Ooooo… big day! Up at 7.30 for an early breakfast so we could get down to the dock for our trip around Luzern today. Last night was a bit of a challenge; the hotel advertized that they had sound-proof windows, which seemed odd, until you realize that you’re on a street that NEVER gets not-busy. The highway off ramp comes onto this street about a block and a half from the hotel. It’s fucking loud. I started off with the windows open last night, then closed them after a half hour, then was up twice during the night to open them for some fresh air. Breakfast was a bit of a bust too; most places have it complimentary with the room and that includes meats, cheeses, spreads, and eggs. Here, it was just ‘continental’ – read bread and spreads: all other options extra charge. So, we had a light breakfast.
The one benefit of being on a major street is that there is a bus stop about 6 steps (literally) from our hotel’s front door. Dad had been out exploring last night, so knew which buses to take. We hopped aboard the No. 1 and headed into Luzern to see the lion monument to the Swiss Guard that were killed at the Tulleries (and later by guillotine) during the French Revolution. Nice place (once the tours cleared out) and we got some nice pictures. We were still a bit early for our trip, so we slowly wandered back to the harbour, stopped for pics, and had a couple of drinks at a harbour side café.
Out tour involved a cruise across the Lake of Four Cantons (which Luzern sits on), a cog rail-way ride up to Mount Palatis, then a cable car ride down. We had decided when purchasing our tickets to up-grade to first class. Such a good call. We got to sit on the top level of the boat, while all the school groups (and there were A LOT of kids) had to sit in second class. We got table service for beverages, and some great views, all without shitty students kicking around. There were crying babies, however. Boo.
Anyway, the boat ride was nice – got to work on the tan on my legs to match the burn on my arms. The cog rail-way, well, that was less fun for me (I’ve got a really bad anxiety when it comes to heights). This rail-way is on record for being the steepest in the world – there are parts of the track that have an incline of 49%. Read that again – not 49 degrees, but 49 PER CENT. It feels like you’re going straight up at some points. But there are people that live up close to the top of the mountain (and it took almost 20 minutes to get up there) – we passed to farms complete with cow-bell sporting cows.
Once we got to the top, we were disappointed to see that the hotel up there was closed for renovations. So we were forced to eat at the cafeteria-style bistro up there. And, of course, the prices were extortionary. Dad and I both had a hearty lunch, the started walking along some of the paths. I gave up when the incline got to bad – Berchtesgaden taught me that high-altitudes, in my shape are a bad idea. So dad and I went our separate ways, but I found a level path that went around the upper peak, so walked about half of it. The acoustics were so good, that from the (almost) peak, you could hear the cow bells of the heard of cows about 500 ft below.
Dad and I met back at the visitors’ center, where I had already picked up some souvenirs, and we headed down via cable car. Okay – cable cars are like my Majouba Hill. It takes a lot to get me on one, and even more to prevent a full-out panic attack and today was a close one. There are 3 stages on the cable car ride down – the first is in a large, single car that fits 15-20 people and it’s the steepest decline since it comes right off the mountain face. I stood in the back, staring at the floor the whole way down (about 5 minutes) and tried not to embarrass myself and Dad by crying. The second/third stage is in individual cars that seat 2-4 people. That stage took about 20 minutes too – not quite as high as the first, but a lot of parts that were too high for comfort for me. I sat with my back facing downhill, clutching the seat every time we went over a support tower. Next to the red-light district of Amsterdam, this was the 2nd part of the trip I was dreading, and I’m really glad that’s over with.
When we got back to earth, we were on the outskirts of Luzern, but the tickets we bought for the tour got us on the same bus that stops right in front of our hotel. I went back to the room to relax, while Dad went back into Luzern to see the Transportation Museum (the 3rd thing I was dreading on this trip, so was glad I weaseled out of it). At about 6.30 we headed back to Luzern for dinner at a place Dad saw earlier in the day – we shared, what else, a cheese fondue. Yum. We then headed further down-town to the harbour to get a view of the city, lake and mountains without the haze that sat there this morning. It was a nice little walk. On the way back, we stopped at a bakery where, wanting to feel like Kennedy, I picked up – A BERLINER. Think Boston Cream donut, without chocolate and real pastry cream filling. I now get why JFK wanted to be one.
Well, tomorrow is going to be a big day – we’ll be driving about 8 hours to get through the St. Bernard Pass, then into Lichtenstein for 2 nights. Early to bed, early to rise, that’s our goal!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Swiss Miss
*Yesterday's post below.*
Left Rothenburg early this morning heading for Switzerland. Not much of a fuss on the drive, but once again, I did most of the driving through construction – it’s really amazing the way the fates are conspiring to stress me out on the roads. Anyway….
We arrived at the edge of the Bodensee/Lake Constance and took the ferry across to Germany – we thought it would be Switzerland, but there is a small out-cropping in the lake that you have to cross first before getting to Switzerland. As we approached the boarder, we were shocked to actually see a boarder-guard out there stopping the occasional car, but mostly waiving people through. We didn’t have to show our pass-ports, but had to ask about the toll high-ways. Switzerland makes you buy a pass to drive on their highways, so we had to pull over at the boarder and purchase one: it was either 40 Swiss Francs, or 40 Euros. All Dad had was Euros, so we got had: the Canadian dollar is trading almost at par with the Swiss Franc. Oh well, pass purchased we can now drive on Austrian high-ways for the rest of the year. Well, at least our rental car can.
