We are in Travemunde now getting ready to take the ferry to Sweden on Monday. As usual, we started early because Mom knows how the RV parking places get filled up very early, so to ensure we'll get a spot we were going to be there at 10.30 am. 

Did not happen, we were stuck in traffic around Hamburg for almost 4 hours so when we arrived all places were taken.

The parking lot next to it is also crowded but Mom squeezed Lucy into a spot and hopefully, we'll get a real space in the morning.

It has been raining all night and on most of our drive but now it's sunny and hot again. Mom is longing to get back to Sweden because we're out of lingonberries and her favorite cheese.

Yesterday's adventure in Kassel was something else, I'm surprised Mom made it out of bed..................

we went to see the Wilhelmsmöe castle and the "waterkuenste" which is an astonishing feat of hydraulic engineering, with Hercules watching from the top.

The first part walking from the parking lot to the castle was nice, with big trees but the grass is in much need of water.

Nice flower arrangements here and there

 Beginning in the 12th century the site was used as a monastery. Under Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse 1504-1567 it was secularised and used as a castle. This castle was replaced by a new one from 1606 to 1610 by Landgrave Moritz. The current Neoclassical Schloss Wilhelmshöhe was designed by architects Simon Louis du Ry and Heinrich Christoph Jussow from 1786 to 1798 for Landgrave William IX of Hesse.

From 1899 to 1918, Wilhelmshöhe was the summer residence of the German emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II. In 1918, after the armistice ended World War I, the Oberste Heeresleitung, the High Command of the German Army under Paul von Hindenburg was moved here from Spa (Belgium) to organize and lead the withdrawal and demobilization of the German troops. It remained at Wilhelmshöhe until February 1919, when it moved to Kolberg. 

The middle tract of the castle was mostly destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II. The first reconstruction was made in 1968-1974 by the functionalist architect Paul Friedrich Posenenske. He completely reconstructed the exterior but changed the structure of the interior for its new function as an art museum. From 1994 to 2000 another renovation was made to bring it closer to the original structure. One wing was covered in scaffold so repairs are still going on.

the plan is to go up there to see Hercules....................that green thing on top...........

off we go through a magnificent park on a steep hill. 

The layout was devised at the end of the 17th century by Landgrave Carl (1677–1730), who in 1701 commissioned the Italian architect and water engineer Giovanni Francesco Guerriero (1665–1745) to refine and implement the design. Guerriero remained in charge of the project up to its completion in 1717. The Hercules statue was created by Augsburg goldsmith Johann Jacob Anthon, one of the earliest copper-wrought monumental statues in the world

To Landgrave, the structure represented the triumph of art over nature and the omnipotence of human ingenuity. Hercules is the mythological paragon of strength, courage, and resourcefulness. Consequently, the entire layout consisting of the Hercules Monument, the grottoes at its foot, and the water features are a perfect example of a Baroque »architecture of power«. This show of strength by a ruling prince, which is also reflected in the monumental layout of the park, is unique in the world.

this is too pretty to be called "the devil's bridge"  an arched pedestrian bridge that was built in 1826. Its name comes from the cave below, where the underground god supposedly lived 

getting only halfway through winding paths it started to rain so we stopped under a canopy of trees to stay almost dry.

All of a sudden we heard a flute playing, could that be from the underground? so we had to find the music

This man comes up here often to practice because he likes the acoustic he said.

Here's another flute player, but no pretty sound came out from him. Looking at his eyes he looked pretty "stoned"

Of course, Poseidon should have a room here too

There were so many "nooks and crannies" to look into and statues everywhere, some of them really mean looking

as you can see one part of the octagon is under repair 

Ok, Mom so we are halfway up now, here come the 520 steps................there's no backing out now

This gorgeous place and people do this???? smokers suck 

surprised they even made it this far.

. 

we're not at the top yet but Mom needed to stop for a minute but didn't want to admit she was tired so as an excuse she had to "look around" and take pictures

Here we are at the top and feeling good

 The statue of Hercules is located at the top of a pyramid that stands on top of the octagon; the statue and the other parts of the monument were constructed at different times. The monument is the highest point in the Wilhelmshöhe Bergpark.

 It was built in an artificial dell of the Karlsberg (526 m (1,726 ft) above sea level) 

On 23 June 2013, the Mountain park and the Hercules were proclaimed World Heritage sites during the UNESCO meeting in Phnom Penh

Mom could help thinking as she looks up at Hercules "he's going to pee on me" ..................

Unfortunately, the waterfalls are only turned on Wednesdays and Sundays so we didn't get to enjoy that. there's a YouTube video that shows how it works. Quite an impressive ending looking like the"Old Faithful" in Yellowstone

The Wasserkünste (‘water features’) might just take the cake, a gorgeous cascade that runs from the monument all the to the grand fountain. The water runs in stages, allowing visitors the opportunity to amble down alongside, taking many a picture as they go. The waterfalls are lit up in summer, a stunning image that ranks among the most beautiful in Kassel. 

Down half way, Mom felt she deserved a good lunch and she ordered this? 

What's in there for me? guess I had to like tomatoes 

After a nice rest we walked through the forest back to the castle

I was let loose to run because I had lots of energy left.............needless to say Mom was pooped

Here Mom is sitting resting with her back on a pillar looking up at the place we just were and she's already thinking about the pain she'll feel in the morning.

No that's not what I'm thinking about she says. She really really wanted to go inside to see the biggest art collection of Rembrant but no dogs were allowed it says. 

I wait in Lucy I said, but the thought of walking all the way down to the parking and then up again didn't appeal to Mom at all, so we said goodbye to Kassel for this time and continued on the road north.

 Now we're ready for a walk around the harbor and then a nap

all is well 

Henry

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