When you first think of Germany, what do you think of? I, for one think instantly of the classic snow-
covered cottages with the dark wood thatching with creamy white cement fillings. I think of the Neuschwanstein Castle and of beautiful villages.
Now I think of rolling hills of green and never-ending forests. I think of tall mountains with waterfalls trickling and cascading down their heights. I think of the beauty that I now know to be true, natural Germany.
It is a Kingdom of Beauty.
Being here, in Germany, I've gotten to experience some truly wondrous places.
Garmisch is one of these truly wonderful places. The mountain views are amazing and the trip there was full of lush greenery and mountains!
Another one of these places includes a small town I was able to explore when I was visiting an old family friend. This small town is located in the midst of rolling hills, and this stunning view of a castle is able to be seen easily from the town. What is really cool and unique about this little castle is that it has an actual Baron living there, and has historically housed Barons for hundreds of years! What's cool too is that I've heard he likes catapults!
Look out below!
It is so cool to see that even the little villages have their own castles, and there is so much history in these villages!
I love castles.
Another cool place I was able to visit:
This beautiful landscape marks one of King Ludwig's lovely castles, along with the famous Neuschwanstein. This castle, named Linderhof, is based on Louis XIV's Palace of Versailles. Inside it even has its own mini hall of mirrors!
I've also gotten to see some beautiful buildings, castles, and gardens while being in Germany. Germany is so beautiful, wonderful, and magical. It's almost as if you've stepped through a portal from the modern world into the ancient one, where architecture was not only a symbol of status, class, and riches, but also a symbol of art, storytelling, and the desires of those who resided within. The architecture that can be seen in Germany has such amazing stories behind it, and although I cannot begin to name them all, I can say for sure that each is as wonderful as the last.
This is the Cathédral Notre Dame de Strasbourg, France. Strasbourg is probably the most German French town that you could go to, as it had historically been under the authority of both. This cathedral is so large that it is extremely difficult to fit the whole thing in one picture! This stunning look at the architecture gives one a sense of awe and amazement. The beauty and time that would have went into crafting this marvelous building rivals any building that one could see today in a city! What is even more fascinating is trying to climb to the top of the building. I was able to go up to the roof, but oh, was I tired after that climb. The stairs are tight circles as you go up (the cool swirly stairs you see in movies and have always wanted until you realize just how painful they are to climb!), and you can see such a beautiful view if you look out the windows! I'll save that view for you though when you come to visit this marvelous feat of architecture.
Below are two more pictures of this stunning building. The architecture reminds me of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which I hope to see soon! This Gothic style will make anyone's mouth drop in amazement, and I hope you share my sense of awe in this beautiful building. Here are some more pictures below!
Continuing through Strasbourg, one can see many beautiful buildings. Right across the street from Cathédral Notre Dame is a castle that had been visited by many French Royals and aristocrats, including Marie Antoinette.
Called the Palais des Rohan, it is a stunning building, with an even more stunning interior. I would definitely recommend visiting Strasbourg, if ever in Europe or Germany, as it is only a few hours away.
Europe has so much to offer, and it has so many beautiful and wonderful locations that are so close to so many places! I've been able to drive through many a country in order to get to different places, and I've been able to experience so much in the little time I've been here! It is so beautiful to see nature at it's fullest, along with the most enchanting architectural wonders I've ever had the honor of seeing! Some of these places can even rival the seven wonders of the world! I think there are stories and wonder in every building, you just need to search for it. Architecture can tell such stories, you just need to listen. Here are a few more photos of beautiful architecture in Strasbourg.
Anywhere you go in Germany, you are bound to see beautiful buildings, like this abbey:
This building, called the Abbey of Ettal, has walls all around it, surrounding a large and beautiful courtyard with amazing little shops!
There are also amazing castle ruins that are stunning in their own right. Standing in the middle of a crumbling brick castle, your imagination can leap and bound in so many ways, imagining the castle growing up around you, reaching towards the sky, and imagining that you, yourself, were an inhabitant of this mighty relic that has survived for so long!
When traveling anywhere in Germany, you are bound to run into places with the most beautiful and amazing buildings, even when you are just hiking around! While visiting this stunning waterfall in Triberg, I was also able to see another lovely church with an interesting architectural structure. It really makes you wish that you could see more of this beauty in your life when walking anywhere in a city or in the wilderness.
Even while going to the Pumpkin Festival in Ludwigsburg here in Germany I'm able to see beautiful churches, castles, and hunting lodges! I've even gotten to see Rapunzel's Castle! If you can say "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" in German, there is a mighty surprise in store for you, along with plenty of other fairy tales with a German twist! The land of fairy tales here was so fun and amazing, you have to go! It is incredible to be able to see all of this!
One of the most wonderful things about living here, I think, is being able to see just how wonderfully Germany (and France too!) has been able to shape the modern world around the classic, Gothic, and old architecture from centuries before! With the modernness of the new world being built around us, its awesome to see places where this old history is kept pure and un-tampered with, in a place where technology is growing in contrast to a time when technology was nothing but a thought in someone's head, when technology was pulley systems and wheels pushed by water.
As I said, I love castles. I love imagining as I walk down a grand staircase or through a palace garden that I was an inhabitant, that I was a princess or guest that was living in this wondrous world, this wondrous home. I think of just how amazing it would be to experience a glimpse of that elegant time, although they had their fair share of struggles. But most of all, I think it's fun to imagine gliding through the gardens, and up the stairs, as one of the ladies or gentlemen who must have once walked in the footsteps that I did. I feel an enormous sense of respect, both for people who designed, and especially those who built these beautiful buildings, but also for the people who were able to daily walk through these large estates, and maybe, most of all, for the ladies who had to do it in those voluminous dresses and heels.
If you ever go anywhere, including to Europe, you may want to take a minute to stop and smell the roses. But if you ever visit Europe, I have to tell you, stop and appreciate the architecture. It's worth it.
This really is a Kingdom of Beauty.
(Some places I hope to visit: Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Neuschwanstein's Castle, and a castle on top of a hill in the middle of a village!)