Tubingen, an historic university town

On Saturday, we drove to Tubingen, about 30" south of Stuttgart, to visit with my colleague, Wolfgang Ziegler, and his wife, Constance. Tubingen is home to one of Europe's oldest universities, founded in 1477, and has 22,000 students (out of a total population of 86,000). Most of the buildings from the 1700s are intact, as this is one of the few towns that was not destroyed in WW2. 

Here are some of the lovely old houses along the Neckar River, which flows through town. 

One of the many university buildings.

More university property.

One of the lovely old streets in town, flanked by fraternity houses..

These are the original cobblestoned streets.

The town has lots of these narrow stairs which lead to different parts of the university. 

Walking through town on our way to lunch.

Wolfgang and Constance took us a restaurant that specializes in maultaschen, which looks like ravioli. Legend has it that the monks created the maultaschen to conceal meat in these pasta pockets during Lent, when eating meat was forbidden. We had maultaschen stuffed with spinach and lamb, and covered in a delicious cheese sauce with tiny local mushrooms. Delicious!

After lunch, we hiked up to the Schloss Hohentubingen. Here is the  entrance to the grounds of the schloss, which now belong to the university. 

The schloss has been renovated and now houses the Department of Antiquities.

View from the grounds of the schloss.

One of the original towers, build to protect the schloss. 

A lovely half-timbered house in town. 

Marktplatz, with original 17th century buildings.

Woflgang, Constance, and I, in front of the Rathouse (town hall).

We took a lovely boat trip along the Neckar River in a stocherkahne, which is like a long, narrow punt. 

Here is one the punts being poled down the the river. What a fun way to travel.

More lovely houses along the Neckar, as seen from out boat.