Euro Trip 2013 - Germany - Coburg

On my last day with Elisabeth we went to Coburg. This town is beautiful and has a cool tie to the English Royal Family. After lunch and a very delicious Scheidmantel Bier we went to Ehrenburg Palace which was built in 1543. This castle held many famous Royalty; in 1860 Queen Victoria (whose mother and husband grew up here) met Austrian Emperor Franz Josef for the first time in The Hall of Giants. Also in 1894 many of the monarchs of WWI found themselves in Coburg for a wedding: King George V, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II.

After, we had to bomb over to the Veste Coburg, which is a massive fortress on a hill overlooking Coburg. By the time we arrived at the castle we found out it was closing early and we had 30 min to explore. So Elisabeth took me to see the little church Martin Luther lived in for a couple of months during the Diet of Augsburg in 1530. Also the floor to ceiling wooden rooms in the castle were amazing and I could have spent hours in those rooms alone looking at all the carvings. I would love to visit this castle again and take some of the guided tours.

Euro Trip 2013 - Germany - Kornbach & Gefrees

On my way back to Gefrees with Elisabeth, I had her drop me off at my oma and opa's hometown of Kornbach which is about 10 min away from Gefrees. I had a beautiful hour to myself to explore the snow covered town, and the sun actually made an appearance for the first time in week! Last time I was here in 2006, the temperature was bordering on 40 C; this time it was well below 0 C. I walked from my oma and opa's house, through the forest, down a snow covered field, by the old school houses, visited the WWI & WWII memorial sight, through the town (40 houses) back up to my oma and opas house.

After that Elisabeth picked me back up and drove back to Gefrees. She dropped me off at the church that my oma and opa got married in; unfortunately this time it was locked. After that I told Elisabeth I would walk back to her house so I walked around the town and enjoyed the afternoon taking pictures of places I've heard stories about.