Tom`s travels: Karlsruhe, Durlach & Ettlingen (18/03/2017)

Originally the plan was to visit Frankfurt and after taking the bus at 4am from Strasbourg (the only one which would reach Frankfurt before midday) I reached Karlsruhe at around 5am. I had to wait though for about one hour and a half before my connection to Frankfurt would arrive. It was quite cold and it had already started to rain, so I decided to lay on the bench at the outside stop and sleep a bit. After waking up well ahead the scheduled departure I impatiently waited for my bus to arrive. After other buses with different destinations arrived and left, I began to worry and then a bus headed to Frankfurt stopped by. I asked if I could hop on even if it had a different number than mine but the driver said no even though I tried mentioning mine had not come at the set time. So i waited more and finally gave up believing either that I had missed it (though I did spent the whole time in front of the bus stop) or that it just never came. So after considering my options, I decided not to return to Strasbourg immediately but rather book another bus later on (as my original one would have left Frankfurt) and instead visit Karlsruhe. I reached the train station and found that there was actually a bicycle that hadn't been locked. I thus decided to borrow it and explore the city with a bike as it would be faster and easier. I headed east and reached Schloss Gottesaue a reconstructed Renaissance castle. Riding further east, about 15 minutes later I reached the small town of Durlach. The town featured a small yet nice historic center, with the Karlsburg Castle, a 16th century residence of which only a part remains, a main church in the Baroque style and a medieval tower gate called the Basel gate as it faces south towards that city. After leaving the town I headed south and after biking for about 50 minutes up and down several low hills under pouring rain I reached the town of Ettlingen. Also featuring a nice historic center I entered from the northern side, crossing a bridge over the river Alb and reaching the Marktplatz, which hold the Baroque town hall. Its tower serves also as a city gate and was the door to the main square, from there I then visited the nearby St Martin Kirche also baroque in style. From there, on the southwestern end of town I arrived at the castle. Also built in the baroque style, it featured a nicely decorated front facade and a fountain made of red stone. Rain was still pouring, and I decided to bike back towards Karlsruhe. In half an hour and without the hills from the previous part, I reached the city, passing by the Marktplatz and reaching the main attraction, the Karlsruhe Palace. The Palace was built during the 18th century by the Margrave of Durlach who decided to leave the town and build the palace here sparking then the rise and development of what is now Karlsruhe. Inside was the Badisches Landesmuseum or Baden State Museum, with objects dating from prehistory to the modern times. Particularly interesting was the archaeological section as well as the applied arts one. After visiting the museum it was time to go so getting back on the bicycle I headed towards the train station where I left the bike I had borrowed and took the bus finally back to Strasbourg, drenched in the rain I had got all day.