Excursion Part 2:
Day 16 6/19/12
The first visit of the morning was
the Fuggerei Township in Augsberg, one of the world’s oldest social settlements
(dating back to the 1500. It was started by the Jakob Fugger, a wealthy
merchant, who started the housing project as an act of philanthropy for the
impoverished Catholics of Augsberg. Still operating today, the settlement
continues to provide charming homes for the low rent of 0.88 € a year
to those in need. An interesting thing
to note is that the picturesque township was once home to the grandfather of
Mozart. One more quirk to mention is the uniqueness of the doorbells; each
house had a different handle for their doorbell pulls, supposedly because when
originally built the streets were unlit at night so the inhabitants often
‘felt’ their way home by finding their own personal doorbell pull.
After leaving Augsberg, we went to the Disney Castle. Or at least the one it’s modeled after. Never have I seen such a ‘perfect’ story-book castle.
The Hohenzollern Castle, considered the ancestral seat of the Hohenzollern family, was originally constructed in the 11th century; the version standing today (the 3rd castle at that location) was constructed in the 19th century for Frederick William IV of Prussia (Frederick the Great). The inside of the castle was brilliant. The walls of the opening room were covered in a massive family tree that followed the generations of the family back for centuries. The treasury held the Hohenzollern crown jewels and many personal effects of Frederick the Great, including the snuff box that stopped a bullet and saved his life.
Under the castle is a network of cellars, passageways, and tunnels that had fallen into disrepair over the years; some of the tunnels have yet to be excavated and no one alive knows where they lead. The castle itself was beautiful, second only to the view seen from its battlements.
We then drove to Stuttgart and went to
the Mercedes Benz Museum, which turned out to be cooler than I expected. The
museum was constructed as a double downward spiral, with one side following
Mercedes Benz history chronologically and the other following the cars by type.
There were lots of very nifty vehicles and interesting information about the
company and the technology behind the progression of automobiles.
Now those.
Are some beautiful.
Cars.
They also had some other vehicles that were specifically cool. Here are two excessively exciting busses. Also, they had a Popemobile. And Ringo's car.
Day 17 6/20/12
The first cathedral of the day was
the Aachen Cathedral and treasury, built originally by Charlemagne in the 8th
century and later remodeled in the byzantine fashion. The cathedral has the
tallest stained glass windows south of the river. Or maybe north of it. I don’t
recall. Neither do I recall which river. All I know is that there were lots of
very tall stained glass windows and they are specifically a few meters taller
than those found in the Cologne Cathedral, despite its larger general size.
The
cathedral had all things Charlemagne. Present was Charlemagne’s throne, which
was the coronation seat for German monarchs for 600 years. The Aachen Cathedral
was also the final resting place of the great king, and (most) of his bones are
still present. Also present was a casket that is opened every seven years.
Inside are four anchient pieces of cloth believed to be Mary’s birthing skirt,
Jesus’s swaddling clothes, his waist-cloth from the crucifixion, and something
of John the Baptists—the death blanket, I think. All of which have been dated
from 0 to 200 AD. 
Following our
extensive, detailed, and awesome tour of the cathedral, we proceeded to visit
the Treasury, one of the largest in the world. There was an anatomically
correct bust of Charlemagne. As in, there was a piece of his skull in the
proper location on the head of the bust. They also had other reliquaries with
some of his other bones. And many other
things. It was a really cool place.
We then made our way to the Cologne Cathedral (Kolner Dom). It was very tall. Possibly the most tall.
The Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and the administration of the archdiocese. Construction of the colossal 515 ft tall church began in the middle of the 13th century, and lasted hundreds of years.
Look at them buttresses!
One of the large stained glass windows (on the south side, I believe) was shattered during the war. Instead of replacing or reconstructing the old designs, the stained glass was redone with a pattern of pixelized colors to imitate the same lighting and mood but not recreate the imagery.
Day 18 6/21/12
On the final day of the excursion, while mostly a driving day, we visited the Magdeburg Cathedral.
We received an
extensive tour and were some of the only tourists there. They were setting up
for some sort of musical event. This
cathedral had a different feel from most. Firstly, it was a protestant
cathedral, which is rather odd. Secondly, all the stained glass windows were
ruined in the war and, lacking the funding to replace them, were replaced with
regular windowpanes. Finally, the white marble of the inside was largely
unmarked. These attributes combined to make a rather different aura from most
cathedrals. It was very light and unadorned and rather more bright and peaceful
than is common. 
There was a small chapel located in a gazebo-type structure in
the middle of the church. Inside is a statue of man and a woman; no one knows
who these two are, but they’re believed to be Charlemagne and his wife. Of the many sculptures, tombs, and
significant relics, the anti-war monument in the southwest corner of the
cathedral stood out. Constructed after WW1 representing a German, a French, and
a Soviet soldier standing together and morning the devastation of war, it
somehow escaped being torn down by the Nazi regime. 
Also, they had an elephant
tusk. Or maybe a whale bone. I think they called it the tusk of Nazareth. Do not take my word for it.
Then we went home and the excursion
was at a close.
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