Day 24 - Wiesbaden

We rolled back the clock today and went back to Wiesbaden for the first time in 13 years.  Wiesbaden had been our home for the two years that we lived in Germany, so it was nice to be able to revisit some of the old sights and share them with Joshua and Daniel.  As we were driving into Wiesbaden we had a vague familiarity with the roads and country side, but nothing was immediately recogniseable. 13 years is a long time and a lot has changed since then.  As we got closer to the city centre, the street signs and building began to get more recognisable, and it began to feel like the Wiesbaden we lived in 13 years ago.  We found a park and headed for one of our favourite destinations, the Cuckoo Clock Shop. This is the sight of the largest cuckoo clock in the world, and where we used to take all our visitors.  When we saw this, we knew we were really back in Wiesbaden.  We entered the shop, and Marilyn could even recognise the guy working behind the counter. (Apparently he has been working there for 45 years).  Just around the corner is the Wiesbaden Cathedral.  It's very recognisable because its made of red bricks.  

After that, we explored the "Fussganger Zone", or Pedestrian shopping area.  The memories were coming back to us thick and fast.  Next we headed to the thermal fountain to let the boys taste some of the very healthy naturally heated spring waters.  (This is the thing that puts the "bad" (or bath) in Wiesbaden.  There is a warning on the wall not to drink more than one litre of the water per person, per day.  It still tastes so awful, I'm not sure how anyone could! 

We finished our trip to Wiesbaden with a visit to 20 Aar Strasse, our old German home.  Its still very much the same, and the pizza shop is still across the street.  It was nice to be back, if only for a visit, and we couldn't help remembering all the good times we had in Germany. - I wonder if Opel are looking for any Engineers  . . . . . . . . .