Day 17 - Pforzheim

Saturday August 18, 2012 

One of the things Jonathan wanted to do while we are here is to go to France for a day.  We set off early this morning and travelled through the Black Forest of Germany and ended up in Strasbourg, France.  We walked through the centre of town and visited the Notre Dom Cathedral of Strasbourg.  We had bagets and Camembert cheese at an outdoor café for lunch but then we had to travel back to our hotel so Michael and John could change in preparation for the closing ceremonies and banquet in Pforzheim.

Day 16 - Pforzheim

Friday August 17, 2012 

Michael shot in the Junior Lorenzoni event today.  He shot very well and ended the competition with a 21/25.  He won the silver medal as his team mate, Haley, shot a 23/25 to win the gold medal.  It was a very exciting match with Canada getting the gold and silver medal and Sweden getting the bronze.

In the evening they held the medal presentations with Germany picking up many of the medals, and Great Britain very close behind them.  Both countries established new world records in their respective events.  But the highlight of the night was when they presented the Junior Lorenzoni medals to Haley and Michael and they were called up to stand on the podium and they played the Canadian National Anthem.

Day 15 - Pforzheim

Thursday August 16, 2012 

Today was a big day for Michael.  He shot in the adult Lorenzoni event of the world championships.  He shot well scoring 35 out of 50 even after having encountered a gun malfunction.

We ate dinner on the way home in a small village called Wurm.  It was an Italian Restaurant with a patio right on the river.

Day 14 - Pforzheim

After dropping in at the gun club we traveled to Weil der Stadt birth place of Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), astronomer and mathematician.  We visited the home where he was born which is a museum today.  Lunch was very good in a Russian restaurant and then an ice cream shop for dessert.  We ended our visit with the Kepler walk which is going from the Sun and following the planets that are relative distance apart.  Mars was the farthest we walked.

Day 13 - Pforzheim

Tuesday August 14, 2012

Michael had a free day so we traveled an hour north to Heidelberg.  We walked the length of the city to the marktplatz where we saw the Heiliggeistkirche, the Romanesque Basilica, the Haus zum Ritter built in 1592 for a rich cloth merchant and is now a luxury hotel, then we climbed the hill to the Heidelberg Castle where the view of the city and river below was breathtaking.

We traveled back to our hotel where we had just enough time to change our clothes in preparation for the open ceremonies for the MLAIC World Championships.  Michael carried the Canadian flag in the parade of nations to the market square where several dignitaries including the mayor of Pforzheim spoke to the participants and spectators.

Afterwards we had dinner on the main street in Pforzheim in a restaurant on the walkway that lead back to our car.

Day 12 - Pforzheim

Monday August 13, 2012

Michael and John went to the Gun Club early this morning while Jonathan and I had a later breakfast.  We then went for a walk along some bike paths through the woods close to our hotel.

John and Michael came back around noon and we went into the town of Pforzheim for lunch on the river in the centre of town.

We all went back to the gun club where Michael had his final practice time on the other range.

For dinner we had some problems finding a restaurant.  Our hotel is closed on Mondays as are many other places we soon discovered.   We finally found a courtyard restaurant in a little town nearby.

Day 11 - Neu-Ulm to Pforzheim

Sunday August 12, 2012 

Today we travelled to the Gun Club in Pforzheim where Michael was able to have some time practicing on one of the ranges and he had an opportunity to gather his ammunition in preparation for his matches.

Our hotel we are staying at is in Muhlhausen which is about 20 minutes from the Gun Club.  We had a lovely dinner at our hotel in the courtyard.