Saturday, May 19, 2007

Schloß Hämelschenburg

On Friday, Ben and I took a day-trip to the nearby Hämelschenburg castle and city of Hamelin. We toured the castle after lunch with a rather dry and unenthusiastic German tour guide.

Ben stands in front of the castle looking into the pond full of huge (alleged) goldfish. I only found one gold one.






The owners must have been big hunters because there were entire rooms covered in antlers and stuffed heads. Ben swears we saw a stuffed cat.

From the castle, you can see the rest of the grounds and the hilly countryside.












Near the castle we found this pretty garden that led down to the Weser River and an artists' village.


Hamelin

After seeing the castle, we strolled around the city famous for the Pied Piper (Rattenfänger). There were many interesting and famous old buildings, like the one Ben is standing in front of- the Rattenfängerhaus.


We finally found the statue of the Pied Piper, and I guess the stories about him must be true because the only rats we saw were painted on the ground and mostly worn away.


So I found my own rat in a local bakery and posed with him on the train ride back to Göttingen- tasty!