Turmbergbahn (and welcome Heather!)

Monday October 15, 2007

So as you may already know, Fran went to Berlin for the weekend and met up with our friend Mel. When she returned we both greeted Heather when she arrived in Karlsruhe. Sadly we weren't there to meet her as she got off the train but she managed just fine, especially considering the three train transfers that Deutche Bahn decided to route her and her bike through to get here from Frankfurt. At one point she called to let us know where she was. When I asked she said "Mainz". This completely threw me for a loop because I thought she would say "Mannheim". Mainz?! I had to race to a map to confirm this. Yes, Mainz is slightly south of Frankfurt, but WHY? Something to do with her bike I guess. I hope my quizzical tone didn't freak her out. It didn't seem to. She, of course, made it just fine.

Once Heather was settled we went for a little stroll downtown.

This is my favorite shot of Karlsruhe. This is the Marktplatz, a transportation hub, daily flower market and part of the pedestrian shopping zone. I love the way you can see the bikes, people and trams co-existing peacefully in the same space.


Many of the following shots were taken by Heather and Fran, so photo credit needs to be given where it is due.

I love the perspective that new people bring. I wouldn't have thought to take some of these shots and I'm glad to have the fresh perspective of travelers to see Karlsruhe anew.





We met up with Toby when he got off work and headed to the Turmbergbahn. Apparently it's one of the oldest funiculars still in use (or something like that). It's located on a hill on the edge of Karlsruhe, in a town called Durlach.


Going up!



We wanted to go up the observation tower, but it was closed. Toby figured out how to slip in through the gate.



We made him go up first to make sure no alarms would go off!




We were glad we broke the rules. What a view!












Fran made us a delicious dinner. She recreated a sandwich she had tasted in Berlin. Yum! Here she is showing us her effective "carrot smoking" technique. She is quite marvelous at it (and looks like she's having almost too much fun, don't you think?)