Since the ferry crossing was a little choppy, I wasn’t that hungry for lunch and we decided to wait until we got to Zurich to stop. Sunday afternoon in Zurich is a zoo – lots of people out walking, lots of cars, and oodles of tourists. We drove around the old city for a bit looking for a parking spot before finally just heading down to the lake that edges the city. There, we found free parking, and got out and stopped at the first café we found for lunch. Again, since we didn’t have any Francs we got had on the exchange rate a bit – it was an expensive lunch. We then grabbed some photos of the lake that Zurich sits on, but hopped back on the road quickly since Dad wanted to get to Luzern.
We came into the city and headed for the old down town center. After finding a parking spot, we started looking for a tourist information bureau. On the way we found a tour company that does a trip via boat around the lake here in town, then takes you up to Mount Palates, which over-looks Luzern. We also wandered along the covered bridge here in town, with is famous for the early-modern religious paintings that hang from the ceiling. A fire in 1993 destroyed many, but the ones that are still there (and the ones that had been put in storage when the bridge was shortened) and quite well done.
However, by this time it was almost 4. The heat here is really bothering me – it’s almost 30, there are no clouds in the sky, I still have a minor sun-burn and, to be completely honest, I’m not in the best shape. All of this is a recipe for a minor-disaster. At this point in our day I put my foot down and asked to be allowed to go check into the hotel for some R and R. And here’s where the day got interesting.
Earlier on in the car I was looking at our hotel-confirmation email that Dad brought with him. 2 things struck me: 1- it really only looked like there was 1 room booked for us. 2- The start date on the reservation was the 26th. Now, we’ve been travelling for over 2 weeks and I’ve lost track of what day of the week it is, let alone what calendar day. Turns out, our reservations were to start yesterday. After some quick talking on the part of the inn-keeper, he decided to cut us a deal (that means we’re paying the same we would have paid had be been here yesterday and today, not today and tomorrow) and give us 2 rooms for the days we need. Just like in Amsterdam, we’ve ended up in an apartment-like suite, where we have separate rooms, but share a bathroom. We’re wedged between two busy roads, so it’s anyone’s guess how the night’s going to go (especially after it was soooo blissfully quiet at our last hotel).
Early to bed with me tonight so that I can be up early tomorrow for a walk up to the monument for the Swiss Guard (before it gets to hot) then down to the lake for our tour which starts at 9.45.
Left Rothenburg early this morning heading for Switzerland. Not much of a fuss on the drive, but once again, I did most of the driving through construction – it’s really amazing the way the fates are conspiring to stress me out on the roads. Anyway….
We arrived at the edge of the Bodensee/Lake Constance and took the ferry across to Germany – we thought it would be Switzerland, but there is a small out-cropping in the lake that you have to cross first before getting to Switzerland. As we approached the boarder, we were shocked to actually see a boarder-guard out there stopping the occasional car, but mostly waiving people through. We didn’t have to show our pass-ports, but had to ask about the toll high-ways. Switzerland makes you buy a pass to drive on their highways, so we had to pull over at the boarder and purchase one: it was either 40 Swiss Francs, or 40 Euros. All Dad had was Euros, so we got had: the Canadian dollar is trading almost at par with the Swiss Franc. Oh well, pass purchased we can now drive on Austrian high-ways for the rest of the year. Well, at least our rental car can.
Since the ferry crossing was a little choppy, I wasn’t that hungry for lunch and we decided to wait until we got to Zurich to stop. Sunday afternoon in Zurich is a zoo – lots of people out walking, lots of cars, and oodles of tourists. We drove around the old city for a bit looking for a parking spot before finally just heading down to the lake that edges the city. There, we found free parking, and got out and stopped at the first café we found for lunch. Again, since we didn’t have any Francs we got had on the exchange rate a bit – it was an expensive lunch. We then grabbed some photos of the lake that Zurich sits on, but hopped back on the road quickly since Dad wanted to get to Luzern.
We came into the city and headed for the old down town center. After finding a parking spot, we started looking for a tourist information bureau. On the way we found a tour company that does a trip via boat around the lake here in town, then takes you up to Mount Palates, which over-looks Luzern. We also wandered along the covered bridge here in town, with is famous for the early-modern religious paintings that hang from the ceiling. A fire in 1993 destroyed many, but the ones that are still there (and the ones that had been put in storage when the bridge was shortened) and quite well done.
However, by this time it was almost 4. The heat here is really bothering me – it’s almost 30, there are no clouds in the sky, I still have a minor sun-burn and, to be completely honest, I’m not in the best shape. All of this is a recipe for a minor-disaster. At this point in our day I put my foot down and asked to be allowed to go check into the hotel for some R and R. And here’s where the day got interesting.
