Tag Archives: Frankfurt

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Dabbling in Darmstadt

For our day in Darmstadt we split up once again, with Susannah planning a visit with former student Tiffany Liu at Energy Robotics. Meanwhile Nick planned to go sightseeing — until the woman in the tourist information office told him that no museums in Darmstadt were open on Mondays. Surely that couldn’t be the case? Unfortunately, she was completely correct. In lieu of museums, Nick spent the day exploring the city on foot. Armed with a tourist map of all the sights, he visited any that seemed remotely interesting. Some of the highlights appear in the captions below.

Everything is closed on Mondays
The German post delivers mail in the city using specially built bicycles
Bird of the day: A number of Egyptian geese could be found on the park lawns. Although native to Africa, they have been introduced to Europe as an ornamental bird.
This pillar in a geometric garden had sundials on all four sides. (Each was different from the others, due to its differing orientation.)
Although the porcelain museum nearby was closed, this church had its doors open
Someone painted this colorful rock by the side of the road
When we visited Mathildenhöhe the day before, we didn’t notice the sculpture behind the chapel
In the shadow of the city wall is this pingpong table with a metal net
The moat of the palace serves as a sculpture garden. This piece is entitled “Out Of Service”.
This sculpture is constructed out of stacks of gasoline cans
The city’s oldest church dates from the 14th century and has interesting roof details
Nick liked the expression on this stone creature

Meeting up at the end of the day, we picked up a portable dinner before heading to the train station for the 3.5 hour ride to Hamburg. Our lodging for the next two days is somewhat unusual: we’re in a small RV camper that is parked on a hotel’s rooftop terrace. Seemed like an experience worth trying…

Changing trains in Frankfurt
We arrived in Hamburg after dark
Our camper is Peace & Love, on the right
How cozy! (It even comes with a guitar, a record player, and an assortment of 1960s records)