A few random photos

I've also figured that a few photos from my travels would not come amiss. Just make sure you give the proper attribution to the pics.

First, here's a photo of the Hildegard abbey at Eibingen, on the east bank of the Rhine. A very beautiful spot, and a very wonderful place. Lots of vineyards, peaceful. The original abbey was apparently on the other side of the river, and is now built over. The small Hildegard museum has a model of the conjectured layout. This picture comes from my first trip in '05, but I try to visit this place whenever I am back in country.

Many people write off this castle as a tourist trap, but aside from some over-priced icecream, I have to disagree with them. Haute Koenigsbourg is one heck of an impressive fortress (though that didn't prevent the Swedes from obliterating it around 1635). Our art library actually has the 1908 folio volume produced by the German chap who restored it. Bodo Ebhardt was his name, and, as was rather common in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, he was somewhat creative with his restorations. It is a very fine museum, however, and the view over the Rhine basin and across the Vosges is wonderful. My little brother had told me that he would stay in the car if this was another hiking slog (since we had just climed the mountain to Ortenbourg, across the valley). No worries, the road led straight to it...