Bayreuth

 The other Saturday we impulsively decided to go to Bayreuth. The kids and I went really quickly after Christmas but we still hadn't been there as a family exploring the city. Of course, whenever we go to a new Germany city we always stumble upon an old pharmacy and we have to take a picture for our pharmacy picture collection.

 The sign said that the pharmacy was built in 1610 but…..

 …over the window it had the date 1579. So i'm not sure. But it's very old no matter what!

 The old castle in Bayreuth, right on the walking street.

 We sat down to eat some yummy 'Bayreuthers' and some pommes and the kids had a grand ol' time chasing the poor pigeons all around. I think this was Nyah's first time chasing pigeons and she thought it was just about the funniest things ever.

 Ty meandering around with his stylish hat. Our own little Don Lockwood.

 Nyah enjoying her pommes. (french fries)

 Sometimes the tiny little fork is just too little and needs help.

 Argh Laney is getting crushed by an Argentinasaurus! Hold up that big smelly foot!!!

 When we were in Bayreuth last time we went to this cool museum where they had dinosaurs and other fun things. This dinosaur is just chillin' in the middle of the walking street trying to entice people to go to the museum.

 The beautiful old opera house in Bayreuth called the Margravial Opera House. It was built between 1744 and 1748 and is one of Europe's few surviving theaters from this period.

 Nyah, Laney, Ty and Ben outside the Opera house.

 Laney wanted me to take a picture of her and put it on the blog so everybody could see her cute new earrings in her newly pierced ears. What a gorgeous lady that girl is. :D

 The Stadtkirche was under construction but still gorgeous.

 Ty wanted to show his love for Bayreuth. He asked me to take this picture. Funny guy!

 The Hofgarten. The baroque park of Bayreuth's New Castle.

 I think this will be gorgeous in a couple of weeks when the grass turns greener and the flowers and trees start blooming. We want to go back then….

 2 little monkeys in a bridge.

 A look back at the castle. And to the right of this picture is Richard Wagner's house.

 The back of Wagner's house and in the front of the picture is where him and his wife are buried. He actually died in Venice but his family had him brought back to Bayreuth to be buried.

 The front of his house. He named his house "Wahnfried". 'Wahn' means delusion or madness and 'fried(e)' means peace or freedom. The whole sentence that is on the house says, "Hier wo mein Wähnen Frieden fand – Wahnfried – sei dieses Haus von mir benannt." Which means, "Here where my delusions have found peace, let this place be named Wahnfried." His house is now a museum.

 After we wandered around the center of Bayreuth, we headed out to the Eremitage. In 1715 Margrave Georg Wilhelm began extending the deer park laid out in 1664 to create a Hermitage, with a summer palace as the focal point. Apparently it was very surprising what him and his wife did with the park since  the landscaping is very un-french and more like an English landscape garden which was also just making it's first appearances in England. Hmmm, does that make sense?

 The back of the Sun Temple or the New Palace.

 The archway next to the sun temple.

 The whole archway and the sun temple had these little rocks all over it. It was very cool.

 The front of the sun temple. We definitely need to come back later on when everything is in bloom and they turn the fountains on.

 Someones crazy kids got in my picture. Don't know who they belong to.

 Laney wanted me to take a picture of her where she pretended to be one of the statues.

 Dragon Cave

 Some of the artificial ruins.

 The Ruin Theater

The lower grotto built between 1737 and 1745 with 25 fountains and 13 reflection ponds. (Again we want to come back when all the fountains are up and running.)

King Ludwig II also stayed at the Eremitage later on when he came to Bayreuth to Richard Wagner's festivals.