Earlier on in the car I was looking at our hotel-confirmation email that Dad brought with him. 2 things struck me: 1- it really only looked like there was 1 room booked for us. 2- The start date on the reservation was the 26th. Now, we’ve been travelling for over 2 weeks and I’ve lost track of what day of the week it is, let alone what calendar day. Turns out, our reservations were to start yesterday. After some quick talking on the part of the inn-keeper, he decided to cut us a deal (that means we’re paying the same we would have paid had be been here yesterday and today, not today and tomorrow) and give us 2 rooms for the days we need. Just like in Amsterdam, we’ve ended up in an apartment-like suite, where we have separate rooms, but share a bathroom. We’re wedged between two busy roads, so it’s anyone’s guess how the night’s going to go (especially after it was soooo blissfully quiet at our last hotel).
Early to bed with me tonight so that I can be up early tomorrow for a walk up to the monument for the Swiss Guard (before it gets to hot) then down to the lake for our tour which starts at 9.45.
Nuremburg. Yup, that’s it.
Early start today – around 7.45. We breakfasted quickly and left the hotel before 8.15. I started off the day driving from Rothenburg to Nuremburg. We had some nice country-highway driving, and got into Nuremburg around 10.30ish. I had wanted to go to Nuremburg to view the sights where the Nazi war criminals were trialed. Dad, however, thought I had a whole day planned for our visit. Now, he claims that the told me to do the research on what we would do, but I don’t remember ever hearing that. I’m not saying he’s wrong, I’m saying he might have mentioned it once, 9 months ago, in a list with 18 other things and it just didn’t make my radar. That, or he forgot to tell me, and remembers wanting to so thinks he did. Either way, we found ourselves in Nuremburg, our guide book said that there were guided tours of the old town hall/courthouse in the afternoon on weekends, and we decided to make the best of it.
Nuremburg is a city of churches, as we found out wandering around. We had parked in the valley that the old town sits in and wandered around for a couple of hours, looking a churches, shops, the farmer’s market and other city sites. We stopped once for a drink and as soon as I got a look at myself in a mirror, I decided that it wasn’t a good day for walking. Our bad weather seems to have deserted us (which is good) and has been replaced with hot, sunny weather (not so good). I’d rather have the nice stuff, but find walking for hours on end, general up-hill and on cobble-stones, and in hot weather isn’t a lot of fun. When we stopped for our drink, it was passed 11 and we had gotten to the top of the city-valley, so we walked along the streets at the ridge, then headed down.
The city’s old Rathause is quite a site, with 2 interesting sculptures on it’s façade. It’s across the street from a ‘parish’ church that dwarfs Ottawa’s basilica, and we wandered through the farmer’s market to marvel at the white asparagus (it’s on every menu here since it’s the height of the season) and the concept of selling flowers by the stem instead of in pre-set bouquets. For lunch, we ate in a 14th century building which started off as a hospital and spans the river. We arrived about 5 minutes ahead of 2 or 3 big tour groups, so we got our food quick and hot and were probably the only patrons there not involved with a tour.
After lunch, we picked up the car and drove over to the address the guide book gave us as the site of the court-house. It’s outside the old city in one of the Nuremburg’s old city halls. When we got to the building, it looked locked up tight, there were not a lot of cars in the parking lot, and I started getting a bad feeling. As we were walking along the front of the building a guy was unlocking a security gate and, when asked, said that the building was closed. So, the guide book lied, and I didn’t get to see room 600 – where the high-profile Nazi’s stood trial for war crimes. This was one of the 4 ‘must-dos’ on my Germany list, so it was really disappointing. Oh well, got to leave something for next time (which is becoming a Guest-family motto on this trip).
From there, we headed back to Rothenburg for our 3rd and final night here in the city. I relaxed for a while in my room, then took an hour walk around the city looking in the tourist shops (again) for any souvenirs I might have missed on my first pass. I picked up a couple of things, then headed back to the hotel. Dad and I met in the hall way coming to get each other around 6.15, had drinks on the front patio, dinner in the back patio, and then we both retired early since we’ve got a 7.30 breakfast call tomorrow so we can get on the road for Switzerland.
Nuremburg is a city of churches, as we found out wandering around. We had parked in the valley that the old town sits in and wandered around for a couple of hours, looking a churches, shops, the farmer’s market and other city sites. We stopped once for a drink and as soon as I got a look at myself in a mirror, I decided that it wasn’t a good day for walking. Our bad weather seems to have deserted us (which is good) and has been replaced with hot, sunny weather (not so good). I’d rather have the nice stuff, but find walking for hours on end, general up-hill and on cobble-stones, and in hot weather isn’t a lot of fun. When we stopped for our drink, it was passed 11 and we had gotten to the top of the city-valley, so we walked along the streets at the ridge, then headed down.
The city’s old Rathause is quite a site, with 2 interesting sculptures on it’s façade. It’s across the street from a ‘parish’ church that dwarfs Ottawa’s basilica, and we wandered through the farmer’s market to marvel at the white asparagus (it’s on every menu here since it’s the height of the season) and the concept of selling flowers by the stem instead of in pre-set bouquets. For lunch, we ate in a 14th century building which started off as a hospital and spans the river. We arrived about 5 minutes ahead of 2 or 3 big tour groups, so we got our food quick and hot and were probably the only patrons there not involved with a tour.
