last super active Sunday

Last Saturday we went for a little bike ride from Jena to Camburg via a nice trail that goes along the Saale river. I was a nice sunny day and really good for biking since it was the only way to get a breeze in the heat. Our first stop, if only for the photo op., was in Dorndorf where we saw a Maibaum (Mai=May and baum=tree, so May tree). This has something to do with some old spring time pagan ritual. They're decorated with tinsel and put up on May 1st which is like labour day in Canada.

This one also has a bunch of rubber duckies tied to it. Another pagan ritual? Who knows?Just across the river from there and up a cliff was Dornburg and the Dornburg Schlösser, which means palaces. Three in fact: one renaissance, one rococo and the last old, whatever that means. Here's a nice view of Dorndorf from the Rococo Schloß.The palaces are built right on the edge of the cliff and there's grape vines growing on terraces on the side of the rockface. And interesting plants like this giant-leafed tree that almost ate Julia.
There were also many pretty gardens.




Then we went to Camburg and on our way there saw the biggest pool ever.You may be able to see it better if you click on the picture but this pool took up like an acre of space. It also had a floating trampoline. I know, pretty cool.

The little town of Camburg


was photographed from this tower which was part of an old castle. This is the first time Julia encountered a strong Thüringer accent (I don't have enough of an idea what's going on yet to experience accents yet) and a German that spoke louder to be understood.

It has about 180 stairs and...
these funny looking statues that represent the founders of the town or something.

There were also very short little videos about the town and legends surrounding the castle. They were a little weird and designed for tourists because they had very little dialog. In one of them, a Bratwurst vendor gives a sausage to the ghost of the town's patron saint.

Thüringer flag on the tower. Thüringen is the Bundesland (or state) in which we live.

On our way back we stopped at a lake for a swim. This was a man-made lake created by flooding a field, so maybe more like a big pond. But it was nice to go for a swim.