Christopher Street Day, which takes place in many European cities throughout June-August, is held in remembrance of the Stonewall Riots in New York City. It serves as both a celebration and demonstration centering LGBTQ rights. The town hall (below) was decked out with rainbow flags and the streets were alive with Gay Pride.
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Some days you long for clear scenic mountain views, but the weather doesn't cooperate. On those misty days, you head to the mountains anyway, because Bavaria has some beautiful gorges to explore. You get to traverse them up close and personal, so the views are not dependent on ideal weather conditions. Partnachklamm, located near the ski town Garmisch-Partenkirchen, became a natural monument in 1912. A mountain stream slices through this breathtaking gorge, carving it as deep as 260 feet in some places. In the 18th century through the 1960's, this stream was utilized to transport logs down the valley. These logs, which were marked with an owner's symbol and pitched into the flooded stream in the spring, oftentimes got jammed in the gorge. Tragically, many men lost their lives freeing the logs in this unique landscape. The gorge remains open year round. I've heard it transforms into a winter wonderland as the temperature drops and ice starts building up around the walls. Worthy of another visit, for sure.
My friend Katrina visited and we took a quick tour of some of Germany's gems. Our first stop was Rothenberg ob der Tauber. This well preserved medieval town is very popular with US folks, but I was shocked to hear from two of my clients that they've never visited it (one hadn't even heard of it). A unique activity in Rothenberg is walking around the preserved city wall. We also stopped by the torture museum, which sounds horrendous, but it was actually quite interesting. This idyllic town is made even more charming by the colorful display of gorgeous flowers everywhere! Roses were thriving. There is no shortage of castles in Germany. While the magical Neuschwanstein Castle (think Disney) gets the most attention, I prefer heading to the Rhine River. I've heard that the Middle Rhine has the highest concentration of castles in the world and it's quite impressive. We spent the next day on the river, taking in views of the many castles along the banks and hopping off at towns when we wanted to hike closer to them. On our way back to Munich, we overnighted in Tübingen, a very chill university town that reminded me of Decorah, Iowa. Maybe it was the people walking around barefoot. During World War II this town lacked heavy industry and so the historic Altsstadt (old town) survived the war and is still intact today. We soaked up views of traditional half-timbered houses, cobblestone lanes, and wandering alleys. We were fortunate to catch a local choir rehearse while visiting the Stiftskirche, one of the first churchs to convert to Martin Luther's Protestant Church. Descending the tower stairs in this gothic church with music pouring up the stairwell made for a very Hogwarts moment. We enjoyed more music outside of the church where dozens of locals were gathered enjoying ice cream cones while listening and dancing to a student guitarist. Tübingen is known for its Stocherkähne punts, boats that carry up to 20 people. The river was full of these punts and we watched as two boats full of adults got in a fun water fight complete with someone jumping overboard. We returned to Munich where no trip is complete without a visit to a beer garden.
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