Rothenberg ob der Tauber: buildings

Welcome to Rothenberg ob der Tauber, where it's one pretty thing after another after another after another after another...

We'll start with the houses and buildings...

The pretty half timbered houses and cobbled streets take you back to the middle ages--and that's just where they came from.  The city has strict preservation laws, and even after forty percent of it was destroyed in WWII bombings, it was still built back to it's original state.

Jal Mahal

The Jal Mahal is so pretty.
I like to just look at it.  
And so here are just a few different views of it as seen from around the Jaipur area. 

The palace as seen from the hills above the city.
Mansagar lake is artificial; created just for the purpose of surrounding the lake with water.
Both the lake and the palace have undergone extensive restoration in the past ten years in order to save it from damage.

The building is five stories high, four of which are underwater.  Someday I want to go and see it up close.

The palace in the lake.
Ah yes, it's a lovely sight.

A hint of beauty

Isn't that pretty?

This orange has held a place of honor on my counter-top for the last week and a half. It was just too pretty to eat.
But even a pretty orange will succumb to the rottenness of unmet potential if it never gets to be eaten--the purpose for which it was created.

Sitting there on a plate, the full beauty and goodness inside are only hinted at.
An orange, to be fully enjoyed, must be eaten. It's outward beauty destroyed, it's insides consumed. If not, an orange is not an orange.

Ah the mystery of beauty.