After lunch, we picked up the car and drove over to the address the guide book gave us as the site of the court-house. It’s outside the old city in one of the Nuremburg’s old city halls. When we got to the building, it looked locked up tight, there were not a lot of cars in the parking lot, and I started getting a bad feeling. As we were walking along the front of the building a guy was unlocking a security gate and, when asked, said that the building was closed. So, the guide book lied, and I didn’t get to see room 600 – where the high-profile Nazi’s stood trial for war crimes. This was one of the 4 ‘must-dos’ on my Germany list, so it was really disappointing. Oh well, got to leave something for next time (which is becoming a Guest-family motto on this trip).
From there, we headed back to Rothenburg for our 3rd and final night here in the city. I relaxed for a while in my room, then took an hour walk around the city looking in the tourist shops (again) for any souvenirs I might have missed on my first pass. I picked up a couple of things, then headed back to the hotel. Dad and I met in the hall way coming to get each other around 6.15, had drinks on the front patio, dinner in the back patio, and then we both retired early since we’ve got a 7.30 breakfast call tomorrow so we can get on the road for Switzerland.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Rothenburg. Yup, that’s it.
A bit of a slow day. We spent last night at the gastof I wrote about yesterday, and the breakfast was delicious – lots of local baked goods, some juice that I could drink (read – not orange) and internet connection over tea. Good times. We left here around 9 and wandered into the castle gardens. Rotheburg is built on top of a big hill, so the views from the garden are quite something into the valley. The castle no longer stands, but the old walls that fenced it in do and the city has put in some nice gardens.
From there, we headed over to the Kriminale Prison to be there when it opened at 10. It’s billed as a torture museum, but it’s really a bit of a hodge-podge. The basement has displays dedicated to torture, the ground floor holds weapons, the second floor holds documents pertaining to the development of laws, and the third floor holds more torture/imprisonment tools. Very interesting, but they’ve got fist-class, ancient documents on display behind glass. The historian in me was just praying that it was light filtering glass so they survive another few hundred years.
After the Kriminale we started walking around the town again, stopped for a drink, then headed to the Rathause to see the burger museum. Rothenburg has a lovely little story in it’s history that the towns people like to celebrate. Gather ‘round boys and girls and hear a tale of tom-foolery and bad decisions. Rothenburg is a free imperial city (think of the old city-states of ancient Greece – in a time when Germany was a collective of principalities and duchies, Rothenburg was an authority unto itself. During the 30 Years War, the mercenary leader, Count Tilley, rolled into town and demanded that Rothenburg surrender to his forces or face the same fate as the last town that refused (at which 30,000 people were slaughtered by his forces). The mayor wasn’t about to let this happen, so made a deal with Tilley: if the mayor could drink 2 liters of the local wine, Tilley would leave the city un-ravished. Tilley agreed, the drinks were poured, and the mayor set to a chuggin.’ And he finished his drink. All of it. Tilley agreed to leave the town alone, and the mayor went and took a 3-day nap to recover. The glockenspiel in town celebrates this story and so does the Rathause museum.
It’s a small museum, so afterwards, Dad and I went off to find lunch. We found a little gastof that was off the beaten path and I feared stomach bugs until I saw the food – I had a jagersnizle which is like a weiner snitzle that’s smothered in mushroom gravy – it was really good. After that, we went and walked around about 1/3 of the surviving city walls, then to the Imperial City museum, which celebrates the history of Rothenburg. Admission cost Dad and I 5 Euros, but if we wanted to take pictures of the interior, it was an extra 3. We walked through about ¾ of it, then decided we were museumed out. We headed back to the hotel to relax, out for dinner around 6, and an early night tonight since we’ve got a road trip to Nurmburg planned for tomorrow. All in all, a relatively light day, but still a long one!
From there, we headed over to the Kriminale Prison to be there when it opened at 10. It’s billed as a torture museum, but it’s really a bit of a hodge-podge. The basement has displays dedicated to torture, the ground floor holds weapons, the second floor holds documents pertaining to the development of laws, and the third floor holds more torture/imprisonment tools. Very interesting, but they’ve got fist-class, ancient documents on display behind glass. The historian in me was just praying that it was light filtering glass so they survive another few hundred years.
After the Kriminale we started walking around the town again, stopped for a drink, then headed to the Rathause to see the burger museum. Rothenburg has a lovely little story in it’s history that the towns people like to celebrate. Gather ‘round boys and girls and hear a tale of tom-foolery and bad decisions. Rothenburg is a free imperial city (think of the old city-states of ancient Greece – in a time when Germany was a collective of principalities and duchies, Rothenburg was an authority unto itself. During the 30 Years War, the mercenary leader, Count Tilley, rolled into town and demanded that Rothenburg surrender to his forces or face the same fate as the last town that refused (at which 30,000 people were slaughtered by his forces). The mayor wasn’t about to let this happen, so made a deal with Tilley: if the mayor could drink 2 liters of the local wine, Tilley would leave the city un-ravished. Tilley agreed, the drinks were poured, and the mayor set to a chuggin.’ And he finished his drink. All of it. Tilley agreed to leave the town alone, and the mayor went and took a 3-day nap to recover. The glockenspiel in town celebrates this story and so does the Rathause museum.
