It has been a busy two days. Yesterday we got up and drove to Fussen
to look at the two castles and take some more pics. We have been in
both castles, so we did not stay around to check them out again. Then
we traveled on to Giengen so that I could check out a toy store that I
saw there the last time we were in Europe. It was just a small toy
store, but it had some celluloid dolls. Once again, however, I did not
buy one of them because I wasn't certain that I could get it home
safely. It was really tempting, tho. We walked up and down the street
once (it is a short street), then decided to check out the Steiff Teddy
Bear Museum. The last time we were there, there were so many tour
buses that the wait time for the Museum was several hours. This time it
was so late in the day that we went in and found that there were only a
handful of people there. We asked about the museum, and the ticket
lady insisted that since we were there, we should see it! She told us
that there were tours starting every 7 minutes. We walked around a bit,
then asked her when the next tour was. She said, "Oh, we can start
right now!" Unbelievable, our very own private tour! Just Lonnie and
I. It was very interesting. I had not known that the lady who started
the company had polio and was in a wheel-chair. The museum told the
story of the Steiff family, then had Steiff toys on display from the
inception of the company. Very interesting.
After the Steiff tour, we traveled on to Donauworth. Lonnie thought
that he wanted to see where the Danube and Wornitz rivers join
together. Once he saw it, he decided that must not have been what he
wanted to see. I woke up all upset because Peyton is upset. I really
wish that he had come along on the trip. I know that the time is
passing slowly for him, even tho it is passing way too fast for us. We
will end up cutting several things from our original route (tonight we
decided to bypass Rothenburg and Cologne), just to get back to Zurich on
the 22nd. After Lonnie checked out the rivers, and I calmed down a bit,
we went to a Flea Market. Not much to see there. Then it was time for
the Kathe Kruse Museum to open, so I went and learned about her life,
and saw dolls that she had made over the years, as well as sculptures
that her husband had done. Her life story was also very interesting.
Next it was on to Nurnberg to see where the Nazi Party Rallys were
held. We toured the Documentationzentrum which was located in the Nazi
Party Congress Hall. I didn't get to see where the Nurnberg trials were
held. Maybe next time. We ended up rushing through the second half of
the museum so that I could get on to the Toy and Doll Museum before it
closed. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed, and they did not have
any books that had pictures of the exhibits :-( . They had some really
old toys on display, over 4 floors. They had dolls, dollhouses,
trains, erector sets, miniatures, toys from all eras and much, much
more. It was a good museum! After that, we walked around the old town
a little while then traveled on. We were going to drive for a little
while, but there was road construction, so all cars had to exit the
highway. We decided to find something in the town that we exited at,
which was just outside of Nurnberg.
It was here that I talked Lonnie into going into a place with the
largest number of drunks that Lonnie has ever been around (me,too, for
that matter!) And, they were all running crazily. (In their defense,
tho, I do have to add that it was pouring down rain.) We had gotten a
hotel a block from a large carnival, which also had numerous beer
gardens. Most of the people at the carnival were in their 20's and
30's. Many were dressed in their traditional lederhosen and dirndl
dresses. They had a beautiful, very large ferris wheel, but Lonnie
wouldn't go on it, so I didn't go either :-( . I'm not sure how it
would have been in the rain, but they were still running it and people
were still in line to get on it. After walking the length of it, we
found a somewhat quieter way back to the hotel. Then, of course, it
stopped raining. I am sure that the partying will go on all night. Now
I am typing this for you, and getting ready to go to bed. Tomorrow it
is on to Coburg, if their Doll Museum is open on Sunday. If not, we
will head toward the Netherlands.
Auf Wiedersehn for now!
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