As we made our way back up to Germany, we passed through some amazing places. We stopped in Luzerne and drove through Zurich. Luzerne is a beautiful city. We loved how they were able to keep the charm of old Europe and still have all the modern conveniences.
We wandered through a grocery store and were so happy to find some chocolates. Especially chocolate that was on discount from the after Christmas prices! All four of us loved the look of this cauliflower! We wished we had a way to cook it so we could buy it to try. It looked like art.
We took a stroll through Luzerne to find the iconic chapel bridge and we stopped in bakeries and chocolate shops along the way.
We bought another King loaf to try once we landed in a hotel for the night! Koala Bear was hoping that she would get the toy and be the king for the day this time!
We would make random stops along the way. Several times we stopped in these little antique stores. I had to laugh when I heard Lucky Dragon explain to Koala Bear that this was a "garage sale inside. "
Our next stop in Switzerland was St Gallen. Lady Hiva had wanted to go to the Abby Library in Ulm Germany as we drove back up to Frankfurt, but then we found out that it is only open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays. We were there on a Wednesday. So we will just have to add that to our list for next trip to Germany! We did a pivot and were going to head to Shwangau and Oberamergau. The Muggles were too young to remember Neuschwanstein Castle last time we were there and Lucky Dragon studied the "mad king" that built it so he was interested in going. But the next available ticket was in 2 weeks! LAME. I would have liked to see Oberamergau and Shwangau. I read the Hangman's Daughter Series about the area and would love to see it in person. I also am intrigued by the Passion play that Oberamergau puts on in regular intervals. So we will need to have that on a bucket list for future trips too!
So we ended up in St Gallen. It was a short back track from Austria where we slept, but it was an Abby with a beautiful library. It may not be Ulm, but it was AMAZING!!
St Gallen is another city that is set in the side of the mountain. There is a cable car that runs from the village center up to the higher streets. The Abby is HUGE and is at the center of the city. It has high historical and political influence over the years. Where it is at the center of several empires the loyalties of the city changed hands several times.
We loved this shop of handblown ornaments. We were able to buy a few to use as accents with our Christmas decor.
The Abby Cathedral was enormous. It had white walls and pillars with gold and sage green accents. Such a different style from the gothic cathedrals we have been touring.
The library was definitely a highlight. We could have stayed in there for hours exploring the enourmous room with such small details to see.
The crypt had all kinds of other pieces to see from the Abby collection. Each piece was designed and built for opulence to represent the richness of the Abbot at the time.
This giant globe was stolen by locals when they revolted against the abbot along with several other items. The cities of Bern and Zurich ended up with much of it. Bern returned their pieces, along with this globe...Zurich, apparently, kept some of the pieces that went to their city.
I did not take a photo of it, but under that blanket is a real mummy!
You had to wear shoes over your shoes so you did not damage the beautiful floors.
We drove back to Germany along the northern border of Switzerland. We spent about an hour driving along Lake Konstanz. The vineyards and mountains were so amazing in this area. We were happy that we passed an LDS chapel as we drove!
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