It’s a small museum, so afterwards, Dad and I went off to find lunch. We found a little gastof that was off the beaten path and I feared stomach bugs until I saw the food – I had a jagersnizle which is like a weiner snitzle that’s smothered in mushroom gravy – it was really good. After that, we went and walked around about 1/3 of the surviving city walls, then to the Imperial City museum, which celebrates the history of Rothenburg. Admission cost Dad and I 5 Euros, but if we wanted to take pictures of the interior, it was an extra 3. We walked through about ¾ of it, then decided we were museumed out. We headed back to the hotel to relax, out for dinner around 6, and an early night tonight since we’ve got a road trip to Nurmburg planned for tomorrow. All in all, a relatively light day, but still a long one!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Socialist ice cubes.
Our day started off with about 3 hours of autobahn driving. Dad started off, getting us out of Bingen, and we switched over just past the Frankfurt airport. Not a word of a lie, less than 10km later, the construction started. And, rather than reduce an autobahn to 1 lane, the standard construction procedure around here is to keep two lanes, but make them only 2m wide. After a couple of hours hunched over the steering wheel, trying not to loose the side mirrors or get crushed by an 18 wheeler, I had enough and Dad and I switched driving again. And, wouldn’t you know it, there was only one more SHORT bit of similar construction. I always seem to do the driving through heavy traffic, commuter traffic, rain, and low gas. It’s AMAZING the way fate will smile on Dad and allow him to miss all the nasty bits of the drive.
Anyway, we got into Rothenburg around 11.30 and parked just outside the old city walls. We wandered into the town and around the marketplatz for a while, then started looking for a hotel. We found something at our second try – it’s a gastof that was probably 3 buildings originally, but is now a maze of corridors. We’re right next to one of the 3 churches in this section of town, only 3 minutes from the marketplatz and 2 second from the bluff that over-looks the valley bellow the city. It was a great find as the rooms are nice and the staff is amazingly accommodating.
After checking in, we went to go get the car and had to drive through the old city. Let me tell you, Rothenburn is PACKED with tourists. It’s considered a fairy-tale style city, so it’s a big stop for a lot of tours. We’ve been pretty lucky so far in terms of not meeting up with a lot of American tourists, but our luck ran out today. The town in packed with them. And they can’t seem to grasp the fact that the roadway are used by cars and aren’t just pedestrian walk ways. So, after mowing down a few of them, we got back to our hotel with the car where the owner/manager let us have her parking space. Such a nice lady.
From there, we headed out to the marketplatz for some lunch, and then decided to go our separate ways for the afternoon. Dad took a walk around the old city walls (which took him about an hour since they started off being so big and are still standing), while I did some shopping. Being such a busy tourist town, the shops really accommodate the spenders and I wandered in and out of shops for the afternoon. I also picked up some delicious balls of deep-fried cookies, which I had originally found in Fussen – there are 6 or 7 bakeries in a two-block radius that specialize in them, so I was really happy to see that my little pleasure was so popular here. On my shopping, I picked up a bag to replace my back-pack, which is now falling apart, some gifts and some postcards. Now that I’ve bought myself a sun hat (and, I can carry off a hat like no body’s business, I found out) I don’t mind the aimless wandering, which is good since we’re here in town tomorrow just to wander around and see some of the museums.
After my shopping, I went back to my rooms to relax for a few hours. Dad and I had planned to meet at 7 for dinner, and when I got downstairs, I found he was sitting out on the street in front of the gastof enjoying a beer (most of these places are also restaurants, and all restaurants here seem to have patio space). He was sitting in front of a table of 6 Americans and, as soon as I sat down, he announced he couldn’t stand listening to them anymore and we’d be going in to eat dinner. When I sat down, one of them (a dentist, I presumed) was explaining the process of a root canal. He was interrupted while the waitress brought out their food, but went right back to the nitty-gritty as soon as she walked away – and this is when my stomach turned and I agreed that we should go in.
All was not lost however, since there is a secondary patio space on the side of the building (right below my building) and we still got to enjoy the nice evening, with the light breeze and no humidity in the shade. Then Dad started filling me in on those obnoxious Americans:
His experience with them started off listening to them trying to interpret the menu and getting everything wrong. They then asked the waitress to explain to them the ‘potato cream soup.’ The waitress, how was very sweet and was running around like the Energizer bunny, was obviously getting fed up with the sillyness of their table and when asked to explain what the potato pancakes in the soup were like and if they were any good, she answered ‘Well, we’ve been eating them for years and they haven’t killed us.’ I think that’s why Dad left her the 5 Euro tip after our meal (prices here include gratuities).
Finally, they settled on food, but still had to order drinks. It was finally decided that they were just going to drink tap water, but only if they could get ice cubes with it. When the drinks came out, the waitress brought a bowl of ice cubes (since it’s not traditional here to serve ice with drinks). One of the older people at the table stated that it was the tradition to not traditional here to drink anything very hot or very cold as it wasn’t good for your health. Wrong, so wrong. Just because something doesn’t come with ice cubes, doesn’t mean all liquids are served tepid. And I don’t think anyone’s thought that extreme temperatures in drinks has been detrimental to health since the 18th century.
