Two weekends ago, we took a drive south into Baden-Württemberg to stay in the beautiful town of Schwäbisch Hall.  Now, we didn’t realize until just before we headed down here that there really isn’t a Hall in Schwäbisch Hall.  I mean, we thought maybe it was the name of an old beer hall, or maybe a medieval hall where German knights used to hang out.  No, “Hall” means “echo”.  The town lies along a river valley and supposedly, at least in the old days, one could hear the echo of young men calling out for their girlfriends, or maybe their cows or whatever.

Anyway, it’s a charming place, with about 25,000 people and a thriving Goethe Institut which attracts about 2,000 students from around the world.

This is one of several warehouse towers around town, built by wealthy medieval merchants.  It was a real status symbol to have a tower higher than your competitors’.  Big tower, big……….

Here Tanya tries to help a lady pull her donkey up the steps of City Hall.

Whoa!! The Harlem Globetrotters are coming to town!

Some pretty Russian girl I picked up along the way.

The oldest and most famous brew pub in town.

This fanfare band was helping celebrate the birthday of a lady staying in our hotel.  Pretty cool.