Paderborn

It's funny.  In the first four years we lived here I had the chance to tag along with Dave 4 times.  Once to Budapest while the kids were in camp, once to Laufenburg overnight as our first test of leaving the kids home on their own last year, and with the kids to Laufenburg and to the Czech Republic.
And now, in year four, I've managed to short trips with him in two weeks!

Earlier this week Dave attended a conference in the Northern German town of Paderborn--and I got to go along for the ride.

We stayed at the nice, clean and modern Waldhotel Nachtigal :

The Nachtigal is not as extremely charming as the Rebstock, but it was a nice place and I can recommend it if should ever have reason to be in Paderborn.  

I was lucky to have reasonably nice weather on the first day and got to do quite a bit of exploring on foot.  Just down the road, about a 20 minute walk from the hotel, is the Schloss Neuhaus.  Built in the 1500s, the schloss was the home of various prince-bishops for centuries, then a military installation, and now it is a public school (yes, school in a castle--not even all that uncommon here in Germany!).  The boroque gardens surrounding it are open to the public, but were pretty brown this early in the season.  Here are a couple of exterior photos for you:

This cute little church was just across the street:

Unfortunately it was locked, so I was not able to view the interior.  I got a kick out of this well pump outside though:

Later in the day, I drove about ten minutes from the hotel to park on the outskirts of the old town and got many photos of the main cathedral (the first hall church built in Germany and a very impressive site) as well as many other churches and buildings.  I'll be back tomorrow to post those.

--Hadley