But here’s the kicker: when the bowl of ice cubes came out, one of the ladies at the table was heard to observe on their odd size and shape, to which a gentleman at the table commented: ‘Well, electricity is expensive in socialist countries, so they don’t have ice cube makers here. Instead, they only have little tiny ice boxes so they have to make their ice cubes smaller.’ So it turns out the next war American sensibilities will launch is against socialist ice cubes – be warned Germany.
Some people just refuse to experience something new while on vacation, and the number of obnoxious and oblivious American tourists prove that. We’re wandering around Rothernburg tomorrow, so it’ll be a slow start and a casual day. Hopefully the weather will stay nice!
Anyway, we got into Rothenburg around 11.30 and parked just outside the old city walls. We wandered into the town and around the marketplatz for a while, then started looking for a hotel. We found something at our second try – it’s a gastof that was probably 3 buildings originally, but is now a maze of corridors. We’re right next to one of the 3 churches in this section of town, only 3 minutes from the marketplatz and 2 second from the bluff that over-looks the valley bellow the city. It was a great find as the rooms are nice and the staff is amazingly accommodating.
After checking in, we went to go get the car and had to drive through the old city. Let me tell you, Rothenburn is PACKED with tourists. It’s considered a fairy-tale style city, so it’s a big stop for a lot of tours. We’ve been pretty lucky so far in terms of not meeting up with a lot of American tourists, but our luck ran out today. The town in packed with them. And they can’t seem to grasp the fact that the roadway are used by cars and aren’t just pedestrian walk ways. So, after mowing down a few of them, we got back to our hotel with the car where the owner/manager let us have her parking space. Such a nice lady.
From there, we headed out to the marketplatz for some lunch, and then decided to go our separate ways for the afternoon. Dad took a walk around the old city walls (which took him about an hour since they started off being so big and are still standing), while I did some shopping. Being such a busy tourist town, the shops really accommodate the spenders and I wandered in and out of shops for the afternoon. I also picked up some delicious balls of deep-fried cookies, which I had originally found in Fussen – there are 6 or 7 bakeries in a two-block radius that specialize in them, so I was really happy to see that my little pleasure was so popular here. On my shopping, I picked up a bag to replace my back-pack, which is now falling apart, some gifts and some postcards. Now that I’ve bought myself a sun hat (and, I can carry off a hat like no body’s business, I found out) I don’t mind the aimless wandering, which is good since we’re here in town tomorrow just to wander around and see some of the museums.
After my shopping, I went back to my rooms to relax for a few hours. Dad and I had planned to meet at 7 for dinner, and when I got downstairs, I found he was sitting out on the street in front of the gastof enjoying a beer (most of these places are also restaurants, and all restaurants here seem to have patio space). He was sitting in front of a table of 6 Americans and, as soon as I sat down, he announced he couldn’t stand listening to them anymore and we’d be going in to eat dinner. When I sat down, one of them (a dentist, I presumed) was explaining the process of a root canal. He was interrupted while the waitress brought out their food, but went right back to the nitty-gritty as soon as she walked away – and this is when my stomach turned and I agreed that we should go in.
All was not lost however, since there is a secondary patio space on the side of the building (right below my building) and we still got to enjoy the nice evening, with the light breeze and no humidity in the shade. Then Dad started filling me in on those obnoxious Americans:
His experience with them started off listening to them trying to interpret the menu and getting everything wrong. They then asked the waitress to explain to them the ‘potato cream soup.’ The waitress, how was very sweet and was running around like the Energizer bunny, was obviously getting fed up with the sillyness of their table and when asked to explain what the potato pancakes in the soup were like and if they were any good, she answered ‘Well, we’ve been eating them for years and they haven’t killed us.’ I think that’s why Dad left her the 5 Euro tip after our meal (prices here include gratuities).
Finally, they settled on food, but still had to order drinks. It was finally decided that they were just going to drink tap water, but only if they could get ice cubes with it. When the drinks came out, the waitress brought a bowl of ice cubes (since it’s not traditional here to serve ice with drinks). One of the older people at the table stated that it was the tradition to not traditional here to drink anything very hot or very cold as it wasn’t good for your health. Wrong, so wrong. Just because something doesn’t come with ice cubes, doesn’t mean all liquids are served tepid. And I don’t think anyone’s thought that extreme temperatures in drinks has been detrimental to health since the 18th century.
But here’s the kicker: when the bowl of ice cubes came out, one of the ladies at the table was heard to observe on their odd size and shape, to which a gentleman at the table commented: ‘Well, electricity is expensive in socialist countries, so they don’t have ice cube makers here. Instead, they only have little tiny ice boxes so they have to make their ice cubes smaller.’ So it turns out the next war American sensibilities will launch is against socialist ice cubes – be warned Germany.
Some people just refuse to experience something new while on vacation, and the number of obnoxious and oblivious American tourists prove that. We’re wandering around Rothernburg tomorrow, so it’ll be a slow start and a casual day. Hopefully the weather will stay nice!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Rollin’ down the river.
Last night we were in Bingen with the express purpose of taking a Rhine River cruise up to St Goar/St Goarhause. And that’s just what we did today. Up at 7.30, breakfasted at 8, out the door and to the docks for 8.45. Before the day even started, I figured it might be a good idea to find a hat of some sort – we’ve finally left the rain behind us and have sun, glorious sun. I strolled through the old town looking for a sun hat, but wasn’t able to find anything, so decided I’d just have to tough it out (what a freakin’ mistake – I maybe should have bought the baseball cap with the playboy bunny on it… never mind, I’d rather be burnt).
