Sunday, June 26, 2011

Darkness Descends

 

After our quick stop in the previous town we headed out into the nearby Harz mountains.  Frank had told me we were going there but I had no idea that also meant we were going to be taking a tour of the gorgeous Baumann’s cave (Baumannshöhle).  I’ve always wanted to go spelunking and I’m pretty sure this is as close as I am going to get.

Discovered in 1563, the Baumannshöhle is the oldest show cave in Germany and one of the oldest in the world.  Unfortunately photo’s are strictly verboten but I got a couple in the main building before the entrance.

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Entry way and diorama

 

One of my favorite parts of the cave system is the names they have for the different rooms: Candlestick Gorge, Paradise Point, the Palm Grotto and Goethe Hall.  The latter of the four was named for one of the caves most frequent (and famous) visitors, German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  An artificial lake has been made in the center of the chamber and a stage built for performances and weddings… so cool!

As there were no chances to take a picture I managed to pilfer one from the interwebs:

baumann1

 

To say pictures were forbidden is a bit of a stretch, though because there was one room where the park system had a camera set up.  Mind you, this is a picture of a picture so forgive the quality.

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Frank and I, third row from the front on the far left

 

After leaving the caves we were a little higher up on the mountain side and I took a quick picture of the local scenery.

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What a horrible life I lead…

 

On the drive back to Stassfurt we stopped and ate some lunch at a roadside food stand near in the Harz Mountain National Park.

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SAM_0411

I don’t know why I look so crazy.  I think at this point I was thinking: “I could reeeeeaaallly go for some napkins about right now.”

 

Artist: Laura Marling/ Album: I Speak Because I Can

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