Home Again...for a Little While

For those of you who didn't know, I got to tag along with my husband on a business trip last week. Since I had to cancel the convention I'd planned to attend later this summer due to an eight-fold increase in costs, he hoped this would make up for it a little bit.

Our first night in Frankfurt, while stumbling around, hunting for food, we stumbled on the last night of a street festival celebrating Spanish-Germans. A rather interesting mix, in my opinion, but really, who can argue with bratwurst, pilsner and chorizos? Plus the music was fabulous :)

The next day we wandered... a lot. We saw a church, the museum of natural history...a whole bunch of stuff, but probably my favorite was something really kind of simple and "quiet". On the Eiserner Steg Bridge, there were padlocks everywhere. To be honest, I've seen a lone lock or two on a bridge before, but never so many (there were hundreds all together). Apparently this is a common thing that people in love do to symbolize their affection.

The next day we were off to Baden Baden, where the hubs had to go to work. I took a lovely walk through town (in sweltering heat while hoping for the A/C to kick on in the hotel--no such luck...horrible A/C there). But I found this lovely view along the river.

The heat in Baden Baden killed me (I do not like heat, especially not humid heat), so I don't have a lot of great pics from there. Then we left to hit some sights on the way to the airport. Our planned stop at Mummelsee didn't work out, but we did make it to Heidelberg Castle. It had the biggest keg I've ever seen :P

[caption id="attachment_749" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Yes, it was so big that there was no angle where I could get the whole thing in the picture."][/caption]

(Apologies. Wordpress has decided I'm no longer allowed to center things. *grumble*) The highlight of my first full day in Poland was definitely the Wieliczka Salt Mine. Over the years, the miners have carved art into the salt and it is quite simply breathtaking.

[caption id="attachment_750" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="The largest of the chapels in the mine. The picture doesn't begin to do it justice."][/caption]

Back in Krakow for the night, we went out to dinner and then made our way to a bar to sit outside and people watch. Of course, the view didn't hurt either.



The next day we went to Wawel Hill to tour the castle and grounds. There were a ton of things to look at there, but my favorite was the Dragon's Lair. There's a legend about the dragon of Krakow, and we all know what a sucker I am for legends...and dragons.

[caption id="attachment_752" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Sadly the picture I have of it breathing fire looks weird because of the wind :("][/caption]

Then it was off to the airport to go back to Frankfurt. While we did sleep there, we decided to go back to Heidelberg the next day since we wanted to see more of it than the Castle. Most people know I'm not a history buff, but at Heidelberg University we found the single coolest historical site I've ever seen. It's called the Student Prison, and I could have spent hours there (and curse myself for all the German I've forgotten since high school).

[caption id="attachment_753" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I really want to write a story about a place like this--as soon as I find the time. *sigh*"][/caption]

We'd run into a woman that morning who was heading to the "Philosophers Way" for a walk. After doing some shopping and sightseeing, we decided we'd do it on our way back (basically making a circle of Heidelberg). There's one thing none of the maps and stuff tell you about the Philosophers Way. There is an easy way to get there and a hard way. The easy way is this nice gentle slope up the mountain. The hard way is called the Winding Path as it takes you on a nice steep, twisty trail up the mountain. We...took the hard way, so by the time we got to the top I wasn't feeling very philosophical, just very asthmatic :P The view was fabulous though.

[caption id="attachment_754" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="View through the trees of Heidelberg Castle, Old Bridge, and some of the surrounding area."][/caption]

After that, we returned to Frankfurt for our last night. It was the end of some women's soccer/football thing, so in the midst of our Frankfurt bar-hop, there were also fireworks. It was a fabulous way to end the trip!

[caption id="attachment_755" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="One of several bars we visited that last night. "][/caption]

Inspiration Point: Italy

I spent a week in Italy recently, and let me just say it was amazing. We took about 500 pictures, many of which are on my facebook page, but some of them might be a little odd to some people.

While I wandered and saw sights, I also spent time on the lookout for images and places that inspired.

[caption id="attachment_289" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="I took this shot at night, but the way the lighting hit, it lit up the building and gave it a bit of a haunted look. Personally I like the creepiness of how that worked more than anything specific about the building."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_291" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="This is actually an image of the Virgin Mary set into a frame on the outside wall of a building, but when I saw it, all I could think of was the soul of someone trapped in this frame in the wall for eternity and everyone keeps just walking by, oblivious to the curse."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_292" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="When I looked at this, all I could think was how the "wires" looked like restraints that had been broken, as if someone had been bound there and tore their way free. "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_293" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="This gate had a real Beauty and the Beast feel to it. Not sure what I'll do with it, but I had to have the picture. "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_294" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="There was this amazing piece of art on the street in Turin. I took several pictures of it. Behind it is a big open courtyard, but there doesn't seem to be a gate into it. It kind of made me think of a magical gateway to a steampunky alternate universe. "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_295" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Then I found these amazing cyberpunk Carnival masks in Venice and had the image of a bunch of half-humans essentially crashing Carnival from the future for some reason I haven't figured out yet. "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_296" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I found these dragon sconces on a hotel in Rome and thought they had a very YA Fantasy feel to them, like at night they would just detach from the building and fly off. "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_297" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="I took a few shots like this of the streets of Rome at night all blurry. I love the gritty feel of it, it got me thinking urban fantasy again, and I'm really tempted to try one set in Italy now. "][/caption]

Needless to say, inspiration was everywhere. None of these were tourist spots, they were just images I saw on the street. You don't have to go overseas to find things like this, they are all around you. You just have to open your eyes and look at your surroundings differently. Stop rushing about trying to get from point A to point B and let yourself be inspired.

It's a lesson I'd forgotten, and I'm really glad for the reminder.