How many sayings, songs, poems, etc. are there in the world about rain? Let’s see. There’s Phil Collins’ I Wish It Would Rain Down, the Eurythmics with Here Comes the Rain Again…
Oh, this is too much — never mind.
But, when I started thinking about all these rain songs (and stuff) it was because of the town of Rain on the Lech River in Bavaria, Germany. Not, rain as in “rain, rain, go away,” I mean the town of Rain on the Danube Valley Railway between Ulm and Regensburg.
Trust me, you won’t want it to rain in Rain. There’s too much to do here, so you’ll want the sunny weather to guide your way.
The Heritage Museum is a good start, since there’s no place better to explain the town’s local history. Then you’ve got the Schwabtor to see; it’s one of the city’s two 15th century gates. And then there are the fantastic frescoes from the 1480’s at the Gothic St. Johann the Baptist Church.
Add in a trip to the Lieutenant Hill fort from 1632, a stop at the All Saints Chapel with a late-medieval crypt (1471), and a Witches Tower from a castle and you’ve gotten in a full day’s sightseeing.
Stay the night, though, for we got more to do tomorrow.
Let’s start the morning with a trip to the town’s very early 17th century cemetery. What? Like I would suggest tromping around a plague cemetery at night? Wow, you guys give me more credit than I deserve sometimes. ;-)
Great, now I’m creeped out. I guess shopping can take my mind off the heebie-jeebies. And there are plenty of markets throughout the year to keep you busy (and return my blood pressure back to normal).
The May Market is on the last Sunday of April, the Jakobimarkt the last Sunday in July, the Autumn Market is the 2nd Sunday in September, the Martinimarkt is the 2nd Sunday of November, while the Farmer’s Market is held every Friday.
End the year right with the obligatory Christmas Market on the 3rd weekend of Advent.
I got to give the City Festival an honorable mention, held the 2nd weekend of July.
You’re still not done sightseeing in Rain. The Natural Teaching Garden is great for kids and those kids-at-heart with information on all things natural (animals, trees, stuff like that); and the Flower Park is a place of quiet reflection with flowers from all over the world.
Ohhh, now that I think about it I guess we need rain in Rain — otherwise how else are all those lovely flowers going to grow?
