We have been busy and the weather has produced a lot of rain, however, Saturday became somewhat better. It was quite cold and totally overcast, but there was no rain. Sister Foster had arranged a walking tour of Wiesbaden and asked if we would like to come along. Of course, Marilynn is always interested in that kind of thing so we went.

Wiesbaden is like a suburb of Frankfurt. During medieval times Wiesbaden was not much of a town. It was more of a Dorf. Actually, after suffering through the 30 years war, the plague, and other hardships, Wiesbaden got down to 40 people. It was in the 1800's that Wiesbaden got going.

This is a typical street near the Bahnhof (train station). Typical for the time when it was built. They like to have the porches that you see. Generally, there are three column types so they could work in as much greek style as possible.

 This is another farmer's market with the Rathaus (city hall) in the background.

Wiesbaden in German means "baths in a meadow". Hot mineral springs are clearly what put Wiesbaden on the map. Very early the Romans picked up on the "hot bath" thing. For them it was a big deal. A hot bath is always a great pleasure--and it is not fattening. Although there were ancient celts living in the area, the Romans put a wall around the hot springs and set up a Roman post. This tower is a reconstruction of the old Roman wall. On this side of the wall was a temple to Mithras. Mithrasiam among the Romans competed with early Christianity. The worshipers of Mithras united by a handshake and had underground temples. Mithrasis is typically shown as killing a bull and some think that bull fighting sprung from Mithras. The hillside was outside of the Roman wall and was the location of the temple.

We walked past an old hunting house on the edge of town as we went to the Russian church. 

 Here is our group marching behind our tour guide, through the forest leaves, into the fog, to find the Russian church.

 In the fog above Wiesbaden we find this Russian Orthodox Church. It seems that the Duke of Nassau married a Russian princess Elizebeth Mikhailovna. They were married in 1844 but the princess died one year later in childbirth--as did the child. The duke used her dowery to build the church the with the blessing of her father, the Tsar. So in the misty fog you see the church.

 Wiesbaden is known for it hot springs. People believe that the minerals bring healing. For sure, the water is hot--almost too hot to drink. But the flavor leaves a lot to be desired. "Nasty" might be a good word. Here our tour guide in the red hat is giving the group a taste. By the way, the sign behind Marilynn says not to drink more than 1 liter of water a day! The temperature is 68 Centigrade which works out to be about 170 Fahrenheit.

 Here is our tour group-without our guide who took the picture. You can see steam rising up on the right (Common throughout the city because of the hot water that is below). The guide also told us that they have to be very careful whenever the dig to put in pipes, wires, etc. and they wear special protective gear in case they hit a steam fissure. We are by some kind of lion statue. From left to right you find--David and Marilynn Madsen, Sister Foster, and Dagmar.

 This is a very contrived scene in the park next to a casino (It is a fake ruin, which was very fashionable in parks and gardens back in the 1800's). Wiesbaden is big on casinos. It kind of goes along with the bath thing. Here is bust of the Russian author Dostoyevsky (Crime and Punishment) who lost his shirt gambling in the casino. He wrote home to his wife for money to get home, but she told him NO! At least he got a statue out of the deal.

To top off the day, we went to the Ratskeller under the Rathaus for lunch. Notice how I surprised Marilynn taking the picture.