I mostly took it easy on this final day of my free weekend, reading, writing and resting. At Noon I was hungry so I headed to town for a quick bite of spaghetti with bolognese sauce and a salad. From there I wandered through the parts of Schweinfurt that I hadn’t yet seen. I came upon a sign that told how the park in front of me was once a cemetery associated with a Carmelite Monastery. The cemetery was enclosed by the wall around the city that was re-constructed in the late 1500s. Sometime after 1800 the cemetery became a park across the highway with views of the river. 
The Museum Georg Schäfer specializes in 19th-century paintings by artists from German-speaking countries. I had not heard of the artists, but I did enjoy much of the art and the ambiance in the quiet and peaceful museum. Schweinfurt was destroyed and rebuilt many times since its first known existence in the 800s. Today it is known for its metal industry, especially ball bearing plants and bicycle manufacturing; some of the companies with manufacturing here include Kugelfischer AG, ZF Sachs AG, Bosch Rexroth and SKF. The pigment Schweinfurt Green (also known as Paris Green) is manufactured here. SRAM Corporation hosts the world’s largest development center of the bicycle industry in Schweinfurt. Our program worked with Bosch and ZF among others.
I never made it down to the river, but it is, of course, an attraction in itself. Our students spent sunsets with footballs and frisbees in park-like areas along the Main River.
I had an early dinner with Dr. Valenzuela and his wife Jackie at a Mexican restaurant, Chumpas. It is the only Mexican restaurant I have ever been to where they asked if we had reservations!
Latest Travels 