We have settled into sleeping afternoons, reading, watching TV, or blogging (me) at night, and leaving the hotel at daybreak, when it's still pleasantly cool. That's just after 5 a.m. right now. The day tends to become hot and humid after about 10 a.m.. We also go for walks and some grocery shopping in the evening. The public transport is fantastic, and we received passes from the hotel. I bought guidebooks (in English, so Stefan can read them, too), and we discovered a whole new set of historical facts and cultural activities! Nice to rediscover a city I thought I knew, from a different perspective. Kassel really is beautiful, and not nearly as sedate as I presumed (I might even have used the term "boring" before; in a nice way, of course).
I'm posting just a couple pics of our evening walk toward the park yesterday, and our two-hour hike there and to the top this morning. Park Wilhelmshöhe is hilly, wooded, and very nicely kept. There is a long history, which I might attempt to summarize in a couple of sentences later on.
The castle, at the bottom, and the statue of Hercules atop a small "burg," at the top, are highlights of this park, but there's a lot more to it. In the early hours we walked from the hotel to the edge, then walked or scrambled along paths and steps to the top. It took about two hours total. Nothing was open yet, so we took the bus and tram back to town to have breakfast. I want to do the trip in reverse next time, taking transit to the top and then walking down. Hopefully the castle will be open and we can have a coffee in the charming cafeteria.
Finally, we visited the house (now museum) of the Brothers Grimm. I'll write about that in the next post.