Wednesday 30 January 2002. After lunch at Fügen, we get back onto the coach and are taken to the town of Rattenburg. We are here to visit a glass factory and I have to admit that I have never seen so many crystal glass shops so close together in my entire life!
A street with a Kodak sign! I've started to take photos of these whenever I see one, because I have a feeling that they will soon become just a memory as digital cameras take over.
A few buildings in the town had an air of being slightly dilapidated, though I suppose buildings with smooth painted walls will soon start to look dirty. And if you looked out for the exceptions there were some wonderful sculptures and painted designs on some buildings.
Fran had started walking back down the main street but Sheila was shouting for me to explore the little alley leading to the white church.
She wanted me to see this wonderful cafe with the walkways between the upper storeys. This was easily the most spectacular building in the town.
In fact there were almost as many architectural features on this one building as in the rest of the town put together!
We had a rather swift demonstration of glass working in this shop before they dismissed us to spend money... That's a bit how it felt - so most folk treated the invitation to browse with the same amount of interest that the shop people had put into the demonstration.
There were so many glass shops that I wondered how they all managed to make any money! It made it all the more amazing that they hadn't put much effort into making us feel welcomed, rather than getting the "demonstration" over and done with as fast as possible in order to separate us from money. There was also a geology shop with crystals and fossils.
And at the end of town as we walked back towards the waiting coach - ta-dah! - the only ivy-covered building I remember seeing during the entire week.
