The Market Place - Schwaebisch Gmuend, Germany

Early on Wednesdays and Saturdays, the local farmers, cheese makers and gardeners set up their booths and striped umbrellas and present their wonderful wares. So many towns people make their pilgrimage to the market with their rolling carts in tow. This morning my friend Michaele invited me to join her in visiting the market.

Michaele and Conrad in their garden - me photographing from the upstairs bedroom window

Garden

beautiful sculpture

garden water feature

Off to the Market ....





Daisies ... these were my Mom's favorite flowers ...

This is the beautiful Muenster Cathedral built in the 1200s !!! Incredible for sure. I've been to Mass their several times and it is so fascinating, beautiful and ... I just cannot get a grasp on it ... imagining it being built, the scale alone of the structure, the centuries of people that worshiped here ... the marriages, the funerals ...

The other day while being in this church ... the ancient pipe organ was playing and the choir was singing ... it was SOOO beautiful ... and I was up in the balcony looking down from the back of the church up to the alter ... and oddly enough, I couldn't get the song 'How do you solve a problem like Maria' out of my head ... and pictured the scene of Maria walking down the aisle at her wedding in the film 'The Sound of Music' ... I could hear the exact organ music from the movie ... and thought ... hmmm ... maybe one day ... when my future husband finally finds me ... this church ... this organ ... this choir ...

I know, I know ... the things you think of while in church !!

So then, from 11:00 to 3:00, I was at the beauty parlor in Schwaebisch Gmuend trying to undo a yellow-orange hair tragedy. If there is ANYTHING that makes me cringe, it's seeing yellow-orange hair in the reflection - especially when I paid good money for it !!!

Restoration ... Whew !

Thank YOU so much Tina for making me be able to exhale again. You are now my new international hairdresser !!!! (the second time that I went to this very knowledgeable salon - Danke !!!) I returned to the hair salon to offer Tina any signed cocktail print that she would like ... oddly enough ... she chose Ms. Chardonnay because she likes yellow !!!

Eckhart Dietz

My friend Julia with Eckhart Dietz

Then tonight my friend Julia invited me to a very special meet the artist evening in the Market Sqare. This is the incredible Eckhart Dietz. He's brilliant !!! He's a reknowned sculptor, painter, drawer, speaker and is probably fabulous at everything that he does. ... It's the German way.

Julia

So, after our evening with Eckhart Dietz, Julia invited me to share a glass of wine at the Paulaner outdoor cafe. Soooo lovely !! The wine was chilled, the weather was so nice and there was a lovely little breeze ...

After our glass we bid each other adieu ... and now Adieu to you (and you and you)

... yes, I know, another Sound of Music reference ...