No Red Baron – 29 JAN 2011

Before leaving Wiesbaden, I went to check out their two major cemeteries: Nordfriedhof (north) and Südfriedhof (south). Below is a manhole cover in the North Cemetery:
You can't drive through their cemeteries, so I was only able to see a small portion of 35.8 acres of the Nordfriedhof...yet, I found some wonderful statues.
Unfortunately I’m missing the gadget I need to download images from my professional camera so I won’t be doing a photo essay of this place, until I return home. It was very cold and the light was harsh.On to the South, I was hoping to find the gravesite of “The Red Baron.” Manfred von Richthofen, the Germans called him “der rote Kampffieger” and Wikipedia says, “He remains very possibly the most widely know fighter pilot of all time, and has been the subject of many books and films.” However, I found 4 out of 5 Germans visiting Südfriedhof, have no idea who Manfred von Richthofen is or where he is buried. I guess I should have had “der rote Kampffieger” not his name on the piece of paper I was showing them. Here are a few interesting shots of that cemetery.

This is a WWI section, but nowhere near The Red Baron who is in his family's plot:

I liked their use of evergreens:
The water in this bowl is frozen...it was that cold:

After two hours, I was too cold and tired to continue, plus I had a three hour drive to Grafenwohr ahead of me…to quote Snoopy, “Curse You Red Baron!!!”
(See later update: Finding the Red Baron)

Wiesbaden, Germany – 28 JAN 2011

My last afternoon here and I finally got to walk around the hotel area to see the sights…and what wonderful sights they were. When I saw the above date on the side of a building, I had to look down the driveway...this tree looks like it may have been planted the same year.
I was walking down the sidewalk and noticed a green walk sign (good thing it was green), I turned and took this shot…what felt like an alley, was in fact a drivable one-way lane: This is what the lane was next to:

Just to the left was this:

Behind the building before the horse was this building:
To the right of that building was this fountain: Near the fountain was this decorative light post:
On the last building picture you can see this church to the right:

While working for SAP (1995-2001) I had several trips to the Corporate office located in Walldorf near Heidelberg (where I’m going in February). At that time, I was told Germans do not have to file year end tax returns because all their taxes are taken out by the employer and sent to the government. If they have a tax deduction for a church membership, that amount is also taken out and sent to the church. Many churches were having a tough time since the younger generations were finding being a non-church member meant more money in their pocket. I found the door to this church open, so I walked in to sneak-a-peek. I couldn’t believe what I saw…carpets where thread bare and held together with duck tape. Walking behind that long building next to the church and I found these images:

They were high on the building and I couldn't see with the naked-eye that they had netting covering them.

Continuing down the street:

I think this guy was the model for Burger King:

Tinky Winky finds big furry friends everywhere he goes:

Suddenly I was at a large modern shopping promenade…complete with hare krishnas:

It’s approaching Karneval (Fasching) time, so the stores are advertising costumes.

Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof (Central Station), Germany - 24 JAN 2011

Tinky Winky was jet lagged and refused to leave the room, yesterday. But today, he's back to helping me site-see. TW tried to help me figure out the parking meter, but 30 minutes for .50 Euro was the most we could decipher.

We walked down to the mall to purchase a Handy (disposable cell phone) which was located next to this train station (Hauptbahnhof):

The clock looks like it has been replaced:

Opened in 1906, it's now going through it's second major renovation. When you walk through the main entrance and turn around, the next two images are over head:

They are covered in netting; I'm not sure if it's to protect them from birds, the construction or to protect people if they crumble. There was other statuary that had those spikes they put on billboards to keep the birds off.

TW likes it when things have images not words: At first glance, this block reminds you of New York City with seven brownstones built together with adjoining walls...

But, check out the details on these buildings:

Just on the side walk, not in front of any store, is this cigarette vending machine:

Some interesting balcony iron work:

I liked this artistic arch-way in front of a Salon:
It's hard to drive around town when when you're a slow reader:
Speaking of driving...this is the entrance to the hotel parking...about the same size as the entrance to the moat at Fort Monroe (MvAdler.com 12/01/2010):This is the view upon driving in:

That was the whole lot...this is the view from the far corner:

It has car lifts (like in NYC) which hold five cars above and five cars below plus an additional six cars in the lot...that's it, 16 cars total!