puppenmuseum there were amazing puppen exhibits to delight the eye. The paper village, a gift from Japan, contained 493 figures. All of the buildings, people with ornate black hairdos, clothes, and market place stalls were made of paper. There were paper vegetables, paper fish, paper meats, paper trees,…everything tiny and colorful. New Mexico man pointed to a lone small figure with long brown paper hair standing atop of a little pagoda …nah, it couldn’t have been…could it? All in all, it was an interestingly fun day.

A post card as promised.

Paper Village [you can just see the edge of the pagoda on the left side].

Castle Ruin and Hermit's Cell

Carousel

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Most people are afraid of puppens. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Part 16: Zoo – Nuremberg

February 19, 1991
Weather: Sunny and cold
“Hardly anyone was at the zoo, so we could sort of play with the animals. There were 2 hippos in the water pools with only a metal bar separating them from us. I held out my zoo map which made the male open his mouth real wide.” …stepped over the rail to take a picture of the wolves who then rushed towards us putting their paws on the fence and wagging their tails like puppies. ”

Playing predator and prey games with animals is a very good way to build essential climbing muscles. Had a lovely day roaming the Nuremburg Zoo, and quite enjoyed having the run of the place. Apparently, frigid winter days cause low visitation rates. Despite the lack of people anonymity escaped us. We quickly discovered our growing fame had begun to spread not only through man-kind but through animal-kind as well.

The zoo inhabitants were quite thrilled about our visit. Since the zookeepers were oddly absent, we dared to get as close as possible to our new found admirers. One of the manatees even requested I sign his paddle, but I didn’t have a Sharpie. Not to mention Furchtlose-Schloss-Aufsatz-Bergsteiger-Frau takes some time to write properly and a lazy day had already made the manatee quite tired. Instead, we promised to send him a postcard from our next outing, which we did.
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Many people are afraid of frigid days and manatees. Admit it, I am FEARLESS.

Part 15: Alte Fanserie Wildpark – Frankfurt

February 14, 1991

“The Animals run in large fenced-in sections of woodland. Fed various species of deer and wild boars which were quite cute. When the baby boars saw that we had food, those dumb little things would run along the fence after us making the most ridiculous noises (we laughed and laughed). Visited with Elch (moose), wolves, and European Bison.”

Went to the Wildpark for a Valentine’s Day break from climbing . The day was cold, 14 degrees with giant snowflakes. New Mexico Man attempted to pet one of the Wisent (aka Bison Bonasus). Said Bison took this as an opportunity to 1) try to impale the offending hand on his horn 2) try to butt the wood fence down with his head. Ha ha ha! New Mexico Man kept his cape a bit farther from the fences after that.

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Most people aren’t able to see the humor in wild boars, cold weather, and near gorings. Admit it I am Fearless.

Miscellaneous Meandering: Ah Yeah!

You know its funny, I have absolutely no recollection of using or buying paper towels while in Germany. I am positive that we did...and that our brand in those days was certainly Bounty - the quicker picker-upper. However, I am unable to recall even one paper towel musing.

Odd how the human mind selectively saves some snippits, and loses others for all time. Here is a little video that is sure to joggle the brain waves.


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Most people are afraid of independent scientists. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Miscellaneous Meandering: Harry und Charlie Mix & Remix

Because you simply can't get enough of a good thing: Hip Hop Harry (view then scroll down).

And lastly, is there nothing in this world
that can't be improved a Synthesizer?
[you might neet to hit the pause button and give it a head start in loading]
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Most people are afraid of Charlie. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Miscellaneous Meandering: Harry und Charlie

When we lived in Germany, we came across many British workers. They were often employed by the local attractions as tour guides for the English speaking tourists. As I became increasingly well known they numbered among my followers. They had nifty accents and children with names like Alister , Edgar, Harry, and Charlie.

One time when the weather was poor, little Harry carried New Mexico Man’s cape to prevent it from becoming heavily soiled. He was a most charming tyke and we rewarded him with hard-boiled sweets. Here is a video of little Harry and Charlie.

Part 14: Christkindles Mart

Old Father Christmas taught Germany a thing or two about Holiday Festivities. Markets, decorations, miniature pickle ornaments, and real “Tin”-sel for the tree. Ah, there’s nothing quite like it.

We enjoyed each and every German Christmas with vigor. One thing we loved was visiting Nürnberg for the annual Christkindles Market. New Mexico Man would use his trusty flame thrower to assist the street vendors with their fire-roasted chestnuts. And of course, I climbed the Christmas Advent Tower at the request of the adoring German Folk !

While the age of the Nürnberg Christmas market is uncertain, the earliest recorded date is aprox. 1628. Some say there is evidence to indicate it is much older.

Part 13c: Eis Eis Baby

After a “towering” expedition, we’d occasionally visit one of Germany’s Eis Cafes. There’s nothing like a Spaghetti Eis after a day of stretching those climbing muscles! Nothing except maybe a serving of Schinken und Kartoffeln eis.

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Most people are afraid of eis mit sahn. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Part 13b: Marienburg Fortress Mission Accomplished

The question was asked “Did you ever make it to the fortress?” Yes, yes we did indeed. We built a giant tailgate sandwich in a hollowed out loaf of shepherd’s bread (scaling buildings is hard work) and jumped on the Autobahn.


Upon arriving at the Fortress we wandered the site and went to the museum housed in the old arsenal. On display were artifacts depicting Franconian life. In the courtyard there was (what else) a tower which was climbed (of course). We ended the day by purchasing little cap guns (for causing a ruckus) and eating spaghetti eis (mmm).

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Most people are afraid of claustrophobic towers. Admit it I am Fearless.