Ella's Adventures Blog

The town hall built entirely out of spite

Here's the Bamberg story I keep coming back to. The Old Town Hall sits on its own little island in the middle of the river, joined to both banks by...

The town hall built entirely out of spite

Here's the Bamberg story I keep coming back to. The Old Town Hall sits on its own little island in the middle of the river, joined to both banks by...

The lake with electric boats because of a grump...

Here's the Königssee detail I love. Every tour boat crossing this lake has run on electric power since 1909, and most visitors quietly assume it's an early example of environmental...

The lake with electric boats because of a grump...

Here's the Königssee detail I love. Every tour boat crossing this lake has run on electric power since 1909, and most visitors quietly assume it's an early example of environmental...

The beer festival that started with a horse race

Here's the bit that surprised me most about Oktoberfest. It didn't start out about beer at all. In October 1810, Munich held five days of public celebrations for the wedding...

The beer festival that started with a horse race

Here's the bit that surprised me most about Oktoberfest. It didn't start out about beer at all. In October 1810, Munich held five days of public celebrations for the wedding...

The mountain with a border down the middle

Here's the Zugspitze detail I love. Germany's highest peak has the border with Austria running directly across its summit, and for decades that meant something genuinely strange: you had to...

The mountain with a border down the middle

Here's the Zugspitze detail I love. Germany's highest peak has the border with Austria running directly across its summit, and for decades that meant something genuinely strange: you had to...

The palace he ordered destroyed and slept in fo...

Here's the Herrenchiemsee story that gets me every time. King Ludwig II of Bavaria decided he wanted his own private Versailles, so he built one, on an island in the...

The palace he ordered destroyed and slept in fo...

Here's the Herrenchiemsee story that gets me every time. King Ludwig II of Bavaria decided he wanted his own private Versailles, so he built one, on an island in the...

The love lock tradition that's barely older tha...

Here's the Hohenzollern Bridge detail that surprised me. All those thousands of padlocks clipped to the railings look like the sort of tradition that's been going on for generations. It...

The love lock tradition that's barely older tha...

Here's the Hohenzollern Bridge detail that surprised me. All those thousands of padlocks clipped to the railings look like the sort of tradition that's been going on for generations. It...