Saalburg and Hessenpark

Monday was both an US holiday and a German holiday so Steffi and two of her friends and I went on a short road trip to Saalburg and Bad Hamburg.  The 'bad' is pronounced bod, and means baths.  It is an area first developed by the Romans when they conquered Germany, as baths, as well as a stone fort at Saalburg.  There was a great museum there, showing coins and tools and shoes and a great layout of the fortress.  The Romans had built a 340 mile long wall along their western front to keep from being attacked and Saalburg was a supply station with its towers and baths.  Very impressive.  The interior courtyard is huge with gigantic trees and lush wild grass, all surrounded by the fortress' stone wall.  It was cool and peaceful, and we left as the kids were all arriving, running and shouting.  Perfect timing.  The friends have a red convertible, which I got to ride in along the autobahn. There's lots of misconceptions about the autobahn.  I had an image of four lanes of traffic all going 130 miles an hour.  Not so.  There are trucks and travel trailers and slower cars in the right lane and the left lane if for passing at a pretty fast clip, probably 90 mph or so.  Sort of like the LA freeway or even I 25 from Colorado Springs to Denver.  Because the day was so beautiful, there were lots of convertibles out. Great fun.  From Saalburg, we went to the Hessenpark which is a recreated old town with buildings open showing how they lived then, in the late 1800's, which was the same as they lived in the 1700's and even early 1900's.  Lots of folks were in costume, enacting daily life.  It was very interesting and very well done.  Lunch in Bad Hamburg under the umbrellas.  We came home early enough to miss the holiday traffic.  Today I'm having coffee and then taking a walk along the Main River.  It should be warm again today, so I walk to leave early, and beautiful.
Tonight we are going to the pool for water fitness, our first time.  I hope it's like the Y in Colorado Springs.  But of course, everything is different here.  I'll take the tram and train to Steffi's work, and we go from there.  Photos of me in the red convertible later.