Anywho, no getting ahead of myself. Our boat left dock at 9.30 and started downriver along the Rhine. We got to see a bunch of castles that, for the most part, had originally been created for tax and customs purposes on the goods that were transported down river. The water is running pretty high in the Rhine right now (probably due to all that rain we experienced last week) and it’s swamped some of the islands in the River and it’s lapping at some walkways at other points. We saw a picture of an island in a guide book that was completely sunk today – all that was showing was a few bushes that appeared to be coming straight out of the water.
On the recommendation for our hotel owner, we got off the boat at Bacharach to walk around (it’s a hop-on/hop-off kind of cruise). Bacharach is a small town that is still very much like old-style Germany: we were able to walk along the old city walls which have been converted into restaurants, apartments and hotels. We stopped for a snack and coffee, climbed up to some ruins right behind the church, and picked up some post cards. Other than that, there’s not much to do in Bacharach, so we headed back to the River to wait for the next boat, which was scheduled to arrive in 45 minutes. The breeze on the Rhine was gorgeous, and with the sun being so lovely, I decided to rid myself of my fair-blond pastiness and rolled up my sleeves and capris and enjoyed the warmth.
Back on the boat, we made good time getting down the St. Goar and, across the river, St. Goarhause. We decided to get off at St. Goarhause since more people were getting off at St. Goar, but we only had an hour for lunch. Dad and I both ordered a salad, but it took almost 30 minutes to get, so between running to-from the docks, waiting and then scarfing down our lunches, we didn’t get to see any of the town.
Coming back upriver took almost 3 hours, compared to less than an hour going down river – the Rhine is moving really fast these days. Rather than stop and get off at Bingen, we went one (very short stop) further upstream to Rudishime, which is a very tourist friendly town. While on the other side of the River, we’d get an excellent view of a monument way up on a hill over the town, but couldn’t make out what it was. I asked the lady who sold us our cruise tickets this morning what it was and she told me it was Germania (think Britannia, but, obviously, German). Because of my thesis, I wanted to see what Germania looks like, so we took a sky-rail up the hill to get a closer look. After enjoying the view of the valley and the giant bronze broad, Dad and I headed back down the hill to Rudishime for dinner.
By this point, my sun burn (picked up on the cruise boat because I wanted to sit on the sun deck for as long as possible) was really burning, but we couldn’t find a pharmacy open where I could get some after-sun. So, we headed back across the river for the hotel, where I am sitting in the dark, bemoaning my fair skin and curing the sun-god for being so tempting. And early bedtime tonight so we can get an early start on the road to Rothenberg tomorrow.
Anywho, no getting ahead of myself. Our boat left dock at 9.30 and started downriver along the Rhine. We got to see a bunch of castles that, for the most part, had originally been created for tax and customs purposes on the goods that were transported down river. The water is running pretty high in the Rhine right now (probably due to all that rain we experienced last week) and it’s swamped some of the islands in the River and it’s lapping at some walkways at other points. We saw a picture of an island in a guide book that was completely sunk today – all that was showing was a few bushes that appeared to be coming straight out of the water.
On the recommendation for our hotel owner, we got off the boat at Bacharach to walk around (it’s a hop-on/hop-off kind of cruise). Bacharach is a small town that is still very much like old-style Germany: we were able to walk along the old city walls which have been converted into restaurants, apartments and hotels. We stopped for a snack and coffee, climbed up to some ruins right behind the church, and picked up some post cards. Other than that, there’s not much to do in Bacharach, so we headed back to the River to wait for the next boat, which was scheduled to arrive in 45 minutes. The breeze on the Rhine was gorgeous, and with the sun being so lovely, I decided to rid myself of my fair-blond pastiness and rolled up my sleeves and capris and enjoyed the warmth.
Back on the boat, we made good time getting down the St. Goar and, across the river, St. Goarhause. We decided to get off at St. Goarhause since more people were getting off at St. Goar, but we only had an hour for lunch. Dad and I both ordered a salad, but it took almost 30 minutes to get, so between running to-from the docks, waiting and then scarfing down our lunches, we didn’t get to see any of the town.
Coming back upriver took almost 3 hours, compared to less than an hour going down river – the Rhine is moving really fast these days. Rather than stop and get off at Bingen, we went one (very short stop) further upstream to Rudishime, which is a very tourist friendly town. While on the other side of the River, we’d get an excellent view of a monument way up on a hill over the town, but couldn’t make out what it was. I asked the lady who sold us our cruise tickets this morning what it was and she told me it was Germania (think Britannia, but, obviously, German). Because of my thesis, I wanted to see what Germania looks like, so we took a sky-rail up the hill to get a closer look. After enjoying the view of the valley and the giant bronze broad, Dad and I headed back down the hill to Rudishime for dinner.
