2009 July | Long-Dangerous Tails

2009-0731

Bad Neustadt

10 Comments[Author: Julie Category: Maika - Maikali Kirschental, Zamp vom Thermodos ]

Hello from Bad Neustadt! I made Maika pose for the tourists shots, she was not amused. Maika had a date with Zamp vom Thermodos, everything else is boring compared to that! Just look at her expression in these photos and you will see what I mean. These were taken about 6 am German time, midnight EST time. This is the gate way to the heart of Bad Neustadt:

2009-0729

Europe Trip – Part One

10 Comments[Author: Joe Category: Photography, Travel and Adventures ]

Ok, here are some pictures from our trip to Germany and Austria over the 4th of July, I apologize if the pictures cause the page to load slowly. During the first half of the trip we rented an apartment in Kitzbuhel, Austria (a ski town in the Austrian Alps) and drove to our daily destinations from there. The second part of the trip we stayed in a hotel just outside Munich and drove from there.

One of the day trips we took was to Oberammergau, Germany. The town is located in the south of Germany, in Bavaria – near the center of the country. The region is in the lower mountains and was heavily forested in the surrounding areas – it has a somewhat close proximity to the Black Forest. The town is famous for a few things, the Passion Play that it puts on twice a year, very intricate (read: expensive) wood carvings done by local artists, and paintings on the buildings, typically dipicting fairy tales or scenes from the Passion Play. The pictures below are just scenes from the town that caught my interest.

Oberammergau, Germany

After Oberammergau we were headed to Fussen which is right on the boarder with Austria. Fussen is home to Nueschwanstein, which is a very famous castle or schloss. On the way to Fussen we stopped at the Weiskirche. The Weiskirche is a pilgrammage church really in the middle of nowhere. It is considered one of the finest examples of Rococo style archtecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The church was quite amazing and the few pictures I have don’t do it justice.

Weiskirche, Germany

Probably our favorite place we went was Hallstatt, Austria. Hallstatt is a small town, population less than 1000, crammed between a large lake and a mountain; the town is literally one street with one side on the lake and the other going up the mountain. It is located halfway between Salzburg and Vienna and was only reachable by car near around 1950, if I remember correctly. This town is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site; they had banners up at the museum celebrating 7000 years as a settlement. They have evidence of settlement dating back to around 5000 b.c., likely because of the salt mines in the region (Hall translates to salt). It is also home to the first known pipeline, which was formed using hollowed trees.

Hallstatter See - Hallstatt, Austria

Hallstatt, Austria

After Hallstatt we were headed to Salzburg but we stopped at the Lichtenstein Gorge on the way there. Unfortunately we weren’t really prepared to do much hiking so we couldn’t go to far.

Lichtenstein Gorge - Austria

When we got to Salzburg we went to the Augustiner Braustubel, a famous brewery which also had the largest beer garden in either Salzburg or all of Austria, I don’t recall. After that we went to the old city, unfortunately there was even going on in St. Peterskirche so we could not go inside. We did get to see Mozart’s childhood home though. We probably should have gone back and spent some more time in Salzburg.

St. Peterskirche - Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg, Austria

It was really strange seeing all of these old buildings with the lower levels occupied by modern stores, like a McDonald’s or Prada. It felt like they should all be protected, but I guess they are all old so it isn’t so special?

The final picture is just a picture of farmland in the midst of the Alps in Austria.

Austrian Alps

More to come…

Tags: 24kgsd, GSD

2009-0728

Good News

5 Comments[Author: Julie Category: Allie - Vallie Kirschental, Funny - Faye vom Kirschental ]

The XBox – Funny pups had their first vet check and it was thumbs up for all of them. No issues and the boys have all their equipment! This followed by email from Germany, Allie was shown this weekend and received her first V rating! She was 8th out of 14! I am so thrilled. My baby girl is coming home!!!

2009-0727

Second Place

8 Comments[Author: Chris Category: Canis Woofus Family, Gorbi Kirchenwald, Kira - Quellie Kirschental ]

Rita took Roman to work for a pet photo contest and he took second place out of like 15 dogs. The winner was a retriever pup that has just come from the groomers with some kind of outfit.

Here’s playing with new photo editing software, what a blast.