Letter from Germany, part 2

In yesterday’s posts I showed you some photos from the northern Bavarian town of Hersbruck where I grew up. It’s a small town of 12,000 surrounded on all sides by fields and forests.

Fields just outside of town

Many buildings in the town center are hundreds of years old, and thanks to strict laws their original appearance has been preserved.

One of the three gates that were part of the medieval fortification

Along the river

More half-timbered houses along the river

Old meets new

                                                                                                                                  

Another city gate.
In the photo on the right, you can see part of the medieval wall that used to surround the town.

View through the city gate

One of the shopping streets in the downtown pedestrian area

Another downtown street

My favorite building in downtown: there’s a pharmacy on the ground floor and apartments above

Of course there is a beer garden just outside city hall and the post office

Forget-me-nots in a perfectly matched planter

Since most of the buildings in the town center don’t have gardens,
people put planters out on the cobbled streets

Johnny-jump-ups in a rustic planter against a rough stucco wall—a great combination

More Johnny-jump-ups, pansies and forget-me-nots

Potted basil in the outside seating area of a restaurant. This was the second place I saw basil used as a table centerpiece. Maybe to counteract the smell from the ashtray?

Lavender at another pub

What would Bavaria be without geraniums?

Lily-of-the-valley

I found this gorgeous hosta at my brother’s house

Buttercups at a pond outside a café

While this bamboo (don’t know which genus and species) got fried by the winter cold…

…this laceleaf Japanese maple looks perfect

Bamboo sighting along the river…

…and at my brother’s house. His fargesias (right) are doing great, but the Phyllostachys bissettii on the left got nipped by the cold. Some culms are dead, but there are plenty of new leaves on the others so it’ll be just fine.

Since I’m connecting to the Internet through a cell phone router, the connection speed is very slow. I have at least one more post, but it’ll have to wait until Friday when I’m back in California.

Related posts:

Letter from Germany, part 1

Letter from Germany, part 2

Letter from Germany, part 3

Letter from Germany, part 4