Schwelm

This is what I pictured a rural German town looking like. Schwelm is charming and cute and euro-sized. The buildings are mainly pre war architecture and very pretty. 

The main drag is a pedestrian only street, - a prerequisite for the quaint euro town - full of cafes and little shops. 

The center of the town has a nice little plaza and a big German style cathedral. 

This is probably my favorite street. 

This ones not bad either. 

We decided that Scwelm is somewhere we could plop down and spend a few years if we ever got tired of urban life. But we say that a lot. It was not overrun by tourists and seemed to only be occupied by locals and us. In fact on our way to Schwelm we asked some Germans which train to take and the blank stares we got back were empty and puzzling.  Very off the grid for Europe! 

I found Kathy's flat to be charming and lovely. I clearly made myself comfortable. 

As did Jordan. 

Their kitchen is very nice. I learned that in Germany most flats don't come with a kitchen! The tenant has to buy their own appliances and cabinets! They chose well, I'd say!

The only problem with Germany is everything was closed on Sunday. Oh and the other thing I hate is they only drink bubbly mineral water! The first complete phrase I learned on this trip was "stille wasser mit ice bitte!" And the final thing I learned is air conditioning is not standard anywhere. Tough lesson to learn on this trip!