Touring the Mainberg Castle Grounds, Germany

On New Year’s Eve, after a very pleasant stay at the Martinshotel in close proximity, we decided to give our London visitor a little taste of one of Germany’s more 20.000 – 25.000 castles. No one knows exactly how many castles there really are in Germany. The estimate for Bavaria, my home state, is 5.000 castles alone.

We arrived at a locked gate, which had to be expected at this time of year. We were still able though to tour the grounds a bit.

Gunter Sachs, a German photographer, author, art collector and industrialist, was born in this castle. Gunter, also known as Gunter Sachs von Opel in his earlier days, was one of Germany’s most famous playboys in his days. He was also married to Brigitte Bardot in the 1960s.

Mainberg Castle, Germany

The castle park used to be a place of fun for some U.S. army soldiers in post-war Germany.

Mainberg Castle grounds

We enjoyed our view overlooking the Main River valley on this overcast morning.

The Main River in Lower Franconia

Last, but not least, for all of you, who remember the nuclear power plant… Luke & Duke are still standing. The plant was in operation from 1982 – 2015, and then it was taken offline as part of the phase out policy for nuclear power in Germany.

This photo was taken from the castle on the hill.

Luke & Duke, the Nukes

Die Franken sind die Sanguiniker unter den Deutschen. – Theodor Heuss

(The Franconians are the sanguine among the Germans)

We will come back again.

Brockwell Park in London on a Fine April Day

Traveling is almost back to normal, but some things have changed for me. For one, I’m happy to stay home, and have our adult children visit me instead. Also, my last experience trying to book a flight with decent arrival and departure times, left me cancelling it altogether. In the end, I did not mind spending money on a round-trip ticket which I would not use. 37 messages and phone calls between the travel platform and me really took the fun out of any future travel experience.

Again, I was happy for them to keep the money, and I could stay home.

Nowadays, I prefer being an arm chair traveler, in the comfort of my own home. Fortunately, my adult children still get around, and share their photos with me.

Our son just moved to a new flat within south London, and discovered this beautiful park across the street.

Brockwell Park, London

I have been to London several times, but it was always for some event (graduation ceremony, concert, wedding, etc.) My next visit, if at all, will be to any park in London, where I can enjoy a picnic, observe nature, load up on vitamin D, take photos, and visit myself.

This has to be a British thing – I have never seen a clock installed in a park.

Being happy, when alone, is the greatest blessing one can have in life. – Venkat Desireddy

Cherry Blossoms in Washington, D.C.

For the past couple of years, like many of us, I have taken to mostly armchair traveling, and have few chances to take photos. But with both adult children living out of the country (London and Washington), I still get to travel a bit with the help of their photos. With their friendly permission, I get to post them here. Thanks, Margo.

Our daughter Margo took these photos after work in Washington, D.C, probably sometime between the end of a workday and Happy Hour.

When my husband and I looked at her photos, we both realized we had never been to the Washington Monument Grounds in springtime. In the early 90s, when we lived in Westminster, MD, we often took our international visitors for sight-seeing to DC. Family and friends often came during the hot and humid summer though… never in spring time.

In Germany, the best places to enjoy cherry blossoms are in Bonn, Hofheim i.T., Schwetzingen, Hamburg and some other cities.

To view the best 10 cities in Germany, visit: Japan in Deutschland Cherry Blossom Viewing

Washington Monument March 2022

Washington Monument Grounds in springtime

We experienced three seasons of Cherry Blossom viewing while living in Japan. The only difference between Hanami in Japan and cherry blossom viewing here is – most Japanese have blankets to sit on the grass, and they bring a lot of good food, and alcoholic beverages. Lots of it.

Washington, D.C.

Knowing How to Enjoy Life in spite of New COVID restrictions in Germany, April 2021

Today, further restrictions have begun for schools, doing sports, and the placement of a curfew from 10pm – 5am. None of them affect me. Even if they did, it is quite easy for me to adjust my life style accordingly. That’s what I learned from living in foreign countries for almost ten years.

Since the COVID situation is not getting any better, I have opted for ‘Outdoor Isolation’, which means we have picnics (restaurants are still closed for indoor and outdoor dining) as often as we can. This way, we are isolated from others, but not from sight. It is nice to see ordinary people passing by without a mask.

Today, we went to the Maasgrund Pond in Oberursel, where we have not been since our kids were in primary/elementary school.

Maasgrund Pond in Oberursel

What’s this swimming in the water..? This is a nutria (or: coypu), a native from Louisiana, USA.

It fetched something in the water to eat it on the bank.

After our picnic of British Tea sandwiches, fruit, cheese, crackers, and white wine (not for the driver), we took a stroll around the pond.

We can see St. Ursula Church in the background. It was a beautiful sunny late afternoon.

A new initiative to save the bees is taking place in Oberursel. The yellow vending machine sells bee food for 50 cents. On the left, there is a container collecting the empty capsules for recycling.

Oberursel has many half-timbered houses, but this one is a half-timbered villa.

Mainberg Castle in Germany in the 1940s

These photos were contributed by Susan Panioli and her sister Lorraine O’Dell, the daughters of Veteran Leroy F. O’Dell, who served with the 313th Infantry and the 79th Division during WWII in France, Germany, Belgium, and Czechoslovakia.

Leroy F. O’Dell

Susan believes the photos were taken of Mainberg Castle by her father sometime between September 1944 and May 1946. Leroy was also wounded during the war and received the Purple Heart. He’s now 93 years of age (born 16 May, 1925), and is living in a nursing home in upstate NY, USA.


I’m in the process of finding someone who can identify and verify the location of these photos.

Edited on 14 June 2018: I just got word from the expert himself – these photos were indeed taken at Mainberg Castle. (Source: Thomas Horling, Mainberg Castle Historian)

 

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