By this point, my sun burn (picked up on the cruise boat because I wanted to sit on the sun deck for as long as possible) was really burning, but we couldn’t find a pharmacy open where I could get some after-sun. So, we headed back across the river for the hotel, where I am sitting in the dark, bemoaning my fair skin and curing the sun-god for being so tempting. And early bedtime tonight so we can get an early start on the road to Rothenberg tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Escape from Amsterdam.
Okay, so overall, Amsterdam wasn’t that bad. I got a good night’s sleep, breakfast was nice, and we were able to get on the road by 8.30. I even managed to put some of my back-logged post-cards in the mail (and now that I’ve bought stamps, more will go out tomorrow).
So, Dad drove us out of Amsterdam, thank god. The commuter traffic combination of bicycles and cars was a nightmare. After we were out of the city, we changed over driving and I drove from the outskirts of the city to Koln (also knows as Cologne). Between traffic, road work, poorly identified signs to the inner-city, it took us about a half hour and a few trips across the river to find parking near the main church in town.
The church in Koln started off as a pilgrimage church and took a few hundred years to build, and was finally completed in the 1800s, only to have to be re-built after WWII. We wandered around the outside of the Church snapping pictures, then went in, only to realize that there was a service being held, so I didn’t feel right taking pictures or milling around in there. We could have climbed to the top of the bell-tower, but since I don’t do well in tight, narrow, steep spaces, I opted to pass and so did Dad. Instead, we found a brew-house turned restaurant (much like the one in the basement of the Rathaus in Munich) for lunch – I had a ½ roasted chicken that put Swiss Chalet to shame and dad had some liver.
We then headed out of Koln, heading for Bingen where we are for the next two nights to we can take a river cruse up the Rhine. On the way here though, we stopped at a small river-side town for a snack and partook in some spaghetti-ice; you see it everywhere in Germany: it starts with a mound of whipped cream, then vanilla ice cream is extruded though a die to make it look like spaghetti and it goes over the whipped cream, then it’s topped with strawberry sauce and some sort of white candy, so you end up with a bowl of sweet pasta-looking yumminess.
Heading into Bingen we passed a couple of hotels in the small village just outside of town (it’s literally a ten minute walk and involves crossing a bridge over a Rhine tributary) and decided to try getting a place here. We ended up with rooms in a 3 story hotel that’s very quaint and old-fashioned, yet has one of the most stable internet connections of our trip so far. After checking in, we walked into Bingen-proper to look into the cruise for tomorrow, find some stamps and have a drink. We then walked back to the village we’re staying in, found a nice, quiet restaurant for a light dinner, then headed back to the hotel.
Tomorrow should be a relaxing day: we get to be tourists without having to drive, and plan on stopping in a couple of little towns with castles for a few hours for some exploration. I’m pretty beat, so it’s early to bed for me tonight. The only problem is that today is the longest day of the year and, being so far north, it’s still full daylight out, and in yesterday was any judge, the sun won’t be going down for another hour. Oh well, I’m so beat, I could probably sleep through anything tonight!
So, Dad drove us out of Amsterdam, thank god. The commuter traffic combination of bicycles and cars was a nightmare. After we were out of the city, we changed over driving and I drove from the outskirts of the city to Koln (also knows as Cologne). Between traffic, road work, poorly identified signs to the inner-city, it took us about a half hour and a few trips across the river to find parking near the main church in town.
The church in Koln started off as a pilgrimage church and took a few hundred years to build, and was finally completed in the 1800s, only to have to be re-built after WWII. We wandered around the outside of the Church snapping pictures, then went in, only to realize that there was a service being held, so I didn’t feel right taking pictures or milling around in there. We could have climbed to the top of the bell-tower, but since I don’t do well in tight, narrow, steep spaces, I opted to pass and so did Dad. Instead, we found a brew-house turned restaurant (much like the one in the basement of the Rathaus in Munich) for lunch – I had a ½ roasted chicken that put Swiss Chalet to shame and dad had some liver.
We then headed out of Koln, heading for Bingen where we are for the next two nights to we can take a river cruse up the Rhine. On the way here though, we stopped at a small river-side town for a snack and partook in some spaghetti-ice; you see it everywhere in Germany: it starts with a mound of whipped cream, then vanilla ice cream is extruded though a die to make it look like spaghetti and it goes over the whipped cream, then it’s topped with strawberry sauce and some sort of white candy, so you end up with a bowl of sweet pasta-looking yumminess.
Heading into Bingen we passed a couple of hotels in the small village just outside of town (it’s literally a ten minute walk and involves crossing a bridge over a Rhine tributary) and decided to try getting a place here. We ended up with rooms in a 3 story hotel that’s very quaint and old-fashioned, yet has one of the most stable internet connections of our trip so far. After checking in, we walked into Bingen-proper to look into the cruise for tomorrow, find some stamps and have a drink. We then walked back to the village we’re staying in, found a nice, quiet restaurant for a light dinner, then headed back to the hotel.
Tomorrow should be a relaxing day: we get to be tourists without having to drive, and plan on stopping in a couple of little towns with castles for a few hours for some exploration. I’m pretty beat, so it’s early to bed for me tonight. The only problem is that today is the longest day of the year and, being so far north, it’s still full daylight out, and in yesterday was any judge, the sun won’t be going down for another hour. Oh well, I’m so beat, I could probably sleep through anything tonight!
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