Wiesbaden

After visiting Mainz, we drove to Wiesbaden. The Marktkirche (Market Church) dominates the town center and was built from 1853-62. It is 300 feet tall and made of brick, which is apparently unusual for a cathedral.


Altar

Organ


We also stumbled upon a fun bead shop, where I found some "comic" beads. I figured that working with kids everyday entitles me to some fun (and funny) jewelry!

Mainz

Kiley and I drove to Mainz and Wiesbaden on Thursday to see a few more sights around Germany. Here are some of our pictures:

Fish fountain


Mainz Cathedral
The Kaiserdom (cathedral) is one of the only three Romanesque imperial cathedrals to survive intact to this day. The oldest parts date from the early 11th century with parts added up until the 19th century.

Red Sandstone exterior

St. Stephen's Choir- one of the first parts of the church to be built


Organ

Neo-Gothic Pulpit (1834)

Crypt

Late-Gothic Portal of the "Memorie" Burial Chapel (1425)

Fountain outside of the church


Kirche St. Stephen
St. Stephen's Church was built in stages from the 13th century to the end of the 15th century.


The original stained glass windows were destroyed during WWII, but replacements were designed and partially made by Marc Chagall between 1978-1984...when the artist was in his 90s!

The four large brass candelabras seen on the altar were cast in Mainz in 1509.



This center of this polyptych (panel painting) depicts the Crucifixion and dates from around 1400, while the movable wings were made about 100 years later.

Stuttgart

To break up our drive back from Austria, we stayed the night and the next day in Stuttgart. Stuttgart is the capital of Baden-Wurttemberg and is considered a major industrial and cultural centre. Here are some highlights...

Konigstrasse (King Street)

Jubilaumssaule (1842-46)

Neues Schloss (New Castle)

Schlossgarten


Wurttembergishes Staatstheater (1909-12)

Altes Schloss (Old Castle) Courtyard

Old Church

Lech Skiing

Lech, Austria: January 11-12, 2008
Ski Trip #1

Our second ski trip of the season was to Lech, Austria. Kyle, Tiffany, Matt, Kiley and I stayed at a great B&B called Haus Teresia.


The Three Bears...(Matt, Ashley, and Kiley)

Common Room- we made dinner in the kitchen and ate it here one night

Creepy (rat-like) Kangaroo


As we were a bit more confident after having a weekend of skiing under our belts, the camera went with us on the mountain. We mostly stuck to blue runs and enjoyed not having to work quite as hard on the red runs that we primarily skied in Garmisch the weekend before. Enjoy the pictures!

Day 1- before we hit the slopes

Kiley and Ashley

Matt and Ashley

Kyle

Breathtaking Scenery- It was literally amazing to be completely surrounded by these beautiful mountains.

On the ski lift...

There was a creek running through the town. The street were lined with hotels/restaurants and some athletic stores.

My (Ashley's) lunch- clearly not what I was expecting:)

This was only Matt's third day of skiing- EVER! He learned quickly and did really great. Most importantly, he really enjoyed it, so we will be skiing a lot in the next couple of years- yay!!

Kiley having fun with the camera...

Virtual skiing...

Calling it a day...


On our second day, the weather got a bit worse. It was snowing pretty heavily on the mountain and visibility wasn't as good; however, we still had a great time skiing and had a really good lunch at a restaurant on the mountain. Matt and I had homemade beef soup and "Alpine" Macaroni, made of noodles, cheese, tomatoes, ham, and mushrooms.

Luckily, we were warned in advance by the hotel owners that when the weather turns bad, cars are required to have chains on their tires. So on Day 2, we took a shuttle from the hotel to the ski lift instead of driving. On the way back to our car, we saw a line of cars either putting chains on their tires or getting a ticket for not having chains.

Thanks to everyone who helped outfit us for our ski trips! We stayed warm and dry and had a blast!