Grüße aus...Karlsruhe!

Each Sunday we drive about 30 minutes north on the Autobahn to Karlsruhe for church. This past Sunday we packed a lunch with us and after church we did a little exploring of Karl's namesake.

Karlsruhe is a young city (young, at least, for Europe) being founded in 1715 by Margrave Karl Wilhelm. The name Karlsruhe means "Karl's Rest". Today the city makes its mark on Germany's map as the seat of the German Supreme Court. The ciy grew around the palace in the center of the city. Thirty-two avenues fan out from the palace (hence Karlruhe's nickname as the Fächerstadt or "fan city")--23 of the avenues extend into the palace gardens while the others form the grid of the oldest part of the city.



Karl and I ate our lunch in the beautiful palace gardens. It was a gorgeous day (unlike the typical fog and rain that we've been getting) and the gardens were crowded. A fun steam-engine train makes its way through the gardens for passengers. Visitors are also welcome inside the palace as well as in the botanical gardens on the grounds, but we saved those treasures for another day!