Aschoffenburg

The restrictions in Germany due to the COVID-19 pandemic have closed borders between countries.  We still cannot be with anyone but our immediate family in our car, so Joanne and I took off on an adventure to Aschoffenburg about an hour away.  There is a large Schloss which is German for "palace" on the Main River.

 The Main River (pronounced "mine") was a trade route and also flows through Frankfurt.

 This wall borders the river and on the side of the gate you can see carved into the stone the levels at which flood waters have risen in bad floods in years past.  Note the dates in the close-up picture.

Inside the courtyard of the palace we took this panoramic picture.

We have a growing fascination with amazing doors we find in our journeys,
this one did not disappoint.

A beautiful terraced garden.

We are not very good at selfies, but we are trying to improve. 
We had a picnic in the neighboring park.

This is basically telling us that the museum at the schloss is closed to the virus.  Too bad.

As we were preparing to leave, Joanne spotted someone with an ice cream cone walking by us in the otherwise deserted city square.  We want to do ALL we can to support local businesses of course, so we made a beeline to the ice cream shop and there just happened to be a bakery next door as well.

This is called Dinkle bread, a favorite in Germany from a kind of wheat called Spelt or Dinkel Wheat.  Yumm.

Smitten we were, with the little town of Schmitten

Just a 45-minute drive through the Taunus mountains put us on this quiet walking path.

It was the first time we had ventured out since COVID-19 restrictions had been put into place. 

The fresh air and sunshine was just what we needed.

When we turned the corner and saw all the mole hills, I immediately thought of our pastures in North Bend. Those moles were good at avoiding most of our efforts to eliminate them from the property!

   

A natural fence keeps everyone safely on their own side.

Welcome to Schmitten. Former village of the nail forge.

The artwork on the wall of this house was inspiring.

This little village has so many photo opps ... from the gated estate to the tiny canal running through town. Although most of the stores have been closed because of the pandemic, we totally enjoyed our afternoon in Schmitten.

The building of their church is not deterred by a few rocks.

 

 

 

The view from the church looking across to the quaint village is so lovely.