Dormitz Kurbisfest (Pumpkin Festival)

The little one and I went to a Pumpkin Festival in a nearby village, Dormitz. The big one was working on college applications and the hubby was working.

They had yummy pumpkin items like Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Marmalade, Pumpkin Chutney, etc.

Also there was a horse (pony?)-drawn wagon ride.

and more gourds...

A display of antique motor-cycles...

...and tractors.

We bought a bunch of little gourds and one big pumpkin. Lucky for us a guy volunteered out of the blue to carry it the car where we had parked around the corner!



Did not buy the Pumpkritter.

Die Lillach: Ein Kalktuffbach

We took a hike (about 5km round trip) along a creek with some interesting properties. It is a "Kalktuffback" which means a Limestone "Tuff" Brook..."Tuff" being a term meaning "porous rock formed as deposits in underground streams or springs." So the lime in the water builds up on the bottom of the stream and makes for interesting little stepped waterfalls.


Here is an example of the stepped falls:


This is another example but it is covered by a lot of foliage:



We also looked at (but didn't pick!) mushrooms and funghi along the way:

and also found lots of pretty little flowers:


We walked until we got to the sources, the Lillachquelle (Lillach spring)

On the way back we walked through Weißenohe where we saw the following painting on a barn wall:

We stopped for lunch at the Klosterbrauerei (Cloister Brewery) Weißenohe:

and had some of the beer brewed there.

Würzburg

Today the In-laws were in town and we took a day trip to Würzburg which is about an hour away from Erlangen. We started with the Würzburg Residenz which is a Baroque palace built in about 1740.



Behind the Residenz are the Court Gardens. Access to all the gardens was cut off because they are filming.

We asked what they were filming and were told "The Three Musketeers" but Orlando Bloom is not on set today. Orlando Bloom? Sounds like a real movie!

There were extras waiting for their big moment.

Next we headed over the Alte Mainbrücke (Old Main Bridge) with its statues of Saints.

Lucky us it was "Stadtfest" (city fest) that day and fish were available for purchase.

NOT!

How about crepes instead?

Then we climbed up Up UP to the Marienberg Fortress.

View of Würzburg from the fortress.

I guess this is where the moat would be.

More views from above.

Looking toward the vinyards.

Then we headed toward the "Dom" (Cathedral)

Inside the Dom.

Outside on the street...

Dinkelsbühl

My German teacher had told us about a medieval town called Dinkelsbühl that is supposed to like Rothenberg ob der Tauber but less touristy. If I haven't blogged about Rothenberg ob der Tauber (one of the cutest German towns ever) I will have to remedy that.

Dinkelsbühl is still surrounded by the old medieval walls and towers and is very typical for a German town of the 15th to early 17th century.

The walls have many towers.

We had ice cream here...

The Deutsches Haus (third house from the left) , the ancestral home of the counts of Drechsel-Deufstetten, is a fine specimen of the German renaissance style of wooden architecture.

St. George's church tower that we climbed allllll the way up.

Inside St. George's...

Door inside the church...

Closeup of the hinges...

View from the tower.

Another tower.

Roses!

Dinky Dinkelsbühl

Woernitz gate.

I would agree that it is less touristy...it seems a town that people actually live in and there are less "Schneeball" shops and "Knight" shop and trinkets and the like. There were some Potteries and a shop with wood carving and nativity figures that were of interest.