Last Day in Germany

Ed and I woke up early this morning and went for a little walk along the Elba river. We couldn't have had nicer weather for our last day in Germany. We had a nice view of Pilnitz Castle from our side of the river.

Our hotel was at the end of the line for the street car, and just down the street a fairy was taking cars across the river.

After breakfast we packed up the car and took the fairy across the river to get a closer look at the palace.

The castle was closed (as they often are on Mondays), but we enjoyed a leisurly stroll through the gardens. It took a couple of attempts to pay for parking, but Ed and Amanda figured out how to do it.

Crystal and I waited on a bench in the shady lane for them.

The castle was really not one building but more of a compound. The gardens were beautiful and well kept.

The most amazing thing in the garden was a large Camelia tree that is 200 years old. They built a giant glass enclosure to keep it warm in the winter. In the summer they slide the enclosure away from the tree. That is a lot of work for one tree!

We're safely ensconced in our airport hotel, ready for our 3:45 a.m. wake-up call tomorrow. We dropped off our Renault Scenic at the airport and will take the shuttle tomorrow morning. We'll miss that car. It had some really nice features. It had a navigation unit, mirrors that fold in when you get out of the car. It had a car key that just locked the car automatically when you walked away and unlocked itself when you walked up to it! Goodbye car, goodbye German!

Auf wiedersehen, Germany! Thanks for the memories!